Chapter Twenty-Three (Adam)

"Do you see anything?" I asked, frowning as I sat beside Hunter, who was holding a pair of binoculars to his eyes, staring at the tall, brick building with police tape indicating everyone to stay away. Hunter didn't answer me for a moment, which sent a bolt of irritation through me.

Hunter had been acting awfully weird lately. It had something to do with the demons, that much I knew, and that much alone bothered me. I knew he was a hunter and he liked to hunt anyone abnormal down, but we didn't have time for his petty vendettas. We had bigger fish to fry.

"Okay," Hunter said at last, making me glance at him, "There's about six guys by the front door and I saw a few go around back. There's movement on the fifth floor, but that's all I'm getting right now. The windows are tinted or covered in tarps."

"Crap," I muttered, "We can't run in there guns blazing on our own. Walter's down. Daimonas and Seth are in there. Julian's... Julian just can't. That just leaves you, me, and Peter. Even Peter might be hesitant because of the whole thing with Walter. I didn't think they were so close." Hunter twitched at that and for a second, I thought he was angry about the situation with Peter and Walter, but his face became a mask of stoicism.

"As much as I hate to say it, leech, you're right," He grunted, making me roll my eyes at his attempt at an insult, "And there's only one creature I can think of that can take down six vampires without breaking a sweat."

"You got their number?"

"It's not a matter of having the number. It's a matter of convincing them to join us-- again."

"Fine," I deadpanned, "Just call 'em anyway. I'm gonna try putting in a call to someone myself." Hunter gave me an odd stare, but reluctantly pulled out his cell phone. I waited as we both sat in silence while it rang on the other end. Due to my now sensitive hearing, I instantly hear Newell's voice the moment he picked up.

"This better be good or I'm hanging up." Newell's voice sounded stressed and angry. But then, it always sounded like that. The guy had an eternal stick up his ass about everything, but given how tiny and vulnerable he was, it probably was a good excuse for his bitch attitude. I said nothing as Hunter pretended to play it cool.

"Hey, midget, I sorta need you to come in for a little bit. Just as temporary back up." He drawled, chewing on the end of his thumb before spitting a nail out. There was a short pause on the other end before Newell growled low in his throat.

"This has to do with the Greys, doesn't it? And their whole Zephyra business? You have gall to call me about this situation. I am no longer responsible for any of those ingrates." He snarled. A sliver of anger rushed through me. He was part of this whole mess. If he hadn't of started up the rebellion in the first place, there wouldn't be a Zephyra out killing people. It was just another Frankenstein.

"Aw, come on," Hunter complained, "You know I hate doin' this, askin' for your help of all people."

"My heart bleeds for you." Newell replied with enough sarcasm to drown us in the car. I glared at Hunter impatiently and he waved me off, leaning against the window and eyeing the Zephyra headquarters.

"Listen, I'll tell you what. You come over here and you do me this favor... And I'll get you what you want."

"A Tiffany lamp? World domination? I don't think so."

"Not that, couillon," Hunter snapped, then paused as he glanced at me before looking away and speaking in a low voice, even though I could still hear him, "The witch you're hunting." There was an incredibly long silence on the other line, and for a second, I figured Newell had hung up on him when there was a frustrated sigh.

"I cannot believe I am getting into this again. I had just managed to shake Zephyra off my tail and what happens now? I'm diving headfirst into their shit pile. All right, fine. Where are you at?" He demanded. Hunter smiled, pleased with his work as he gave Newell our current location. Newell was in St. Louis, so it'd take him a few hours to catch up. In the mean time, we decided to meet up with the others, then snag a hotel nearby in order to keep close tabs on Zephyra, but from the looks of things, they weren't planning to leave their cozy brick house for a while.

Which meant they were doing tests.

That made my stomach clench. Seth was in there. Daimonas was in there. Daimonas had told us about the tests they'd done. Not in detail, granted, but I could only imagine what kind of shit they were doing to those guys in there and I wanted them out. And I planned to take as many Zephyra lives as possible in the process. I could only hope that Jack was in there too.

Because if I got my hands on him, he'd only wish I'd kill him.

