"Words, like nature, half reveal and half conceal the soul within."

-Alfred Lord Tennyson

                                                                                 ***

Galloway shivered violently, the Montana wind cutting through her jean jacket easily as she followed Sirius down a side street of Billings. He paused, his muzzle raised as he scented the air, his ears pricking forward when he found something interesting.

She shuddered again and eyed his thick black fur. Her teeth chattering, she said, "You are such a wimp."

No. I'm just not cold. Sirius cocked his head at her, blue eyes glowing softly and she swore that he was smirking at her, though it was hard to tell when he was in this form.

Galloway rolled her eyes as his voice floated through her head and said, "I think Billings has a leash law."

Only if you want to lose a few fingers, Sirius snarled, showing his teeth to punctuate his statement.

Galloway crossed her arms in an attempt to look nonchalant and warm herself up at the same time. She tapped her foot as Sirius took another whiff of the air and started prowling toward a busier street.

She watched carefully this time, but still couldn't see how the shift happened. Sirius slipped into a shadow as a wolf, only to emerge as a man. He pulled up the collar of his coat and nodded toward the well lit street. "He's there."

"You can't just jump him in the middle of the street, Sirius," Galloway pointed out dryly.

"I seem to remember that you have some practice luring poor, unsuspecting monsters into dark alleyways so you can murder them," he responded just as dryly.

She bristled and snarled, "I'm not going to be your goddamn bait."

Sirius just shrugged, his eyes a reflection of the midnight sky and just as unreadable. He looked at his watch. "We've got an hour."

He started toward the edge of the alley and leaned against the brick wall of a building, his hands in his pockets. Galloway stayed hidden in the shadows, waiting as Sirius watched the Debtor. He glanced over his shoulder and said, "He's not going to leave by himself. You'll have to go get him."

"Why me? Why not you?" She smirked. "Afraid you aren't pretty enough?"

Sirius snorted. "What a ridiculous thing to say. But I don't think I'm his type, sweetheart."

Galloway came up behind him and rested her chin on his shoulder, making him give her a sideways look. But he didn't say anything and she frowned, irritated by his lack of response. She tilted her head slightly and teased, "Aw, poor baby, you shouldn't count yourself out before you even try, Sirius."

Sirius pointed. "He's in there."

She frowned at the strip club. "I think I see your point."

"Mm. I thought you might." Sirius smiled down at her and snaked an arm around her waist, pulling her into his chest. He sighed and said, "I'm not particularly fond of sharing. But if you say your heart belongs only to me, I don't think I'll get too jealous."

Galloway struggled against the amusement welling up inside of her, instead letting her hands slide up his arms and into his hair. She fluttered her eyelashes at him and let out a sultry laugh. "Oh Sirius. That would require me to have a heart to begin with."

She nipped at his chin before whirling away from him with another laugh. She sauntered across the street, resisting the urge to turn around just to see the look on his face. It would ruin the effect.

She was getting better at the game. It was just that Sirius happened to have complete control over any reaction she might inspire.

She swore she could feel those blue eyes of his burning into her back, but just continued on until she reached the club. Slipping inside, she grimacing at the smell of sweat and the pounding music. It was too hot inside after the chill of the night, and Galloway had to wait for her eyes to adjust.

The only light was either trained on the girls onstage or glowing softly from green exit signs, but she didn't really need to see to know where she was going.

Time was ticking and she was close enough that the pull of the Debt was strong.

Galloway found the man easily and had a furious, if silent, debate with herself. Eventually, she just sighed. She didn't want to waste her time luring this man outside. Which meant only one thing.

She jumped when she heard Sirius say, What are you going to do? Slit his throat in front of everyone else in that place?

Galloway bit at her lip nervously. Something like that.

Well if that's what you were going to do, I could have taken care of this guy, he huffed, irritation coloring his words a dull orange in her mind.

She rolled her eyes. Sure, cause the headline 'killer wolf rampages through strip club in downtown Billings' definitely wouldn't attract any Hunter attention.

Who said anything about a rampage? Sirius asked her, a silent chuckle evident in his words. I don't rampage, sweetheart. I'm a professional. Besides, he added as an afterthought, we'd be long gone before any Hunter came around.

I'm busy, Sirius. So I need you to shut up please. Then she shut him out, drawing a small folding knife from her back pocket. 

Galloway settled into a chair behind the man and let her gaze unfocus, widening her range of vision. No one was even looking their way. She leaned forward and, in one swift motion, cupped a hand over his mouth and drew the blade across his throat, making sure to sever his vocal cords.

All he could do was gasp soundlessly as blood poured hot and fast over his white t-shirt. Galloway had to wait for almost three minutes before his Soul left his body. Its color was a wispy white, its consistency nothing more than loosely associated vapors.

She caught it easily and shivered, her stomach rolling slightly as she felt the man's essence being dragged into Hell.

She sat back and waited a moment before getting up and leaving, keeping her stride even and her back straight. She joined Sirius where he was still leaning against the brick wall, his eyes tracking her every movement. 

"I'm tired," she said, only meeting his eyes for a moment.

She went to step past him but he grabbed her wrist, stopping her. She tried to twist away from his grip but he wouldn't let go. Instead, he pulled her closer, until she was pressed up against him. Galloway turned her head, staring blankly at the messy graffiti sprayed across the opposite side of the alleyway.

"Look at me, Galloway," Sirius commanded, his voice low and deep.

"What part of 'I'm tired' don't you understand?" Galloway muttered, still not looking at him.

"You didn't have to do that," he said, fingers tightening around her wrist. "I could have taken care of it."

