Akari watched as the stain on her white trousers grew in size. She almost had a sick sense of fascination at the brilliant red. Given her particular powers as a healer, it wasn't all that surprising.

'We'll be there soon,' Nico reassured her, misunderstanding her quietness.

Akari looked up and nodded. The view outside her window momentarily distracted her from her wound and her rescuer.

'Is São Luís always this...' she trailed off, struggling to find the right word.

'Alive? Vibrant?' Nico supplied. 'This is nothing compared to Maranhão. The streets are packed, and there's music and games.'

'Sounds like a lot of fun,' Akari said wistfully.

'The breathers seem to enjoy it.'

Akari frowned. 'Breathers?'

'Non-vampires.'

There was no time for her to question him as they wound up a small hill, pulling away from the bright lights of the suburbs. They passed between two stone pillars connecting to a stone wall that ran the entire length of the property.

Akari craned her neck upwards at the large three story building. A few lights lit the windows, turning the cream coloured walls to white. She shivered as they parked the car in one of the many spaces against the perimeter wall.

'Where are we?' It was eerily quiet, very different from the bustling place they'd left. It made Akari feel out of sorts and for the first time, she wondered whether going off with a strange vampire was the right thing to do. It wasn't like she could have asked him for his vampire prince ID. She only had his word to go off, and he had protected her.

Nico shook his head and got out of the car. 'You're only asking that now?'

Akari scowled and followed his example. 'There's a lot on my mind,' she defended and then stumbled when she placed her full weight on her injured leg.

Nico flashed to her side, her rucksack already slung over his shoulder. He held her arm, allowing her to lean on him.

'Once we're through the main foyer, I'll carry you.'

Akari swallowed as she eyed up the distance between the house and the car, not looking forward to it. Now that the adrenaline had worn off, the pain was making itself known.

She hobbled forward, wincing as the pain radiated from her thigh down to her knee.

'I'm sorry. It's just better if you walk in under your own steam first,' he apologised.

'Why does it matter?' she snapped. She wasn't looking forward to being carried, but it would be a damn sight better than what she was currently facing.

Nico chewed on his lip. Trust his brothers to send him someone who knew so little about vampire etiquette.

'This is a coven house owned by Andrés, the master of São Luís, and vampires are attracted to blood. It's best not to show an even weaker state.'

Akari stopped and stared at him. 'Is this safe?'

Nico looked away, wishing they could just get on with it. 'Being around vampires is never safe, but no one will mess with you if you're with me.'

Akari rolled her eyes and started forward. 'Perfect,' she grumbled. 'I feel totally safe.'

She would have preferred to just light walk to somewhere safe, but not knowing the area could be risky. After Nico's warning, she didn't want to accidentally end up somewhere she shouldn't be without him.

Nico held the door open for her and they stepped through to an ill lit foyer. An ornate chandelier hung from the ceiling, its lights barely shining. Curious eyes watched them as she limped her way across the foyer, trying to keep the grimace off her face.

She watched as a particular group of vampires sniffed the air and looked at her with excitement. She flinched away from the dark look that crossed their faces and Nico hissed, causing the group to scatter.

'Quem é ela?' (who is she)

'Por que ele a está protegendo?' (Why is he protecting her)

'She doesn't smell like any breather I've ever smelt before.'

Akari risked a glance at those arriving to see her struggle. Their whispered conversations in Portuguese and English made her nervous. They were paying more attention to her than she'd been expecting. She'd naively thought they would make it through the foyer undetected, but Nico had been right. They could smell her blood and knew she was different.

Just when she thought she'd have to beg for a break, Nico stopped her.

'Andrés,' he called, his voice steady.

A tall, dark vampire appeared out of the shadows. His head was shaved and his black eyes sparkled with mischief.

'I see your rendezvous went well,' he said in perfect English, with a hint of a Brazilian accent.

'Obviously.' Nico grimaced. 'Can you have a first aid kit delivered to my room?'

'Of course, Master. You only have to ask.' Andrés' eyes slipped to Akari, and he took her hand and kissed it. 'The same goes for you miss, any friend of the Master's is a friend of mine.'

