F I X the p r o b l e m, open

“Sixth one in two weeks – fix the problem, Francisco, or you will be replaced.” The name was said wit ha bitterness that the woman could almost taste and her expression, while blank, conveyed the feeling that perhaps that taste was not of a pleasant origin. Lillith typically hated her trips to Chile because it often meant death for another one of her sentry stuck with the unfortunate duty of controlling the rogues. There was a very good reason that few humans inhabited bits of Chile, primarily because most of them didn’t care to be eaten. Fancy that. Regardless, it often meant that another one of her people had to be executed simply because they couldn’t follow orders. Trying was not enough when you were shipped off to Chile for prolonged punishment. Very few of her people were alive afterwards to return to Europe.

Francisco, hands clasped in front of him, eyes downcast, kneeling on his knees in front of her. He wasn’t happy to be there – too much of a dominant streak running in him. Partly the reason why he’d been sent here in the first place. But she knew that he knew she wouldn’t hesitate in killing him however she so desired. Hell, a cross-wrapped coffin for a few months would certainly be preferable to the methods of death he could face.

“Leave.” And he left.

Staring after him as he left the room, she waved a hand at the guards that sprang from the shadows, waiting on her word to do something useful. If it hadn’t been an adopted habit for a High Master to have guards, she wouldn’t have had any. They were a pain in the ass most of the time, but what was she to do with them? Leave them alone and maybe they would find something to kill on their own time. Perhaps it was all this talk of disappointment and death as of late that was getting their underwear in a twist – she’d always been the sort that carried out her own threats and that left the guards with nothing to do. Pity point for them. Smiling to herself, Lillith left the room and started down the staircase at the end of the hallway. The building was built quite recently, but gave the appearance of being quite old. It was precisely the sort of building that Lillith had a love for.

Having been in the upper room, she sought the first floor with its wide open windows. No, it was not the middle of the day but that would have had little bearing on her parade, so to speak. The vaccine did all that it was supposed to do and sunlight no longer bothered her to any degree. But there was still that consistent draw of night, of the moonlight, that all vampires felt. The moonlight had a habit of making things appear more beautiful, or more ethereal – the ideal time for any vampire powers to work on mere humans. Or those of lesser power as well. It was her preferred method of ‘hunting’, too, and she smiled once more, a hint of fang showing as she stepped outside, eyes fixating on a figure out by the front gate. Patiently, she waited to see whom it would turn out to be. Foe was unlikely, since this was her territory, but she didn’t knock the idea. To knock the idea would have been to place herself in danger for carelessness. Lillith was many things; careless was not among that list.

Logan’s ears twitched as he heard the scrape of metal on wood. The door to the old looking building in front of him opened, revealing the form of his High Master. He’d been itching to get out of London the last few days, so he took a sort of vacation and came to the hellhole that was Chile. Most Vampires only came here as a punishment for being rouge. But not Logan, he was here on personal business. He needed to speak with his High Master, and this is where she was.

He’s been leaning on the gate, staring at the door. He felt her eyes on him, so he pushed himself off and sauntered up the drive, hands in the pockets of the black leather jacket he wore. He walked up a small flight of steps and stopped a few feet in front of her. It had been nearly three months since they’d last spoken, and even then it was only over the phone. She’d assigned him to a mission in the U.S. and he’d gratefully taken it.

“Master Lillith.” He said, bowing his head. “I haven’t heard from you in ages, it seems.” Said Logan, his smooth British accent making the words flow. He smiled slightly as he moved closer to her. “You’ll be happy to know that the most recent job you had for me… the one in Chicago, went quite well.” He was over the small talk. This woman was the most seductive in Europe, and probably the world. He’d never ‘been with her’ before, but over the years he’d sure as hell made passes at her and tried to get with her. It seemed like more of a joke though; he knew he would never get so much as a kiss, let alone a sleepover.

The figure made their way to her, almost as though they hadn’t counted on being seen so quickly and only the fact that she had spotted them had made them move forward. Her posture straightened a bit in response to this observation, and her arms folded across her chest as she leaned against the doorway. So who would it turn out to be? The air didn’t smell of lycan nor human, so her first guess would be a vampire. Though with the other scents of lycan and human mingling throughout the home behind her, it could have been any sort of species. Using her mind-reading ability, she prodded at the person gently, but found it unnecessary since their facial features drew her attention. She smiled to herself, waiting for them to come closer.

