Xenia pushed open the main set of double doors leading into the cathedral front of Bella Domina. She walked in to a quiet cathedral to find Nero kneeling to honor her arrival, “Welcome home, my empress.”
His presence and words put a slight smirk on her face as she walked up to him putting her naked body less than an inch away from him.
“Kiss me, Nero.” She ran her hands through his hair as he raised his head and began to kiss her abs and pelvic area at her command.
She continued to run her hands through his hair while he kissed her naked body with splashes of dried blood scattered over her.
“I’ve had an exciting night, Nero. And I come bearing great news.” She smiled to herself enjoying Nero’s obedient kisses upon her body, “I have already discovered who I intend to use puresanguis on.”
Nero paused his kisses for a moment at the sound of such monumental news, “The pureblood technique? So soon?”
He stood from his kneeling position, “I would like to convene and consult with you on the matter before using such an important skill, if I may empress.”
She grabbed his shoulder with her hand and crushed it with a strong grip causing him to wince in pain as she pushed him back down to his kneeling position, “You may not.”
“I am sorry, my empress. No one knows the significance of the pureblood technique more so than you. Forgive my insolence.” Nero continued to softly kiss her naked body as she stood before him.
She began to heal his shoulder as he kissed her in his kneeling position, “Oh trust me. I could hold on to the puresanguis technique for a millennium and not find this opportunity again. I have no hesitation and need no advice. Thank you Nero.”
His kisses began to give her chills as she looked down at his muscular frame, “I’ve had a thrilling night, darling.” She then grabbed his hair and pulled it back forcing him to look up at her, “Come give me the cherry on top.”
She walked past him down the cathedral aisle, and he stood and followed his empress through the silent halls of Bella Domina and into her bedroom where he was sure the silence would soon turn to echoing moans and screams.
______________________________________
With the help of Fincher, medical personnel had discovered Bobby and the accompanying horrific scene within his bedroom. The medical personnel were frightened to find large, meticulously removed hides of skin flung about the bedroom. Even more terrifying, Bobby was alive albeit barely as his lack of skin left his body in a state of ever worsening dehydration as his fluids evaporated from his body at an alarming pace.
Deep into the early morning, Fincher had called General Curtis to the hospital to report the evening’s massive failure. Fincher had exited from the void, but he remained on alert and ready to re-enter at a moment’s notice.
General Curtis looked out a window from within Bobby’s patient room on the 10th floor of the hospital, “So you’re telling me it was Xenia. But you have no surveillance footage, and you have no witnesses that are alive.” He turned his head and looked to Bobby, “No witnesses that are alive and capable of communicating.”
Fincher for the first time in years had forgotten about the location of the nearest donuts and coffee and instead was preoccupied with overwhelming fear, “It was her! And she is coming for me! You must help me. We must stop her.”
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Curtis scoffed, “This Sareena Night is nothing more than a copycat, Fincher. And yes, we will catch her. So she took down three operatives and your assistant.” He looked to Bobby again, “I’ll admit, in a rather sadistic manner, but that does not make one Xenia BloodStar. She is merely a highly capable opponent that we must take more seriously.”
Fincher was flustered as he responded, “Fine! Believe what you want! It doesn’t matter so long as you are willing to help me stay safe.”
Curtis raised his eyebrows at Fincher, “Stay safe, yes. But you will be helping me still, correct? You aren’t bowing out, are you?”
Fincher was sweating with anxiety, “Give me residence within Scorched Shadow headquarters, and I will devise a way to capture her. Xenia BloodStar or not.”
Curtis smirked, “I like your confidence. Who knew? The world didn’t need Jarek Heraklinos, they just needed Detective Fincher at the battle of BloodStar Citadel.”
Fincher scowled readying a response; however, the monitors connected to Bobby began to beep and alarm with life for the first time since his arrival.
Curtis shouted, “Doctor! Nurse! Somebody! Get in here!”
The care team came rushing in to check the monitors noting that electrical activity in his brain had, for the moment, returned.
The doctor on the team frowned, “This patient was confirmed brain-dead. What is going on here?!”
The nurses checking the EEG electrodes all shook their heads, “There is no mistake, electrical activity has returned in a meaningful way.”
Bobby then coughed up a small amount of blood and softly said, “Pen. Paper.”
Fincher rushed for a pen and paper yelling, “This is it! You’ll see! Tell ‘em Bobby! Tell ‘em the truth!”
He shoved the pen into Bobby’s mutilated hand and placed the paper before him. They elevated the bed to allow Bobby to write from an upright position.
The entire room looked on as Bobby began to crudely right on the paper, smearing blood as his hand dragged across the white paper.
The occupants of the room waited with bated breath. Even the nurses and doctor knew the implications of this moment as they had overheard much of the conversation taking place within the room.
Bobby’s writing finally began to form words which read:
“NOT XENIA. COPYCAT.”
Fincher shook his head in disbelief, “No, no, no! NO!”
Curtis sighed, “Fincher pull yourself together. You’re going mad.”
At that moment, the electrical activity on the EEG readout vanished just as quickly as it had appeared, and Bobby fell back in to a brain-dead state. This time, however, his ECG readout also went flat as his heart stopped. Despite life saving measures by the care team, Bobby was pronounced dead five minutes later.
Curtis looked to a shivering Fincher still awash with disbelief, “Pull yourself together. It’s not Xenia. But it is still a top priority for me. The last thing I need is this spilling over into the jurisdiction of St. Michael. Scorched Shadow cannot afford a confrontation with a rising St. Michael at the moment.”
Curtis pulled Fincher’s arm and took him out of the room, “Let’s go. You said you had a plan…”
Meanwhile, miles away deep within Bella Domina, Xenia sat in the lotus position inside a massive meditation room with a dome top.
She had her eyes closed as she smiled to herself, “As promised Bobby, I delivered the sweet release of death to you upon Fincher’s arrival. But not before you helped me one last time.”
She dispersed the massive ki necessary for such long-range bloodbending techniques, and she wiped her forehead of the accumulated sweat from hours of meditation following her sexual escapade with Nero after her arrival.
She softly said to herself, “And don’t worry First General Curtis. This killing of mine will spill over, and St. Michael will get involved. I guarantee it.”
She laughed to herself as she exited the meditation room on her way to finally take an hour or two of sleep; however, she did have one curiosity still wondering around in her mind, “Are you all talk Fincher, or do you actually have a plan to stop me? Hmm. I suppose we will see. In the meantime, I will exercise extreme caution. Let’s see who ends up the victor by the time this is all said and done.”
She reached her room to find Nero still asleep in her bed right where she left him after violently fucking his brains out upon her arrival earlier in the night.
She slipped her feet under the soft, luxurious sheets and comforter and crawled into bed next to him caressing his muscular body.
He was sound asleep, but she whispered to him with a smile, “My power is soon to return to full strength. And with it, I will conquer the world with you at my side. Goodnight, love.”