Isabella Ebony Mórrigan's Story

Belle leant back on the bed and giggled coquettishly, batting her blue eyes at the human man sat before her. Of course, it had the instant desired effect and the man's eyes filled with lust and want. Then again, which human man would be able to resist a vampire's laugh? Their voices were beautiful; all velvet and smooth. And their giggle was even more beautiful. Almost… Irresistible.

The man smiled back, reaching a hand out to touch her bare thigh. Of course, Belle was still all dressed up. Tonight's outfit choice had been a fashionable white dress with her signature black, leather jacket to dress it down and a pair of black heels. Her hair was pulled back into a loose but carefully styled ponytail, held back with a black clasp. Her makeup was all still perfectly in place. There wasn't a single mistake. She flicked her gaze to his hand on her leg. The man's skin was a couple of shades more tanned than her own pale, creamy flesh but they looked as smooth as her own. Obviously, he did a job that didn't involve a lot of manual labour, she concluded. But why was she worrying about that? It didn't matter about him. She didn't even remember his name. All that mattered was he wanted her. He was showering her with compliments and paying her the attention she desperately craved.

It didn't matter who he was really. He was just some man she'd called because she was lonely. And she couldn't be alone. She just couldn't. Really, she had no intention of either feeding on or sleeping with him; which was unusual for a vampire. Myths told of evil creatures, obsessed with blood and sex. Of course, both of those things interested her a great deal. But, she preferred what came before. When the person, whoever they might be, paid her attention. Complimented her. Made her the center of attention. That was what mattered.

In a way, Belle wasn’t like normal vampires. Most were very self-assured and independent. Their strength and power gave them a confidence that no human could ever achieve and with that they also lost the human need for companionship and attention. Of course, there were few vampires who didn’t like it, but they didn’t need it. But not Belle. Belle did need it. Without the attention and constant company, Belle felt empty. Maybe, that made her a bad vampire. Maybe she should’ve been human rather than vampire. But, the thought of others knowing that terrified her. She hid her neediness well, though. Mostly, she just came across as manipulative, vain and exceptionally self-obsessed. Few saw past that, and she preferred it that way. It was only really her brother who knew her for who she really was, and even his knowledge made her uncomfortable. She was sure her cousin, Alphonse, had an inkling too. But Belle was sure he was far too upbeat for it to bother him.

She could've found one of the coven members to talk to. But, as far as she knew, all of the others were still locked away in their room, doing whatever it was that they did; it didn't matter to Belle. Usually, she would have gone into her brother’s room and demanded his attention. She loved him and, although the attention she got from him wasn't worth as much as other peoples as they were family and he'd always have time for her, she still enjoyed being with him. But tonight, Belle had decided to call someone else. Tonight, something seemed to be wrong in the coven. She wasn't sure what, but it was definitely wrong.

Belle raised her gaze from her thigh to meet the man's eyes. He was attractive, of course. Blue eyes, dark hair, tanned skin. Although, she was a vampire. If she couldn't persuade someone attractive to spend time with her then who could? Also, she never spoke to unattractive people, as a strict rule.

"So..." the man begun suggestively, but Belle heard no more than that. She pressed a finger against his lips to silence him.
Outside her bedroom door, she was sure she could hear something. She counted the footsteps as they marched past her door, carrying on down the landing. The sound of the footsteps told her it was a female vampire, which narrowed it down to Aurora or Cassie. She counted 25 steps. That meant it was Julien’s door she had stopped outside of.

Then came a rough knock on the door and the voice identified her as Aurora to Belle. "Julien! Get your lazy ass out here! There's something we need to talk about. Bring Fox too, I'm sure she's in there."

Belle’s company stayed silent as ordered, his hand dancing across her bare thigh in an attempt to regain her attention. But her attention was firmly diverted elsewhere as she listened intently for more information.

Another knock. Aurora’s voice dropped and Belle could only just pick up what had been said. “Julien, it’s urgent.”

