An Arranged Trade [Twenty Six] Prisoner to a Vampire

Hehehe, I'll keep theeye candy up for this part. :D Sorry it's so short. I'm running on 4 hours of sleep.

From where we left of in the retelling of Daemon and Lacuna's story...

Lacuna led the way through the forest, shrouding him with his large shadows, as they approached the pack’s whereabouts. He nodded his head to the side and Daemon immediately took it as a signal to climb the nearest tree for protection and observation.

“Well look who’s back!” A black wolf with a white patch of fur in the middle of it’s snout smiled up at his figure. It immediately pounced onto Lacuna, spilling them both onto the ground like a couple of kids.

“Nelda, you’re crushing me,” Lacuna gasped from under the black mess of fur that lay upon him. He felt a tongue lick at his cheek as Nelda quickly pushed herself off.

“Where’ve you been?” A scrawny silver wolf asked from a patch of leaves that were burning with flame.

“Hunting,” Lacuna quickly lied as he sat beside Nelda, her fur gently brushing against his. “No luck.”

“Shame,” The silver wolf frowned. “Xavier was looking for you earlier. Apparently two of the humans escaped. We couldn’t track them down. We followed their scent until we reached the river, but the water washed their scent away. We figured they had gone down stream and the crocs got ‘em.”

Lacuna faked a frown at him and turned to Nelda. “We still have the other human, don’t we?”

“Yes,” Nelda rubbed her snout against Lacuna’s in comfort. “The ritual will still proceed.”

“Good,” Lacuna smiled as he slowly lifted his eyes up into one of the trees, immediately locking with Daemon’s. Another signal.

Daemon slowly and quietly worked his way from branch to branch until he found himself hovering a bit over a small hut that seemed to be made from cloth and twine.

He could catch a few mumbles, possibly prayers, coming from the hut and began to descend the trees. When he finally reached the ground with a small thump, the sound seemed to stop. He could suddenly sense fear radiating from the hut and the frightened thoughts of the woman inside filled his head with sadness. He slowly advanced, his hand slipping over the opening.

He pulled back the curtain to reveal a frail shape shivering in the corner of the hut. Long blonde hair fell over the girl’s back, her dark brown eyes peered up at him glassy with fear.

She slowly scoot backwards as Daemon approached her, worry crossing his face.
“I’m here to help,” he held out his hand to her. She questioned it momentarily before speaking.

“W-who are y-you?” She stuttered in a hushed whisper, afraid that anyone would overhear.

“Daemon,” He slowly answered as a small smile tugged at his lips. He outstretched his hand further, waiting.

“I’m V-Victoria,” Her hand slowly slipped into his as he pulled her closer. Her legs grew weak and gave out from under her as she stumbled, landing straight into Daemon’s chest.

The candlelight from the ground lit up the soft brown ears that protruded from her head, flicking back and forth through the silence.

---

“Holy shi-” Alice’s mouth was clamped shut by Daemon once more in her attempt to shout.

“What's the deal this time?” Daemon raised an eyebrow at Alice.

“Victoria,” Alice frowned. “I met her. She was in the cell next to me before you helped me.”

“What?” Daemon whispered, clearly confused. “You met her?”

“Yeah, but only for a bit.” Alice explained as she wrapped her arms around herself, protecting from the cold. Daemon automatically snaked his hand around her waist and pulled her close, trying to provide her with impossible warmth. “Before you showed up, Laurence came in and took her. He said she was needed by Athen for an order. She didn’t want to go.”

“That’s because Victoria is his spy,” Lacuna intervened as he sat up in the dirt. “She has a closer link to the werewolves than Athen’s kind has. I can’t spy well due to the fact I’m obliged to be beside them at all times. But Victoria knows the schedules, the rituals, the traits and weakness, and everything else. She was held there long enough to learn such things.”

"Spy?" Alice tilted her head. "How did she become a spy?"

"After I rescued her and brought her back home, she felt the need to repay us for saving her," Daemon scratched the back of his head. "Ather decided that she could prove to be useful in informing him of the wolves activities. He just didn't express just what she would be doing."

"Ah," Alice muttered.

“The only reason Victoria would have not wanted to obey Athen’s orders is because he’d have wanted her to find them,” Daemon added. “She’s deathly afraid of being recaptured by them.”

“I see,” Alice understood now. The expression that had crossed her face finally had become clear to her. Her mind began to rewind to the previous event.

"Athen has an assignment for you, Victoria." Laurence sighed as he turned back to her.

Something told Alice it wasn't necessarily a good thing by the desperate look that crossed Victoria's face. Her kitten ears flicked down against her head in sadness as she scooted away from him, her tail dipping into the cold water.

"I don't want to," she softly whined as her dark brown eyes darted up towards Laurence in plea. Alice watched as his face softened for a moment, but then became serious once more.

"You agreed to this. You swore to honor us," he frowned at her.

"But not to this," Victoria frowned. “I don’t want to go back to them.”

The sound of snapping fingers awakened Alice from her dream-like state.

“Earth to Alice,” Daemon poked her nose as he watched the glazed over look vanish from her eyes.

“Sorry,” Alice frowned up at him. “I was thinking.”

“Don’t think too hard, Princess. You might pop a blood vessel,” Lacuna lolled his tongue out as he gave a wolfish laugh. “Are we ever going to finish this story?”

Daemon narrowed his eyes at Lacuna and readjusted his composure. “Well, as I was saying…”