Deal With The Spies

Mikajia wandered the streets of Sanguinem, his mind lost in thought. His recent interaction with a particular noble consuming his attention. If he was correct, it meant all his sucking up, and playing the role of the obedient new noble was about to pay off. Raylen was a noble of particular renown, and was highly respected amongst the Progenitors, even without being one himself. Which meant, with his word, Mikajia would gain the exact opportunity he needed. Claim himself a spot within Layla's circle, and be poised for the strike. Layla, this area's Progenitor, had formed herself a circle of nobles when she came into power. They were her most trusted advisers, guards, errand boys; pretty much, they were her puppets. Powerful fools that she could control to help maintain her position and influence amongst all the nobles in this area, and put on a flashy show of power to fellow Progenitors.

If he could gain a spot in the circle, gain Layla's trust, and dupe the guards, (which honestly wouldn't be hard), his spot as the new Progenitor would be all but guaranteed. That was the first stage of his plan, and it would honestly be one of the hardest. There was a reason Layla had held on to her position for as long as she had. She was clever, and treacherous. Gaining her trust was a nearly impossible task, at least while holding hidden motives. That's why she surrounded herself with brutes. For each of them, the wheel might have been turning, but the hamster was most definitely dead. The ignorant were so much easier to control.

It was relatively early in the day as he took to aimlessly wandering the streets, passing many common and noble vampires alike, returning greetings and nods as needed, but mostly still lost in thought. He had much to plan.

Katie was playing errand girl. Some noble had asked her to fetch a few vampires who supposedly were killing livestock. She raced through the labyrinth of houses, looking for any sign of them. She didn't know why the noble had sent her. The vampires could be anywhere, and she doubted they'd willing come with her to be punished. But, she couldn't disobey. 

As she rushed down another street, thinking it might be a good idea to ask some of the livestock to see if they knew anything, she spotted a familiar face. Lord Mikajia. She had no idea what he was doing here. She hadn't seen him since he'd killed the child in the slums. He'd given her very good advice, and she respected him. She wasn't sure if it was appropriate to greet him, but as she got closer, she couldn't stop herself. Maybe he could help.

"Hello, Lord Mikajia," she said, nodding in respect. "I hope you're having a good day. I was wondering, uh..." She shuffled nervously. "Have you seen the vampires known as Elden and Mursik? I was sent to find them, but I haven't had much luck."

Saleth frowned as he walked down the familiar streets. He was sent on a task by one of the higher ranking nobles to check out this part of the city. The higher ranked noble didn't even say why he was being sent on this task, just that he had to examine this part of the city and report his findings in two hours. Normally this would be a task for one of the commoners so he wasn't pleased that he was the one sent to do this errand, but he knew he couldn't protest. He didn't want a repeat of the last time he protested against an order that was given to him. He might not live this time.

He turned the corner and was surprised to see Mikajia and that vampire girl together. What was her name again? Lacy? Patty? Katie? Yes, Katie was her name if he recalled correctly. The lower ranking vampire looked nervous as she asked Mikajia something but he didn't care to hear what was being said. He was on a task now so he couldn't afford to stop and say hello to his fellow noble. He wanted to complete this errand as soon as possible so he could go on another walk. His notebook was already safely tucked into one of his pockets under his cloak.

The short noble kept on walking till he passed them without sparing a glance in their direction. He paused in his steps when a shadow caught his attention. He looked to his left down the alleyway he was passing but didn't see anything. His eyes narrowed as he looked down the empty alleyway. Perhaps there was a reason he was given this task.

Mikajia was brought out of his inner musings by a voice greeting him. "Hmm?" He hummed in question, turning to see that it was the vampire girl named Katie he'd met recently. He listened as she asked him if he'd seen two vampires recently and gave their names. He was about to tell her that he recognized the names, two common vampires that were known for scarcely being able to control their thirst. He personally had dealt with them on a few occasions, but unfortunately hadn't seen them today. However, as he'd been about to speak, his senses were drawn by two things at once.

