“Aren’t you afraid of me?”

The young girl stared down the barrel of the gun pointed at her head without a hint of the terror he’d seen in so many of his previous victims.  It was somewhat frustrating.  No, she merely stared at it with something like curiosity in her light blue eyes, before turning the same gaze to him.

“No.” she replied in a completely normal tone.  She tilted her head slightly, her turquoise coloured hair swaying in its loose twin braids.  “Does that upset you?”

You have no idea, kid. He thought, not lowering his gun.  With everything that had happened on this job, he supposed he shouldn’t have been surprised at this.  Nothing had gone as he had expected tonight.  Everything he’d ever been told.  Everything he had ever been sure of.  None of it seemed real anymore.  He pushed the gun closer to her forehead.  “Don’t you know what I am?”

The girl still stared at the barrel, now cross-eyed.  Oh for…what did she think this was?!  A game?!  “Nnnnnope.” She said in the same tone as before, tilting her head to the other side.

He just barely suppressed a growl and instead smiled.  Not in amusement, but to show his sharp, long fangs.  “Wanna guess?” He asked.

The girl’s eyes widened, but instead of screaming or at least cowering, she crawled up out of her covers, to the edge of her huge canopy bed and stared at him.  “Woooow…those are some sharp teeth you got.” She said in awe.

Startled by her sudden closeness, he almost dropped his gun, but managed to keep a hold on it.  The better to drink you dry with. He was tempted to say, but he wasn’t going to play games.  He had orders.  Anyone who saw him had to die…Although…He thought back on everything ELSE he’d been told.  None of it was true…so…maybe this didn’t have to be either.  “You know what I am now?” he asked, finally lowering his gun.

“A vampire.” The girl answered, rocking back to sit on her bottom.  “Are you here to kill me?” She didn’t look scared…just…sad?

He sighed and was about to answer when a huge explosion rocked the entire mansion and sent the girl flying off her bed toward him.

“What the hell?!” he flipped his gun back into its holster on his thigh and easily caught her before she hit the ground, even though he lost his balance in the process.  Another explosion erupted, closer to them this time, sending them both to the floor.  “What in blue bla-?!...Crap.” The explosives he’d set earlier.  The idea was to kill everyone in the place, then hotfoot it out of there before the mansion blew up, leaving no traces whatsoever.  But now thanks to the little distraction now unconscious in his arms, he’d forgotten all about that plan.  Oh well…plans change.  He quickly pulled off his long trenchcoat jacket, wrapping it around the girl and jumped out the window, leaping over the balcony and falling down toward the ground just as the explosive set in the hall outside went off, blowing the room’s wall to rubble and blowing the glass out in dangerous flaked shards.  He got cut quite a bit from the little missiles, but the wounds healed by the time he landed gracefully on the ground.  He calmly walked into the forest behind the mansion, not even looking back as the building collapsed into flaming ruins.  Instead, he was looking down at the girl in his arms.  “I was here to kill you…” he murmured to her.  “But now, I’m here to protect you…” he glanced down and saw a red rose pendant, sprinkled with diamond dewdrops, on a long cord around her neck. “You’re safe now…Rose.”

Chapter 1

“Sael?  Saeeeelll…Come on, I know vamps don’t sleep…SAEL!”

The vampire jerked ‘awake’, pulling himself from his thoughts.  “You know I hate it when you do that, Rose.” He said in his usual completely calm and quiet tone. 

The girl in front of him put her hands on her hips, leaning down to his eye level in the chair, her red rose pendant almost taking out one of his stormy grey eyes.  She had not changed since he had rescued her all those years ago.  No, she still annoyed him just as much.  Only now as a nineteen-year-old and his new partner.  Up until about 4 years ago, he had been her guardian, for lack of better word.  She followed him faithfully, even when it was right into trouble. Like the time she was kidnapped by a group of demons who thought they were so tough.  They had done it as a trap for him, but it had ended up leading to only their demise.  That was when he had started to teach her how to fight.  Now, she was a force to be reckoned with; master of the crossbow and katana, though she favoured the blade as well as close combat.  He rolled his eyes.  When she had turned fifteen, she had decided he wasn’t the boss anymore, despite him being THOUSANDS of years older than her.  Now she ran the small business they had, which was demon slaying.  SHE called the shots, or so she said, just because the business had been her idea.  Though, he had to admit, they got quite a bit of money from it.

Well…he allowed his gaze to travel over her, stopping where her corset just barely covered what it was supposed to under her lavender trenchcoat…She had changed a little, he admitted.  He shook his head to clear it.  Not that it mattered to him. It was actually kind of annoying having to chase away all the pathetic losers who hit on her.  However, he grinned, the banters and mock flirtations that ensued due to that were always fun.

Rose grinned at him and leaned closer.  “That would be why I always do it!” she said cheerfully.  She finally stood up straight again.  “We got a job.  Not huge, but it’s a good amount.  Enough for a few weeks’ meals and maybe a night on the town.” She winked at him and giggled.

Sael rolled his eyes.  “What’s the job, Rose?”

“Aww, you’re no fun.” Rose pouted.  “Isn’t there anything that you’d actually have FUN with?”

“Work.” Sael replied.  “What’s the job?” he repeated.

Rose sighed.  “Oh honestly, Sael.