| Alucard |

When he got to the castle, Alucard saw Ben and Felix arm wrestling at the table. As he moved towards the table, all of his vampires climbed to their feet and stared obediently at him.

"You, here," he called, moving to the corner of the room as he pointed at Ben.

Ben walked over to Alucard and asked, "Yes?"

"Can you contact Zalith?"

He frowned in concern as he watched an impatient glare flicker across Alucard's face. "Has something happened?"

"I need to speak to him about the mission—it's important," he grumbled.

"Do you need to send him a message, or do you need to see him?"

"I want to talk to him—now," he snarled irritably.

Ben nodded. "I can...try to work something out."

"Then do it," Alucard mumbled, moving away from him.

Without any hindrance, Ben left through the front door.

Alucard made his way to the table and leaned back against it. He wasn't looking forward to seeing that arrogant demon again, but what choice did he have?

Felix stood up and wandered over to him.

Alucard rolled his eyes, sure that the silver-eyed man was about to start a conversation he didn't want to have.

The grey-haired vampire stopped beside Alucard. "Everything is okay, My Lord?" he asked nervously.

Alucard glanced at him. The small, silvery-eyed man was unnecessarily close, so he snarled and moved a little to his right to put more distance between himself and Felix. "Da," he answered. "Clear the room."

Felix did as he was told and made his way over to the others. He told them to leave the hall and left with them.

Alucard sunk into one of the chairs as a sullen look stole his vacant one. He knew that telling Zalith the plan was changing would make him look stupid. He'd been so adamant with his original plan; changing it now was going to make Zalith think even less of him. But he didn't care—why should he? It wasn't like they were friends. They were work associates, and that was all it would ever be. What did it matter how Zalith felt? Alucard knew he could do his job, and that was all that mattered because no one else was going to appreciate his work.

He sighed and waited, tapping his fingers on the table. At least he was right about Ben being able to contact Zalith. How, he wasn't sure—but again, he didn't care. He just wanted to tell the demon about the deviation as quickly as he could. Then, he could go and meet Tobias if it wasn't too late.

Ben came back through the front door after ten minutes and made his way over to Alucard. "He'll be here shortly," he said, sitting at the table.

"Multemesc," Alucard thanked.

"Are you all right?" Ben then asked in concern.

Alucard had no interest in answering that question.

Ben seemed to pick up on that. He took his eyes off Alucard and looked around the empty hall. "Should I be concerned about the rest of the vampires?"

"No."

They sat there in silence for the next few minutes. Alucard wasn't sure how long Zalith might take, but each passing minute made him feel more aggravated. He had other things he needed to do; for all he knew, another werewolf could be prowling through Wrodiff right now.

But then footsteps approached, echoing down the short corridor that led from the hall to the castle's front door. Alucard snapped out of his thoughts and watched as Zalith walked in.

Zalith, whose face adorned an irritated yet concerned look, set his eyes on Alucard. "Good evening," he said pleasantly, stopping a few feet away from where the vampire was sitting. "What seems to be the problem?"

Alucard looked up at him. "Sit," he said, kicking out the chair beside him with his left leg.

With an irritated sigh, Zalith sat down. Then, he waited for Alucard to speak.

"Damien contacted me."

Zalith's attention seemed to be grasped.

"We must deviate from the original plan. I will make two trips a month, not one. I must make one more before this time next month."

"Why?"

"Damien didn't say," he lied. He wasn't going to sit here and tell Zalith why he had to make changes—why should he? All that mattered was that he was still doing to job. "Tell me when I should come."

Stolen novel; please report.

"Damien didn't say, or does he not want me to know what was said?" the demon questioned skeptically.

"He didn't say," Alucard repeated sternly, scowling.

Zalith eyed him for a moment...almost as if he was trying to read his thoughts. But then he looked away and muttered, "I can have them ready by next week—the same time as yesterday."

"I'll be there."

Before Alucard could stand up, Zalith glowered at him. "Why make me come all the way here just for a two-minute conversation? Would it have not been smarter to simply send a message?" he asked condescendingly.

"No," Alucard snarled. He wasn't going to tell him why he preferred to meet in person.

"Why?" he questioned, evidently aggravated.

"Messages are never guaranteed to reach their destination. I am not willing to risk that happening," he said, standing up. "You can go now."

"Might I offer you a simpler way for us to communicate?" Zalith offered as he got up.

The vampire stopped before walking off and scowled. "No. We meet in person only."

Zalith then frowned, clearly antagonised as his anger simmered in the scowl on his face. "So, I'm expected to drop whatever it is that I may be doing to come here for what is likely to be another two-minute conversation regarding something that isn't going to happen for another few weeks?"

"Yes."

The demon scoffed. "I don't expect someone like you to understand the precariousness of the situation I'm in, but I do at least hope you can understand that I simply cannot be coming back and forth whenever you so wish it. I find this refusal of finding an easier means of communication rather ridiculous, and you just as much so."

"And I find very little interest in what you are saying," Alucard sneered, walking off.

