A/N
: Thanks be to my editor amerks29hockey, an of course all the reviewers.
* * *
The sword slipped from Seere's hands as everyone watched April sink to the ground beside the vampire. Rane was the first to move, catching her before she hit the ground and the hooked blade tore more of her away.
Seere stood there, vaguely aware of Rane calling for him. He couldn't move. He couldn't help. Too much blood had been spilled, even he had his limits and her pulse was almost gone. He could hear its rhythm, taste the blood in the air; air that seemed to pull at him and move with him at the same time.
Like the Netherspace
.
He jumped at the realization.
What was he doing here?
He tried to ground himself back to the mortal world but something gripped him and held him back. His head snapped around looking for the cause of his restraint. A light moved forward from the darkness and materialized as a man in a black, hooded robe. His gray eyes smiled at Seere with something like amusement, and he pulled a chair from the haze of the space before sitting down.
"Seere, is it?" Laughter rang in his tone.
"Who the fuck are you?"
The man laughed and lifted the ground beneath Seere, settling his figure in a chair like his own. "I'm the one responsible for tonight's little affair," he answered.
Seere's knuckles turned white as he tried to drag himself from the chair unsuccessfully. A dull pain started in his head indicating his time was running short. "Why? She hasn't even come into her powers yet. Why would you need to kill her?" He choked over the bile in his throat.
The man smiled. "I don't."
Seere looked at him curiously, "what business do you have with her life?"
"That shouldn't be your concern
Seere.
I would be willing to let the beings I've employed have their fun, but I thought it only fair to offer you the opportunity as well."
"What opportunity is that?"
"The opportunity to get your memory back," he grinned, "to be able to walk between worlds without dying, or enter the Netherspace without bleeding," he gestured at Seere's face and Seere could feel the blood running down it as the pain intensified. "To return to what and where you are from, and let me tell you boy, it would be worth the sacrifice."
"And all I'd have to do is kill April?"
"No, I don't want to kill April, Seere. I want her to live. I want her to get her powers back. I have no intention of
killing
her."
"Then what do you want with her?" His voice was thick and his vision spun around him.
"I want her with me. It shouldn't be difficult for you to find the right sacrificial order. So many of them will work."
He gritted his teeth against the pain, "go to Hell!"
The man laughed again moving forward, his voice barely a whisper. "Isn't dragon's blood a fascinating thing? Right now she's lying in a triangle and all you'd have to do is say my name, and let her die. Human, vampire and dragon blood. A very potent mix, wouldn't you agree? The name's Gare. Take your time, I'll be waiting." He disappeared and Seere landed on his hands and knees in the living room.
Michael and Rane were bent over April, Michael snapped the top off the khopesh and Rane removing it as delicately as possible. Charity spotted him from across the room and helped him to his feet dragging him towards April. Her words seemed urgent but Seere couldn't hear them. His mind was caught on something Gare had said.
Dragon's blood
.
Charity cut his palms and pushed him down beside April. "Heal her!"
"I can't."
"What?"
He turned towards April and watched the last strain of her pulse slip. "She's too far gone, I won't be able to keep her alive for less than a minute, let alone heal her."
She knelt down beside him in stunned silence. He let his hands trail through the silver blood on the floor, wracking his brain for the memory that wouldn't surface. He thought he heard a soft chuckle in his mind before it hit.
An alchemist in a seedy bar, "
Dragon's blood has many unique properties boy. At one point it was believed to be the fountain of youth. Now we know better. Its energy conducts other elements. The problem is stability. It's too strong for use on the mortal plane. On others, however it's greatly sought after to temporarily increase power. It's a good thing there aren't many dragons out there.
"
His eyes snapped back to April's inert figure and he lifted his palms coated with blood. "I hope this works," he mumbled, and pressed his hands into the wound.
* * *
"Why is it you're always the one unconscious?" A gentle, familiar voice called to her through the darkness.
April opened her eyes, wincing as the light burned through her head. Brown eyes laughed at her and she smiled. "Rane."
"It's nice to see you too princess. We weren't sure we could save you. Lucky for you, dragon blood carries some unique properties."
She choked on the words, her throat painfully dry. "Dragon blood healed me?"
"No. Seems it increases the effect of certain powers. Healing being one."
"Is Wade okay?"
Rane's smile widened, "he's been lashing out at everything that moves, and a few things that don't. He blames himself for what happened."
"But that's wrong."
"Yes it is," a very angry voice called from behind Rane. She shut her eyes, breathing in and out. But when she looked up, the sight of him still pissed her off. "It's yours."
Rane rolled his eyes at her in an attempt to calm the tension. She ignored him and did her best to glare with white spots still flying in front of her eyes. "Did you expect me to just sit back and watch all of you die?"
"Yes."
She matched his tone. "Sorry to disappoint."
He shifted his eyes down to where the wound had been. He flashed Rane a guilty look and turned to walk away.
Yes, because April's a weak and frail little girl, playing grown up games
. "I'm not fucking sorry, you bastard," she yelled after him "I can handle myself in a fight and if you think I'm going to sit on the sidelines while your big, strong testosterone-charged ass fights my battles for me,
you