Akari knew the words weren't so much for her benefit, but for the lingering hungry looks the other vampires were throwing her.

'You will, of course, join us for dinner. A treat to welcome you to the coven.' Andrés left no room to argue, though Nico would have liked to.

He bowed once to Nico, threw a challenging look at the remaining vampires, and strode from the room. The vampires scattered out of his way, leaving Nico and Akari alone in the foyer.

'Andrés; always one step ahead of everyone else,' mused Nico. 'Come on, let's get that leg seen to.' He placed his one hand across her back and the other behind her knees, lifting as if she were no more than a feather.

Sweet relief flooded through her, and she was about to thank him when her voice got stuck in her throat. She had failed to realise how close their heads were. From this position, she had ample opportunity to ogle his profile.

She had thought his eyes were black, but now she realised she was wrong; an outer ring of forest green enclosed a much lighter iris. Here and there, flecks of brown streaked through it, seeming to flash gold under the right light. They mesmerised her and she absentmindedly rubbed the area above her heart, the skin for some reason more sensitive.

The journey to Nico's rooms was over in a flash and he placed her in a much well used chair. Threads were unwinding on the arms and the colour had faded, but it was still well cushioned and comfortable.

Akari was relieved to be out of his arms. He was an intimidating figure standing next to her, never mind when he was close.

Nico plucked the kit off the bed and knelt down next to Akari, frowning as he regarded her wound.

'You'll have to take your trousers off,' he said apologetically. There was no way he could properly dress the wound with them still on, and given the tightness, it would have been impossible to fold them up.

Akari shrugged, unfazed. Nico helped her to her feet where she made quick work of dropping her trousers and kicking them away before sitting again. They were a right off, anyway.

Nico's mouth ran dry, and he swallowed at the pair of creamy legs on offer. He mentally shook himself, putting his strange reaction down to the unusual night.

He ran a cool hand around her leg, eliciting a little moan from Akari as his cool touch eased some of her pain. The corner of Nico's mouth turned up, and he chuckled at her reaction. He often hated his cooler touch. It marked him as something different, something dangerous. But sometimes it could have its perks.

'There's no exit wound. I'll have to retrieve the bullet myself,' he said, pulling the kit towards himself to see just how prepared Andrés really was. Would he have thought to put in any surgical equipment and some anaesthetic?

Akari shook her head and placed a hand over her wound, calling to the bullet with her magic. She felt the moment her light touched the foreign object and she willed it to move upwards, barely flinching as it tugged at her flesh.

Nico watched, amazed, as a ball of light lifted from her wound into her waiting palm. As the light disappeared, a blackened bullet emerged, tinged with blood.

'I suppose that will work,' he admitted, forgetting that she was not human.

'The wound isn't that deep. A few stitches to hold the wound together and in a couple of hours I'll be fine,' she reassured him, taking the injection from him and plunging it into her thigh.

'You sound like this happens a lot?' Nico doused his hand and the wound with antiseptic before threading the needle.

'Sometimes,' she said, watching intrigued as the needle entered her skin. 'Usually I'm the one patching other people up.' To illustrate her point, she raised her hand and placed her palm on his shoulder. His wound was mostly healed, but with her added power, she watched the angry scar fade completely.

Nico felt the tingle of warmth travel through his body at her simple touch. It took him a few seconds to realise that the tingle was more intense around his shoulder. He looked down and stifled his surprise when he saw not a scratch on his pale skin.

'You can heal?' he said with awe, though the answer was pretty obvious.

Akari nodded before scowling at her leg. 'A fat load of good it does me, though.' At his confused look, she explained. 'I can't use my powers on myself.'

'But you can still heal other people?'

She made a noncommittal gesture. 'Wounds yes. Broken bones, yes. But viruses are harder to control. Genetic anomalies are impossible.'

'But you can't fix this?'

She shook her head. 'Even if I had a paper cut, my powers are useless.'

Nico mulled over her words as he continued to stitch her up.

'Does the blood not bother you?'

Her hushed question broke his concentration and made him chuckle.

'You don't know much about vampires, do you?' He expected her to deny it, to act tough, considering the precarious position she found herself in. A breather staying in a vampire coven wasn't unheard of, but it was rare.

