VULNERUM

LAURA

Laura ripped the blood-soaked bandage off Derek's stomach without warning.

“Ack! Careful, Laura! That stings!”

“Careful?” she demanded. She grabbed a bottle of antiseptic and poured it directly onto the puncture wound, where it bubbled and hissed. He yelped in pain and nearly jumped off his bed. She pushed him back down.

“You are the one who has re-opened his wounds ten times in as many hours, because you can't stay out of fights.” She slapped a new bandage on his belly, where the antiseptic still sizzled, and taped it on briskly. “You are the one who attacked two Nosferatu Nobles while bleeding buckets from two separate wounds.” She went to his neck bandage, also completely crimson, and repeated the process. “I think that if you die from my ministrations, it's your own damn fault.”

He struggled, but had little success. He really had lost way too much blood. On the other hand, his wounds might have been the only reason the Nosferatu had listened to him last night. One guy with a death glare was easy to ignore. One guy with a death glare despite being covered in his own blood was a little bit harder.

“I'm sorry,” Akane whispered, clutching her sheathed sword as if for comfort. She really should be resting too, but at least she wasn't agitating her wounds. Her entire torso and her burned arm were wrapped in bandages that would accelerate the healing process. “I didn't even notice he was wounded at first. I thought it was vampire blood.”

Laura sighed. “It's not your fault. How's Ling holding up?”

“Doctor Henry says she's just got a few cracked ribs, plus the teeth. She'll be perfectly fine tomorrow.”

The toy maker had so many wonderful uses. Vastly accelerating the body's natural healing was one of them, and replacing a few shattered teeth was even easier.

Derek had refused to accept treatment, and it had taken Laura a while to figure out why. It wasn't that he wanted scars—in fact, his skin was flawless, despite the many wounds he had surely accrued over the years; one of the other minor gifts of the toy maker. No, the reason was a bit simpler than that.

“You'll have to get used to being a celebrity eventually,” she said while pressing on his chest, looking for fractures. The x-rays hadn't shown anything, but it was best to be sure.

He snorted. “No thanks, I can live without being fawned over like royalty.” He sighed. “At least when I was just a monster slayer, I could request a doctor who didn't care about that. All of Clarke's techs know we're Paladins, so that's out.”

“Could always talk to Doctor Clarke directly,” Akane said. “He still treats us the same.”

Derek smiled. “Yeah, and he won't stop blabbering about his newest projects, either. Besides, he's too busy to do grunt work.”

Laura glanced at the first aid kit Derek kept in his room. “Hm, you're out of sutures. Akane, I have some more in my room, under my bed.” She tossed her keys to her. Akane headed out with a nod.

“I don't need stitches,” he said with a scoff. “There's some of that healspray stuff in the kit. It'll keep me together long enough to find a doctor.”

“I agree,” Laura said. She shook the aerosol can, peeled up his bandages, and sprayed it on the wounds. She probably should have done that before the bandages, but she had forgotten. It wouldn't cause any harm, regardless. Healspray wasn't as good as stitches, but it would serve as temporary skin until he could get fixed. The biological equivalent of a bandage. “I just needed to get Akane out of the room for a minute. I need to talk to you in private.”

He raised an eyebrow. “What about? I can't think of anything you'd need to talk about that she can't hear.”

She chose her words carefully. “Tell me what you think about her.”

He blinked. “What?”

“Akane. And Ling, for that matter. Tell me how you feel about them.”

“Well... I mean...” He scratched his head. “They're my friends, you know? Just like you and Adam. Sometimes they give me headaches, though.”

Laura put the spray aside and started feeling around his neck wound. He had mentioned it ached more than it should; he might have some internal injuries they couldn't see, like a minor case of whiplash or something. Not to mention that the Nosferatu sometimes used poison, but that would have shown up in his bloodwork. “And what about when they throw themselves at you?”

He frowned. “Yeah, that's where the headaches come in. I don't know what's up with them these days.”

She sighed and stepped back. His neck was fine, as was his chest. He had no injuries other than the obvious ones. His brain, however, might need fixing.

The reason Derek had re-opened his wounds so much—other than intervening in a fight between some kemos—was that Ling had tackled him. In fact, that was why she was getting treated right now. Her injuries had gone from “minor ache” to “screaming pain.” It was her own damn fault, but still.