Any other night, this short sentence could’ve easily come off as Aurora just being impatient and saying anything to get him to open the door. But something about her tone, even though it was barely audible, told Belle otherwise. Something was wrong. And Belle was going to make sure she was in possession of this information too.

Belle heard unintelligible muttering from Julien, most likely towards Fox, before the door opened.

”What’s up?” he asked.

“Belle…” the man opposite said teasingly, trying again to gain her attention. Immediately, Belle’s eyes flicked back towards him, fixing him with the coldest, iciest glare he had ever received. It silenced him instantly and his hand froze on her thigh.

With a very soft sigh, Belle continued to listen.

A short conversation between Aurora and, a voice and scent she recognised after a few seconds as Trix, a faerie who ran a bar in town – the name of which escaped Belle for the moment. She’d been there a few times with Julian when they’d been hunting in the city. She’d even picked up a few of her late night snacks there. Although, Belle had never been quite stupid enough to feed on them in the actual club, unlike whoever it was Trix had dragged back tonight. She resisted the urge to giggle as he was ordered away by Julian. As for Trix, Belle had had few dealings with her but she seemed nice enough, if a little precious about the club.

She heard Aurora give Trix a project but Belle had no time to consider that with the next line Aurora delivered. ”We’re moving in with the werewolves.”

Belle’s instant reaction was to shudder violently. The dogs? They were moving in with the dogs? In her mind, endless images of big, salivating wolves, fur dripping with mud and water, flashed through. How disgusting.
"Fox. Please bring this to Emmanuel. Tell him it's made of some old magic and just showed up in my room. Tell him we're moving in with him for the protection of both of us."

Now Belle was confused; a feeling she hated. She hated not knowing what was going on. A feeling of being left on the outside: unwanted, uncared for, ignored. And that was scarier than any thought concerning the flea-ridden mutts. She’d rather spend an eternity with a werewolf, dribbling all over her perfect blonde hair, than be alone…

”Please.”

That didn’t sound good. Since when did Aurora Mortenson ever say please to Fox? But Fox agreeing to do as Aurora had asked without any argument worried Belle more. This must be serious. Fox seemed to do things on her own terms, for her own amusement. Normally, even if she had every intention of doing exactly as Aurora wanted, she’d at least have a bit of fun first. But not tonight.

Belle felt the strange sparkling in the air that tingled a little when it touched your skin, signifying Fox’s departure from this particular existence to somewhere else in the world. Julian’s mutters about Fox’s irritating habits made Belle smile momentarily, but the smile froze on her lips and dropped as Julian stopped.

"We need to talk," Julian said, and dragged Aurora into the room and closed the door, dismissing Trix with something about the fridge.

Belle growled slightly under her breath in irritation. Now the door was closed she could no longer quite understand what they were saying. Despite her enhanced hearing, she could only catch a word or two, and usually not the useful ones. If Belle wanted to hear any more of the conversation, she would have to go out onto the landing. She slipped towards the door, checking herself in the mirror first. It was only her coven, but she always had to look perfect. She caught a flash of movement in the mirror behind her and only then did she remember she had company. She’d been so caught up in what was going on that she’d forgotten all about the man she’d picked up for her own entertainment and a little midnight snack later on, if she felt like it.

Belle marched back over to the bed, not wanting to waste valuable time when she could be listening to Aurora and Julian’s conversation.

“Stay right here, don’t move,” she ordered the nameless man. “I’ll be back.”

“But Belle…” he began to whine, clearly put out about being left.

“Stay,” she instructed.

He needed no more persuasion than that. In fact, that was a particular talent of hers; some even called it her 'gift'. She was incredibly persuasive, almost always getting her own way. It was least effective on vampires, followed by other supernaturals and she had to work a little harder with them. But to humans, she could simply say the word to most and they wouldn't even question it.

He nodded blankly.

“And don’t touch anything,” she said softly as she closed the door behind her gently.