His head turned quickly to see the familiar form of Saleth walking past them. It was far from uncommon for him to run into the shorter noble, so that wasn't what he narrowed his eyes at. His senses, particularly his sense of smell, had picked up at least two humans, both male, and very likely in their twenties. And that's what caught his attention most, he could pick up on the testosterone, the levels they were giving off had to place them in their twenties. And yet, within Sanguinem, there wasn't a single livestock over the age of sixteen.

"Do you sense that Saleth?" He said, taking a step closer to the other noble while motioning for Katie to follow him, never letting his eyes leave the area he'd sensed the humans at.

Katie spotted Lord Saleth. She hadn't realized that he and Lord Mikajia were friends, but it appeared they were, probably close ones, considering how much time they spent together. Lord Mikajia gestured for her to follow, and she did without a second thought. It wasn't like she had a chance to bring those two vampires in. She had no idea why the noble had even asked her, she wasn't strong enough to boss them around. She was scared to go back and admit this, however, so staying with Lord Mikajia seemed like a good decision. Maybe he could protect her, when she inevitably failed. 

"What is it, my lord?" she asked curiously, looking up at him. It was clear he'd noticed something, and she was curious as to what it was. She hadn't noticed anything amiss.

Saleth briefly glanced in Mikajia's direction when the other noble approached him before looking down the alleyway again. He narrowed his eyes as he expanded his senses in the direction he was facing and wasn't surprised at what he found. "My my, such bold humans we have here." He murmured as he focused on the presence of two adult human males further down the alleyway and out of sight. The short noble started walking down the alleyway before pausing. He wanted to sneak up on the humans to hear what they could be planning, but his heels would surely give him away.

He sighed in annoyance and bent forward to swiftly tug his boots off. He balanced on one leg as he tugged his boot off in one motion and moved on to the other boot. He straightened his back with both boots firmly in his grip and resumed walking down the alleyway, heading for the presences of the adults. He didn't bother to tell Mikajia to be silent since the other noble would surely catch on to what he was doing with his boots off.

The silver haired noble continued walking down the dark alleyway taking turns when it was necessary and finally stopped at another corner. The humans were right around the corner and were currently discussing their plans. "...list of the nobles?" A deep voice reached his ears. "I couldn't get all of the noble's locations down." They were tracking the nobles locations? "Tell me what you found so far." This could be troublesome. "I got Tameri's location, he spends most of his time in his mansion and rarely leaves it. Cary can be located near the slums, for what reason I couldn't catch. The last noble I managed to locate is Saleth..." Red eyes narrowed at the sound of his name. "...and he spends his time outside the city for unknown reasons." It seems like they haven't managed to locate Mikajia yet since they only found three nobles. What poor information gathering.

"Which one is the easiest target?" He frowned at what the other human said. Were they planning to ambush the nobles at the sites they are most likely to be? "Out of the information I managed to gather I would say the noble Saleth would be the easiest to eliminate. He's the youngest so far and therefore less experienced."

Mikajia's lips twitched in a grin as he watched Saleth remove his boots. He knew better than trying to sneak up on targets while wearing the noisy things. He watched him take a few steps forward down the alley before turning to Katie, "Follow me, stay close, and stay quiet. We're going to do a little spying of our own." He said, motioning with his head, and then with a light bound, vaulted himself up to the top of the closest roof, waited for Katie to join him, and then began moving silently from roof to roof, keeping tabs both Saleth's and the human's locations. He stopped well out of sight of the humans, but plenty close enough to hear what they were saying, as easily as if they were standing right next to him. His skills and senses had been exponentially increasing as of late, mostly due to the constant missions and difficult errands he'd been continually assigned by the higher-ups. So, quite frankly, it wasn't necessary for him to get even this close to hear them, but he knew Katie's senses would be far less developed, and he needed her to stay close.

If human's had managed to make it in this far, it was little wonder what they were doing here in the first place, but it also meant that there was a very high chance of more being around. It also meant that they were more than likely trained in some type of combat, and could almost be guaranteed to be carrying those pesky weapons the human's loved so much. It was already foolish enough of them to be here in the first place without a veritable army accompanying them, but it would be the epitome of suicide to come here without arming themselves with something that posed a danger to vampires. All this meant that if she wasn't careful, Katie could likely be killed by the pests.