Now she did look up at him. "Why does it matter which of us killed him? He's dead, his Soul's in Hell where it belongs and I'm sure there's another assignment sitting in my car, waiting."

"It matters because it hurts you."

Galloway froze, her eyes widening. Sirius blinked then let go of her, taking several steps back. Still staring, she breathed, "What?"

"It matters because you don't like doing it. It screws around with your mind and then you're all weird for the next couple days. You're a Hunter, remember? You need to keep it together or you'll screw up and get killed by some goddamn vampire." He shoved his hands in his pockets and turned toward the street Galloway had just come from. A cold breeze whipped between them, making midnight strands of hair dance across his face.

He looked at her one more time, his voice distant, and said, "If it's all the same to you, I'd rather you kept your head straight. Otherwise you'll get killed, and they'll throw me to some other son of a bitch or back to the pits."

Sirius turned sharply and started to walk away, leaving Galloway standing there in her shock. She was jolted out of it when his voice floated back to her. "I'll catch up to you later."

"You don't know where I'm going," she pointed out hoarsely.

He just waved a hand over his shoulder. "I'll find you."

Then he was gone, disappearing into the people walking by, heading to Hell knew where. Galloway stood shivering, his words playing themselves over and over in her head, catching her by surprise each time.

She stood there until she couldn't feel her fingers anymore, then pulled her phone out, searching for the nearest motel. When she found what she wanted, she shoved her phone into her pocket, pulling her jacket tighter around her.

Galloway wound her way through the back streets they had clung to trying to find the Debt, not really paying attention to where she was going, or the dark shadow that whispered along after her, tracking her.

It doesn't mean anything, she thought. He doesn't mean anything. He never means anything. She shook her head violently, like that would make the record skip and his words would stop ringing in her ears with every beat of her heart.

A voice that sounded like Logan said, You hate him, remember? Or, at least, you were supposed to hate him.

Very helpful, Galloway thought dryly, then frowned. Answering the voices in her head probably wasn't a good sign.

Another blast of arctic wind made her shiver, turning away to try and protect her face from the biting cold. She frowned when she caught a shadow in the corner of her eye that didn't seem to belong to her. Galloway froze, waiting, her eyes searching through the darkness.

Her muscles shivered, protesting the cold and the inactivity. But still she waited, cursing the fact that all she had was a gun and her pocket knife. She didn't even have silver bullets.

The longer she waited, the more irritated she became, already feeling off-balance from the previous events of the night. Recklessly, she turned toward where she thought it was and spread her arms, snarling, "You gonna come out and start the party, or make me come in after you?"

The hairs on the back of her neck stood up when there was a low chuckle from the darkest part of the alley. Galloway's heart started beating a little harder and she took in a breath, trying to calm it.

But it was too late. The vampire cocked his head and made a tutting sound. "Not as brave as we pretend to be, now are we?"

Galloway moved her hand slowly to the small of her back, where her gun was tucked into her belt. But the vampire was fast.

And old.

He slammed her up against a concrete wall, and Galloway gasped in pain and surprise at his strength. His fingers bit into her arms where he was holding her up off the ground and he smiled serenely. One hand slid up to her throat, keeping her pinned, his grip choking while he reached around to take her gun with the other hand.

Galloway's hands locked around his wrist, trying to alleviate the pressure on her throat, trying to breathe, terror starting to course through her. The vampire held up the gun, wiggling the barrel tauntingly through the air in front of her face.

"I'm sorry to tell you, beautiful, but this wouldn't have helped a bit." The vampire tossed the gun carelessly away. Her eyes tracked it helplessly as the gun arced through the air to clatter against the ground.

She choked, her eyelids fluttering, and the vampire loosened his grip. Air rushed into her lungs. He stroked a finger down the side of her face and said, "Mother always told me not to play with my food but I can't help it when they're as pretty as you."

"Screw you," Galloway managed, just to have him slam her against the wall again. He drew closer, using his weight to keep her pinned against the wall, bringing his teeth near her neck. A sickeningly sweet smell filled her nose, making her gag. Bitterly cold fingers pressed cruelly into her throat.

She thrashed, trying to dislodge him enough so that she could do something, but it was no use. He was much bigger than she was and had an old one's strength. Even Galloway, with her bag of Collector and Hunter tricks, couldn't match that.

The vampire laughed softly, gently brushing her hair to the side and she couldn't believe this was happening. She grimaced when she realized she'd just proved Sirius right.

She was going to get killed by some goddamn vampire.

Galloway screamed when his teeth tore into her throat, her blood pouring out hot and fast, pulled through her at an astonishing rate.

She had never realized how painful it was to be killed by a vampire.

Her hands clutched weakly at the monster's arms, still trying to do something, but her vision was starting to grow dim. Somewhere in her consciousness, she could feel his mouth on her throat, drinking from her and she thought she could hear him humming. A last song as he killed her.

Galloway gasped, blood filling her mouth with copper and her knees gave out, the only thing keeping her upright the vampire's hold. He held onto her gently now, more of an embrace than anything, still humming, the sound resonate in his chest.

Her ears were buzzing and her chest hurt.

Sirius, Galloway thought, a vision of his blue eyes most likely the last thing to pass through her mind.

The vampire lifted his head, mouth smeared red as he stared down at her. He narrowed his eyes and asked, "What did you say?"

Galloway choked on the blood spilling into her torn throat, unable to answer. Her eyes fluttered shut, then opened as a howl split the air and the vampire's head whipped up.

But she couldn't keep her eyes open any longer.

The last thing she remembered was the vampire dropping her and a growl thundering through the air around them.