A Midnight Rose Ch. 05

"Our favourite Frenchman currently has his head stuck in a book so we won't have to worry about him for a while," she said lightly, "Oh and Mina decided to sample some of Tanji's less conventional medicine." She rolled her eyes as Luke mimed looking at a fake watch on his wrist. "Yes I know. Mina never was one for following the rules of society. She does what she wants, when she wants." Rowan sighed exasperatedly with a slight grin. "Suffice to say, Mina won't bother anyone for a while either. Except of course for Tanji, but I reckon she can handle our little pint-sized menace." Luke raised an eyebrow.

"It seems like everyone has a busy schedule then," he rasped, "I feel almost bad just beating up this sack over here." Rowan could sense that behind his flippant words, Luke was not as calm and collected as he seemed. She stepped forward to draw him into a tender embrace. She felt him stiffen in surprise at her meek act, but soon the tense muscles in his shoulders and arms relaxed into her embrace.

"You are lucky that hot and sweaty Luke just happens to turn me on a bit," she grumbled with a smile into the join of his collar bone and neck. She felt his chuckle reverberate in return, the exhalation of air spinning the odd curl out of place.

"I guess that I will just have to refrain from getting in the shower for a bit then," he murmured into her long tresses before retreating slightly. "So what do you think?" he asked, gesturing around the room. "You look like you appreciate a good workout area." With that, he ran a brazen, appreciative eye over her curves. Despite only being dressed in a pair of tracksuit bottoms and a tank top, Rowan felt like his gaze made her feel like she was wearing an elegant ball gown, or a set of particularly raunchy lingerie.

"As a matter of fact," she replied, "I do appreciate a good workout space. Unfortunately, mine and Mina's apartment is probably only a quarter of the size of this place but we manage." She began to walk away from him, intent on looking around.

Aware that Luke was following her, still with his shirt off, Rowan tried not to be distracted by his gorgeously defined abs as she came to the first cabinet. Opening it, she found herself staring at rows of boxing gloves and hand wrappings. She quickly closed the cupboard again: that was not what she was looking for.

Luke followed his mate curiously as she began to check the cabinets around the room that contained all the equipment for any style of combat that one could think of. She appeared to be looking for something.

Suddenly, she approached a cabinet that was set a little bit apart from the others. Luke knew then what she would find. As Rowan opened the door, she smiled. Bingo, she thought.

In front of her was a row of samurai swords. Judging by the handles, she would say that each one was unique to an owner. Knowing that Luke was standing almost directly behind her she asked, "Which one would suit me best?"

The vampire came around to stand next to her and looked at her with a curious gaze. "You can use a sword?" Rowan smirked: "Yes, I am reasonably proficient with this particular sort of blade." Luke whistled through his teeth. Well fuck me, he thought, the shocks just keep coming today. He almost didn't feel surprised though. Remembering the first night they had met, he recalled the silver knuckledusters that she had used to dent Remy's face. He should have known that she would be proficient in arm to arm combat.

He plucked a blade from the cabinet before handing it to her. "This one should be fine," he said, not taking his eyes off of her as she slid the sword out of its sheath with bright eyes. She moved away slightly so that she could swing it in wide arcs and test its weight. She nodded to herself before turning to Luke: "It will do."

The vampire looked confused. "It will do for what?" he asked. All of a sudden, the tip of the blade was grazing his throat. Rowan had moved insanely fast.

"Arm yourself," she said quietly, her voice serious whilst her eyes were full of playful fire. Luke reached slowly into the cabinet to grasp the hilt of his own sword which he withdrew slowly so as not to let the tip of Rowan's blade dig in any deeper. He knew that the blades were edged in silver, the only substance that could cause any real damage to a vampire's otherwise impenetrable skin and he really did not want to start losing blood when he had only just fed.

The light in his mate's eyes brightened even more and with a broad grin she withdrew the point from his throat. "Come on then," she said laughingly flinging her arms wide so that she was completely vulnerable.

"You know, it does go against nature for me to be attacking my mate," Luke mused, scratching his chin as if in deep thought. The woman before him simply smiled before out of nowhere her blade came arching towards his neck.

Luke had to use all his vampire reflexes to parry her attack. "What the hell was that?" he spluttered, retreating so as to put distance between himself and his mate, who suddenly seemed a lot more dangerous with a weapon.

Rowan laughed. "This is me showing you that I am no wallflower. This is me proving that whatever this is inside me, I am strong enough to overcome it." For a moment she looked unsure but was soon smiling again. "Don't worry," she teased, "I won't throw any shots that you won't be able to block.

With that she was off again, twirling and thrusting like she had been born with the blade surgically attached to her hand. Even Luke was struggling to follow her movements as she whirled and ducked, dipped and spun, all the while wielding the deadly blade with unnerving skill. "How are you doing this?" Luke managed to gasp as he only just knocked her sword away for the hundredth time. He couldn't believe her speed and deadly accuracy. He had been so sure that it would be a mismatched fight, given that he was a 1,500 year old vampire and she was merely human, but he had to work hard than ever before just to stay in the game.