'Your brothers were the first vampires I ever talked to,' she admitted, sheepishly. 'Most light walkers don't leave our city and if we do, then we don't get involved with the other paranormals. It's just easier that way.' Or at least that was the line the palace advisors had fed her. Only now she doubted their ideals.

After meeting Lenah and seeing her life, Akari knew isolation wasn't the answer. Perhaps if they'd had more contacts, they could have conducted better searches for her parents. They could have found Lenah sooner. They could simply have a better way of life.

'My brothers are... refined. Mature. There are many in this coven who are not as considerate as them.' Nico worded carefully. If his brothers were the only interaction she'd had with a vampire, then living in a coven would be an eye opener, and it was best if he laid some ground rules before she fell down any rabbit holes.

'Newly sired vampires have the hardest time controlling the bloodlust. An open wound like this would test their resistance. Thankful there are none here at present. But there are a few who are still considered newborns. It's them you have to be careful of. They are more prone to lapses, not yet used to their body's strength or the intense cravings that come with it.'

'But you don't need to kill to feed?' She frowned, knowing that this, at least, was true.

'No, but that doesn't mean that accidents don't sometimes happen,' he warned.

'But you're like your brothers, not the newborns?'

He worked hard to keep the grimace off his face. In truth, he was very different to his brothers, but the light walker didn't need to know all his dark secrets.

'You're very curious,' he pointed out, watching her blush and look away.

'It's not considered a good thing where I'm from. I was raised not to ask questions, but to follow. I was never very good at it.'

Nico barked a laugh at her guilty expression and finished her stitches, missing the moment when she stared at him in wonder. His laugh, dark and rough, and yet beautiful to her.

'Better to ask questions, then be unprepared. I'm not as old as my brothers, but nor am I a newborn.' He didn't elaborate any further as he got to his feet and disposed of the first aid kit.

Akari desperately wanted to ask what that meant, but she held her tongue, sensing that he would not tell her.

'So what questions should I be asking?'

He sat in the chair opposite her and regarded her thoughtfully.

'Don't go into a vampire's room unless invited. We're very territorial creatures. If you feel like someone in this house is losing control, walk calmly away and find me or Andrés. We are predators, despite the way we look, and running will only stir our instincts to give chase. And try not to challenge anyone. Extended eye contact, or rude behaviour, are usually the biggest triggers, though after Andrés show in the foyer, I doubt you'll have to worry about that.'

Akari sat back, feeling a little lost. There were a lot more to vampires than she'd first believed. She wasn't sure why her sister would have insisted she had a vampire guide in the area, when it was abundantly clear that Akari was very much ill-equipped to be in their presence for an extended period.

Nico took in her shell-shocked expression and sighed. He knelt by her side with a speed that proved he was not human.

'I will protect you. You're safe here and Andrés has one of the oldest, most extensive libraries in all of Brazil, specifically on the paranormal. I'll see if I can get you access. It may be the best place for you to start your search. Though I'll admit my brothers were quite tight lipped on what you're actually doing here.' He raised an eyebrow, hoping that she would explain, but a knocking on the door interrupted their moment.

He placed a gentlemanly kiss on her hand and flitted to the door.

'Prince Nico, Master Andrés has requested you join him before dinner. He also said to give you this for the breather.' With his message delivered, the vampire scuttled off after Nico had dismissed him.

Nico passed the box to Akari, who pulled the lid off and gasped at the gorgeous gown sitting amongst the paper.

'It seems tonight is to be a more formal affair in your honour,' Nico grumbled. Formal affairs were not something he enjoyed. 'I'll leave you to get dressed. They usually serve dinner at 10pm. I'll send someone to collect you. Do not wander the halls.' He made sure she understood his warning before leaving.

Akari watched him go with a small sense of panic. She may have only known him an hour, but somehow he represented safety. She wasn't sure she wanted to be anywhere where he was not. But she pushed away her anxiety. Nico had said she was safe, so she had to trust that he would keep his word.

She let her glamour drop and pulled her top off, her eyes flashing wide when she saw the mating rune on her chest, right above her heart.

'Oh, fuck.'