Mikajia focused on the words the humans were saying, arching a speculative brow when he picked up a few choice words. "Well well. It appears the humans are getting a little more bold. How interesting." Mikajia whispered too quietly for the humans to possibly hear, as his lids halfway closed in a mixture of annoyance and disgust. This was yet another reason in a long list of reasons as to why they needed to wipe the slate clean, and reform their ranks. If their rulers had become so lax that the humans believed themselves capable of executing such a risky plan with such half-assed efforts, then there truly was no hope left for their current rulers.

Mikajia had to clamp a hand down on his mouth, trying hard to stifle the urge to laugh when the two men started talking about which of the three nobles they'd managed to gather information on, would be the easiest target. They seemed to be under the illusion that it was Saleth whom would be easiest to defeat, seeing as he was the youngest of the three they mentioned. They seemed to think that his age would equal his level of experience, and so therefore make him a weak target. Going by that ratio, that would mean they'd consider himself to be infantile in his battle prowess compared to other nobles. Which would be a huge mistake.


"Oh. He's not going to like that." Mikajia mused quietly, head bowed slightly, his eyes closed with a smirk on his lips, and his hand placed on his forehead in embarrassment for the human's idiocy.

Katie nodded, jumping up onto the roof after him. She struggled to stay quiet, jumping up onto the roof and following Lord Mikajia closely. She could smell them now, humans, and from the way Lord Mikajia was reacting, they weren't supposed to be here. 

She could hear them, gossiping about nobles. They must have been from the army. Panic rose in her chest, but she controlled it, moving closer to Lord Mikajia. 

"Do you want me to get help?" she whispered, stepping closer to him. She didn't have a weapon on her, and she wouldn't be much help in this situation. She didn't want to slow Lord Mikajia down. Though, there was a chance she might be in danger if she went wandering off. She respected Lord Mikajia enough to listen to whatever he said, but she wanted to make sure she wasn't overstepping her bounds.

Saleth scowled when they mentioned he would be then easiest target because of his age. This was the reason why humans were inferior beings, they always assume wrong about things without the proper information. If they had gotten the proper information they would've found out that he was higher ranked than the other two nobles they listed. Therefore more dangerous. He was not going to just stand here while they mocked his battle prowess. Putting on a calm mask to hide his frustration, the silver haired noble silently walked around the corner in plain sight of the two humans. They were both facing his direction so it wasn't hard to spot him. The brown haired human on the left froze with his eyes widening. "T-That's Saleth!" The black haired human next to him eyed the short noble with an unimpressed look. "You're saying this runt is the noble?" His partner nodded his head causing the black haired male to sigh in disappointment. "Killing the noble will be faster than-"

He didn't let the human finish his sentence and swiftly pulled Miteagus out of its sheath and shot forward. Before the humans could even register what was happening the short noble was already behind them with blood dripping down his blade. "I'm afraid due to my lack of experience I have not yet perfected my aim." He said with a sickly sweet smile as he faced the backs of the humans. The black haired human screamed as his right arm fell limply to the ground making the other human scream in surprise. "D-Dammit...!" The human cursed through clenched teeth and glared at Saleth over his shoulder. "H-Henry!" The brown haired human jumped in surprise and nervously looked at his partner. "You know what to do," The short noble frowned as the human nodded his head. What were they planning? He couldn't kill them yet since he needed to get information out of them, perhaps he should cut off a few more limbs? The brown haired male, Henry he assumed, reached for his back pockets slowly since the silver haired noble's attention was on him.

Faster than any normal human could do, he pulled out twin pistols and aimed them both at the short noble. "Hm, being able to smuggle in weapons," Saleth frowned as the injured human also pulled out a gun with his shaking hand. "What are the vampires in this area doing?" This could be a problem. It would take a miracle for them to smuggle weapons in here so it was more likely that they had a traitor in their ranks. That gave him even more reason not to kill them. He briefly wondered when Mikajia would join him in all this excitement.

