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Leaning on the porch railing, Jasper looked out over the lakefront rooftops, taking another drag on his cigarette as he once more found himself thinking about everything that had happened the previous night. The things he’d learned. Jasper knew his knowledge of the supernatural was limited at best, even after two years as a vampire. He hadn’t really had much chance to sit down and study what a lot of his friends and Family had been around for decades if not centuries – and that thought still gave Jasper the heebie-jeebies. He could not comprehend that he was essentially going to be living forever. The rest of forever. That was a lot of years. A long time. Forever.

Jasper took another drag on his cigarette, and blew smoke rings into the crisp early night air. The moon was halfway through the journey it made from new to full, and that put Jasper back on the track of his lack of supernatural education. Next weekend the werewolves would be out to play. Such a strange thought. How was it he had lived without knowing they were real? How did he still have trouble comprehending their existence when he now lived a life where his primary intake was blood.

Another drag. Another ring of smoke, and Jasper sighed irritably. He felt stupid for not trying to enthral the young mage he’d picked out the night before; if he had, he would have realised something was off before it got to the point where he was drinking – and then puking up – the man’s disgusting blood. A shudder travelled down Jasper’s spine at the memory of how awful it had tasted, and he took another drag on his cigarette, flicking the ash over the side of the railing and tilting his gaze to the stars.

“You know, you could knock,” he said suddenly, turning from the balcony to look at Aislin, smiling at his friend who had let herself in once more uninvited and unannounced. Not that Jasper minded; he’d invited her in before he’d Turned, when he and Jake were still living together. Furthermore she’d been a comforting shoulder to cry on when Jake left him, because he was different after the ‘employee retreat’ he went on. Jasper took a last drag on his cigarette and flicked the dying butt over the edge of the porch railing.

“I could but then I’d miss the chance to call you a jerk,” Aislin glanced in the direction where the cigarette butt had been flicked over the railing. She didn’t care for the habit but wasn’t going to criticize him for it either—and it wasn’t like it would kill him. No, she was more annoyed at Jasper littering and how someone else would have to clean up after him. Again. Which reminded her as to why she was there and quickly shifted from disapproving pout to wicked grin.

“And you would have locked your door if you really didn’t want me coming in,” she kissed Jasper’s cheek as she joined him on the balcony, taking a moment to enjoy the view. Jasper would know why she was there given how much she loved gossip so Aislin enjoyed prolonging the pouncing. It lasted all of seven seconds before she finally caved and turned back to her friend.

“So did you really attack a mage Upstairs last night and spill his blood everywhere? Tina had to clean up after you left with some cute boy toy. But I also heard from Maurice that you spit out the kid’s blood. So what happened? Is he hot? Is he still alive? Rafe had to get involved, didn’t he?”

“That would be a tragedy,” Jasper drawled, amused. He wasn’t normally prone to littering, and he could get into trouble with the owners of the building if he was caught, so normally butts went into an old soda bottle sitting on the table in the middle of the balcony, but sometimes – just sometimes – Jasper couldn’t be fucked with any of it, and over the edge they went. Jasper smiled at the kiss, and returned it in kind as he waited patiently for Aislin to break; he knew she would, it was just a matter of time. He hadn’t quite gotten to know her well enough to pinpoint exactly how long it would take her, but he knew it would be soon.

Jasper laughed, indignant, and put a hand dramatically to his chest. “I didn’t attack him!” he exclaimed, giving Aislin a dirty look. “He was asking for a feeding, and Maurice was close enough to keep and eye on… everything.” Jasper hated admitting he was still really bad at feeding without being a fucking disaster, but Aislin knew it. Everyone knew it. “And yeah, because he tasted fucking gross. Do not recommend. Even Rafe thought he tasted nasty.” The way their Sire had cringed at the Null’s blood had reassured Jasper that he hadn’t fucked up something else or was broken or some shit. He’d certainly never heard of inedible humans until then!

“Of course he’s still alive,” Jasper said, indignant once more, at the implication that he would kill his toy. Tough he supposed Rafe might have plans that would put the kid on the other side of that. Maybe. Jasper wasn’t prone to questioning his Sire. “Yeah. Rafe sent us downstairs to clean up. That was, at least, fun.” Jasper smirked. “Apparently the kid is a Null, which I didn’t know. I don’t think he knew, either, since he came into Indulge; or at least he didn’t know he would taste nasty. Why would you offer yourself for a feeding if you knew you tasted like sewerage smells?” Or put himself on Rafe’s radar. Jasper couldn’t imagine what their Sire would do with the Null, since Jasper still had little to no idea what a Null was besides gross to eat.

