On the way back home, I tried to review what I knew about my brother’s girlfriend and drew a blank. When I pictured the woman, I kept falling back on her piercings and big tits. Jason liked them big; I was built different. It was a shame Ember didn’t know the way to the farm. I would have loved watching her backside while we ran.

I stopped when she collapsed, not far from the battle. I couldn’t sense the drones, and Ember struggled on her hands on knees. What she needed was obvious.

Ember grasped at her throat and coughed dryly.

I thought about asking if she was faking it to help the drones catch up. Those thoughts were dashed immediately after. A trap like this was too convoluted. Father’s workshop wasn’t under our farm, at least not the main one. Jason and I were considered little more than hedge mages; we even paid tribute to the local vampire hunters. We didn’t practice like mages or cultivators.

If we were on World Gov’s radar, it would be from keeping our heads down. No regime would care about that so long as we pay our taxes. More than likely, they would force us to pay them in cattle like they do to many other farms outside the sight of the media in Jackson Mega City. The vampire hunters and mage college were another story. Under the table, the mage college cooperates with the Borges and helps them maintain order throughout the mutant-infested regions. The vampire hunters were too useful as an enemy to wipe them out.

Spy drones couldn’t see through our fence, but even if they could on the surface, we didn’t do anything too condemning. Warding fences was considered a misdemeanor at its harshest and rarely involved penal army time; we weren’t even technically mages. A vampire spy or worse, an assassin wouldn’t be sent for us; we didn’t matter even to World Gov. The Borg might know about father, but the old man hadn’t made a move in decades.

Even if she entered the farm, I doubted Ember was after us; we were small potatoes. At most, she would threaten us with penal army time to coerce us into infiltrating a bigger regime. Vampire assistants were most likely already infiltrating the vampire hunter’s regime.

I scooped her up and ran the rest of the way.

Jason wasn’t pissed at me enough to try and lock me out of the wards. Father sure didn’t like that word either, but there were so many terms that the mages used that were useful. Like with all things energy, there was more to it than words. Using the terms of a mage locked energy into functioning like a mage’s mana. Our energy differed from mana because we didn’t use the same terms. There were overlaps fences, and wards could be used interchangeably with only a slight difference. Our fence was a solid semi-permanent effect while wards naturally wore away over time.

Terms weren’t an issue to me anymore, but when I was growing up, using mana instead of energy would have bound me to certain rules.

Ember lunged at me while I was distracted, and I slapped her down. I rubbed at my hand and glared at the almost grey-skinned woman. She almost got me while I was distracted thinking about the esoteric laws of energy. Her eyes were sunken into her skull, and her fangs clacked together. Clearly, she wasn’t in her right mind.

I found a big strong cow and dragged it to my maybe future girlfriend. Ember’s red eyes glowed, and her mouth opened and closed. Her fangs had grown longer, and her muscles strained and defined against her skin. I sliced the cow’s neck, and she lunged, rising like Dracula, defying gravity. The cow jerked, but I held her firm while Ember’s fangs sank into the bovine’s neck.

Ember’s cheeks puffed up until she could hold no more blood before she swallowed like a squirrel’s. My cube hovered out of my pocket, and took pictures and a video while she drained the cow dry. Other cows distanced themselves while the victim’s struggle weakened. Cows had a lot of blood, way more than a human, and our cows were much larger than the carefully maintained cows the mega cities used. After several minutes, Ember had her fill, and I was all smiles.

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“It looks like someone is a vegetarian,” I said.

She hissed at me before licking her lips while the poor cow struggled. It was alive, and the wound on its neck clotted quickly. No field surgeon was needed. I doubted it would feel much of the blood loss. Mutants that survived in high-energy locations had troll-like regeneration by the 6thgeneration. Of course, stable lines of trolls had truly ridiculous regeneration by the 6thgeneration.

Jason and I were just happy our cattle hadn’t grown intelligent enough to talk us out of eating them like one chicken had before a hawk got him.

Ember giggled, then burst into tears. “My team is dead.” She whined while rolling on the bloody ground, ruining her red mid-rib jacket. “What are we going to do?”

I held a hand out, and she took it.

“First, we’re going to see if what you said was true for all vampires or only our state,” I said.

She seemed ready to bolt, so I held her hand firmly and led her into the house.