Hunter finally pulled out of our hiding place in an alleyway and backwards into the street before taking off toward the hospital. In the mean time, I took Hunter's cell phone and dialed the number Julian had told me to save in case of emergencies. I held the phone to my ear, listening to the rings go on and on and on. I grimaced, just pulling the phone from my ear to hang up when a deep baritone voice answered.

"Who in the heck is Johnny Smith and why are you calling me?" Lysander demanded. I glanced at Hunter, who didn't hear him, before I shook my head. What a weird caller ID to have.

"Lysander? It's me, Adam. Julian's--"

"Julian's man," Lysander inserted, making me raise an eyebrow at that, "I remember you... And while it's good to know you're alive and speaking, I really don't wanna talk to you."

"Listen, I'm sorry about all the stuff that happened in Detroit--"

"Sorry doesn't cover it, pumpkin. I'm sure you didn't notice because you had your innards ripped out too."

"And I'm not gonna run away with my tail between my legs. That's not my style."

"That's not my style either," Lysander protested defensively, "I just didn't like the up close view of my entrails. Besides, I'm nowhere near Michigan. I wouldn't be able to get there in time to do anything useful. I've also got, uh, a customer waiting for my attention." I frowned at that, clenching the phone in my hand so it creaked and Hunter shot me a warning glare, to which I just barely heeded.

"You'd rather prostitute yourself than help your nephew?" I demanded. There was a short silence and I could hear music thumping in the background, a man's voice asking Lysander if he was okay, before Lysander sighed wearily.

"All right, give me your location and I'll see if I can get there by morning." He muttered dryly. I gave him our location before we hung up and I handed Hunter his phone back. He stuffed it into his pocket and turned onto the rode to the hospital. We both grimaced at the sight of cop cars surrounding the area and a fire truck putting out the fires in the parking lot.

"How are we gonna get in with that amount of cops hanging out?" I asked under my breath as we cruised by, following the directions of a cop who was directing traffic away from the hospital. Hunter muttered something like a curse under his breath in French before clearing his throat and lifting his head.

"We'll just go in and say one of the patients is our friend. Knowing Peter, he's stupid enough to say Walter's his boyfriend." Hunter responded, making me lift a brow at that.

"Boyfriend?" I asked. Hunter did that weird twitch thing again like he couldn't stand to talk about it, so true to his nature, he didn't respond and instead maneuvered through traffic before we managed to get into the area of the parking lot that wasn't blocked off with cops and police tape. We were directed into a smaller part of the parking lot before we got out and a couple of cops approached us with questions about our reasons for being here.

Talk about tight security, I thought bitterly, eyes scanning the parking lot for anyone I might know. Thankfully I didn't see or sense any members of Zephyra as I stood there while Hunter relayed our story to the cops. We were escorted inside, and much to my relief, Julian, Peter, and Kipp were waiting in the lobby. Julian, who seemed to be mostly healed from Jack's attack, hopped to his feet and ran right to me, throwing his arms around my neck and hugging me tightly. I hugged him back, cradling his head to my shoulder.

"How's Walter?" I asked, stepping back to look at Peter and Kipp, who both shared grim stares. I frowned at that, then looked at Julian, who dropped his gaze to his feet.

"He's out of it," Kipp said at last, voice sounding small and far away, "He lapsed into a coma and he's lost a lot of blood. And I mean, a lot. And knowing Walter, he's not gonna keep fighting, Adam."

He said that as if I could do something about it, but I couldn't. It was Walter's decision. He'd been on Death's heels the moment he joined us in our mission to destroy Zephyra. Obviously I didn't want him to die, though. Oddly enough, despite my previous displeasure in Walter joining us, it would seem weird not to have him around. I was used to turning to him for help, as back up. He was useful and his deadpan, morbid sense of humor was amusing.

But it brought me back to what Julian had asked me before on our trip here. He'd asked me if it would be practical to turn everyone into halfbloods, but I didn't want them to go through the same thing I was. Even now, a year later, I was uncomfortable with the changes. I missed the way burgers tasted and the way they filled me up to the point where I would pass out and vegetate. I missed the way I could eat ice cream without having to worry about my sensitive fangs. I still wasn't fond of my enhanced senses either.