She turned round, spotting Trix just a few feet from her door. In her hand was a small, wooden figurine. Belle cast her eyes over it quickly. It was a little woman, drawing a bow back as if she were about to shoot something. This must’ve been what Aurora had given Trix as her little ‘project’ Belle realised as her mind quickly connected the dots.

“What you got there?” she asked Trix curiously, lowering her voice. She thought it better Aurora and Julian didn’t know she was out there, listening to their conversation.

The bar owner smirked at Belle. "Are you supposed to be listening in on your superior's conversations?"

Belle laughed softly and smiled cheekily, her eyes sparkling. "Of course. How else am I supposed to know which colour dress is appropriate for the circumstances?"

Trix shrugged and laughed in response before replying to Belle's initial question "Oh well. It's just a little statue of Artemis, goddess of the hunt. I was just going to investigate it somehow."

Belle stretched out her hand, taking the statue very gently from the faerie. She turned it over carefully in her dainty fingers, inspecting it and taking in the information. It was undoubtedly made with the utmost care and detail. Handmade, of course. By the looks of how much work had gone into it, it wasn't a cheap child's toy.

She dropped it gently back into Trix's hand.

"Do you know what it means?" Belle asked, dragging her eyes up from the figurine to look at the faerie.

Trix shrugged. "I'm not quite sure yet. I left Greece at a young age, so I'm not exactly an expert on the followers of Artemis."

Belle followed her gaze back to the figurine for a couple of seconds. The faerie shrugged again.

"But there's a few dryad at Paranormal that lived in Greece until Rome took over." She took a short breath and growled. "Rome ruined everything."

Belle nodded, taking in the information. Presumably, Trix would find out the exact meaning of the statue from the dryads.

The faerie paused before looking up at Belle and smiling wickedly. "If you make a deal with me, you can be the first one to know what the statue means. Or I'll find out anything you want."

Belle thought for a second. Faeries were notoriously tricky, loving to play games and mess around with people. But knowledge was power. And if you had information others wanted, it meant attention.

"What kind of deal were you thinking-" Belle began, but she was cut off by a loud bang from downstairs as the doors flew open.

Trix raised a brow, "What was that?"

But Belle's attention was already elsewhere. She listened carefully. 3 beating hearts. Then she dragged in a breath off the air, picking up the scents. Two female, one male. Belle picked up very similar scents to the male and the female with the calm heartbeat, indicating a blood tie. Judging by how similar their scents were, twins was the only logical guess, although she couldn't be totally certain. But she caught something unusual about the scents. Taking another breath, she finally recognised it. It was the smell of magic and spells; witches. But even stranger, the scent of the lone female with the more jumpy, frightened heartbeat was light and floral, indicating pure, 'white' magic. But the scent of the supposed twins was much heavier, lying thick and all-consuming in the air, dark, or 'black' magic. Yet they were travelling together.

Belle flicked her eyes back towards Trix. "Excuse me one moment," she said quickly, her mind racing, before walking quickly down the stairs to the front door.

It had been blown open wide open. Stood by it was the coven member from earlier who'd been returned by Trix and sent to answer the door. It appeared he was moments away from doing so when the door was blown open by the mysterious intruders. Stood on the porch, pushed to the side slightly by the what had happened, was pair of humans, male and female. The scent confirmed to Belle they twins; seemed to be a lot of that going around tonight. Their heart were both racing with fear, particularly the girl's. The male was attractive, blue eyes and dark blonde hair. His body was muscular, evidence he spent a lot of time training and working out. The girl, his sister looked much more dishevelled. She wore an old, tight, plain white tank top which was ridding up to show her flat, tanned stomach. The shorts matched and came to just below her mid thigh. In fact, the whole attire looked like pyjamas... But who went out in pyjamas? Belle though, amused. Her blonde curls were messy, her cheeks were flushed and she seemed to be having a hard time keeping her eyes open.