It was Logan, a vampire she’d long since found attractive, but had not yet once taken to her bed. Why, might you ask...? Because he could not give her blood and, since her energy levels were always normal or quite high when around him, she’d not yet found a suitable reason for taking him to her bed. Sure, she could have done so simply for pleasure, and ordinarily she just might have, and yet she had not. It was puzzling to her why she willingly kept away from him, and so she had often shoved the thought aside somewhere and left it at that. Business first and then puzzling thoughts later, as was always the way with Lillith.

“Logan,” she greeted, inclining her head as she said his name. She said nothing else to his latter comment, for he evidently had more to say, else he would not have been there. She smiled once more, glad that there were some vampire within her reign that were loyal and capable of doing whatever was asked of them. Ordinarily, she wouldn’t have had them ‘take care of business’ out of her territory, for conflict with the other High Masters was always a pain in the ass to deal with. However, it had been one of her vampires that had fled and caused havoc within Chicago – thus, Logan had been stuck with the task. Truth be told, she had expected it to take a little longer than it had, so it was a pleasant surprise that the matter had been handled so quickly.

“I am pleased to hear it, Logan,” Lillith said, still leaning against the solidity of the door’s frame. “I will most likely have another, similar, task for you in the very near future, so I ask that you do not wander far. It all depends on the reliability of my guards.” She rolled her eyes and shook her head, standing upright. “I would offer to reward you with something, however I can’t think of what that something should be. In the meantime, do you care to come inside?” She turned and headed back the way she had come; her question hadn’t been a question, not really. She expected him to follow – it was as simple as that.

Logan’s mind didn’t resist as she touched it, he’d already come close enough so she could see his face in the dim moonlight. He took the compliment on his recent work lightly, not dwelling on it too long. She’d already spoken about another job soon, so his mind was already racing at the thought of more travel. “Surely, milady. You know that anything you ask of me shall be done.” He said, but he didn’t only mean assassinations. He knew she would catch on, and he wanted her too. It was how he always behaved around her, he became a horny man who’s every word revolved around getting into bed with her. Was this time his efforts would pay off?

He thought to the last time they’d been together, his mind racing through the memories. They’d been in Paris, and he had been reporting to her on a job in Italy. Actually, it was the night he’d killed the previous Pope, John Paul II. It had been nearly ten years since they’d last seen each other in person. Of course they’d talked on the phone and over e-mail to conduct business, but he hadn’t seen her in a decade. He smiled at the thought of the reunion ending in sex.

Logan smiled as she invited him in, his thoughts racing at what would happen. He’d been a vampire for over a century, and had had his fair share of women. He wouldn’t call himself a man whore, but most people probably could find proof enough. He was actually surprised when she said in question form rather than a command; it was something he’d never heard before. It was almost as if she was giving him a choice, but he knew better than that. A High Master’s words were never to be taken as they came out, it was always a statement or an order. He nodded, and then followed the woman inside.

Lillith smiled to herself as she heard his footsteps follow behind her. She had expected nothing less, nothing different, and was pleased for a variety of reasons. He had completed a task that should have taken longer, he was thinking along the same lines as she, the latter would make her quite a happy master...Yes, all of those thoughts were enough to be pleased and an extra sway in her step was apparent as they traveled down the hall. Two were passing through as well, heading the other way, and they moved aside as they spotted her and her companion. She gave them a nod in passing, noting them as the guards left in charge of an experiment she had been working on for the better part of a century. That experiment would warrant her attention sometime soon and her previous smile was reverted to a faint frown as she turned around a corner.

Around that corner lurked her room – or, rather, the chambers that led to her room. They were stairs that led down into darkness that she was well equipped to see easily through, and it didn’t matter regardless since she knew the passage simply from passing through so many times. Seldom did she ever have company coming down with her to her chambers – usually people were brought to her. Only when she accompanied someone did things ever turn out well for all parties involved. And it was precisely at that point when she realized exactly what she was going to be doing soon enough. Feeding herself, in a way, but also satisfying another need. She smiled once more and opened the door, stepping into her room and leaving the door open. It was meant to be closed at all times, something all her vampires knew and commonly respected.