Mikajia held up a hand to Katie, shook his head and then pointed down to their spot, silently telling her to stay as he continued to listen, his head halfway turned in the human's direction. He listened as Saleth finally confronted the human's, smirking when he made his comment about his lack of experience affecting his aim. "Always taking things so personally." He said, and smirked once more.

Mikajia's eyes quickly and dangerously narrowed when he heard the mention of weapons. He knew the answer to the question of how human's could manage such a feat, but preferred not to speak the word 'traitor'. It was more than just that though, it was a mixture of both one of their own betraying them, as well as the ever growing sense of politics taking precedence among their rulers. His eyes darkened as rage filled him, he motioned to Katie saying, "Follow me, and don't leave my sight."

He disappeared then, reappearing silently behind the men, and already in the process of ripping off the remaining arm of the black haired human. An instant later, Mikajia had one of his swords unsheathed, and had cleanly cut through both of the forearms of the second human, then quickly put it back. The two humans couldn't react nearly fast enough to counter him, leaving one without any arms at all, and the other without wrists or hands. The black headed one started to scream, just before yelling, "What the fu..." He was cut off by one of Mikajia's boots slamming into his face and kicking him into the wall behind him.

"Watch your mouth." Mikajia said, glancing at the human over his shoulder, just before turning back to face the brown headed one. This one was currently on the brink of hyperventilating while staring in shock at his arms which no longer held any hands. "Yoo-hoo." He chimed, squatting down eye level with the human and snapping his fingers in front of the man's face. Wide fear filled eyes turned to face him, "That's better." Mikajia said, cocking his head a little and smiling with a menacing glint in his eyes, "Why don't you save us all a lot of time and frustration, and just give me the name of the one who let you in with those things. Okay?" He said, and motioned behind him at the man's wrists and arms which lay on the ground several feet from him, still gripping the pistols.

Katie nodded, following Lord Mikajia as he jumped to the ground. She kept a wide birth from the humans. Her gut wrenched when he started cutting and ripping off limbs. It wasn't that she felt bad for the humans; the gore disgusted her. She looked away, struggling to gain control of herself. The tempting scent of blood wafted towards her, making her throat burn, but she ignored it the best she could. Lord Mikajia and Lord Saleth would probably drink from them when they got the information they needed. It would be poor form to ask, and Katie didn't want to seem like she couldn't control her blood lust. 

Fresh screams drove her to instinctively look up. She could see the shine of exposed muscle, smeared blood and the curve of bone, but she didn't look away. They were stupid and arrogant, if they thought they could get in and out of here undetected. Were they ignorant of vampires' heightened senses? Or were they foolish enough to think it didn't matter? Either way, they deserved to die. Katie glared at them, her lip curled in disgust. They had come here to harm. She felt no pity for them. 

She looked down at the disembodied hands as Lord Mikajia mentioned them. Katie knelt down besides them, carefully taking both pistols into her hands. She pointed them at the ground, and quickly discharged the magazines, before starting examine the grips for carvings or insignias.

Saleth lifted his gaze to the roofs behind the humans when he saw a flicker of a shadow. Turns out, that shadow was Mikajia. The heavy scent of blood filled the area as the other noble cut off the black haired human's remaining arm and the brown haired human's wrists and hands. "Such a flashy entrance," The short noble mumbled as he sheathed Miteagus. He placed his boots back on the ground and quickly slipped them on, thankful for their familiar feeling. He never liked walking around without his boots, it just felt awkward without them on.

Red eyes locked onto Mikajia as he started questioning the brown haired human. His gaze drifted to the commoner Mikajia brought along and saw that she was inspecting the now empty guns. Looks like this one wasn't dumb like the other low ranked vampires. No wonder Mikajia didn't kill her. A low grunt caught his attention and he turned his head to see the black haired human struggling to his feet since he was missing both arms. The silver haired vampire looked back at Mikajia and the other human and saw that he was still refusing to speak. Red eyes looked back at the black haired human and a smirk slowly formed.