Retreating briefly, Rowan said simply: "A lot of training." With a shrug of her slender shoulders she was off again with relentless energy. Their swords sang through the air as the fight progressed. Whenever Luke thought that he had her, she would fly away again and Luke would find himself slicing at empty air.

Rowan knew that despite all of her bravado, she would not be able to last much longer against Luke. She knew that she had more skill, but Luke was a vampire. He was skilled in ways she could not possibly imagine. It was a mismatched fight, but she was determined to prove her point.

She decided to take a risk. With a sharp thrust, she pulled back slightly, leaving her arms open just that little bit more than normal. Luke did not fail to notice the opening and foolishly, he fell for her ploy. As he went in for what he thought was the finishing blow, Rowan suddenly dropped like a stone, using her flexibility to sweep under his blade and towards his widespread legs. Simultaneously, she knocked the blade from his hands and used her momentum to force his ankle out from underneath him.

Luke had instantly realised his mistake. His attack had left him off balance and when he felt Rowan smash against his ankle, his whole body just crumpled. The sword hit the floor with a loud crash and his body followed soon after. He had no time to recover however, as Rowan was instantly sat astride him, her lips close to his ear.

"Do you believe me now?" she whispered. Luke's chest was heaving and he had begun to sweat in earnest again but he still managed a bellowing laugh.

"Yes my dear," he chuckled weakly, "You have more than proved your point." He then used his weight to roll over so that Rowan was on the bottom. "I would just appreciate that next time you do not use a deadly weapon to make your argument."

He then proceeded to kiss her deeply, silencing her delighted shrieks that echoed out into the room and beyond. The worry was still there, but for now he was satisfied; Rowan was a force to be reckoned with.

***

Michael's eyes flew open the minute the wheels hit tarmac. He felt utterly refreshed, despite the length of the flight. First Class luxurious leather seats had seen that his journey was as comfortable as possible.

Stretching like a cat, the vampire looked around the cabin to see his fellow passengers making to leave the aircraft. "... and we would like to welcome you all to the United States of America. Have a pleasant stay." The tinny voice resounded over the tannoy with a heavy Bronx accent that irritated Michael slightly. He gathered his hand luggage quickly and managed to get off the plane as quickly as possible.

So this is 21st Century America, he thought as he strode through JFK a while later, luggage in tow. It had been a while since he had visited, given that the Twins preferred to base their operations in Europe but he had always had a special spot for the country. It was vast and great, and had such a huge variety of people. But most of all, it was also full of people that would help him on his quest to find Allaine.

"Sir!" he heard a voice call out to him from near the exit. He turned regally to see a small, ferret of a man scurry towards him.

"You are the contact?" Michael asked coldly. Whilst in the air he had managed to track down someone with information. Said person was standing before him now.

"Yessir," the vampire mumbled, as if in awe of Michael's presence. The latter rolled his eyes in annoyance.

"Well?" he snapped, "What have you got for me?" The other vampire jumped considerably and snapped to attention. Leading Michael out of the airport terminal and across to a car park, he reached an old, beat-up Chevy that had definitely seen better days. Opening the door with a sharp tug, he plucked some photographs from the front seat.

"This is her," he rasped, "I first took notice when she beat up my friend. Poor Remy, 'e 'ad no chance, the girl moves fucking fast. Wears silver knuckledusters too," the man bobbed his head eagerly but Michael looked unimpressed.

"And?" Michael asked icily, "Anyone can move fast." The shorter vampire shook his head desperately. "No this is different," he said helplessly, "I have been watching her at her apartment. She's human, I'm sure of that, but she moves faster than any vamp I ever seen. It ain't natural. That's why I brought her pictures to you."

Michael simply raised an eyebrow as the vampire continued. "That, and I wanna see her fucking destroyed for what she did t'Remy. It ain't right."

Michael had had enough. He took the pictures silently and nodded gravely to the man before him. "Where is she," he asked in a voice that was low and deadly.

The other vampire trembled slightly. "She's- ur- she's in Philadelphia," he stammered, "Address is on the back of one of them photos."

Smiling his thanks, Michael reached into his bag and pulled a stack of cash out which he placed in the vamp's grubby hands. "Thank you for your time," he said coolly before striding away.

Off to Philadelphia we go, he thought, staring at the photos he had been given. Stroking the raven ringlets that cascaded down the back of the woman in the picture he smirked. I hope you are prepared beautiful, he thought with a maniacal laugh, because Uncle Michael is coming to visit.

To be continued...

Another chapter down! Hopefully I will be able to post more than one chapter this week to make up for my little hiatus this past week. I hope you enjoy this one and until next time...

mochadesire