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The room is in chaos, and Bobbi is in the eye of the storm.
“He’ll betray us -”
“- outsider -”
“- smells like trouble -”
“- can’t trust a rogue -”
“- not going to help -”
The fragments of sentences that rise above the din become angrier and louder, until there’s nothing but chaos and vitriol swirling through the air. Bobbi’s eyes flick to Hunter, standing in the middle of a circle of strangers who are making it obvious they don’t like him whatsoever. His gaze is straight ahead, eyes cold and hard. Bobbi wants to reach for him, but that won’t help either of them.
“Enough.” Melinda’s voice doesn’t need to be loud to be heard, the cool edge of authority cutting through the roar of dissent. “I’ve already made my decision. You’re being informed, not consulted.” That does little to ease the tension, but the coven has no choice but to accept Melinda’s proclamation.
“There’ll be updates to the state of affairs when progress has been made,” Melinda says smoothly. “You’re dismissed.” The agitated band of vampires is quick to disperse, ready to work their aggression out in a way that won’t get them reprimanded by their leader.
Soon it’s just Bobbi, Hunter, and Melinda in the room. Bobbi’s eyes flick to Mel, seeking permission. The other woman inclines her head in a slight nod, and Bobbi wastes no time in approaching Hunter. She tries not to be too unnerved by his expression, but she’s never seen him look so… empty. He’s still staring forward, almost like he doesn’t register that everyone’s gone.
“Hunter?” Bobbi reaches out to brush her fingers along his shoulder, and Hunter flinches away from her.
“Am I also dismissed?” He asks, looking past Bobbi to Mel. Bobbi only assumes that the leader’s answer is a nod, because he begins moving towards one of the many exits in the large room, steadfastly ignoring her presence.
Something between exasperation, anger, and hurt flares in Bobbi’s gut at his cold shoulder. Nevertheless she follows him out of the catacombs where the meeting had been held, easily keeping up with him. Hunter doesn’t seem to be trying to shake her, because that would mean acknowledging her.
“Go home, Barbara,” Hunter snaps after two more blocks of her tailing him. “I’m going hunting.”
“Let me come with you,” Bobbi implores. She’s not hungry - she ate the night before - but hunting is always easier with a partner.
“I said go home,” Hunter repeats, halting in his tracks.
“Why are you being such a dick?” she snaps, fed up with his childishness.
“Why didn’t you tell them anything?” he fires back. Bobbi blinks at him. “I don’t need you to tell them that we’re -” Hunter makes a hand gesture that Bobbi understands to mean ‘mates’ - “but they were half-ready to stake me and you weren’t doing anything!”
“It wouldn’t have made a difference,” Bobbi answers coldly. “That’s not how it works.”
“So in your precious coven,” God, they’re back to this again, “the endorsement of an upstanding member isn’t enough to assuage suspicion? Doesn’t sound like much of a family to me, Bob.”
“They’re not my family,” Bobbi growls. “You are, stupid.” Hunter’s nostrils flare, but he doesn’t try to argue with her further.
Bobbi takes this as her opportunity. “You know before you there were others.” Hunter’s jaw tightens, but he nods. “The others didn’t last, and without telling them about,” she makes the same hand gesture he did earlier, “they would have no reason to believe that you will, either.”
Hunter huffs. “Fine.”
“Do you forgive me?” Bobbi asks quietly, reaching for Hunter imploringly.
He thinks for a moment, but takes her outstretched hand in his. “You’re a difficult person to stay mad at,” Hunter murmurs as he draws Bobbi into his arms. She kisses down the line of his jawbone before sliding her mouth against his, forgiveness blooming on Hunter’s lips.
“I know,” Bobbi says when she pulls back. “Now, how about that hunt?”
---
Bobbi paces across the creaky wooden floors, trying to ignore the uncomfortable pinching in her stomach. It’s been a week since Hunter left, and he had promised to check in with her. He had promised.
The door swings open, and Bobbi’s already launched herself into Hunter’s arms by the time it shuts. She’s dimly aware that anyone could have come through the door, and she had been foolish to throw herself at the intruder without checking first but… she had missed him. A week away felt like eternity when she was used to seeing him all night, every night.
