Breathless, Cameron collapsed against the alley wall. He couldn't run anymore. He'd been running for nearly an hour, but no matter how far he got, the men managed to catch up to him. They'd even hurt him a few times, though he managed to avoid being caught each time.

Only barely.

He could see the men closing down on him at either end of the alley, and had given up. He'd been promised protection and rescue, but it hadn't come. He was too exhausted to care and too exhausted to stay conscious.

Seph watched as Cameron passed out, unable to fight anymore, and smiled. The kid had managed to survive longer than they'd expected. Unfortunately for the traffickers, the boy had made a deal with the right people.

Stepping off the building he was standing on, Seph quickly dropped to the ground, landing in a crouch. The traffickers paused at the sudden development as the clouds in the sky continued to thicken and darken, threatening to open up at any moment.

At six and a half feet in height and dressed in an entirely-black, expensive suit, Seph was a sight to behold. His pale features, crimson eyes, and jet-black hair gave him an inhuman beauty. He smiled at the nearest group of men. There were ten total; five on either side of him and the boy.

"Sorry it took so long to greet you properly," Seph said. "It seems you lack the memo. This section of the city, commonly known as 'The Blood', is off-limits to your kind."

"The boy ran into the Blood," one of the traffickers said. "We found him outside of it."

"Ah," Seph said. "Except that you did, in the end, come into the Blood. Be off, will you? The boy is under my protection so long as he stays within the Blood."

"Who are you?" One of the other men asked. "Obviously a supernat, the way you dropped off that building."

"I am Joseph Rosvarin," Seph introduced himself, and several of the traffickers tensed up. He smiled, a tight-lipped expression that showed no teeth. Some of them knew his name. "And the Blood is my territory. If you do not leave it, and remind your men to stay out of it, I will kill you."

"Stand down," the trafficker who asked him to identify himself ordered the others. "Clear out!"

"If we leave without the boy-"

Seph turned his gaze to the protesting trafficker, then moved towards him. To him, it was a leisurely walk, though the poor victim saw nothing but a moment pass, the ancient being standing by the boy one moment, in front of him next.

"If you attempt to take the boy," Seph said. "I will kill you and feed you to my coven. And if you don't think I can…"

He snapped the trafficker's neck, then looked at one of the ones standing down the alley from the group he had walked over to, fixing his gaze on one of them.

Without a word being said by anyone, the trafficker Seph had fixed his gaze on began to strip off his clothes, stopping only once he was in his underwear. Then, he began singing at the top of his lungs and dancing on his way to the street.

"Anyone else?" Seph asked.

"MOVE OUT!" The trafficker who'd given the order bellowed.

The remaining traffickers gathered the corpse of their man and the belongings of the others as they hastily ran, none of them prepared to deal with a mind mage who could compulse one of them to do several things without a single word spoken.

Seph listened as the men ran, then he made his way over to the unconscious boy and picked him up.

I forgot how light little ones could be.

Seph walked to the end of the alley, where a sleek black car pulled up. The woman driving it stepped out and opened the back door for him, her own crimson gaze looking at the boy curiously.

"He couldn't be older than nine or ten," she said, reminding Seph just how bad her judge of a boy's age could often be.

At least she didn't think he was eight, like she had a fourteen-year-old two years ago. Seph wasn't sure how she guessed wrong that badly.

"He's twelve, nearly thirteen," Seph told her as he buckled Cameron into his seat. "Do you sense that power?"

"Yes," she answered. "It's unusual for a complete human to be so powerful."

"I suspect he's a demigod with his divinity bound," Seph told her. "Especially with that necklace he's wearing. It has the essence of a god in it."

Amanda gave the stone a curious look, but didn't sense anything in it. Seph was much older than her and had better senses than any of the coven, so she decided to trust him, as she always had, ever since he saved her life centuries before.

"Know which god?" She asked as he closed the door.

"No," he walked around the car. "Back to the mansion, we go."