I could hear things most people couldn't. Forget about shutting the goddamn door to hide the gossip, I could hear right through it. I had heard people talking about Julian and I at school, both the good and the bad. I could smell blood from a mile away and even determine the blood type without thinking. My vision had become sharper, clearer. And while that was useful for looking for danger, it wasn't all that great when you were driving around at night because it was like the whole world had just turned their brights on full power.

Besides, even if the idea was reasonable, our only pureblood had lost his fangs, so he had no way of turning them. The bite was what turned them. The fangs were special. They weren't just for ripping or puncturing flesh. The fangs released the power of blood. It was mostly why as soon as a halfblood turned, they were as horny as all get out. The power was a sudden hot blast and it fired up every sense in your body, including lust.

And I don't think Walter had anyone nearby he wanted to screw into the mattress-- except maybe Peter.

Looking at Peter, he looked horribly worried. His arms were hugged tightly over his chest, his eyes staring at the ground, but not quite seeing it. His hair was a ruffled mess and he had been chewing on his fingernails judging from the jagged state of them.

Hunter paid him no mind, though. Just stood there as still as stone, staring straight ahead with this bored look, like he'd rather be anywhere else, but here. He wasn't used to this much emotional trauma going on, and judging from the way he didn't react to any of it, he didn't care. If that wasn't a psychopath, I didn't know what was.

"What do we do?" Kipp asked at last, the question I was dreading as all eyes, including Hunter's, landed on me. Why did everyone always look at me?

Oh right, because I was the self-proclaimed leader. Part of me was starting to regret that declaration. It was easier in high school to lead a group of people because even though I was responsible for them, all they did was get in trouble with the human authorities and those guys I could handle, but vampires? Demons? Hunters? Yeah, no.

But I signed up for it and I wasn't the type to flee a dangerous situation, not even one like this.

"All right," I said at last, "Hunter and I followed the others and they led us to their headquarters, which is just on the other side of town from here. It's just in front of the train tracks in a building that looks like it's set up for demolition soon, so they won't stay there for long. Seth and Daimonas are both inside. Hunter and I also called for back up. They should be here by morning, if not sooner. Until then, we need to keep an eye on Walter. Everyone have your guard up. No one is going anywhere alone either, except Hunter because I know he's gonna throw a hissy fit if he's not."

I glanced at Hunter, who scoffed, but didn't deny it. Peter said nothing to that, just cast his brother a quick, uncomfortable stare before looking down at his feet again. Kipp just nodded and Julian stepped closer to me, linking his arm with mine and resting his cheek to my arm. A sliver of confidence and pride rushed through me at the tiny gesture.

"And we need to urge Walter," I added, making Peter look up, "I know, he's a coma, but... Try. Walter needs a reason to live and he thinks we don't give a rat's ass, which I admit, I didn't in the beginning, but now I do. Walter is part of our group now and we're not going to leave him alone, especially not now. We'll visit him two at a time. Peter, you can go first and take Kipp with you. The rest of us will stay here." Peter and Kipp nodded before departing from the room. I turned to Hunter, who looked a bit antsy, making me raise an eyebrow.

"What're you twitchy about?" I asked. Hunter frowned.

"Nothin', ya nosy couillon. I just want to get this show on the road. And not to mention, Newt ain't gonna be happy to join up with us again. I'm sure your freaky vampire powers overheard him." He responded, making me frown.

"I did. And what did you mean by witch? Since when did Newt associate with witches?" I asked dryly, making Hunter chuckle before averting his eyes. He ran his thumb down the side of his mouth as he tried to suppress a smirk.

"I don't gossip, but I will say one thing... If Newt finds what he's looking for, we're either going to be in deeper shit or he'll turn into one happy son of a bitch." He answered, making Julian scowl in confusion. He didn't elaborate and left the lobby to go to the vending machines. I shook my head, then sat down with Julian. He still looked absolutely miserable and my heart broke for him.

He hadn't spoken hardly a word since Jack had taken his fangs. I didn't blame him. Fangs were a vampire's signature, and now they were gone. Julian just kept his mouth closed and buried his face against me, holding my arm as if it were a life line.

"Hey," I said suddenly, making Julian look at me, "Wanna go to the bathroom?" Julian looked confused for a moment until he caught onto my intention. He looked like he was about to bite into his lip, then stopped and pursed his lips. He hesitated, then noddedd. I got up and we headed to the bathroom, passing Hunter in the hallway, who just wrinkled his nose at us before continuing on his way.

