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She isn't keeping me prisoner. Her boss is.

Nines kept a remarkably even tone, considering how sore such a subject tended to leave him. Instead, he nodded, and turned to give Jan one last look.

Jan? Thank you. I don't know how long I'll be, but...thanks.

And with that, Nines was about to leave to do something terribly foolish and decidedly rash.

Two hours later, the stillness of the mansion was sundered by the front door slamming open, an ice wind robbing all heat from the hall instantly and a 7ft tall spawn of hell itself dominating the doorway.

"Bring her to me."

The words were spoken quietly, calmly, and with complete authority to a stunned Jan as he entered the hall to see what the fuss was, and subsequently dropped an entire tray of fine Dresden china when he saw the state of Nines, currently clutched in the lurking Wendigo's talons.

Hurrying upstairs, it was mere minutes before Roan herself was on her way down the stairs, her face a clouded vision darkness, fangs and claws out.


For Nines though, whatever was said at first was indistinct, barely a blur to his unconscious mind.
But that didn't mean he heard nothing, saw nothing.

"What a fine mess you've gotten yourself into..."

A figure was present. A halo of purple light around it the most defining feature. Whoever it was was chained to the... wall?

"You used up your leeway... you gave him your limits... without me, you are but a toy.

It's alright though... it'll resolve itself soon... he will make the inevitable mistake. And revenge... you will have it. In time."

"The vampire believes himself immortal in the truest sense. He is untouchable. He can take whatever he wishes with a single action.
The world is his toy, the people in it mere puppets. Resisting is a spice to him. A pleasure. Capitulating, the end goal. though it tires him soon enough.

We will bide our time. his hand has been forced, he will make a mistake. I can help you.

What he forces to happen next... accept it. Be at peace. Because when it is finished... only time will stand between us and a fresh, bleeding corpse..."

The voice continued, the figure straining at the chains periodically. As he spoke the last, the chain over his left wrist snapped. An inhuman hand reached out, elegant, and tipped with shaped black nails against the indigo flesh.

"Together."

The hand came closer as further chains snapped around the held figure, until, as it touched Nines, his senses would begin to return to him, the figure shattering like glass and fading away.



"...care... say. It's no.... lt."
"...as PROM... my int.... wise!"
"...alone. I....ause...you cho...."
"..thing le....lose."
"...stard."

The words were like white noise over a TV set to start with. Bits clear, the raised tones of both voices easy to make out, it was obviously Ice and Roan, in heated debate.

There came the sound of thin, bony fingers impacting hard on a cheek bone, and the thud of a body hitting the floor.

"I think you forget your place. Be grateful I returned your property to you for one last try before I make a marionette of him."
"I will not hold a man prisoner against his will. No matter what penance you set."
"He is no man. He is barely even a thing as he is. Fix him, or send him to me. Should his death occur in any way OTHER than combat in our name....."

...Nines eyes would start to clear, rheumy vision through swollen eyes before it became the figure of Ice holding Roan by the throat, easily over his head...

"...Bailey will enjoy receiving your apologies in person, in the cathedral. You have your orders, DeSeer. See to it they are followed. If for nothing else than the assurance I will target your new little weakness if you do not."
"Leave Corbin out of this."
"It is all the same issue, woman. Your job is to organise it. I will be back two nights hence to complete what was started. You have until then to do it YOUR way. Good evening."

...as the faun dropped the woman to the floor, there was a slight splashing sound. Blood pooled around her. Her own. Glancing across at him, she would know he was awake, even if still knocked out.
To her left, visible to Nines as he woke more fully, two new bands to replace those he had cut off, once his limbs healed. Clearly, he was not out of the woods yet.

"Jan...."

Roan's voice was tired as she called for her butler, rolling onto her back with a soft groan as she did so.
Ice was gone, having stalked out and left hoof marks in blood where he had passed, wendigo's claw prints alongside.
It was through these Jan walked to enter what would turn out to Nine's clearing eyes to be... the ballroom.

"Milady..."
"Call Dagoth. You get Nines to his room and on an IV. Dagoth can help me."
"Lady Roan, my first duty is t...."
"Do not question me Jan. Nines is badly hurt and it's my fault. Get him to bed, I will join you there shortly."
"It was not your fault."
"I should have impressed on him harder that not only is his life worth something, but also just how dangerous Ice is. Even if it meant making him hate me too."

She glanced at Nines, then sighed and flicked her fingers, gesturing Jan to do as she asked. Within minutes, so he would.

"The ballroom sir... swiftly if you please."

Jan did not run. He walked very swiftly, giving curt orders to those he passed as he led Dagoth back. He barked orders for an IV drip, vitae, a stand, bandages, hot water and other medical items to be taken to the floor Dagoth himself stayed on... indeed, to the very next room down the hall from Dag's....

And then they were at the ballroom. Within, the laid out form of Nines to one side, while in the centre of the floor, amid multiple splashes of blood and a puddle of it collecting around her, Roan was laying on her back, breathing shallowly.

"Don't ask questions. Help me up and to the doors I told you not to enter. I need Jan to see to Nines."

Pain sounded in her voice, but she didn;t falter in her words, holding one hand out towards the ex-pirate as he came in.
For his part, Jan went straight to Nines, lifting him gently to carry him upstairs.

She yelped as he helped her stand, revealing the source of the blood. At several points across her back, small white-ish structures protruded.
Though they snapped under moderate pressure, it became clearer what they were - small spurs of calcification. Boney growths, no less, extending back inside her body through major blood vessels.
The sound of brittle things breaking when she moved was distressingly easy to hear, however after the initial yelp, she ignored it and went with Dagoth to the doors, shaking her head at his request for keys.

"No keys. Just me."

And indeed, as she laid a hand on the doors, they rolled open to reveal both the thick reinforced nature of the doors themselves, and also the dark descending tunnels beyond.

"Answers... This leads into the nasty part of the house. A necessity. Garou live near here, and Durem is economical in its disposal of those condemned to die for their crimes. I apologise for what you will see.
Take me to the end of the tunnel, first door on the right. Then leave."

"Not the answer I was looking for Roan"

Dagoth shook his head, this was rapidly heading down s**t creek without a paddle. The pirate would move down the tunnel as directed, moving deeper into the bowels of the mansion his guard would be up. All he could do was move as fast as he could with Roan's body, he would try and carry her as gently as possible. Dagoth couldn't hide the concern about the bone growths he could see.

"You holding in there?"