I hadn’t noticed I was still standing in the doorway to what was obviously the coterie meeting until I heard a quiet sound of someone clearing their throat. I darted my eyes to the noise, focusing on a man who was gesturing me to… what looked like… come closer. I hesitated physically; looking around as though someone else was nearby that this stranger could be trying to get the attention of. A few of the other members of the coterie nearby him looked over as well, stunning me further when they also gestured for me to join them.

While I didn’t exactly trust to be near so many vampires who previously had hated me with every fiber of their being, I also knew I had clearly been caught spying on their meeting. And I knew I must have witnessed something not a lot of humans were allowed to see. I was curious as to what was going on and the fact that I wasn’t being shunned to leave also intrigued me.

I finally moved to stand near the man and the group around him parted slightly to give me room to see Jacobi clearly. When I was settled, I watched where members closer to the front were patting the new coterie member, greeting him warmly to their ranks. Then I looked at Jacobi, whose eyes briefly caught mine before I quickly looked away. I expected him to say something about me being there, but again I was permitted to stay.

The power of his spirit had died down just as soon as he had bonded the new member to the coterie. Obviously, when he summoned his spiritual life force to bond this vampire to the coterie, it had for some reason called out to me as well. I didn’t understand why or how it happened. As a human, I wasn’t supposed to react to a vampire’s life force beyond that of claiming and healing. Even then, the spirit wasn’t actually supposed to be felt by a human like me. And then to feel that jolt I had felt when Jacobi had bonded the man… it just wasn’t natural.

“The next order of business,” Jacobi stated dominantly, waiting for a moment. Another male vampire appeared out of the audience, pulling beside him a very nervous looking young woman who for some reason I could tell was completely human. She was absolutely stunning, though not in the way these supernatural beings were. Her eyes darted around the room with very clear stage fright, but I could tell her fear didn’t actually go as deep as the fear of her life. When you’ve felt that fear as often as I had, you could tell the difference on other’s faces. She clung to the vampire’s arm delicately. I worried the poor thing might faint any moment, but she seemed to be holding herself rather well.

“Master Jacobi, I ask for permission to make this human my Kindred,” The vampire asked, bowing his head before Jacobi. I blinked before turning my face to the man who had called me over next to him. I opened my mouth, but then closed it, reminding myself this person wasn’t Xander or Aveline. In fact, where were Xander and Aveline?

“What is it?” The man asked me, having caught my confused expression before I could look around for my companions.

“I… didn’t know vampires had to ask their Master for permission to make Kindred,” I stated quietly, blushing shyly at voicing my concerns. Jacobi was now looking over the human, asking her questions about herself and what she knew of vampires. She answered with a surprisingly strong and knowledgeable voice for someone who looked so frail.

“It’s not a requirement,” The man told me simply, “You ask in case you want your Kindred to be in your coterie, especially if you plan to mate with your Kindred. If you don’t ask your Kindred could end up rejected and have to request to join other coteries… and if it takes too long…”

“They could go rogue,” I answered him carefully, remembering the mindless state of the unbounded vampires. “Is there no cure for it? Turning rogue?”

“None,” He responded solemnly. I looked at him carefully then. He had skin of mahogany, ebony eyes unlike that of demon form, and even darker hair that was low faded appealingly. I recognized him, knowing I had seen him before, but not sure when it was. So many times I had seen the angry faces of the coterie, but never had I recognized them individually.

“I’m Elysia,” I introduced myself awkwardly.

“I know,” He stated in response, but then cast a glance at me before saying, “Wyatt.”

“You have my permission,” Jacobi’s voice rang out in authority. I glanced back to the situation at hand to see the frail girl squeaking happily before embracing the vampire, who thanked Jacobi excessively. Obviously this was going to be a case of the vampire wanting to mate with his Kindred.

“I hope they’re spiritually compatible,” I sighed wistfully, sounding awfully romantic. I did wish well on people, though. And it was nice to see people happy. I didn’t notice the strange look my new acquaintance, Wyatt, threw to me while I watched the hopefully future mates move back into the crowd and ultimately the human left the meeting. It interested me to know there were other people in the building in situations similar to mine, though probably not kidnapped and on death row.

“The next order of-,” Jacobi was interrupted almost immediately.

“That’ll be me,” a familiar voice boomed, storming toward Jacobi to present herself. Corentine stood aggressively before the coterie, looking extremely unpleasant regardless of her stunningly soft features. I wondered what she had been like when her mate was alive, if her personality had been as bright as her honey blonde hair. Seeing her now, I couldn’t understand how I ever thought she was a friend of my roommates. It had to have been the way she was dressed that night…

“State your business, Corentine,” Jacobi’s voice softened when he addressed her, intriguing me. Though she repeatedly disobeyed his wishes and tried to harm me multiple times, he obviously had a weak spot left for her which promised her my death. I wondered if this was what her business was; the lack of my death.

“The majority of the coterie has vowed their protection to the Monet girl,” Corentine seethed, my heart jolting in my chest after hearing my name being spoken. I was startled. Was she speaking the truth? Had the coterie really vowed to protect a member of the Monet family? I could still hear their voices flooding through me; I vow the same. “All except for a quiet handful, you, and me.”

“I am aware of this,” Jacobi responded simply.

“I’m requesting to return to my previous coterie.” There was a burst of chatter around the room at the request. I felt a slow anxiety rising in me, afraid maybe the coterie would turn on me now that I had caused one of their own to want to leave them. Before my anxiety could grow too quickly, I felt a soft caress on my arm and looked to find Aveline standing next to me with a small reassuring smile. I nearly sighed with relief.

“What are the grounds for your request?” Jacobi continued over the hushed voices, silencing the masses.

