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Kitchi had no visible reaction to watching the offering and acceptance of the warm heart from Tizoc. That didn’t mean it was lost on him. Within the male was a whole other matter. Marlow took possession of the organ and he was taken for the moment by the visual in front of him. While the voice of the Acheron patriarch echoed out that it was time for them to learn her name did another tour through his mind. Why wouldn’t it? The young killer watched the length of her fingers turn crimson with what was placed on them. Blood was going to be part of it, yes. This was expected. He had seen it before. But not like this. He watched her fascinated. No, he had never seen anything quite like this.

Marlow. The woman performing the ritual had those eyes. They seared through him and for a few seconds he stood still as a tree in the deep slumber of winter. Frozen and caught. The blood on her lips and the brief glimpse of white fangs submerging into the heart. The grainy, thick exterior of the muscle took hell from her bite. It took effort to break through. Of course it did. It was the heart of a warrior, built to endure the world around it and yet there she was tearing it up. She held the power to bring it down and the proof formed in droplets dangling on her chin.

Once the heart of the woods was consumed it was announced that the woman was doing well. Kitchi still sober in his expression looked to Tizoc and wondered if he had anymore to offer. The fact she doubled over and was ready to reject the meal was hardly a surprise. She was honoring the spirit by fighting to keep it down. Unfortunately it would no longer be a practice that would agree with her.

Kitchi still couldn’t forget the first gas station chili dog he was stupid enough to try inhaling out of desperation. It was just as quickly left on racks and tile in the back aisle where the convenient microwave station was set up. The overnight clerk screamed for him to leave and accused him of being one of those drunks. If it wasn’t for the insane rotation of his gut and constant retching he would have tried to clear his reaction and offer to clean up the mess. Stumbling out into the night air seemed far more logical and safe.

Marlow had a lot to learn? He was still trying to get from point A to point B. The woodland cree was impressed that she took every bite down like a champ. Dark eyes narrowed down watching with a supportive focus. He was witnessing her pulling off what he was pretty sure he couldn’t do. Holding that meal down just blew anything he had pulled off right out of the water.

The size of the heart was at least triple what the chili dog was before he mistakenly added the jalapenos and corn chip crumbs on top. A shiver went up his spine remembering what happened next. Thinking that is what caused the mess to begin with he went back like a dumbass for another try a couple hours later. The second time was the charm. The clerk called the police and he made a man size hole out of the men’s restroom wall taking the dry heaves from hell with him. End of story.

Kitchi stepped in closer to Marlow. His red right hand moved towards Ambrose taking the knife that had been offered back to him. It was hers and it would remain such. His fingers claimed it and pulled it back into his possession gently. While doing so he extended his free hand down to her and looked to those eyes. He would remember this because no man mortal or immortal should ever forget what the woman in their presence had the power to do. Hand out he stood and he waited nodding to Tizoc. It was her choice. It would always be her choice.

Kitchi felt the warmth of the woodland king’s blood covering Marlow’s cool hand start to fade when she accepted his offer. The merging of their palms reminded him of the responsibility that went with it. Now that he offered and she accepted he would see it through. It was his duty to make sure she arrived safely back where she came from.

Tizoc’s exit announced his investment of his time with them had reached it’s end for the time being. The objects left behind in his wake caught Kitchi’s focus momentarily before he turned his eyes back to Marlow. Now it was them, the blood and the bear. His eyes left hers and looked to the mouth of the cave that was the passageway for the night air to flow through. It was refreshing and easy to appreciate over the scent of the animal that had overtaken the interior of the cave from the moment they got it inside.

The killer stepped forward as his fingers shifted slightly with the bend of his wrist. His thumb curled over the top of her hand as he moved around the carcass at their feet. He reached down and gathered the wet pelt over his opposite shoulder. He felt the weight of it instantly press him closer to the ground. It would need to be spread out and left to dry but where was not his concern. As long as it went with her and was not left abandoned was what mattered. The rest of the meat would be taken care of as soon as he got her back to wherever she would have been heading before he crossed her path.

“I know this could attract attention. The amount is up to how far you need to go.” Kitchi announced as his boots moved in a long stride towards the city lights.

It was the middle of the night so the odds of them gaining a lot of notice for being bloody and carrying a fresh bear pelt was not as likely as it would be during the day. Still he hoped she was at least a local within city limits and not visiting from some other town. If it was the latter his beaten down truck was going nowhere at the moment so that was not an option in getting her farther than the lights getting brighter with each new step. The rusted out Ford was added to his mental list of things to do.