The most common trait found in humans is their loyalty to each other. Perhaps these two share that trait? After all, humans usually did whatever it took to save the lives of their comrades. A weakness he intended to use. Saleth started walking towards the struggling human and watched as he turned his head to see the short noble coming in his direction. The human snarled at the sight of the short noble and tried to back away. He didn't get far before the silver haired noble grabbed the front of his bloodied shirt and pulled him forward. The human struggled as much as he could without arms as the short noble looked back to see the other human staring at him with eyes filled with fear.

"You should answer his questions," Saleth grabbed a fistful of black hair and pulled on it to expose the human's neck. "Otherwise I might drain your friend here dry." The black haired human growled a couple curses before hissing in pain when Saleth sank his fangs into the exposed flesh, gulping down the delicious blood. Now all he had to do was wait for the brown haired human to spill their secrets in a hopeless effort to save his friends life.

Mikajia listened first as Katie walked over to the pistols on the ground, picked them up and shot all the rounds into the ground, rendering them completely useless. Then turned slightly to watch Saleth walk over to the other human that he'd kicked into the wall. He listened to Saleth threaten to drain the man dry unless the brown haired one answered Mikajia's question.

Mikajia turned his eyes back on the one he was questioning, watching him stare with wide fearful eyes as Saleth began drinking from the other one. He seemed to be inwardly struggling with the choice. Mikajia's brows narrowed slightly when he saw the man apparently come to a determined decision. He didn't like what he could imagine running through the man's head, knowing that it had to be something that wouldn't help them. Mikajia saw the man's jaw starting to work, as if he was trying to bite his cheek with a particular amount of force.

It quickly registered that he was probably trying to kill himself, and was about to bite down on a cyanide pill. "Ah ah ah." Mikajia said, quickly sticking his fingers in the man's mouth and forcing his jaw open. He used his other hand to reach in and pull out the pill he saw at the back of his mouth. "We don't want you dying on us and taking those wonderful secrets with you, now do we?" He said, still keeping the man's mouth forced open, he smiled menacingly as an idea came to mind.

"You know what Saleth? Go ahead and just drain the human. He was bound to dye anyway from blood loss after losing both limbs. Plus, there's no guarantee that he cares enough about the other's life to give us all that we need. However," His eyes narrowed darkly as his sadistic nature peeked its head out, "There is, one thing that he's almost undoubtedly guaranteed to care greatly about." The man began shaking, trying to scramble away from Mikajia as he leaned closer. He didn't manage much seeing as Mikajia quickly grabbed him by the throat.

"Not only are you a human, but you are a member of JIDA, are you not?" Mikajia said quietly, he could feel the tremors running through the man, see his eyes working frantically as he tried to figure out Mikajia's thought process. "That means, you possess a certain passionate hatred for my kind. A desire to see us wiped off the face of the earth. You view us as a plague to life. You loathe us to your very core. Am I wrong?" He asked the man quietly, but his words were still heard by all present. Mikajia's lips curved into a smirk, when he saw the dread set in as the human was finally beginning to see where he was going with this.

"So then, I wonder what it would do to you, if we turned you into that very thing you hated so much. And then forced you to live as that creature. Now that would be hell, wouldn't it?" Mikajia finished, chuckling to himself. "So what'll it be? You can either give us all the information you have, or we can turn you. It's your choice."

Saleth glanced at Mikajia and the other human out of the corner of his eyes when the taller noble said something about not letting him die now. His eyes narrowed when Mikajia said to go ahead and drain the human he was currently drinking from. Hm, seems like these humans would rather die then give up their secrets. Killing one of them won't affect their investigation too much. That was fine by him, this human tasted delicious. He turned his attention back to the human he was feeding from and started taking larger gulps. In a couple more seconds he let the limp body fall to the ground with blood dripping down his chin. "I seem to have gotten to excited," He mumbled as he wiped the blood off his chin. Usually he wasn't this messy when he drinks from humans, though it has been a while since the last time he fed directly from a human.