Akane wasn't much better. She hadn't actually tackled him, but she had refused to let go of his arm, so he kept losing his balance. The reason Laura was treating him was because she was honestly worried about what would happen if she let Akane do it.

“Derek Huntsman,” she declared. “You are the stupidest man I have ever met.”

Before he could respond, Akane came back and handed Laura her own first aid kit. She glanced at the healspray can. “Couldn't you just use that?”

“Yes, and I did. Sorry for making you waste your time.”

Akane shrugged, unconcerned. “There's something you might want to hear,” she said, pulling out her phone and clicking a few buttons. She held it up, and Eliza Cassan's voice came out. Akane must have found a recording.

“I'm here on the scene of the latest screamer attack, in the South-East Central district. Until last night, this was the site of a long-standing war between two of the largest Nosferatu bloodlines, the Guruhi and the Nictuku. The screamers attacked at 8 P.M., in the middle of a battle. The vampires largely chose to ignore this new enemy, in favor of continuing to kill each other.

“Necessarian forces did their best to contain the violence, but they were vastly outnumbered. It wasn't until the Paladins arrived that the tide began to turn. The Necessarian angel host arrived soon after, and with their help the battle was won relatively quickly.

“Many of the survivors note that the leader of the Paladins single-handedly managed to subdue the vampires, and many turned to aiding the beleaguered soldiers they had been fighting against just moments before. Those few who remained recalcitrant—including the Nobles of the two bloodlines—were declared honorless and cast out.”

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

Akane closed her phone with a snap.

Derek sat up and reached for his shirt. “Tell me it's not that bad.”

Laura rolled her eyes. “You're a public figure now, whether you like it or not. At least it's for good reasons.”

He put his shirt on carefully, frowning. “I... yeah, I guess that makes sense. But still, all this attention...”

“Stop worrying,” she said. “I know you don't like being put on a pedestal, but you're running around, saving the city and everyone in it.” She shrugged. “You're going to be looked up to. Just refuse to give autographs and you'll be fine.”

He looked horrified, and she couldn't help but laugh.

“It isn't funny!” he cried. “I don't know how to deal with that!”

She patted his head. “Just deal with it the same way you deal with women, and you'll be fine.”

He frowned. “What do you mean, how I deal with women?”

“Exactly.” She pulled out the scrunchy keeping her hair up, letting it fall again. She hadn't wanted to worry about getting any hair in Derek's wounds. “Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some shopping to do.”

He cocked his head, confused. “Didn't you get all that done a few days ago with Lizzy?”

“I just need to order a few specialty items from the Emporium,” she said, referring to the online marketplace. “It's no big deal.”

She retrieved her first-aid kit from Akane and headed towards the door. She was planning to leave for the day, until she noticed the look on Akane's face. She was waiting for Laura to leave with an anxious expression.

Silver and gold, she couldn't leave these two alone.

“I'll be right back,” she said, to Akane's obvious disappointment. “I just need to grab my laptop.”

She closed the door behind her... and nearly ran into Ling, silently opening the door to her own room.

She grinned, a little shakily. “Hey Laura.”

Laura frowned. “Aren't you supposed to be getting healed over at NHQ?”

“South Central Outpost, actually,” she said. “Henry put me in one of the toy boxes. Fixed me up quick enough. He'd probably be willing to do the same for Derek, actually.”

Laura scowled. “Let him deal with it for now. He deserves the pain.”

She winced. “Right, and I meant to apologize about—”

“Straw that broke the camel's back, Ling,” Laura said flatly. “Again, he deserves everything that has happened to him.” She sighed and rubbed her forehead. “Look, I have to go grab something from my room—”

“Oh, I'll come with you,” Ling said as she locked the door again. “I left one of my gloves in there during Akane's party.”

They both headed towards the elevators, and Laura struggled to remember. “The thin leather one?”

She nodded. “That's it. You found it?”

“Yeah. It's on my nightstand.”

When they reached the room, Laura collected her laptop, Ling got her glove, and Laura locked up again. Lizzy wasn't there, but that wasn't a big surprise. There was some voice actors' convention going on. Laura didn't know the details, but she was busy. Probably for the best; they didn't need anyone else fawning over Derek.