Beside them on the doorstep was a pretty girl with pale skin, bright green eyes and long, dark hair. She was soaking wet draped in a leather jacket that smelt of the boy seemed a little big for her. She looked a little frightened and her heartbeat was faster than the other two's. Her light scent identified her as the odd one out from the pair she had arrived with. Beside her was a boy with spiked, dark brown hair and dark brown eyes. He was reasonably tall with a kind face. But Belle had learnt long ago not to trust a warlock and, even though this one struck her as different and instantly strangely kind, to give them a wide berth. In front of him was a girl who resembled him, she'd already strode into the entrance hall of the manor. She was pretty with long brown hair and almond eyes, framed with heavy eye make-up. She was significantly shorter than Belle but her eyes burnt with confidence and irritation. A smug smile danced on her lips as she turned back to glance at the other girl. "Are you coming in or what?

Great, thought Belle. After earlier's revelation about having to become bunk-buddies with the werewoves, she didn't think her night could get any better. Evidently, she was wrong.

Belle strode over to the young vampire, Zane, who was supposed to be answering the door. He looked slightly baffled, and way out of his depth.

"Take the humans into the living room." Belle waved her hand in the direction of the blonde twins. "I'll deal with them in a minute after I've spoken to these three... Then fetch me Aurora. Tell her we have a slight... Problem."

Zane nodded and quickly ushered the blonde humans away into the living room. From the corner of her eye, Belle saw him speak to them, although she didn't catch what he said. Then, he gave the girl a blanket before telling them to stay there while he 'ran an errand'. He then left the room, closing the door behind him. Upon entering entering the main hall again, Zane passed another blanket to the sodden dark haired girl who'd arrived with the warlocks with a kind smile. He nodded slightly to Belle to confirm what she'd asked for had been done, before vanishing off up the stairs to find Aurora.

Meanwhile, Belle took a couple of steps forward towards the unexpected visitors.

"Please, come in," Belle said sweetly before sharpening her voice with sarcasm, "Oh no wait, you already did."

She paused for effect.

"Who the hell are you?"

Instantly, the dark haired twin glared at Belle, narrowing her eyes and growling. She took a few hostile steps forward, challenging her.

"We just came to drop that pitiful creature off," the warlock said nastily, pointing towards the soaked girl wrapped in a blanket.

Belle's eyes flickered down, sensing movement. Her eyes fell upon a small, black cat, rubbing against the leg of the dark haired, fair skinned 'white' witch. A small smile danced at the corner of Belle's lips at the sight, she'd always particularly liked cats. The smooth, elegant way they moved and their soft, perfect fur reminded her of everything she liked best.

"Blessed be," the white witch said, bowing her head. The gesture was very formal and made Belle feel a little uncomfortable about her own cold, standoffish attitude.

" I am Jezebel Rowan Endira, the last white witch of Rose City, Moon Forest and the surrounding area. I require assistance or, to be more precise," she paused, " I need somewhere to stay safe."

Belle nodded slowly, taking in the information. Her instant reaction was to question internally what she'd been told. She could smell the white magic on her but how was she know if this Jezebel, as she called herself, was telling the truth? But something about this girl's pretty, polite manner of speech, frightened expression and need for protection made Belle slightly more trusting of the words she said.

She turned to the dark haired twins. " These two found me and brought me here or I'd still be in a cave I don't even know where."

Belle's eyes swept over the twins that Jezebel was indicating. The male didn't look particularly threatening, there was something very reassuring about the way he was looking at poor, shivering Jezebel. Like he genuinely cared for a girl he'd only just met and wanted to help her. It was endearing and even made Belle soften a little. However, the same couldn't be said for his sister. In the simplest terms, she seemed like a bitch. Belle had no reason, nor the inclination, to trust her. She seemed hostile and bitter. And besides, she was a warlock. That alone gave Belle reason not to trust her.

"Well, now that we've dropped off this little girl, I think we'll leave," the cold, bitter warlock said. She sounded angry. Belle really hoped that Zane had done as he was told and fetched Aurora...