We ducked into the bathroom and I checked all the stalls to ensure we were alone before taking the last stall. I shut the door and pushed the lock, then seconds later had Julian up against the wall. I went for his throat first, suckling on the skin there and listening to him moan pleasantly.

I may not be able to give Julian his fangs back or his dignity or anything else, but there was still something I could give him and I could only hope it helped even a miniscule amount.

I pushed Julian's shirt up, letting his jacket slide off his arms to the floor. I ran my hands down his torso, savoring the feel of his soft skin as I brought my lips to one of his nipples. I scraped it with my fangs ever so lightly and he purred. It'd been way too long since I heard him make these kinds of sounds and it set fire to my blood, burning all the way south.

I ran my tongue down over his abs, then brought my hands to the zipper of his jeans, pulling it down and jerking his pants down to his knees. His fingers sank into my hair roughly, tugging desperately as I nibbled him through his underwear. He hissed at that, then abruptly clamped his mouth shut. I frowned, then stood up to look down at him as he kept his mouth shut and stared at my chest instead of meeting my eyes.

I grabbed his hair and forced his head back so he was looking up at me, his wide blue eyes locked on mine. I studied his face, then dipped my head down, licking my tongue across his pursed lips. He shivered and moaned deep in his throat, but didn't open his lips to me. I nipped at his chin with my fangs, urging him to open his mouth. He squeezed his eyes shut and turned his head away. I wanted to force him to open his mouth to me, but I don't think that would help anything.

I was about to go back to what I was doing a moment again when Julian suddenly grabbed me and switched our positions so I was the one against the wall. I watched him, mildly interested in what he had going on in that head of his. He kissed at my throat, very careful not to open his mouth, just little butterfly pecks all the way down until he came to my pants. He unbuckled them and pulled them down with my underwear.

Seconds later, he took me into his mouth and I hissed at the sensation of his hot wet mouth engulfing me. It wasn't the same, though, I realized as Julian sucked on me, my fingers lacing through his hair and tugging hard, just the way he liked it. He moaned as I pulled roughly on his hair, thrusting myself deeper into his mouth. I was used to flinching whenever his fangs brushed my cock. Granted, I got pissed when I told him not to use his fangs and he did it anyway, but it still gave me a masochistic thrill. A dominant thrill too. It was a dangerous place to put the favorite part of my anatomy, but it was also one of the best because of the danger.

Now I didn't need to worry about his fangs and for some reason, that didn't turn me on. I didn't say anything, though, just let Julian work on me until my body couldn't take it anymore and I shuddered in release, holding Julian's head still as I thrust my hips forward. Julian gagged for a second until I let go and he kept his lips pursed before he swallowed, shuddering at the bitterness before he got up slowly. He was hard as a rock through his underwear and I could see it getting a little moist, but he just pulled his pants back up and wiped the back of his mouth.

He started to leave, but I grabbed him by the back of his head by his hair, making him yelp as I threw him back against the wall, putting my hands against the wall on either side of his head. He looked at me, stunned as I glared at him.

"Where the hell do you think you're going? We're not finished." I stated. Julian stared at me, looked surprised at my aggressiveness. He shifted uncomfortably, averting his eyes and making me glare at him. I took him by the chin and forced him to look at me.

"Julian," I said firmly, but gently now, "It's been a while since we had sex and I miss it. A lot. I want to hold you, especially now." Julian's cheeks flushed with color and he pursed his lip a bit tighter, then nodded slowly. I relaxed at that, then went in for a kiss. He kept his lips pursed, but I worked slowly at them, licking and nipping at his chin. He moaned and squirmed, but reluctantly parted his trembling lips to let me in.

I was instantly assaulted by the flavor of blood when my tongue invaded his mouth, but I ignored it as I kissed him, focusing on the warmth of his mouth, the way his tongue squirmed against mine. I could tell he was timid now, afraid I'd be disgusted with his lack of fangs, but I didn't pay any attention to it. Just kissed him deeply, hungrily. I ran my hands down to his hips, dropping his pants again along with his underwear. I ground our hips together slowly, sensually.