Ling told Laura to go on ahead while she went to the bathroom, and Laura didn't see a need to wait for her. When the elevator doors opened, however, it had picked up two passengers. Before Laura stepped on, the girl, a midnight-colored vampire, held the door open and gave her a look.

“Laura?” she asked with surprise. “Is that you?”

Laura frowned, her hand involuntarily edging towards her Occisor. “Do I know you?”

“Nine hells,” her companion, a purple demon—a sibriex, almost certainly—muttered. “It really is her. She hasn't changed a bit.”

Laura resisted the urge to grind her teeth. “I think you might have me mistaken for someone else.”

The vampire rolled her eyes. At least, Laura thought she did. She was wearing daygoggles, so it was hard to tell. “It's me, Laura. Seena!”

Laura blinked dumbly. “Wait—Seena Lancaster?” Her hand finally came away from her gun, and she looked her up and down. She should have known at “nine hells.” “When did you become a vampire?”

She grinned. “Just a week or so ago. I joined the Mals, and they footed the bill.”

But that just made Laura frown again. “The assassins? Why?”

Seena shrugged. “They asked.”

Laura sighed. “And what about you, Simon? Did you join the sibriex just for the hell of it?”

He laughed. “Of course not. You know I've always been interested in the toy maker.” His grin faded. “Unfortunately, I don't really have the skills the sibriex are looking for, and I haven't had a chance to experiment as much as I'd like...”

Thankfully, Ling came back before they could delve too deeply into depressing topics. “Oh, hi!” She glanced at Laura, then back at the twins. “Do you guys know each other?”

“Seena Lancaster,” Seena said, shaking Ling's hand firmly while still holding the door open. “This is my brother, Simon.”

Ling smiled and shook his hand as well. “Pleasure. I'm Ling Yu.” She glanced at Laura for a moment before turning her attention back to Seena. “So how do you know Laura, anyway?”

Laura thought this hardly seemed the best time or place for this discussion, but Seena didn't care. “She moved to North Outer when we were all eleven. We got along famously until our orphanage got bombed by some Canians, and we moved here.” She scrunched up her face. “That was... three years ago, I think.”

“That's right,” Laura said with a sigh. “It was about a month after my fifteenth birthday, I remember.” Seena was exaggerating about the “got along famously” part, of course. While Laura had spent more time with them than anyone else, that really wasn't saying much.

Simon brushed his green hair back. “What are you doing here, anyway? Visiting your dad and friends?”

“Actually I'm going to AU for college.”

“Really?” Seena exclaimed. “Why didn't you tell us? We could have made sure we had a few matching classes.”

“It's been three years, Seena. I forgot.”

She crossed her arms over her chest, pouting a little. Ling and Laura hopped into the elevator before the doors closed, but Seena didn't seem to notice. “Well, I guess we'll just have to make up for lost time. When's your last class? We can get lunch or dinner after that.”

Laura winced and touched her necklace. “I... don't know I'll be free. I have a job with really weird hours.” She heard a click as Ling pressed the button for their floor, and the elevator finally began to rise.

Simon quirked his head. “Weren't you just consulting a little on the side? That's not really an emergency.”

“Consulting for warlords, these days,” Laura lied smoothly. “Not the kind of people you want to disappoint.”

Simon laughed. “Combat consulting? I should have known. All those hours of StarCraft and Warhammer finally paid off, eh?”

Laura grinned. “More than you know.”

The elevator dinged with their floor, and Ling stepped out, using her hand to hold the door open.

“I'm sure we can all find time to do something,” she said to the twins. “I'd like to get to know you better, and I'm sure the others would like to meet you.”

“Call me,” Seena insisted, as Laura stepped out as well. “Promise?”

Laura smiled at her as the doors closed. “Promise.”

Ling smiled too. “They seemed nice.”

“They are,” Laura admitted. “Too nice for the Mals, and maybe even too nice for the sibriex.” She shook her head. “But for now, we just need to make sure Akane hasn't mounted Derek while we were gone.”

“I'm gonna go swimming, actually, to cool down after soccer. What were your plans for the night?”

She's going swimming at this hour? Laura thought. Whatever. “I was gonna do something with Akane. Not sure what yet, maybe watch a movie, do a study group. We'll think of something.”

Ling grinned. “That's good. When I get back, I kind of want some time without her hovering over my shoulder.”