The silver haired noble looked in Mikajia's direction when he started talking again. He frowned briefly, wondering where the other noble was going with stating that the male human was both human and part of the army, and it dawned on him. Was he planning on threatening to turn the human into a vampire? They were both nobles so it was possible to turn a human into a vampire, but he didn't see any benefit in turning a human. Especially a spy. He hoped that Mikajia was actually planning on turning the spy if he were to still refuse to give information, it could cause trouble.

The higher ranked nobles will be very displeased if it were to be found out that Mikajia turned a spy into one of them. And with their wide information network it'll be nearly impossible to keep that a secret. Saleth frowned even more and started walking towards Mikajia, stopping at his side. The taller noble would need more added to his threat to make it real. The silver haired noble lifted his left wrist sightly and rolled down the sleeve a bit. He brought his wrist up to his mouth and let his fangs cut a clean line straight across his pale flesh. He watched as blood dripping down his wrist to his hands and onto the ground below in thick drops, filling the air around him with the scent of his blood. He held his bleeding wrist in the human's vision as a silent promise and was satisfied to see horror and disgust clear in the human's eyes. "What will it be?" The silver haired noble purred with a dark smile.

Mikajia could tell the human was on the brink of breaking by his threat, and when Saleth stepped forward cutting his own wrist and placed his dripping wrist in the human's vision their victory was all but guaranteed. "Just give us what we want, and you'll get a quick painless death. If not, you'll become what you hate so much. But more than that," a sadistic and dark smile twisted his features, knowing that his next threat would hit far too close to home for the human, "When you're good and thirsty, after we've kept you from feeding, making you ravenous, we'll make a little visit to your home. Let you see all your friends and loved ones. And then watch as you slaughter them all. How does that sound?" Mikajia said, a sickly sweet smile on his face as he spoke.

"Y-you, monster!" The man choked out, trying to gasp for breath around Mikajia's hand on his throat, tears streaming down his face.

"Just give me the name. And it will all be over. Just one little name." He said. And he could tell the human had cracked. The sheer look of defeat on his face was undeniable. Mikajia turned his head slightly, raising his brows in expectation of the name. But he wasn't prepared for what he would hear.

Mikajia knew that something had gone very wrong within their ruling ranks at some point. When it had become more about how much power each of them could wield, rather than squashing the humans like the bugs they were. Playing their little games of power struggle and politics. When they had started to become more concerned with their image and name than the totality of their victory; allowing the humans a chance at revenge. It was all but guaranteed that they had a rat in their ranks. Imagining that fact, and actually knowing it to be such were two different things. Mikajia never wanted to believe that their kind were willing to stoop to the human's level. But in the end, it was true.

That one name spoken from the human, "L-Lay-la." And the harsh truth of his reality was thrown in his face. Mikajia's eyes began to slowly widen, a storm of rage building within him. A vicious snarl tore out of his lips, his face contorting in fury; Mikajia's free hand shot through the man's gut, grasping his spine and ripping it through his stomach while his other hand simultaneously tore his throat out.

Traitorous bitch. He thought in anger as he breathed heavily, trying to calm himself.

If Katie were human, she would have vomited. She dropped the pistols in panic and scrambled back, leaning against the wall of a nearby house and trying to get the image of Lord Mikajia's hand entering the human's body out of her mind. All she could see was red, and to her disgust her thirst surged, but she forced it back down. She took several deep breaths to calm herself. She couldn't be weak here. 

She pushed to her feet, her legs shaking underneath her. She rallied her panic and looked up at the two nobles, trying not to concentrate on the gore. The human's words came rushing back to her.

Layla, the divine leader of the city, had let humans into it? She had been entrusted with their safety...everyone trusted her, and she had betrayed them? 

Katie suspected there was much more to it than that, but she also realized with a jolt that she knew a secret. Lord Mikajia must have known this might happen...did he trust her? Was it merely an oversight? Or, was he planning to kill her? There was more going on here than Katie could put together, and that thought terrified her. She was a liability, she knew something she wasn't supposed to, and now she was going to be killed. Whether it was Lord Mikajia, Lord Saleth, or one of Lady Layla's inner circle; she was going to be killed. 

