But It's Better If You Do

Karma leaned back against the bar, elbows resting upon it as her dark chocolate eyes watched the crowd for her next snack. She had had at least fifteen already, and the bloodrush was starting to go to her head. The pure euphoria and rush of power that came from feeding live was just- amazing. Simply that. Licking her lips slowly, she pushed off the stool, moving into the dancing crowd easily as she honed in on a target. He even looked tasty...

Wrapping her arms around the blond's neck, she pressed her body against his, moving with him as he became entranced by her eyes. Her compulsion had gotten loads stronger once she'd started using it more often, not that it was anywhere near as strong as it would be once she went full fanger. She hadn't even really started using it yet; boys just seemed to love her eyes, for whatever reason.

Running her fingers through his hair, she tilted her head toward the back exit, and he nodded, grinning down at her.

Really, you'd think humans would be more...

Pushing him against the outside wall, she lowered her lips to his neck, nipping teasingly at the skin there, causing the boy to moan.

"Yeah, baby, bite me..."

She complied, sinking her fangs into the boy and drinking nearly twice as much as would be responsible. Pulling away, she only remembered to lick the wound and heal the boy at the last second, tossing him a blood replenishing potion and stepping back into the club.

Licking her lips once more, she returned to her barstool, surveying the crowd as she had been only twenty minutes ago. A self satisfied grin was playing over her mouth, tugging up one corner slightly higher than the other, as her eyes caught on a new target.

Ethon seated himself upon the barstool at the girl's back, silently, as no human could achieve. Only his heartbeat would have betrayed his presence, but among so many others, that would serve only to further conceal him. He put a finger to his lips as the barkeep turned in their direction. Appraising the glasses of others seated along the bar, the man turned away again without acknowledging Ethon's presence.

"You do realize," Ethon addressed Karma after a moment, "that one ought to drink responsibly, don't you, milady?"

Karma's eyes stayed on the crowd, her eyes flashing from pulse to pulse faster than she could keep track on whether she was looking at a boy or girl. She licked her lips again, eyes locking on a dark haired boy dancing with a tall beautiful blonde. Unable to resist the sudden urge to indulge in outshining the blond, Karma braced herself against the bar, preparing to walk into the crowd and claim the boy for herself- but was cut off by his voice.

Ethon.

She relaxed back against the bar once more, her eyes lingering on the couple before she looked over at the man. It was disconcerting how much she'd actually missed the man before her, without even noticing it. As she did with almost everything that disconcerted her, she tried her best to ignore it, though it was impossible to fight the irrational smile that spread across her face.

"I'm not drinking..." She said, eyes flashing impishly toward the bar. "Quit that cold turkey, I did. Was quite proud." Her fingers were starting to twitch with the excess energy coursing through her veins. Her eyes flicked toward the couple again, her tongue wetting her lips as she once again made to get up again, only to frown as the blond pulled the boy into a kiss.

Fury, quite irrational, filled every part of the young vampire's body, changing her stance to one of sudden attack. Pushing off the bar, she started toward the two of them, her walk only slightly staggering. She hadn't even noticed how the blood had gone to her head.

Ethon was up, taking the girl by one hand and bringing her about in a graceful half-turn so her back was to the couple she'd been watching - all done with unmistakably inhuman speed. He put a hand on her waist, the other still loosely curled about her wrist. To an outsider, it might have looked like a romantic pose; in reality, it was restrictive and confining.

"You've had enough," Ethon intoned firmly, voice so quiet that only one other person in the club at that moment could have heard him.

One moment, she was stalking toward her next meal, the next she was being held and looking up at Ethon, her eyes barely able to pick up the speed they'd moved at. She looked up at him with wide brown eyes for a moment, looking completely lost before she pouted, blinking. "Ethon?" She asked, her gaze now completely confused. "When did you get here?"

She leaned into him, wrapping the arm he didn't hold around his waist and resting her ear on his chest to hear his heartbeat. Maybe it really was Ethon this time. Maybe. Her hold on him tightened possessively as some random brunette wandered by, the woman's gaze lingering on Karma's before she disappeared into the crowd. She rested her chin on his chest and gazed up at him once more, blinking up at him.

"Had enough what?"

Ethon gazed back down at the teenage. He let out a soft exhale. "You," he declared quietly to avoid being overheard, "are entirely blood-drunk. How many have you drank from tonight?

"Milady, it is time that you cease from feeding on anyone else, regardless of how sweet their lifesblood might taste upon your tongue," Ethon told her. "To where shall I escort you?"

Karma blinked up at him, her eyes widening adoringly as his soft voice reached her ears. " 'Or voice's pretty. I like it. Can I keep it?" It took a moment for the meaning of his words to make their way to her brain and by then she had been distracted by another pulse nearby. She was suddenly caught between the urge to sink her teeth into it - and all the ones surrounding it - and the urge to never let go of Ethon again. Who knew when he'd be back again? The irrational possessiveness was strong enough to bypass her 'hunger', the urge to never let go of the man against her stronger than anything else in her world at the moment. She gazed up at him again, blinking, as his words finally registered and made some sense. "Fiftweneighteleven." She smiled adoringly. "Jus' 'leven."

"Oonly 'Oo then?" She pressed her body against his, her gaze lowering from his blue-grey eyes to the pulse at his throat. She rose to her tiptoes, trying and failing to nip at his throat before she ended up leaning more heavily against him. She frowned up at him, blinking again. "Why's erryone so tall now?" She demanded. "I 'on't like being shorter ten everyone."

"I houses ashes." She reminded him, snuggling closer to him. "I want-" Another person passed by, and her eyes followed him, something familiar in the way he walked. His scent sent her cowering into Ethon, suddenly terrified. "Nonono Eefin, No!" She hid her face in his chest, her hold tightening on the man. As long as Ethon was there, she was safe. They couldn't get her here. They couldn't. She may have been imagining the way the air changed around her, how she suddenly felt surrounded, Ethon an island of safety in otherwise treacherous waters. She wasn't letting go of him.

" 'On't 'ettem get me." She whimpered, closing her eyes. "I- I sorry. I want-" The word was a whimper, a shameless beg for comfort. At the end of the day, Karma Black was naught but a girl, and a girl only wanted one thing when she was scared.

Safety.

"Daddy."

"I think that 'fiftweneighteleven' might have been a few too many," Ethon stated dryly. He leaned his head slightly back as she made a drunken attempt to nip at his throat. The man raised an eyebrow at her. "Perhaps, you shrank?"

Ethon stroked her back soothingly. "I shan't let anyone harm you, milady," he assured. "Tell me where your daddy is and I shall take you to him."

Karma pouted up at him, distracted from her paranoia for the briefest of moments. "I dun wanna shrink!" She whined, nuzzling into him as someone else pressed a little too close to them, another person farther off watching them closely. Hiding in the fabric of Ethon's shirt, Karma glanced around again before tightening her hold further. Had the man been any other, he most likely would be walking away from this with a few broken bones.

"Daddy?" She sighed, comforted by his soft words. "He's at the castle, silly. He's the king." Snuggling into him, she took a deep breath through her nose, wallowing in his scent. "King Carde."

Ethon nodded, quickly guiding her out. Carde. King? Nolan Carde, then. "Alright, then," he said soothingly, as though addressing a girl far younger. "Let's get you home to daddy, shall we, milady?"

Making it out of the crowded club, Ethon glanced up and down the alleyway, breathing in deeply to assess the scents which lingered there, ears listening intently. There was nobody else in the alley.

"Are you ready?" Ethon queried, holding her securely. "Back to the castle we go."

One moment, they were standing in the alley, and the next, they were gone.