“You’re late,” Bobbi growls. She nuzzles into Hunter’s neck, but recoils at the stench. “And you smell like shit.”
“I’m sorry,” Hunter sighs, carding his fingers through her hair. “And believe me, I know. But I smell like you, and I can’t have that when I’m chasing down a vampire who hates your coven.”
“You smell… like me?” Bobbi repeats dumbly.
“Well I’m yours, aren’t I?” Hunter asks, cocking his head to the side. Bobbi’s stomach flips at the ease in his voice at the proclamation. He’s much better at all of the lovey-dovey stuff than she is, and she… she loves the way he can make it seem so easy.
“Yes,” Bobbi breathes, pulling him closer. His skin is cool, against hers, and she takes another moment to breathe, trying to ignore the unpleasant musk that’s masking his real scent. “All mine.” She kisses Hunter’s neck, and then nips at the spot she had just kissed. Hunter shivers, and Bobbi smiles into his skin. She may not be good at romance, but she is good at this part.
“Tell me if you want me to stop,” she murmurs as she nibbles at his neck again.
“As if I would,” Hunter says breathlessly. She bites him, harder this time, and Hunter’s answering sound is nothing short of appreciative. She bites her way down his neck until she reaches the collar of his shirt. Hunter fumbles open the buttons, and Bobbi follows the slope of his collarbone until she’s half-kneeling in front of him, her mouth pressed against his pectoral.
Bobbi stops biting him then, distracted by the two pin prick scars on his chest. “Mine.” She kisses their mating mark gently.
“Always and forever, darling,” he affirms. That’s what the mark means, after all; that they’re bound to each other. Maybe that’s the reason she felt his absence so keenly, Bobbi thinks dimly. Hunter pulls her up to standing again, and Bobbi fights her urge to bury herself in him again.
“When do you have to leave?” Bobbi asks, avoiding Hunter’s eyes.
“Soon.” Hunter lets out a long sigh. “It was risky coming here in the first place, but -”
“I’m glad you did,” Bobbi interrupts. “I know I didn’t tell you before, but - be careful, okay? I need you to come home to me.”
“Why? So we can have a hundred little vampirelings and use our progeny to help us take over the world?” Hunter teases. Bobbi huffs, stomping her foot indignantly.
“Maybe because I love you, stupid.” Bobbi pauses. “A hundred kids? Really?”
“It’s called a joke, Bob.” Hunter kisses her cheek. “You should learn how to make them.”
Bobbi rolls her eyes at him. “Just don’t die out there, okay?”
“Already dead, darling.”
Hunter kisses her one more time, and then he’s gone.
---
Bobbi doesn’t know how she ended up here.
The only memories she has are dim; sitting in a tavern with the hood of her cloak covering her face, enjoying her meal… A woman appearing from the shadows asking for her help… Then, nothing.
Now she’s tied up and unable to move with Grant Ward sharpening a stake in front of her. Bobbi thinks Ward must have given her something, because her muscles feel heavy, and she has to fight just to stay awake. Her only hope is to wait for someone else to come save her, and Bobbi really hates being cast as a damsel in distress.
“Did your coven really believe I wouldn’t recognize your spy?” Ward asks as he draws his knife over the end of the stake again, sharpening the point further. “He reeked of you even after he tried to hide it.”
Bobbi’s heart clenches. If Ward had done anything to Hunter, she was going to kill him, drugged or not. Nobody hurt what belonged to her. Hunter is still alive - she can feel the dull thudding of his heartbeat through their mating bond - but alive and well are two separate things.
She doesn’t answer Ward’s question.
“He was no match for me,” Ward continues, rotating the stake so he can sharpen it from a different angle. He sounds exactly like you would expect a stereotypical villain to, and Bobbi hates this predicament even more because of it. She tugs against the ropes again, but they’re tighter than she can undo without help. If only she was like Hunter - he had learned how to turn into a bat after a century or two of practice, and he said it was useful for getting out of sticky situations.