He climbed in beside Cameron and buckled himself in, and Amanda resumed her spot in the front, putting the petal to the metal. Were the boy to be awake, he'd probably marvel at how she managed to expertly navigate traffic while driving at mach-ten. That, and the fact that the car actually left the ground several times to avoid being hit, yet no one seemed to notice.

Within minutes, Amanda slowed, stopping at the wrought-iron gate in front of the mansion the coven called home. She stopped in front of it, barely a hair's breadth away, and waited for the gates to slowly open.

As soon as enough space for her to pass through formed, Amanda drove down the drive until she reached the parking in front of the two-story mansion that could be called a castle. Built of gray stone, complete with a tower on the front two corners, the place was imposing.

It was also famous in the Blood of Tejina City, particularly of its supernatural community. Home to one of the most powerful vampires in the world – and one of the first – the Rosvarin Mansion boasted a proud history.

And a dangerous one.

Seph wasn't sure what trafficking group that was, but he'd made it clear many times over the centuries since Tejina City was built that trafficking and traffickers wasn't allowed in his territory. Not unless they went through him.

Hopefully, they didn't return with allies. The boy's level of magic was a delicious treat to any trafficker worth their salt, he knew.

"How did you meet him?" Amanda asked as Seph pulled the boy out of the car.

"When he first came to Tejina a few months ago," Seph answered. "I sensed him on one of my walks. He's a jumpy kid, and very suspicious of everyone and everything. He also hears the aether voices."

"But if he's only twelve-"

"It's his roots," Seph informed her. "Come on, I don't want to be out here when that storm breaks. I didn't ask them to summon one, just enough clouds for us to move comfortably."

"Those storm mages always overdo things," she snorted. "However did you befriend them, anyway? From what I hear, they aren't particularly friendly with anyone outside of their clan."

Seph smiled in response, carrying Cameron inside. Immediately, they were swarmed by half of his coven, and he shooed them away, bringing the boy to one the living rooms and ordering the occupants of one of the couches to move. As soon as it had been vacated, Seph laid Cameron on it.

Looking up, he found that the entire coven was now present, all thirty-seven of his vampires, watching from around the room. He should have expected that, as most of them would be able to sense his magic from their rooms and the ones who couldn't were likely woken.

And it was obvious most of them had come from sleeping, considering the states of their hair and what they were wearing – or not.

"Those of you who don't have their genitals covered," Seph said. "Get dressed. The boy doesn't need to see that."

Amanda snorted as nearly all of the vampires took off, returning within a few minutes.

"No, you cannot feed on him," Seph said.

"He made the deal?" One of the males asked.

"Yes," Seph responded. "I will personally attend to him. I understand it will be hard for some of you to sleep while he's present, so I will attempt to see if he'll come at night. For now, please return to your rooms or wander about. I'm preparing to wake him. And while it is cloudy enough for you to go out, please keep in mind that the storm mages once again overdid it, and the heavens are about to weep."

Some of the vampires snorted, and most left the room, leaving just Seph, Amanda, and five others. Seph ordered a few to bring food and water for Cameron, and a few minutes later, a tray of cookies, brownies, and cupcakes was sitting on the coffee table in front of them.

The vampires based it off the age of the one the food was intended for instead of the meal, a common issue when it was a young boy.

Rather than amending his order to be lunch which they were to bring, Seph let it be. The boy would probably be happy to have the sweets after such a scary experience. With the pitcher of water and glasses set down beside the tray, Seph felt it was time to wake Cameron and sent a light mental prod at the boy, whose eyes shot open immediately.

Cameron jerked up right, looking around with wide, fear-filled eyes, and Seph felt the boy's mind rapidly expand outward as he took in the vampires, his gaze finally setting on the ancient one.

"Seph," Cameron said cautiously.

"Yes," Seph smiled at him. "I'm glad you accepted my offer, Cameron, though sad it was under the circumstances you found yourself in."