Katie took a step backwards towards the alley that led to the main road. "Someone should...tell the others," she said quickly. "And I have a job to do. Thank you for looking out for me, sirs, but I think I should be leaving."

Saleth silently watched as Mikajia continued to add to his threat to coax the human into telling them a name. But he was not prepared to hear who exactly let them in. Layla, this area's Progenitor, is a traitor. "It goes all the way to the top, hm?" He murmured to himself softly. He blinked in surprise when the taller noble violently killed the human in a gory way. "Now now, Mikajia," He placed his bloodied hand on the other noble's shoulder. "No need to be so violent." He would've said more but the commoner behind them started saying something about leaving. Red eyes quickly locked onto her form and narrowed. The commoner seemed nervous again, he wondered if she just always looked nervous. Why did Mikajia bring her in the first place? She was his responsibility so he'll let the other noble deal with her how he sees fit.

He turned his attention back to Mikajia and removed his hand from his shoulder. "This reveal could work in our favor," He murmured quietly so Katie wouldn't hear what he was saying. "It'll depend on how carefully we plan but taking down a traitorous Progenitor could be exactly what we need, no?"

Mikajia clenched and loosened his hands repeatedly, taking several deep breaths as he calmed himself, even though every fiber of his being wanted to rip everything around him to shreds. Cooler heads always prevail. He kept chanting in his mind, little by little feeling himself start to relax and calm down. He was so lost in the battle over his emotions, he barely registered the hand that was placed on his shoulder by Saleth. It was a few seconds later that he heard Katie's words, telling them she was going to try and get help. He was slow to react, still reeling from the surge of anger that had burned through him, and only held his position, long enough to hear but not register Saleth's words until he had already moved.

Mikajia appeared suddenly behind Katie, his movements a silent whisper, and his speed fast enough that even Saleth's eyes would have struggled to keep up. His looming form covered by the shadows thrown by the buildings around them; red eyes, glaringly visible, bore down at Katie. He wasn't angry at her, though it would appear so, he was still silently warring with the anger within him. With one final deep breath, Mikajia closed his eyes, holding the air in for a few seconds before finally exhaling slowly, forcing his mind to relax. He could feel as his entire frame also released its tension.

When he finally opened his eyes again, they were much calmer. Mikajia knelt down in front of Katie, "Do you understand, that what you just heard is very dangerous information to posses? I don't think I need to tell you, that if what he said is true, that likely means that there are others who have turned besides just Layla. You don't know who you can trust now. When either Layla herself, or those loyal to her find out what you know, you would be killed instantly." He knelt there quietly for a second, Saleth's words from just a moment ago finally registering in his mind. True, Layla being corrupt definitely would play in their favor for his plan.

Mikajia had believed from the moment he saw Katie that she could be of use to him. He had sensed potential, but knew she had yet to realize it herself. He knew she let her emotions control her a little too much, but he could also see that she was learning. The fact that she still felt things so strongly though, could potentially be an asset. Mikajia had seen far too many vampires fall to apathy, and simply stop caring about things, or worse, start caring about the wrong things. So her passion was a welcome change. "There is a plan in motion." Mikajia said, knowing that he was taking a risk saying anything to the girl, seeing as he still didn't know her all that well. But he knew this time would have to come eventually. "I can't tell you everything just yet. But I can tell you this, especially after hearing what we just did. It's going to be crucial from here on out, that you are very careful who you trust, or talk to. Honestly, to be safe, I'd assume that everybody Layla deals with on a daily basis is in league with her." He kept the part about him not siding with the woman silent, seeing as that should be obvious, especially after his reaction to the news.

"A storm is coming Katie. And you're right in the middle of it. And you're survival will depend entirely upon who you trust." He never let his eyes leave Katie, letting the intensity of his own show the seriousness and danger of the situation. "Join me. I'll make sure you are protected, and trained, to the best of my abilities. This is not a demand, by the way. It's a request." He said, making sure she understood that she actually had a choice. "However, if you choose not to, I want it understood that you are sworn to secrecy. If for nothing else, than the protection of your own life."

