Night fell like a curtain of darkest black. Not a single star could be seen in the sky on that night. Only the deep orange light cast by the many nighttime businesses of Arthur's rest kept the streets from being consumed by the gloom.

  Al could sense countless other emerged on the streets hiding among crowds of ordinaires. Sometimes he actually caught them looking in his direction. They didn't feel like mages did when he felt them out with his sixth sense, which only worsened his building anxiety.

  He felt Jane squeezing his hand and turned his head towards her. Even after all that had happened she had still elected to hold his hand as they walked. She looked up at him and leaned in closer before raising her voice.

  "Don't worry about them, Al, we're mages so they're just trying to figure out if we're here to get in their way or not."

  "They don't feel like mages so what are they exactly?" he asked her.

  "They're nonhumans and once they realize we're not here to ruin their fun they'll stop sizing us up."

  "Nonhumans?"

  "Unlike us they were born emerged and while they might look like us they are anything but."

  They certainly looked human just like she had said, but his sense for magic marked them as other in some way. There was something predatory about them that made him put his guard up. It was like some kind of uncanny valley effect that made his skin crawl.

  "We're going to need one of them to get us into the nightclub so try not to spook them, Al."

  The plan had been to look for their next victim at one of the bigger nightclubs in town, but due to their age they would need someone else to get them in. It had been Jane's idea to find someone else that could get them through the door.

  Jane subtly waved at a woman loitering outside the club and pointed towards the alley opposite them. They moved over to the alleyway and waited for the woman to approach them.

  The way the woman moved as she walked towards them was unnerving. Every single motion was executed flawlessly and without any wasted effort. It was almost like a predator stalking its prey, which only made her perfectly symmetrical features and pearly teeth seem so much more uncanny.

  "Well that's a real cutie you have with you there, girl."

  The way the woman glanced at him made him nauseous. And it didn't get any better when she adjusted her dress to show off her ample cleavage while throwing him a wink.

  "I'm Valerie, and I imagine we could become great friends you and I," she said in a sultry tone.

  He instinctively tightened his grip on Jane's hand, but made no attempt to take a step back. If he showed this woman any weakness it would surely end up poorly for him.

  "You might not want to push him too hard, Valerie, warlocks aren't exactly known for their impulse control," Jane said firmly.

  Valerie's eyes lit up with excitement when the word warlock left Jane's mouth. She moved in closer and studied him curiously before moving his hair to the side to get a better look at his face only to be left speechless as signs of fear began creeping into her perfect features.

  "It's like you're his spitting image, even your facial expressions are exactly the same."

  The fear faded, but her curiosity seemed to have doubled. Had she known Pietro personally? He could feel some aching feeling growing within Jane's chest through the bond and immediately took a step back from the woman.

  "He's mine, but if you get us through the door and get us a nice booth in that club over there I'll let you talk him up for a bit," Jane said coldly.

  "Girl, I'd do a lot more than just..."

  She stopped in her tracks and took a step back as he instinctively began priming the nihilation. Something about her tone had made him slip into a very violent state of mind, but once she moved back he felt comfortable enough to let it go.

  "That gave me a right scare! You're just as terrifying as he is if not more so."

  "Do we have a deal or not?" Jane muttered.

  "If your offer remains unchanged then we've got a deal," Valerie purred.

  "Good, then let's get going already."

  Valerie had the two of them follow her right past the queue outside the club. She moved up to the bouncer and whispered something in his ear that made his eyes go hazy. Her words must have done something to his mind since he let the three of them in through the door without so much as a word.

  The club was bustling with life as they moved through the crowds of people on the dance floor. The booming music and the countless figures all around him made him feel claustrophobic, but he had no choice other than to endure it.

  Valerie took them to one of the fanciest booths in the joint and had them get seated while she waved over a server. It was the classic circular leather couch with a round table in the middle that he had seen in countless bar scenes in movies.

  "I know this is uncomfortable for you, but I need you to keep her entertained while we're here," Jane whispered to him before Valerie returned and seated herself next to him.

  So she had thrown him to the sharks and he somehow had to survive Valerie's attention until Jane managed to scout their next target. How was he supposed to handle Valerie for the many hours it could take before Jane settled on a target?

  "You're so similar to Pietro that it's almost uncanny really."

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  He couldn't suppress the raised eyebrow in time and Valerie's smile just deepened as she caught that momentary reaction on his face. She moved in closer leaving him sandwiched between her and Jane as the server approached their booth.

  "Just a bottle of red for me and a stiff drink for the lad," she said to the server without so much as looking in their direction.

  Valerie was attractive despite the uncanny valley, and he might have fallen for her act before he had met Jane. But with Jane by his side her dark hair, sultry voice, and red lips only left him feeling awkward if not outright uncomfortable.

  "I'll hold you accountable if you make him feel threatened enough to actually cast that spell of his on you," Jane said as she leaned her head on his shoulder and studied the people moving through the nightclub.

  "I'll keep that in mind," Valerie said as the server came back with their order and she began pouring herself a glass of red wine.

  She gently moved her hand over his chest as she took her first sip and gazed into his eyes. He eyed the amber drink before him and then threw it back. It burned going down, but if he was going to endure this he would need all the help he could get.

  "You really are his son, aren't you?"

  "No we only look the same, act the same, and talk the same..."

  "Don't forget smell the same and most likely taste the same," she chuckled.

  He had been trying to figure out what the sensation she gave off reminded him of. The magic around her had a texture like meat so rotted it was falling off the carcass, but it also made him think of the smell of freshly dug earth. And the power surging within her was practically dripping with some kind of insatiable hunger.

