Meredith had always known about magic. Her family was magic, one of the most powerful mage lines out there. Having lost her parents to all the fighting though, she stayed far away from it, focusing on school and lading a primarily normal life.
Unti...
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They were really out in a forest. Well, certainly no one was going to be looking for the Nothings in this secluded ass, middle-of-nowhere, wooded area, but Mer wished they at least had a cabin. How hard would it be for them to have some tiny, tiny real-estate out here? At least when Rush had taken her as a sacrifice, he'd had a house. Not anymore really, but still, why did they have to be in the woods?
Rush was stiff as a board, leaning against a tree. They had, prior to coming here, briefly conversed with Darius. Though conversed wasn't quite the words for that confrontation. There had been a lot of unsavory language exchanged, her life had been threatened a few times, and then they had parted ways. It had all pretty much ended in his father disowning him and telling him to go get himself killed if he wanted.
When she'd expressed serious concern for his situation and apologized for the mess she'd gotten him into, Rush had laughed at her–not something heavy or anything, just one of those signature, condescending vampire chuckles. Apparently, them flying off the handle at each other was frequent enough and it was just Darius's way of telling him this was a very bad idea.
Considering there were seven Nothings all gathered here, not counting Caelan who was like half, Rush was in immediate danger. He couldn't fight that many if he wanted to. So, rigid as a statue, he was pressed against a tree with his arms crossed so tight that she was surprised his shoulders hadn't popped out of their sockets yet.
"Mer!" Paul called to her finally, and she stood up from where she'd been sitting in the grass.
Looking back to Rush, he nodded her forward but had no intention of following her.
Alone it was.
Slowly walking up to the group of Nothings gathered around a fire, she'd finally been granted permission to converse with them. Paul had to make introductions and make sure it was okay for her to be in their presence. How pretentious. There were less than ten of them left though, so she really shouldn't be aggravated by their caution.
"Meredith, this is Leif." Paul introduced her to a man only slightly taller than himself. The man had cold eyes and looked on her with heavy distaste. "Leif, Meredith Aurion."
Leif scoffed when her name was uttered, and she lowered her eyebrows in annoyance. The man was white from head to toe. Long loose milk hair and empty eyes, he wore some ornate robe and had a staff in hands of slick ivory.
"The abomination." The man sniffed at her, and her expression turned placid.
Bundling up all her rage into a ball, it was better she didn't snap at him.
They must have drained all of his color out with his manners.
Paul chuckled, covering his mouth, and Leif whipped him a confused, narrowed look. It was entertaining that she could converse with Paul and the rest of them couldn't hear. This was a diplomatic meet though, so Paul straightened up and resumed his serious demeanor quite quickly.