"Yet you were so interested in talking to me previously that you had me come all the way out here to this pathetic place," Zalith called, following Alucard.

Alucard scoffed. "And yet, you came."

"Yes, I came because when someone summons you to their house with such urgency, it usually means that there is something of a dire nature involved; I am not here because I want to be!" he growled as Alucard reached the front door.

Alucard stopped walking and turned to face Zalith, who also stopped. Why was the demon following him? Usually, anyone he expressed anger towards would back down. "I don't expect someone like you to understand the precariousness of my situation," he mocked.

An amused smile suddenly cut through Zalith's angered scowl. "Why are you acting this way, vampire?" he asked with a flirtatious smirk.

Scoffing, Alucard turned his back on him. For a moment, he felt confused...yet a little amused; their argument felt almost entertaining, but he'd not let Zalith see that he was actually enjoying their confrontation. "Get out of my castle," he snarled.

Keeping his smirk, Zalith walked past him, and as Ben followed, the demon left the castle.

The vampire rolled his eyes and sighed. Why did Zalith always seem so entertained by everything? That man obviously found Alucard's anger funny, and that pissed him off. The demon smiled at everything in a way that made Alucard understand that he thought himself superior to him. He wasn't, he was just some annoying, insufferable demon who he was stuck working with.

Alucard smirked, though. He couldn't deny that he enjoyed letting Zalith argue with him because the demon would always have to back down. He found it amusing that Zalith thought he might win by mentioning knowledge or 'smarter alternatives', but Alucard was content with his own techniques, and Zalith would never, ever make him change his mind, as much as he may try.

But his amusement was swiftly destroyed when he remembered that if Damien found out he was having fun, he'd punish him. This was a serious mission. He and Zalith needed to work together professionally. So, he put it out of his mind. How could he have been such an idiot to let himself get carried away? He wouldn't let it happen again.

He turned around and headed for the door. It was time to find Tobias and find out what he'd learned about the wolf that attacked Elvin.

⤝❖⤞

| Zalith |

Zalith made his way toward the castle gates as Ben followed. Despite the annoyance he'd initially felt being called all the way out here for a conversation they could have had through a letter or two, he found that he actually enjoyed his brief interaction with Alucard. He'd managed to fluster the vampire, something he found rather amusing.

"I'm sorry you had to come all the way out here for that," Ben said, walking beside him.

Zalith approached the gates. "Don't worry about it."

Ben frowned. "What?"

The demon smiled. "I had a delightful time."

"Oh, well...okay then."

Then, Zalith lost his smirk and looked at him. "Farewell."

As Zalith stood in front of the wall, Ben waved. "See you later."

But then some naked man covered in bleeding scratches and bites burst through the gates and rushed past them without so much as an apology for making Zalith stumble aside to avoid a collision. He watched the blonde-haired man who reeked of wolf run up towards Alucard, who had just come out into the courtyard.

He wanted to create a rift and head home, but he was curious. So, he stood there and listened.

The blonde man panted when he stopped in front of Alucard, who looked embarrassed when he saw the guy wasn't wearing any clothes. He scowled at his face, and Zalith smirked amusedly. That was twice now he'd seen Alucard become flustered.

"B-boss," the guy stuttered, stifling his breaths. "I...got something," he wheezed.

"What?" Alucard demanded.

With a few deep breaths, the man shook his head. "You ain't gonna like it, man."

"Just fucking tell me!" the vampire exclaimed.

"That wolf who attacked Elvin? Yeah, it came from some rogue pack. I ain't ever seen or heard of them until I found them."

The look of concern that stole Alucard's scowl intensified Zalith's curiosity.

"Fuckers almost caught me—me, an Alpha, man. These things were so strong that I had to fucking run for it. I managed to catch some conversation beforehand, though, something about scheduled attacks. The wolf who almost killed Elvin was supposed to kill him to send some sort of message. I think these guys are planning something bad, man," the guy explained so fast that it was like his words were literally seeping from his stubbly face. "They've got an Alpha or something...really big-looking guy."

Alucard snarled and stormed down towards the gates.

"You want my help?" the man offered, following him. "I can round up my pack—"

"No. I'll deal with them myself," the vampire uttered as he walked past Zalith. "Where are they?"

"Ardelean Forest, boss. They're camping in that abandoned village. You sure you wanna do this solo? I dunno if you heard me when I said even I couldn't match them."

As Zalith watched the vampire head for the forest, he frowned in confliction. The idea of rogue werewolves strong enough to scare an Alpha away was concerning enough already but knowing that Alucard was going to face them alone made him feel anxious.

Judging from what Damien told him, he was confident that Alucard was walking to his death, and where that might not bother Zalith under different circumstances, it bothered him now. Not only was Alucard his only hope of getting his vampires to safety, but Damien had also told him to make sure that Alucard didn't get himself killed. He wasn't about to learn what happened when he disappointed the Daegelus. So, with an irritated huff, he left Ben and raced after Alucard, hoping he'd reach him before he did something stupid.