"Why are you being such a bitch?" the dark haired male asked his sister. Her smile instantly dropped and Belle resisted the urge to smirk.

He then turned his attention back to Belle, offering her a smile. "I'm sorry for her. My name's Erik and that's Morgan. Like Jezebel said, we found her in the woods and this was the closest place we could bring her."

Belle nodded, still toying with the idea of trusting Jezebel. She did recognise the names vaguely. Carefully, she ran them through her mind, combing it for any information. Of course, the Mystara twins. Erik and Morgan. Part of the Salem Witch Trials.

The girl, who she now knew was called Morgan sighed loudly. "If you don't know us by Erik and Morgan, you most likely know us as Jinx and Hex. Some of your nice vampire friends named us that." Belle had a feeling that was some kind of veiled dig at vampires.

"I'm sure she knows us by Erik and Morgan," Erik said. He glanced back at Belle, "Sorry. We'll get out of your hair now." He then looked at Jezabel and smiled, "Be safe, Sweetheart. You can keep the jacket to remember me."

He really did seem strangely sweet, for a warlock.

"Let's go," he said to his sister, turning to leave.

Morgan quickly threw a snarky remark towards Erik. "I doubt that couple you left in your bed are still there. Ugh. It's disgusting how you continue to have intercourse with anything that comes your wa-"

There was a bang as she hit the wall, landing on the floor. "Just shut up!" Erik shouted, loosing his temper.

Frankly, Belle didn't blame him. If she'd been her sister Belle would've ripped her to shreds long ago.

Morgan pulled herself to her feet, a smile creeping into the corner of her lip as she waved her hand. "We haven't had a good sibling fight since last month."

Erik hit the wall, growling as he stood up. "Why do you always have to be such a bitch!"

Belle growled under her breath. A pair of fighting warlocks in their front room was the last thing this coven needed tonight. In seconds she was just inches from Morgan, glaring at her.

"I think it was time you were both leaving," Belle said coldly. She threw her glance towards Erik. "I'll see Jezebel receives the appropriate treatment from Aurora..."

Belle walked calmly away from Morgan to stand beside Jezebel. She heard Zane, who she'd sent to fetch Aurora, knocking on her door. It opened and Zane delivered Belle's message.

Aurora ignored Julien's side comments while she talked. It wasn't uncommon for him to act like a child. He did it often. When he was done, she lowered her arms from her eyes and sat up on her elbows to look at him. "I don't like being kept in the dark, Aurora. If you want me to be your second, you have to trust me sometimes. But you're my leader. I trust you with my life." He said with a rare, serious expression.

"Good." She hissed. "Because you're going to have to."

There was a loud crash from below and Aurora sat up straight, startled. "Hold that thought," Julien said and closed his eyes. She knew he was going to check on whatever had happened downstairs. I swear, if someone breaks something, I'm breaking heads. She thought while she waited for him to return. "We need to get downstairs," he said plainly when he finally did return.

She raised an eyebrow, watching him stalk from the room, the current crisis suddenly forgotten. With a roll of her eyes she groaned. Will I ever get a break in this house? She thought bitterly before jumping up and chasing after Julien down the stairs. "What. The. Hell?" She heard Julien snarl, just a few steps ahead of her. "Who the hell broke the door?" So they had broken something.

Aurora disappeared, reappearing beside Julien, taking in the scene. Belle was there, but that was the only face she recognized in the room. The other three were unfamiliar. One had long dark hair and was dripping wet, shivering slightly. From her, Aurora smelled white magic and her eyebrow shot up. Witch? Hadn't the nearest witch Clan been destroyed or something or other? She looked at the other two. Their scents carried dark magic, and she didn't need her hyperactive sense of smell to see that they were obviously twins. Warlock twins? Even more interesting. Witches and Warlocks hated each other. Why were they traveling together? Finally, she smelled human and glanced to the side. Off in the corner a little ways stood Gabriel Lestat and a tired looking blonde girl she didn't know, but from her scent, she could tell it was his twin. Well this was an interesting group.