There were several moments when Katie was absolutely certain that Lord Mikajia was going to kill her. He moved much faster than she'd expected, and he glared down at her with unimaginable, horrific anger. She scrambled backwards in panic, but as he calmed, she managed to get a better handle on her emotions. Panicking wouldn't do her any good, and it didn't look like he wanted to kill her just yet. 

She didn't want to interrupt him, so she listened to his speech without commenting. Of course she knew how much danger she was in. Part of her was irritated at him for not letting her leave when she wanted to, but it was too late for that now. She was caught up in the middle of something bigger than she was, and there was no easy exit. At least Lord Mikajia seemed to understand that, and the burden it put on her. And, the more he spoke, Katie realized that he didn't want to kill her. The opposite, really. He wanted to use her. He wanted to gain her trust. He wanted to help her. 

Something seemed to burst inside her chest. She didn't know what sort of feeling it was, only that it was powerful. She looked up at Lord Mikajia, figuring out what she wanted to say. 

"Thank you," she murmured. "But don't assume I don't understand the danger I'm in. Now there's an incredible majority of nobles that would kill me on sight if I told them what I know. I'm surprised you two aren't included in that number." She paused, planning out her words very carefully. 

"Of course I'm not going to tell anyone what I know. And of course I don't trust anyone." She crossed her arms, looking up at Lord Mikajia and processing his offer. Protection. Training. She had to trust someone in all this. And Lord Mikajia had every reason to strike her dead, right here and now. But he hadn't. He was taking a risk because for some strange reason, he didn't want her to die. He didn't want to control her, he wanted to understand her. That was much more than she could say of any other noble. 

She admired him, respected him, and, based on his actions, trusted him. It would be an honor to assist him in whatever he had planned, and she felt certain that she would come out much better if she stuck with him. 

"Yes," she said quietly, nodding her head. "I would...appreciate that. Very much. I would like to stay at your side." She bowed her head. "I promise."

Saleth flinched in shock when Mikajia practically disappeared from his spot. He could feel a rush of wind go pass him and turned around to see Mikajia in front of Katie. The taller noble's abilities seem to be increasing rapidly from what he has seen so far, he didn't improve this much at Mikajia's age. Mikajia must have been turned by a more powerful vampire to have his abilities grow so much in  such a short time span. He looked down at the gory mess Mikajia created and shook his head. He listened to Mikajia talk to Katie while he examined the bodies for more useful information. He grimaced when he pulled a piece of paper out of the human's pocket and was displeased to see it was completely soaked in blood. He dropped the bloody mess back onto the corpse and stood up, wiping his hands on his pants absently. He lifted his wrist up and saw that the wound he created was already closed.

He tensed slightly when Mikajia asked Katie to join him. He turned his head to look at the duo as the taller noble said he would protect and train her if she were to join him. What was he thinking?! He was asking a commoner to join them in the fight to the top! Wait, he asked Katie to join him. Not us. The short noble frowned briefly before looking away. Mikajia was the one who started all this so it was only natural for him to say that and ask others to join them without asking for his opinion, but he couldn't help but feel a bit irritated. He could understand somewhat with asking a commoner to join them, nobles tended to look down on them so they were the perfect spies and easy to dispose of. However, Mikajia didn't seem to be thinking about that at all. He must see something else in Katie that he couldn't.

He glanced back at them when Katie started speaking. He wasn't surprised when she said she'll stay at Mikajia's side. That was ironic, he also said he would stay at Mikajia's side when he was asked to join him. He sighed softly and looked away and his eyes narrowed at the wall. The commoner better be careful, he wouldn't hesitate to dispose of her if she proves to be a burden to them. He gave the duo one last look before silently walking away since he assumed he wasn't needed anymore. He looked down at his uniform as he walked away and frowned, he needed to burn this since it had the humans blood on it. Another uniform down the drain.