I used my cube to check my current PL.

Unlike the mage’s faulty leveling system, ours was far superior.

PL 150

Mages measured potential through an enchantment that constantly scanned its users and determined their abilities based on statistics. Levels were calculated based on preset milestones from 1 to 99 based on enemies defeated, spells learned, and feats of magic. 100 and above were something called prestige levels where mages could become strong. Cultivators did something even more convoluted.

“We can’t allow World Gov to get away with this. My team will be avenged.” Ember said.

I used my cube to scan Ember, but it came up blank. Like a mage’s levels, vampires had their own path to power. My cube couldn’t calculate a hypothetical power level from its current quantum computer.

“When we establish whether you’re telling the truth, we will. Let’s see what propaganda World Gov has for us today.” I said.

We entered the house to see. I covered my eyes, and Ember shut the door after I ducked out.

“Can’t you knock,” Jason yelled.

“The living room isn’t for that,” I yelled back.

I saw far too much big tittied vampire hunter for my liking. They were always blonde, big-tittied, and covered in piercings. The cross tattoo above her swollen pink clit was too much for me. What was Jason doing fucking such a crazy bitch.

At least this one didn’t have a swastika on her forehead.

There was a crash, and I heard Father’s favorite coffee table break again. “Damn it, Emily, get your ass off the table,” Jason said.

“Help me up, you bastard,” Emily shouted.

My face was completely crimson; I knew it, and Ember was still licking her lips. Apparently, vegetarianism agreed with her. It was potentially a new market; we had more cows than we knew what to do with really. The vampire hunters didn’t deserve our tribute. Then again, Emily’s big titties and her twin sister might have something to do with it.

Of course, we could sell the blood to the vampires and the meat to the vampire hunters. No more of this tribute bullshit; they would buy it or go hungry. The attack of the drones was the perfect time to renegotiate our arrangement. Maybe I could finally punch Emily’s father in his smug face.

“What is that fanged bitch doing here? You are hedge mages, for Christ’s sake.” God hated mages, or he did in the old books father left behind. The newest testaments have Christ battle man’s folly after his second coming. Before the evil android, there was Satan. “What is living ass not good enough for you, Atom?”

I turned to Ember. “I’m sorry,” I mouthed before knocking.

“Please come in, brother; we are both fully dressed and not in a compromised position,” Jason said.

“Why do that when you knew I was coming back?” I asked.

“You didn’t tell me he was coming back with an android’s child,” Emily said.

Ember walked in behind me and closed the door like a good woman. I yanked one of our couch cushions up, found our remote, and flicked on the projector.

An image of a castle bombarded with drones from the broadside of a massive flying gunship made Ember’s story a little more believable.

“The last castles of the traitor race, the vampires, have finally fallen. Statements from CEO and demigod cyborg Brent Oconner will air tonight at 9.” I flicked several more channels to find mega-city reactors going over the event. “How stupid can you be to attack World Gov’s board members. This has the makings of a cover-up. They were trying to take over the company; it’s good that they failed, or we could all be food for the vampires.”

Emily began vibrating with excitement; every explosion on the screen seemed to send the spiteful woman into a new level of pleasure. A smile spread across her face, and she started giving Jason suggestive looks. At least Jason’s room was soundproof.

“Ha, it looks like even the mega cities follow god’s plan,” Emily said.

Emily was a good Christian girl, so she let Jason plunge into her backdoor until they married. Her sister Clair offered after claiming she had eaten nothing but corn the day before.

“So World Gov no longer payrolls vampires, and they are no longer a part of the government. Is this a trick to fool us into taking in vampires?” Ember had a murderous expression on her face.

“It’s a misunderstanding; when their drones fail, they’ll beg us to return,” Ember said.

“Those drones wouldn’t happen to be the black balls they are firing at your castle, would they?” Jason asked.

“Well, look who is homeless and destitute,” Emily said.

I stepped in and grabbed Ember’s hand. It was cold, strong like rubber wrapped around steel, and calloused from some serious work. They were the hands of a killer, and I liked them. Ember gave me a cute look like she had no idea what I was doing.

“No, she can’t stay. Emily isn’t even allowed to stay overnight,” Jason said.

I gave Emily an unfriendly smile.

“The drones aren’t only killing vampires,” I said.