“I joined this coterie to be with my mate. My mate was killed by the Monet. I feel I am no longer compatible with this coterie and wish to return to my previous Maker, Noland McElroy, and his coterie,” Corentine responded professionally. Her anger seemed to be calmed with her every word, causing me to think maybe moving her to another place wasn’t such a bad idea after all. Jacobi seemed to examine her intensely for the longest time, in which she only stood still as a statue.

“This is what you truly wish, Corentine?” He finally asked.

“It is.”

Jacobi looked at the gathered coterie. “I shall request an audience with Nolan McElroy immediately. I will select a few members to join me. After making the proper advances, we shall present him with your request and should he accept, I will grant you permission to leave us.” Something in the way he said the final words told me that the idea of her leaving his coterie bothered him. I wondered if maybe he had a relationship with her beyond being a coterie member… A mate, definitely not, but perhaps they were close friends of some sort.

“I understand and I accept these terms,” Corentine said before turning to go back into the surrounding group. When I saw her face, I noticed she also seemed crestfallen at her own request. She spotted me immediately and her expression turned from disheartened to livid. I abruptly stepped back from her glare, running into a solid body. When glancing behind me, I found Xander standing protectively, watching Corentine as well.

“Are there any more topics needed to be discussed?” Jacobi asked the coterie. When none answered, he nodded. “You’re dismissed. Eastmund, Callum, stay.” I immediately turned to leave, seeing as I was obviously not one of the names listed to stay put, but Aveline kept a grip on my wrist to halt my attempted escape. I had to stay still while the entire coterie casted me odd glances on their way out. This was my punishment for not following my brain instead of my soul…

“What-,” I looked at Xander, who put a finger over his lips to indicate my silence. The only other person not moving to leave was the vampire, Wyatt. He stood calm, waiting for what I assumed were orders. I didn’t hear Jacobi call him to stay, but then again I didn’t know his full name so perhaps Callum was his last as Eastmund was Aveline and Xander’s. I wondered if he was going to get in trouble for getting me to sit in on their meeting.

I felt his presence even before I saw him. When I turned around to face Jacobi, he was only standing a few feet away from our small group, now the only ones left in the room. Even though I hadn’t caught him physically, I knew he had been looking at the wounds on my back just before I had turned, though I wasn’t sure why. I instinctively inched closer to my vampire companions.

“You three will assist Corentine and me to McElroy’s territory,” Jacobi stated, ignoring me completely. His voice and face was emotionless, but I knew he wasn’t pleased with having to go through the process of losing one of his members.

“Shouldn’t we bring more than just us?” Wyatt asked bravely, though his tone was familiar with Jacobi, as though he saw him as more a friend than a Master. Something told me this was why he was being picked out to assist him.

“I don’t want Noland to think we’re trying to intimidate him,” Jacobi responded simply. He turned his eyes to Aveline, a small smile raising the corners of his mouth. For a moment before he spoke again, I scrutinized his features, trying to see the human relation to Aveline. Obviously, the generation gap extinguished a majority of common features, but I could see something in his smile, no matter how small it was. “Aveline, you know what I’d like you to do.”

“Of course,” She answered easily, “I’ll call him and ask permission for a visit.”

“We’ll need gifts,” Xander spoke suddenly. I felt the longer they discussed this, the more I became that small child waiting at a grocery store for her mother to stop talking to a random passerby or friend.

“Gather a few of our humans. Callum will get the token.” When Xander physically hesitated, he drew Jacobi’s full attention carefully. “Unless you’d rather present your human as a gift instead, Eastmund?” His eyes finally fell on me. My skin turned to fire under his heated look.

“No,” Xander quickly said, “I’ll gather the humans…” I knew why he didn’t want to. I would have bet anything Xander would prefer to fetch a token rather than shepherd humans to be gifts to a Master vampire for who knew what, especially when he knew of a certain Master who would probably do horrible things if he received humans.

“I want to bring Elysia too,” Aveline chirped surprisingly, a smug look settling on her face. When Xander, Jacobi, even Wyatt, and I stared at her openly, she shrugged. “Not as a gift, of course. For company.”

“Absolutely not,” Jacobi said sternly.

“What harm would it do?” Aveline crossed her arms over her chest stubbornly.

“They could kill her, Aveline,” Xander argued, interrupting whatever Jacobi was going to say. “She’s a Monet. They’ve done as much damage to McElroy’s coterie as anyone else in this country… Hell, even in other countries!”

“If they kill her, they’ll have to deal with the law,” Aveline said crossly. She turned and looked at her Maker. “I want to bring Elysia. She doesn’t get out much. You can bring her as a trophy to show off to McElroy. How many coteries have successfully captured and tamed a v… Monet?”

Jacobi stared at her intensely, but she didn’t back down. I honestly didn’t want to go to another coterie’s territory. I’d had plenty of fun with this one as it was. I looked back and forth between Jacobi and Aveline, hoping somehow Jacobi would fight through her stubbornness and state the sanest option, which would be leaving me here. Or actually, he should just let me go altogether. Instead, I saw the crumbling of his resolve even before he submitted.

“Fine,” He stated, “Get everything together. I want to leave as soon as possible.” Just like that, Jacobi was gone. Aveline squealed, jumping up and down happily. Then she had to work on setting up the visit to the McElroy coterie. Xander had to gather human sacrifices, though I didn’t know how many. Wyatt was in need of obtaining some token. And me?

I was going on a road trip.

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And that's the end of my Halloween double-trouble post! I guess I should give partial credit to the boyfriend, he's the one who suggested I post two updates for the holidays. :3

Anyway, I didn't edit as much on this one so if you see any bad grammar mistakes, let me know. The song for this one is: Hozier's Like Real People Do. Have a spooky Halloween!