The sound of the ground beneath his boots crunching and the scent of aging wet bear didn’t pause his silent reflections. How was it that he woke to the night with no purpose and now he had things to do? He looked up to the night sky briefly and shook his head. Were they amused with him? Of course they were. They would watch him drop her off, return and distribute the meat where the night creatures could consume it just as he should. Then he would be followed to the truck that had seen far better nights to watch it be resuscitated back to a semi-functioning point of carrying him further down the road to nowhere. No one was ever alone.

Kitchi's hand curled a little more over Marlow’s when he glanced over to see her. Those eyes. Why did she have those eyes? He looked up again and shook his head gently before returning his to their path ahead trough the wilderness. The hand in his felt too good to be true . He missed the physical connection all the same. It would not change the fact that his was too tainted with the blood of his brother to be of any value.

Marlow’s voice stirred Kitchi’s focus away from the lights of the city. With each smooth press of his boot into the ground beneath he was relaxed while he kept his shoulders back and his chest lifted. His arm held the pelt over his shoulder while the muscles responsible for the movement in his legs clenched with his long stride. Hours ago he was no one worth remembering and now he had become the wall that would weather the force of whatever would interrupt their route back. Her offer for him to stay with her had his intent to see her safely home extend into sticking around. His face turned enough to take a good look at her while her words bounced around in his head. His initial silence gave him the extra time to figure out how he was supposed to take what she said.

“You welcome me but would she?” Those eyes took hold once again. Had he been standing still he would have continued to stare at her. Last thing he needed to do was give in to the weakness now. “That remains to be seen.”

Kitchi stopped short of the city concrete that was a reminder he was closer to everything he could leave behind and never look back. An unexpected wave of fatigue found him as his steps resumed the work of moving them towards the Wickbridge portion of the city that slowly surrounded them. His overall mood was already shifting to prepare for the population that filled the buildings and alleyways that they passed by. The gaunt faces of unspeakable hunger greeted his eyes and left him with a visual reference. He could be disgusted but in the end he was linked to each one by a common need he didn’t exactly ask for. He felt the straight shot of bone in his lower jaw press upward. The unwanted glances that found their way to the pair roused an irritation that was becoming a bitter cocktail he had to learn to swallow.

“The place south of the morgue?”

Kitchi wanted to turn back. If the cool hand weaved into his own was not present he would. The weathered walls of the cave made more sense than what he was currently trying to ignore. His heels were jabbing the hard surface beneath him with each new step. Their movement was taking him beyond his comfort zone. He held the night air in his lungs and cursed his piece of **** truck and his brother. Not once but several times and for good reason. He had it coming. Just as he was ready to exhale the waste of his energy spent on a man who didn’t deserve another thought he caught her profile in the corner of his eye. Those eyes. He forced his attention to the opposite side and checked the street in front of them for any obstacles such as moving metal frames attached to moving wheels.

Kitchi’s hand locked tighter around the one he held. It was hard to believe he had it still and it was even harder to believe he was walking her back to where she had a place. A place that apparently she shared with her sire. There was less steps than he anticipated as his long stride had them entering the doors of the newest place on the Harper Rock map, Sanctuary. He pulled the door open still keeping her hand safely in the hold of his other.

“You know where you are going far more than I do.” For the first time in what was likely minutes but seemed longer than he could count his eyes landed on hers and he felt stunned in the doorway. “After you.”

Kitchi stepped to the side and finally felt an odd chill fill his now empty palm where Marlow’s hand had been pressed tightly. He figured if he kept holding on to it in the narrowing frame of the doorway he would have to either admit he felt too comfortable with it to release it or he was not a fan of feeling the loss of what was never his to begin with. He nodded ahead to a lobby that clearly was far and beyond anything he was accustomed to. Excess. So much excess greeted his eyes. It screamed of strange faces and a world full of indulgence. A pool was steps from the entry. He felt the line of his lips flatten tighter. There was nothing in a lap pool at your feet that could compete with a lake surrounded by the woods.

“You live here?” It was one of the dumber questions to ask since she obviously did. He felt more out of place than ever for asking it out loud. The last thing he wanted to do was insult the beholder of those powerful eyes. “Pardon me. That came out entirely wrong. I didn’t mean it how it sounded.”

Kitchi was prepared to turn on his heels and find his way back to the cave to clean up. There was absolutely nothing other than Marlow arriving safely that tied him to such a place. She was clearly home and he was clearly an *** for what he just said. He was frozen in his tracks looking at her and waiting for what she had to say next.