Xari kicked the door open, sending the bright moonlight spilling into the main room of the  apartment building and adding to the light of the torches embedded into the walls. Carrying the body over his shoulder, he marched up to the empty main desk and slammed his fist on the bell. A moment passed, and he slammed it again. He could feel the blood of his friend dripping out of his body onto the floor, and fidgeted impatiently.

   Suddenly, an unseen force slammed the door shut and extinguished the torches, plunging the room into darkness - no light shone through the boarded up windows. "Shit." Xari muttered, making a ball of flame appear in his hand and turning slowly. Its dim light revealed nothing, even when held over his head. Nonetheless, he could sense something, just outside the radius of the firelight.

   "I need to speak to your chief." he said loudly, shifting the body over his shoulder and sending a splash of blood onto the floor. Faint whispers and hissing surrounded him at the sound of the thick liquid striking the warped wood, but there was no audible response. "I need to see Chief Hermannstadt!" he shouted, silencing the vampires that were lurking in the darkness.

   Finally, one of them spoke.

   "What business do you have with him, pitspawn?" A man - it sounded like a man, at any rate - said, though he didn't step into the firelight. "Going to request a favor from him?" he laughed. "We don't accept dead bodies, boy." the other vampires joined him in laughter.

   "The body is the favor." Xari retorted, silencing the laughter and replacing it with a curious and suspicious silence. "Now take me to him."

   They were silent for a moment, and the torches lining the walls flared into life, revealing a crowd of pale-skinned vampires. "Fine." The one who had spoken before said. "But whatever happens is on your head alone." he turned to his right and moved briskly. Xari followed close behind, ascending a set of stairs after the vampire.

   "Isn't there an elevator in this place?" Xari demanded, and was ignored. Blood continued dripping out of the body he was carrying, and  could hear a few vampires around them, apparently agitated by the presence of the blood. He hoped it wouldn't be too late by the time he got to see the chief. Don was still breathing, yes, but it was faint, and he knew that there was a time limit for what he had planned.

   Finally, they reached the top floor, and the vampire knocked on the door to the penthouse. A deep voice, with a Romanian accent, responded with "Enter." he opened the door and stepped aside, allowing Xari to walk in, and closed the door behind him.

   Like the rest of the powerless apartment building, the penthouse was lit by torches screwed into the walls. At the end of the room, in a purple high-backed chair, sat an imposing figure, his skin as pale as Xari expected, and dressed in a Victorian era suit. The vampire chief appraised Xari as he approached him, and laid Donatello at his feet.

  He got on one knee and, without waiting for an invitation, spoke. "I need to request a favor." he started.

   "Let me guess." the chief interrupted, his accent thick. "You wish for me to salvage this boy's existence." Xari nodded, but didn't look up. "And why do you believe that I will create yet more competition for myself and my clan, another opportunity for our existence to be revealed to the mortals?"

   "I'll do anything you ask." Xari said, eyeing the body that was bleeding out more of its life every second. "Please." The chief was silent for a moment, then stood and walked slowly towards Donatello's body.

   "I want you to serve as my daughter's bodyguard."

   Xari raised his eyebrows in surprise, and looked up at Hermannstadt. "Her bodyguard?" he repeated.

   "Yes. You are aware of the conflict between my clan and the Timberhowls, correct?"

   "I've heard about it." Xari replied slowly. His mother sometimes treated casualties of the ongoing conflict between the vampires and werewolves of this part of the city.

   "My daughter enjoys going out to spend time among the mortals and doing... Whatever they do at night. Naturally, I'm concerned for her safety. Ideally, a Dusk such as yourself would be able to help defend her in case one of those mutts decides to try something."

   Xari hesitated, weighing the possible consequences of accepting this deal, but one more look at his friend was enough to steel his resolve. "I'll do it."

    "Very well." Hermannstadt said. "Stand." Xari got to his feet and met the vampire's eyes. "We will perform the Blood Binding."

   Xari swallowed and nodded, and took a pocketknife out of his pocket. He flicked the blade out of the hilt, and with a quick movement, slashed the blade across his palm. Hermannstadt took the knife and did the same, and the two of them clasped their bleeding hands together.

   "Do you swear to do everything in your power to protect my daughter from anyone who would attack her?" Hermannstadt asked, his voice even and serious.

   "I swear." Xari replied, matching the chief's tone. "Do you swear to transform my friend into a vampire and save him from the Reapers' grasp?"

   "I swear."

   There was a burning pain in Xari's palm as the binding took effect, and he gritted his teeth and didn't move until it had passed. Once the pain faded, he released the vampire's hand and looked at his palm. The sigil for an agreement between demon and vampire - a curved fang connected to a six-pronged fork by a point - was burned onto it, and he knew that an identical sigil was on Hermannstadt's palm.

   The vampire kneeled over Donatello's body. "Go. Your friend will be fine by this time tomorrow night. I will introduce you to my daughter then."
   Xari bowed slightly, turned on his heel, and walked out of the penthouse. What a pain. At least Don was going to be fine now. He hoped that he didn't hate him for this, though...

---
   "Well. That was fun." Xari said, grinning at Stela. She didn't seem to be as amused as he was, though, and sneered at him.

   "Did you really have to provoke those mutts like that?" she asked, watching Xari tend to the scratch marks on his forearm. Without water magic, the best he could do was wrap them up in scraps of fabric from his shirt. He had briefly considered cauterizing them with a bit of fire, but decided that would hurt too much and would probably be less than beneficial.

   "Uh, yeah." He retorted to the vampressa's question. "It was funny, and he reacted just like I knew he would. Werewolves are so stupid, especially human ones."

   "My father won't be happy to hear this, you know."

   "Oh, relax. I did my job, you didn't get hurt, he doesn't have any reason to be upset." Xari looked up and saw her exasperated expression. "Hey, if I had broken the constraints of my blood binding, we'd both know." he added, showing the vampire princess his palm, which still bore the symbol he had gotten weeks ago.
   "Fine. Let's just get back to the hotel before more lycans - or worse - show up."
   "What, you're not worried about elementals and fae, are you? We're in the middle of the city, they're not gonna show up here."
   "You should know full well how unpredictable they get around Midsummer's Eve." Stela snapped back. "I've seen a dozen statoks descend on a village and raze it within a night, without any sort of provocation."
   "Alright, alright." Xari replieed irritably, getting to his feet with a groan. "If you're that concerned, we'll head back now, princess."
   "Good." She replied simply, and allowed Xari to take the lead.
   Damn know-it-all princess bitch, Xari thought, moving quickly through the darkened streets. Despite his protests, he was rather nervous about being caught by an active faerie or elemental. Infernoes and cloaks probably wouldn't bother him, but he had no doubt if a radia found them, it would cause serious trouble. And everyone knows how much the Unseelie love their mischief...