Her eyes then moved to the doors. Just as Julien had said, the double doors of their home had been blown off their hinges, but what was more was that there was also a smashed, glass coffee table, and a broken vase. Aurora's eyebrows raised to the three strangers and the Lestat twins. "What the hell is going on in here?" She gestured to the vase, the coffee table, and the doors. "Somebody better start talking. Now."

She then glanced at Belle. "Belle." She said, gesturing for her to leave with a flick of the wrist. "Thank you, I've got things covered in here. Go check on Sadie for me?"



Emmanuel watched Fox weigh her options. A smile spread on the faerie's face. "No, Emmanuel Cross, you should not trust her. But, I think you should trust me." He could tell she was twisting her words. She'd been around long enough for him to catch on to faerie word play. However, he did trust her. Most of the time anyway. "The letter is not a trick or a lie, that is a truth. Aurora Mortenson comes to you for protection. That is a powerful position to have over your enemy..."

She let that last part hang in the air and he sighed, giving her an impressed glance. She was extremely convincing. Even when he could see right through her manipulation, he still wanted to agree with her. She was right afterall. Aurora comming to him for protection meant that he had the upperhand. He smiled slightly and stood so he could look her in the eye. "Let the vampires come. If it makes you feel better, I will protect you should any of them threaten to harm your face."

Emmanuel smiled. "I can handle myself Fox, but thanks." He said placing a small kiss on her cheek before nudging the sleeping Lyric awake gently. Outside, it was still storming, and he doubted that any of his pack was probably asleep so why not deliver the news now?

He ushered the sleepy Lyric from his room and lead her down the hall to the living room where he found Nat and Johnathon already sitting. With a sigh, he sat in the chair next to the fireplace and let out a loud howl, sure enough to signify to any of his wolves within pack bonderies, that there was a pack meeting going on. Tiredly, he yawned and rubbed his eyes as he waited for them to all arrive.

Once his pack had shown, Emmanuel sighed and lifted the letter in his hand. "There is a threat to the pack. Like one we've never seen before." He stated bluntly. "A human threat. Something we cannot handle alone." He glanced at each of them in turn. "The vampires are moving in with us."

Belle growled angrily as the irritating warlock girl completely ignored Belle and sauntered across the room to Jezebel. She then glared at Erik.

"I don't think this is the right place to do this Morgan,” Erik told his sister.

“Since when did you start thinking?" she shot back. The warlock girl waved her hands a couple of times, throwing him wall to wall. Belle cringed every time he hit one, leaving little marks in their beautiful wallpaper. He then hit the glass coffee table. It shattered instantly. Belle resisted the urge to rip the both of them apart. She loved that coffee table. And Cassie was going to go mad when she saw the door.

Morgan then grabbed her brother by the back of his neck, glaring at him. "This is why I'm older."

You're older by three minutes!" he shouted, a scowl forming on his face and a fireball forming in his hand. He threw it at Morgan, throwing her back. She patted her chest frantically, eyes wide with fear and anger.

She screamed. "You asshole! You know how I feel about fire!" With a flick of her hand, Erik flew back, hitting the bottom step.

"What. The. Hell? Who the hell broke the door??" Julien’s snarling voice indicated his arrival. Belle glanced round behind her, spotting him at the very edge of the scene, flanked closely by Aurora. Julian looked angry, really angry.

“It was her,” Erik immediately pointed at Morgan.

"What the hell is going on in here?" Aurora said. "Somebody better start talking. Now." She then glanced at Belle, gesturing with a flick of her wrist. "Belle. Thank you, I've got things covered in here. Go check on Sadie for me?"

Belle wrinkled her nose in disgust before nodding begrudgingly. It was a well-known fact that Belle hated werewolves. They were foul creatures. But she particularly hated the whining little half-breed Aurora insisted they keep, saying she’d be ‘useful’. Frankly, Belle saw nothing useful about the little freak of nature, she was just another irritation Belle didn’t need. She hated having to go near her, and treated her particularly badly whenever she was forced to. Besides, she would’ve liked to stay and watch these two get their asses kicked by Aurora. But Belle didn’t think tonight was a good night to challenge Aurora.

