Raven Walks Ch. 23

"Yeah, well don't let it get around," he said with a half smile. "If it gets out I'm a part time vampire hunter it could really ruin my reputation."

She gave him a genuine smile. "Your secret is safe with me," she promised. They heard the muffled groan from behind them and turned to see Constantine crawl up onto the bed. "What happened?" he asked.

Both Raven and Ginger shared a look and laughed.

A week later Sebastian's club had the makings of a new roof and a new clientèle. Even Lillith and Damien had come out to celebrate the fact their enemy had been destroyed and they could now go back to their normal existence, such as it was.

Sebastian wore Pixie on his arm as he entertained his guests, and a sense of renewal had uplifted everyone's spirits. The music was loud and upbeat, and everyone danced and drank and left memory of Argos at the door.

Ginger stayed to herself tending bar, and Constantine and Raven were unusually sedate, and civil, as they sat together nearby.

Hunter brought Abi, as both wanted to make amends with Ginger before they started their new life together. She hugged them both, and wished them well. She regretted nothing. This was the path she had chosen, and she knew it would lead her places that these well meaning people could not come.

So she gave them the only thing she could. Peace of mind.

Hunter felt better when he introduced Abi to Walter, who had also inexplicably joined the celebration.

He wore disappointment on his face, but in reality he couldn't fault Hunter for leaving Ginger when it meant that he could finally make love to her at last. Their shutting a door on her had opened his, so he couldn't really be anything but grateful.

So Walter shook Abi's hand and wished them well, knowing that Hunter's journey chasing vampires had ended.

When Walter joined Constantine and Raven at the bar, they regarded him with a certain amount of skepticism, not for his reputation but for the look on his face.

Ginger handed him a bottle of water. She knew he wasn't there to share the fruits of their victory. His face was much too pensive.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

He didn't say anything as he motioned to the person behind him. It was a younger man, with Emo hair, goth clothes and the bluest eyes she'd ever seen, made bluer by the fact he wore heavy black eyeliner. He reached out a hand, the nails of every single ring adorned finger painted black, and smiled for the redhead he had heard so much about.

"This is Tanner," Walter said. "My assistant."

"Nice to meet you," Ginger politely greeted. He turned to the vampires who regarded him thoughtfully. Raven reached out a hand, but Tanner politely declined, holding up a bottle of water for their view.

"Tell them," Walter said.

All three of them focused on the young man. He cleared his throat. "I'm afraid the news is not good," he told them.

He slid a newspaper over for their view. The headline screamed about a desecrated grave in Eastern Europe; a reputed vampire from the late 1700s whose reputation of being a vile sadist over the village he lived earned him the moniker "Diavolului Fiul", Romanian for "Devil's Son".

"I don't understand," Ginger said.

Tanner took a deep breath. There was no easy way to say it. "Apparently this is where Argos's reign of terror began," he explained. "A week ago, for some unknown reason, the doors blew off of the crypt and the remains disappeared. The only thing we found was a scarf," he produced it.

Constantine's eyes widened as he stared at the material. He grabbed for it. "Where did you get this?" he demanded.

"From the grave of Octavian Blaga," Tanner repeated. "Otherwise known as The Devil's Son."

Constantine turned to Raven. "Nina," was all he said.

Ginger's face set in a grim line. She sensed there was more. "And?"

Tanner hesitated only briefly. He slid another newspaper in front of her to describe the ghastly death in Bucharest, Romania – where the victim had been drained of its blood.

"Found at the crime scene, this," he said as he showed them a photo of a ring.

Constantine visibly paled.

Raven turned to Walter. "You think this Octavian guy was the one who turned Argos."

"That's the theory," he said.

"What about Nina?" Constantine wanted to know.

"Apparently your brother Demetri bribed Argos with the ashes of his wife to find the most powerful vampire in Romania so that he could kill him," Ginger supplied.

"To kill him would have killed us all," Raven surmised.

"Exactly," she said.

"But he's alive," Constantine deduced.

Walter referred to the newspaper and the photo. "Apparently."

"So Nina might be alive too."

Ginger dug out her backpack from under the bar. "Only one way to find out."

Constantine was on his feet as well. "I'm going with you."

Walter and Tanner turned to face him. He met their glances with elongating fangs. "It would not serve you to argue the matter."

"Fine," Ginger quipped. She'd worry about what it would mean if she had to kill his Nina later.

Raven then stood to his feet. "Then I'm coming too." They turned to him. "I started all this," he told them. "I should be the one to end it."

Ginger's eyes met his. She didn't want him to go simply because of how much she didn't want to leave. Having him in close proximity was more dangerous than any killers she'd have to face along the way. He had awakened something deep inside of her that she wasn't entirely sure she wanted to bury again.

Truthfully, she had done the same for him. So even if this new threat had nothing to do with him he knew he would have found an excuse to follow along her newest adventure. He had made that decision when he saw how far she had gone to save them all.

That had to have been why he couldn't shake the memory of her body against his or the taste of her mouth. The thoughts of a conquest he just couldn't shake.

Their adventure had only just begun. And Raven knew that he had not choice but to follow where Ginger walks.