“I’ll need but a moment before you give a brief rundown on how your task went. I will then provide more detail on the next task I would like you to complete.” She looked at him briefly as she spoke before she passed through her room to the bathroom that it was joined to. The door opened before she came to it and she entered the room, shutting the door firmly behind her. Once in there, she stripped down to absolutely nothing, reaching for her robe on the backside of the door. Smiling to herself as she realized that it was, as a matter of fact, not there and her eyes slid to her reflection in the mirror. The only darkness that looked back out at her was her eyes and her hair, nothing else. The rest was pale, pale skin. Turning, she cracked the door enough that she could look out at Logan without revealing too very much, but quite enough that would gather his attention. “Might you bring my robe from the armoire?” she asked, concealing the smirk that she wanted to show on her face. Instead, she gave him a blank face that seemed to resonant with innocence – and it almost made her laugh aloud.

Logan’s entire body was shaking. He’d waited so long for this night, and here he was, about to get into bed with his High Master. Sure, he was a respected killer, a scholar, and a billionaire, but that didn’t stop him from being a twenty-something man. People have urges, and sometimes their just too strong to fight off. In Logan’s case, it couldn’t have happened sooner.

He stepped in behind her, surprised that she’d left the door open for him. Normally, he would have waited outside her room for her to appear again, no matter how long it took. He looked around her bedroom, taking in every detail as he scanned the room and she walked towards the bathroom. He heard the rustle of clothes coming off and he couldn’t help but smile. He then became aware of a pressure in his pants, and a huge grin split his face in half. He was about to sleep with Lillith. This was it.

She asked him to get a robe out of the wardrobe. He glanced at the door leading into the bathroom, hoping to catch a glimpse of something while she was still fully naked. He didn’t see anything too risqué, but he wasn’t disappointed. He nodded, still smiling as he walked over and opened the large, wooden closet. He searched through it, looking over the scant clothing. He finally got his hands on the piece of cloth, and ripped it off the hanger and strutted back to the bathroom door.

“Here we are, m’lady. Is there anything else you need me to help you with?” he asked, putting a little emphasis in his words. It was a done deal, he was getting some action tonight.

Lillith smiled, looking directly at him as he very obviously strained to get a glimpse of her within the doorway. It didn’t bother her, for that was exactly what she wanted. She didn’t avert her gaze but rather let him make of it what he would – typically, women would look away in false embarrassment if they noticed a man looking at them in such a way. Lillith couldn’t even bring herself to play that game anymore, so little was her desire to. Briefly, she contemplated what path to take this all down. She felt quite energized, for she could clearly feel the lust – and, perhaps, sexual tension? – and had so recently discovered she could feed off of that feeling as though it were blood.

Smiling, her fang pressing lightly into her bottom lip, she took her robe from him and left the door slightly cracked as she slid it on. Had he knowingly or inadvertently picked one of the shortest she so happened to own? Looking at herself in the mirror, swathed in black silk that really didn’t cover her bottom, she tied the sash a little more loosely than would keep things secure and covered. ‘Secure and covered’ was so not on the agenda tonight, for it was almost as though his need was projecting itself onto her. Interesting, but she wouldn’t object. Oh, no, she wouldn’t object in the slightest.

Turning, she opened the door fully and straightened her spine slightly as she looked at Logan. “No, Mr. Sterling, I don’t think you can help me with anything at all at the moment,” she said, and she managed to say it without placing any emphasis on any of her words. Since she was very much thinking of the same thing as he, it as almost as though a scoreboard should be held up with a point on her side. Thinking this made her smile once more, the press of fang indenting her lip a little. She didn’t dwell on this long, but instead slid easily around him and cross the room to her desk; while sex was a very, very interesting idea to entertain, she had made a comment of business, and it simply wouldn’t do for her to get distracted first.

“Please, make yourself comfortable,” she said, looking up at him from the open drawer with a smiling face that didn’t really hide the intensity behind her eyes. Ah well, she thought to herself, rustling through several papers in the drawer, trying to find what she needed him for. “Also, I’ll need to describe how things went – were there any complications and various other effects like that.” A slender hand pulled out a scrap of paper and she read through it quickly before seating herself in her desk’s leather seat. It pressed cool against her legs, but she hardly noticed; it was hard to notice cool or cold things when you were sometimes cool or cold yourself.

Using the pen simply laying out on the desk, she began writing the details not already covered on the paper. Currently, he and his skill was needed for setting up a group against a certain in-breed of humans and vampires. Since she had only a handful of slayers that she trusted even in the slightest around her, he was among the top of the list for people she would send.