From The Ashes 3

Vampire: The Masquerade

From The Ashes

Dalton drove Laura somewhere out of the way, and met Rain and Ella downtown. They introduced him to five vampires. Who, inevitably, asked for something in return for hunting rights in their turf. Not right away, but they'd need a driver soon.

He was back before daybreak, and made sure he wasn't followed. Laura, in turn, made sure he was safe from the sun before he fell to the death of the day. Then she went out, needing nothing more than sunglasses, seeking food and supplies for the human side of her life.

The sun set and Laura was there to see Dalton snap back awake and seemingly alive. They shared the last bag they'd stolen from a blood bank for the trip, and he made a note to check with their new allies where they could get more without making anybody mad.

Rain had his own problems that night. One of his sister's kids had had a run-in with the law. Nothing serious, but if the Prince heard about it he could make sure it became so.

"This is what happens when you still care about people," Ella reminded him.

One of the downtown gang had enough pull with the police to ensure Esteban ended up with a warning rather than a sentence. But it meant Rain and Ella would have to help on that job Dalton was already roped into.

At least Dalton could hit a club, long as he knew which were safe. Safe from vampire problems, anyway. He could still get the angry boyfriend mortal problems when trying to persuade a girl to step out for a smoke...

Laura slept during the evening. She'd gotten used to being up during the day as they drove, and her body was still alive enough to get tired even though the vampire side wanted to be up all night.

Dalton felt bad waking her. And worse telling her tomorrow night he'd be fighting...