“I’m not judging you, babe. You’re talking to Fig, remember?” Aislin, or Fig as the inner circle now called her, had a slight issue with controlling her developing dream-walking power and what was supposed to be the simple memory-wiping after a feeding. More often than not she left a figment of herself behind and the others thought Fig was a cute nickname for it. It actually was and she adored it, which probably took some of the fun away from it for the others.

“Wait, so he’s actually a null?” Aislin’s eyes went wide at the information. Maurice swore that he heard Rafe say that but no one else believed him. Even she wasn’t entirely sure if it was true, though she adored Maurice and he wasn’t one to lie. “I’ve only ever heard of them but never encountered one. At least, I don’t think I have.” From what she knew, they tried to keep a low profile since every faction out there would want to use them for their own gains. She kind of felt sorry for them.

And then something else Jasper had said sunk in and she squealed in delight. “Rafe let you go down to his private rooms and entertain the null yourself? That’s amazing, Jassie!” She threw her arms around his neck and placed a kiss to his lips. Jasper was still an infant in terms of years as a vampire but it seemed Rafe trusted him enough to handle the situation and keep the null happy. Aislin pressed a bit tighter against her friend and smiled as she asked, “and how much fun did you two have?” Her accent always seemed to come out more pronounced when she was flirting, though it was never done intentionally. Maybe it was done subconsciously as many people seemed to think the Irish accent was sexy.

“Yeah, and he wasn’t too thrilled about being found out,” Jasper said, remembering the look of horror on the kid’s face when Rafe had said the word ‘null’, and the way he’d been so tight with information. Moonlight had definitely known he’d fucked up, putting himself on Rafe’s radar like that. Not that Jasper thought Rafe was going to hunt the boy down for nefarious reasons, but pulling him into his web was probable. The master had a way of getting what he wanted that Jasper felt went beyond just a vampiric skillset; everyone just went out of their way to make him happy, because (apparently) an angry Rafe was terrifying. Jasper hadn’t seen it, but he believed it.

“He did,” Jasper responded, amused, and wrapped his arms lightly around Aislin’s waist as she kissed him. It was nice to be in the master’s good books; sometimes Jasper felt like he was still trying to prove he’d be worth saving that day in the alley, and most of the time he felt like he failed. He was naturally good at enthralling people, and putting on glamours, but he felt that was barely enough to make up for how terrible he still was at feeding. At least he had not killed anyone recently. It had been what? Almost a year? That should count for something, but it just made him worry more.

A sly smirk tilted his lips up at Aislin’s question, dispelling the dour thoughts in Jasper’s mind and he nipped playfully at her bottom lip. “Oh we had the best kind of fun,” he said, then laughed softly, giving his head a subtle shake. “I’ve had more considerate lovers.”

“I know you have because I’m one of them,” Aislin smiled and booped his nose with a finger before wriggling out of his hold. Flirting could come later since it seemed her young friend was missing some facts. She took his hand in hers and led him back inside so they could sit and talk more freely. Of course they could have chatted telepathically and stayed out in the nice summer night but she was sometimes too expressive for that.

“Sit. Ask me questions because I bet you have them. But I’ll start with the obvious ones first just in case,” she stated as she kicked off her shoes, flopped on the couch, and pulled up her feet under her. “Nulls are a rare type of mage that actually scares mages. They get their name because they nullify magic. Because of that talent everyone wants to use them as protection against mages, even mages. Can you imagine a Family having a null when a mage bursts in and tries to toss a fireball? The null can pull that magic into their body and make it so the spell never existed.”

Aislin gave Jasper a moment to piece it all together before spelling it out for him anyway, “your friend probably wasn’t expecting Rafe to discover what he was and was understandably worried he was about to be kidnapped and used. But Rafe’s far more subtle than that. He probably started with gifts and left you two alone to show he wasn’t a current threat…” Aislin drifted off as she thought about what their sire would do. She’d been with him for roughly a century and had learned a lot but even working under him—in every sense of the meaning—didn’t mean she knew everything about the master. But she was confident he wouldn’t let a null that lived in his city slip away.