I could hear his heart jump into overdrive, beating hard against the inside of his chest. His blood was like rushing lava in his veins as he gave up on being nervous and grabbed me to him hard, his hips grinding up against me desperately. His breath came out in sharp, needy pants as he buried his face against my shoulder now, his tongue dragging across my sweaty skin. I nuzzled and nipped at his earlobe, breathing in his sweet, sweaty scent. It burned into my senses deliciously and I groaned, brushing my fangs by his neck.

He purred at that, clawing his fingers into the back of my shirt, pulling it up until he could grab violently at my back, nails biting my skin. I savored the sting of it, grabbing one of Julian's legs and hiking it up onto my hip.

"Please tell me you have some kind of lubrication." Julian muttered into my ear. His voice was slurred without his fangs, but I still managed to pick up on what he intended to say. I laughed quietly into his ear.

"I packed everything I could get my hands on." I told him, making him sigh in relief. I stepped back, letting him lean against the wall as I fumbled around in my pockets, pretty much dumping everything out until I found the small tube. I turned Julian around so he was facing the wall, his arms against it as I wet my fingers.

"You're gonna have to be a little quieter." I told him. Julian said nothing, just arched his back as I drove my fingers into him teasingly. He moaned, a bit too loudly, but we were still alone in the bathroom. I reached my hand around to touch his cock as I brought my hips in to meet him, feeling his muscles clench around me. He gasped and I used my other hand to cover his mouth. He parted his lips against my hand and licked at my fingers, purring now as I settled myself inside him, my other hand working at him.

I started to move and Julian mewled, legs trembling as I held him hard and fast, hand over his mouth to keep him from doing anything louder than moaning.

Part of me knew this wasn't the time and the place to be doing something like this. Not with all the chaos going on around us, but I wasn't going to neglect Julian just because the world was ending. He needed me and I was going to do what I could to make things better for him. This didn't come nearly as close as his fangs, but it was as close as I could get to making him feel better.

So I pulled him closer, burying myself in deeper and Julian cried out against my hand. I let him as I rode out the sharp orgasm that tore through me. Julian whimpered and pushed back hard against me, his release striking him just a moment after mine.

Once we finished, I slumped against the wall and let Julian sit in my lap, his head resting against my shoulder. His breathing had evened out and he seemed relaxed. I held him close to me, listening to his breathing, but thinking about everything else.

We needed Walter back, but we couldn't do it with him in that condition. As a human, it would take too long for him to heal, but we needed him to rescue Seth and Daimonas, and to destroy Zephyra. Not to mention, Seth and Daimonas were bound to be a little out of it after we got them back. While we had Kipp, Peter, Hunter, and the calvary on the way, it just wasn't enough and Walter was a great person to have in this kind of situation.

He was mellow, granted because of his medication, but still. He could still manage to stay calm in tough situations. He wasn't scared of anything. He fought hard and didn't stop until the enemy was taken out. He was also quiet, so sometimes he tended to fade into the background unseen and could attack when someone least expected it.

We needed Walter.

But he was still human and he could die if we didn't get him back. He could be in a coma for days, weeks, months, even years.

And the only way I could think of to bring him back was to turn him into a halfblood, which was still a horrible idea for two reasons:

A) He would kick the shit out of me. Walter was suicidal. He liked holding onto the dream that someday he would die and be put out of his misery. I'd be taking that choice away from him.

B) How in the hell could we turn him? Julian's fangs were gone and he was the only pureblood we had.

Until a thought came to me and my stomach shrank. Would it be possible to turn Walter into a halfblood if we managed to get our hands on another pureblood? Part of me wanted it to be Lysander to bite Walter. I had seen the way Lysander eyed Walter before, so he'd have no problem doing it, but the weird thing about bites was that whoever bit you was automatically bringing you into their clan.

If Lysander bit Walter, he'd be like me. A member of the Grey Clan.

And for some reason, that bothered me.

But Lysander would be more willing than Newell. Newell would throw a temper tantrum at initiating someone like Walter into the Drakon Clan.

I had to make a decision, I realized with a sinking sensation.

Convince one of the two purebloods to turn Walter in the morning, or let Walter make his own choice.

And there were pros and cons for both decisions, a list a mile long that I could spend all night fretting over, but in the end, I could only choose one. And as the leader, I had to make the right choice for everyone, not just one person.

Son of a bitch.

Being King really sucked.