Belle turned to walk away but stopped at the very edge of the room as Erik began to speak. Maybe she’d listen for just one more minute, this sounded interesting.

Upon spotting Aurora, Erik smiled. "Aurora! I haven't seen you since you tried to kill me! Remember? I just showed up in your bed, in your room. I was mostly naked! When was that? I think it was 1990. Or maybe it was 1995. But, remember?! We used to show up all the time. It's Erik! Or Hex. I can't remember what you called me,” he said, standing up.

“Maybe it was asshole…” Belle muttered under her breath, glancing at the coffee table. Although initially appearing sweet, Belle was starting to loose respect and patience fast with the male warlock.
Aurora smirked, nodding slightly in response to Erik. "I hardly recognized you with clothes on Erik."

Morgan took a few steps forward. "Hello Aurora. Is this your new second in command Erik, isn't this the baby we almost stole?" she said, pointing at Julian. “It is! You were so cute! Nothing's changed really. You just have more muscle now. A lot more." She lifted an eyebrow. "We would have given you back after a week. I swear. What's your name again? Jacob? No, that's not it. Oh Julien! That's it."

"Yes. His name's Julien and he's my new second in command. And I think you've caused enough damage. I'll give you ten seconds to give me a really good reason why I should let you stand another minute on my property before I kick your asses,” Aurora threatened, giving them both an icy stare.

"Yea," Julien said after her flatly. "Julien. Nice to see you again. Any chance you could, I don't know, lay off our house? You know, for old time's sake."

Julien crossed the room to Belle’s side. He scrutinised her carefully, up and down.

“I’m fine,” Belle said quietly to Julien. “Just make sure you get the number of their insurance company before you throw them back into whichever hole they crawled out of… I liked that coffee table.”

With that she turned and sauntered off. The sooner she dealt with the stupid half-breed, the sooner she could return to the better smelling part of the manor. Behind her, she heard Julien making some comment about the blonde human’s Belle had put in the corner to deal with later.

Belle froze, halfway down the corridor as she caught the tingly scent of a faerie appearing.

"Emmanuel Cross expects you in the morning," Belle heard Fox chirp gleefully. "Don't let Julien walk in front. I will be displeased if his face is injured."

There was a pop and Fox was gone again. Belle stalked down the corridor and stamped down the steps to the basement, slamming the door behind her. Great. That filthy, useless man they called their pack leader, Emmanuel, had agreed to this stupid plan. Of course he had. He saw his opportunity and took it. Her coven would be in their house, on their land, in their territory. They easily had the upper hand. And if they chose to attack, the vampires would definitely sustain the highest losses.

As Belle approached the third door in the basement she heard banging and shouting from behind it. The voice of the complaining hybrid was moaning about food. Belle peered through the barred window at the creature sitting dejectedly on her bed. Her long, blonde hair fell round her face and an arm was folded round her stomach, clearly she was hungry.

But the clearest indication of her presence was the smell. Belle shuddered. She pulled a bottle of her favourite perfume, Belle d’Opium from Yves Saint Laurent, from her jacket pocket. It was her signature perfume and she always made sure she, as with most of the things she owned, existed in a cloud of it. She loved everything smelling pretty, just like her. She spritzed herself with it, enjoying the sensation of the tiny little droplets coming to rest on her skin. Maybe that would help to repel the smell for a while…

With that, Belle pushed open the door to the hybrid’s cell and quickly locked it behind herself to make sure the animal didn’t escape. That was the last thing they wanted tonight.

Belle glared down at her, sat on the bed. “What do you want, mongrel?” she said viciously.

Belle was nasty to the half-breed at the best of times but after the evening she’d just had, she was feeling particularly cruel.