  "It's so cute how your mind was settling on vampire before you started looking deeper."

  "I didn't even know vampires were an actual thing so why would I ever assume that?"

  "Probably because my actions so far have lined up with your established pop culture conception of the leeches."

  That overbearing yet effortless sexuality certainly lined up with how vampires were depicted in modern media, but his sixth sense screamed that she was anything but. No, she was something far older and far scarier than a room temp seductress with long pearly fangs.

  "Everyone assumes ghouls are grotesque, but how's a nice little ghula supposed to catch her prey if her appearance ends up scaring off all the pretty little morsels."

  Her appearance certainly didn't evoke jackal headed man-eater or walking corpse, but something told him that her beauty only went skin deep. It was subtle, but it was clear she was inhumanly strong with how carefully she had to handle the wine glass in her left hand.

  "But enough about me, what about you boy? What's the son of the serpent shade up to?" she said as she slowly moved his hand towards her thigh.

  Her grip was strong as a vise. If he so much as tried to pull back she could snap his arm like a twig. His other hand tightened around Jane's as he fought back against the discomfort that woman was causing him.

  "I wanted a drink, that's it."

  "And I got you one, didn't I?" she said as she began moving his hand further up her thigh and underneath the dress.

  It didn't matter to him if she snapped his arm anymore. He dug his fingers into her thigh until he felt the skin begin to give. She let go off his hand just as he began to draw blood, but he wouldn't stop until he had made himself very clear.

  "I've fought an immortal before, and you're barely an insect by comparison," he hissed as his fingers dug deeper into her flesh and cold black blood began dripping down her all too perfect pale leg.

  "You're so much like him," she grunted in pain.

  He kept digging until he felt the large pulsating tube that was her femoral artery and began pressing it tighter and tighter. It was the first thing that had felt good all night and not even Valerie could take that from him. His strength had surprised him somewhat because while he was strong he shouldn't have been strong enough to tear through flesh with grip strength alone.

  "Guess she's a masochist," Jane muttered as she gently rubbed the back of his hand.

  "What the hell do you..."

  Valerie had moved one of her hands to cup one of her large breasts as he tightened his grip on her artery. It hadn't been a grunt of pain, it had been a moan of pleasure. The pain excited her when it should have terrified, but if this was the best way to shut her up then it suited him just fine.

  "One more annoying word out of your mouth and I'm going to see if it's actually possible to shove a thumb through someone's trachea," he hissed before turning his attention back to Jane.

  "I'm sorry, Al," Jane said as she tightened her grip on his hand.

  Her voice was trembling, so he let his mind dive into the bond so they could speak without being overheard before he gave her his reply.

  "I know, Jane, and I'm sorry for breaking your fingers," he whispered to her across the bond.

  "I wanted to hate you because you weren't supposed to be anything more than a tool."

  She had barely talked about her feelings after what happened earlier during the day. He hadn't pushed her because to some extent he felt like he had been the only real victim, but even so he felt somewhat bad for what he had done to her. Breaking her fingers had been cruel and forcing her to bind herself to him had been more so even if it had made them equal.

  "I really wish I could hate you more, Jane, but you did make me truly happy when I was at my lowest even if it only was for your own benefit."

  Her emotions wavered as the message hit her. Somewhere deep down she had enjoyed pretending to be his girlfriend and her memories had revealed she had been touched by his wish for her to be happy even if she had rejected it back when she heard him say it in his dreams.

  "I started caring about you, Al, far more than I was ready to."

  He stared into her eyes as they communicated without speaking a single word. To anyone else it would look like the two of them had frozen up while gazing at each other, but in their minds it felt no different from a normal conversation.

  "The idea of love scares me, Al, because I've never experienced it since the day I lost my family."

  "The way that woman looked at you before made me jealous and now I don't know what to do with myself!"

  The words were almost defeaning as they struck the back of his mind. His heart was beating faster and faster, but could he even do anything? If she didn't love him back he could never kiss her, but if she did then there was no way he could ever stop himself from pressing his lips against hers.

  "When we're finished with tonight's target, would you consider holding me the way you did last night?"

  Her feelings were genuine, but she had struggled to express them. He nodded to her affirmatively before disconnecting from the bond. With a quick motion he tore his fingers from Valerie's thigh and wiped the blood off on her dress before standing up.

  "You've already spotted them haven't you, Jane?"

  "They just went to the men's bathroom," she whispered to him.

  "Good, you can wait for me outside seeing as this should only take me a minute," he declared as he began walking towards the men's room.

  There was only a single emerged individual there, so he followed them as they headed into one of the stalls. They turned around only for their eyes to go wide as they realized he had followed them. He closed the door behind him in the stall and locked the door before casting his first spell.

  "Nihil."

  The nothingness devoured all sounds around them as he raised his finger towards the man's head and soundlessly mouthed the next spell. They tried to raise their hands to do something, but it was already far too late.

  "Nihilate."

  The power had been kept to a minimum as to not make a mess, but it was still enough to blow a marble sized hole clean through his victim's head. He grabbed them by the arms before they could hit the ground and gently seated the body on the toilet before crawling underneath the raised wall into the stall next door.

  Once he had left the club he rushed towards Jane and took her hand in his. The night was still young and they would have plenty of time to themselves now that their business was finished.

  "Shall we head home then?" he said with a warm smile on his face.

  "Lead the way," she said quietly.

  The bond told him that she was giggling on the inside, but he wouldn't push her to express herself any more than she could handle for now. And as they walked back home hand in hand the night felt somewhat brighter than it had before.