Cameron looked at his watch, then gave Seph an extremely nervous look.

"I, um, I'm supposed to be at some lessons in an hour," he said. "I know I said-"

"Lessons?" Seph asked.

"With a mage," Cameron shifted uncomfortably, averting his gaze. "He's been teaching me how to use my telepathy and empathy better, and do mental rams and martial arts better."

"I can make sure you get there," Seph promised him. "Where have you been staying?"

"With-with some friends."

"Please," Seph gestured to the tray. "Eat, Cameron. You're surely famished, after that fight."

Seph watched as the boy hesitantly reached out, picking up a brownie and cautiously taking a bite of it.

"So," Seph said as Cameron began eating with a bit more hunger than he'd initially realized he'd had. "Where have you been staying? If you give me an address, I can have someone pick you up and drop you off after every session."

"Um," Cameron shifted nervously. "I'm staying at the Four Skies hotel over on West Jackson and Eighth."

"That's a nice place," Seph told him. "Not in the Blood, unfortunately. My domain doesn't extend that far. Do you have a phone? I know you'd stolen the one you used to call me, based on the caller I.D."

Cameron didn't need to ask what Seph meant. It was a woman's phone he'd stolen and Cameron wasn't female.

"N-no," Cameron answered.

"I'll have one arranged for you," Seph told him. "And program in the mansion's main line. There's always someone around to answer it, so if you're ever in danger again, just contact us, so long as you follow the agreement."

"Y-yes, sir."

"Which three days would work best for you?" Seph asked.

"Um," Cameron thought. "Sundays, Tuesdays, and Thursday."

"Okay," Seph responded. "Now, remember how I said that many older vampires can sense a mage's magic?"

"Yes."

"Your magic," Seph told him. "Is powerful enough to wake them up when you arrive. So, would it be acceptable if I picked you up at night? Say, eight or nine in the evening? You'll be out late, but it'll make it easier on the rest of my coven."

"Um, sure," Cameron said. "I don't-I don't have anything that late, and my friends are usually still awake then, anyway."

"Excellent," Seph smiled. "Now, for today's rescue, I'd like a little payment, before we take you to your lessons."

"Um," Cameron shifted uncomfortable, looking at the other vampires and the two humans in the room before returning his gaze to Seph. "W-with others around?"

"Not if you don't want them," Seph promised, waving the others out of the room.

"H-how do we do this?" Cameron asked once he made sure the others had left.

"Remove your hoodie," Seph instructed Cameron, who obeyed as the vampire moved to sit beside him. "Stay still."

Cameron nodded, and Seph pulled the collar of Cameron's shirt to the side, pulling the boy close as he opened his mouth, revealing his elongated canines before biting into Cameron's neck and shoulder.

The boy whimpered, but didn't resist as Seph drank his blood. At least, not audibly. Seph felt a panicked series of strikes at his mental barrier before Cameron calmed himself and whimpered out a sorry.

Once Seph had drunk to satisfaction, not leaving the boy too weak and light-headed, he ran a finger over the puncture marks, healing the flesh of the young mage.

"Th-thanks," Cameron said as Seph returned to the armchair he'd sat on before.

"I take care of mine," Seph smiled at him, not a trace of blood on his lips from the feeding. "Go ahead and eat some more, Cameron. You'll need your strength. Don't forget to hydrate. Where are you supposed to meet for your lesson?"

"Um," Cameron screwed up his face in thought. "The Jules Arcade over on West Madison."

"That's an odd place for a lesson," Seph commented.

"I-I prefer meeting in public," Cameron said. "It-I'm more comfortable that way."

"Ah," Seph said. "Well, as soon as we finish your refreshments, I'll drive you there. It's about twenty minutes outside of the Blood. Meet me at the park around the corner from there tomorrow around one in the afternoon, and someone will meet you to give you the phone."

Cameron nodded, and reached forward for another brownie. They were really good.