Sadly, Bobbi had not had a century or two of practice, and even if, by some miracle, she managed the transformation, she was still drugged and had no idea how to fly. So there was that idea gone. She doesn’t want to give up - that’s just not who she is - but Bobbi doesn’t know what else she can do. She can’t move, she can barely even think, and things are not looking good.
“He knows where you are,” Ward continues monologuing. “Did you really think I wouldn’t find out about your little secret, Bobbi? How’s Melinda going to feel when she learns her precious second took a mate without telling her?”
Bobbi snorts to herself. It isn’t really going to matter how Melinda feels if Ward stakes Bobbi and she dies; she’ll just be dead. And if Ward doesn’t succeed in killing her, then Mel will never know that she’s mated, until Bobbi chooses to tell her herself.
Ward is really stupid.
A nearby door slams. Ward straightens, dropping the stake he’s sharpening but keeping hold of the knife. He doesn’t bother telling Bobbi to stay where she is before he leaves the room. Now would be the time for her to escape… if she actually had a snowball’s chance in hell of doing so.
A stiff breeze blows in through the cracked window, and Bobbi shivers. At least the cold is making it somewhat easier to keep her eyes open.
“Hello, dearest.” Bobbi’s head jerks to the side, and there’s Hunter, a cocky smile spread on his face. He had come in through the window, she realizes dimly.
“For someone who pretends to be smart, Ward is dumb,” Hunter says as he cuts Bobbi out of her bindings easily. “A rock, Barbara. I threw a rock at a door and he went to go check on it.”
Bobbi manages a shaky smile, but it quickly disappears when Hunter cuts the last of her ropes and she’s sent pitching forward. He catches her, thankfully, but she’s in no state to escape. She opens her mouth to say as much to Hunter, but he puts a finger to her lips. He’s obviously reached the same conclusion, so they need to spend their energy finding an alternate plan rather than talking about how the current one won’t work.
“Do you trust me?” Hunter asks suddenly. Bobbi glares at him - the question isn’t even worth asking. “Then bite me.”
“Are you -”
“It’ll help you regain some of your strength and hopefully flush some of the poison from your system. Then we can go.”
“Or it’ll make you even weaker, and then neither of us are making it out of here alive!” She retorts. Suddenly dying here doesn’t seem so bad. Not if it means Hunter gets to live.
“Would you stop being so stubborn?” Hunter asks. “He’s going to be back soon -”
No sooner are the words out than the door opens again.
It’s not Ward. It’s Melinda.
Uh oh. Bobbi has a feeling she’s in trouble.
“Ward -”
“Is dead.” Mel cuts her off. “But we had an interesting conversation before I staked him.”
Super uh oh. Maybe Bobbi had been a bit too cocky in her assessment of Ward’s ability to transfer information to Melinda. But that still left the question of why Melinda was here in the first place. Unless Hunter told her - and from the look on his face, he had not.
Bobbi is just all sorts of confused. It’s going to be a long night.
---
“And this is our only option?” Hunter confirms for what must be the hundredth time. Bobbi had spent the night talking - arguing - with Melinda and the rest of the coven, and they had all reached an agreement. It wasn’t the compromise Bobbi had wanted, but there weren’t many palatable alternatives.
“I’m sorry, Lance,” Bobbi sighs. “But yes. It looks like our only option. Unless -”
“I’m not breaking the bond,” he says firmly. “If this is what it takes, I’ll do it for you.” Hunter clears his throat. “If you want me to.”
“I’m not breaking the bond either, stupid.” Bobbi meets his eyes for the first time since exiting the antechamber where she had been conversing with the coven. “I don’t know how many times I’m going to say it before it gets through your thick skull, but I love you.”
“You only need to say it once,” Hunter answers. “I can’t believe you’re going to make an honest man out of me,” he chuckles.
“Being in a coven doesn’t have to make you honest,” Bobbi says, eyes flashing with mirth as she steps forward to murmur her next words in his ear. “In fact, I’d be a little disappointed if it did.”
Hunter barks out a laugh. “And if your coven has a problem with that?”
“They can bite me.”
“Oh, they’d best not,” Hunter growls as he scoops Bobbi up into his arms. “That’s my job.”