Jasper laughed softly at Fig and her boop to his nose, before he let her escape without a fight. He followed placidly when she took his hand and led him inside, Jasper pausing to close the door behind them. He watched as she settled herself on the couch, and nodded at her assessment that he had questions. He had a lot of questions, btu Jasper wasn’t even sure where to start with them. Thankfully Fig did, and he settled himself on the other end of the couch as she spoke, pulling his bare feet up and wrapping his arms around his knees, ankles crossed.

Resting his chin on his knees, Jasper considered everything Fig had said, chewing absently on his bottom lip. It made a lot of sense, especially Moonlight’s response to Rafe figuring him out. He could imagine how scary that must have been, given the new insight, but he smiled wryly in agreement that Rafe was a lot more subtle than that. He wouldn’t just kidnap the kid, especially since he would undoubtedly have family nearby – Moonlight wasn’t that old, and if Jasper could figure that, Rafe undoubtedly knew even more at first glance.

“He did,” Jasper said quietly, still mulling everything over. “But I didn’t get much out of him. I don’t think he even gave me a real name. How will the master find him again?” Jasper was suddenly worried he’d failed Rafe, now. He hadn’t gotten a name, a number, anything out of Moonlight. He didn’t know his real name, or where he lived – if he was new to the city or had been there as a kid. Nothing. Jasper’s worried frown intensified and he pouted slightly, anxious about messing up twice as much, now.

Aislin spotted the frown and nudged Jasper with a foot before tucking it back under her. “None of that. If the master wanted you to get information out of him, he would told you to and what to get out of him. Subtlety, remember? Your null would probably realise you were fishing if you asked too much. This way, he might come back on his own when he’s ready.” Knowing Rafe, he probably put feelers out to bring him back information on anomalies and null activity to start hunting the kid down. That was also assuming Rafe hadn’t just tried to follow the null home. She’d bet that if Rafe was truly interested in having him, he’d know all about the kid by the end of the week.

“You can ask me more questions if you want but I have one for you first. So he was cute, good sex, and maybe a bit crazy for wandering into Indulge like that. Sounds pretty delicious—uh, blood not included,” Aislin gave a light laugh and then quirked a brow at Jasper. “Are you going to have another go when he eventually appears again and are you going to make sure you invite me?” She was curious and wanted to see a null in person but taking him for a spin wasn’t out of the question either.

“I guess,” Jasper said, though he didn’t seem particularly convinced of that fact. He was too busy beating himself up for not getting something out of the Null. Just a name would have been useful, but all he had was ‘Moonlight’ and who knew what kind of name that was supposed to be. Which really. “I dunno,” he replied, thinking back on the interactions he’d had with the kid and what he had – or hadn’t – gotten out of it. He was too busy feeling sulky about not getting enough information for the master, to truly appreciate the entertainment factor Moonlight had brought about. “Maybe,” he added, trying to be sassy with the sideways look he gave Fig, but it fell flat in his current mood. Instead, he fell back on his previous thoughts.

“Why would he call himself ‘Moonlight’?” Jasper asked Fig, even though he was pretty sure that wasn’t the type of question she was expecting to field from him. “Is that supposed to be a joke because he was toying with vampires?” Exasperated, Jasper grumbled to himself as he stood up suddenly and sulked across the room, pacing irritably. It didn’t last long, though, before he was back to sitting himself on the couch, pulling his legs up and wrapping his arms around them with a scowl. “Have you eaten tonight?” He wasn’t sure if he was trying to change the subject or not, but he hadn’t eaten, and was beginning to feel the prickles of need in his belly, and while he had a bit of blood on hand, it was for emergencies, and there wouldn’t be enough for both of them.

When had Jasper become such a worrier? Normally she could convince everything was fine and he would move on. It wasn't like he killed someone in the club or started an incident between species. She rolled her eyes when he started pacing but let him get it out of system while she thought about the name.

"I think that would be more of a joke for wolves, though I suppose he could have just given a random word he thought of. But why not just use some generic name like Bob?" Aislin fell silent again as she worked on the name and left her friend to his pacing until he finally got it out of his system. "Maybe his name is French for moonlight or something like that. But if the master has it, you know he's already looking into it, so stop fussing so much, Jassie."

When the topic change came, Aislin hoped that meant Jasper was getting over his preconceived mess up but she doubted it with that scowl. "I had a drink when I got up but I was thinking of snacking at the club tonight. Malachite's working Upstairs tonight and I know you enjoy his company and he's delicious enough to share." Aislin grinned, implying that she would be right there playing with them and keeping an eye on Jasper's feeding to help ease some of his fears.

"Oh! I almost forgot the other big news that hasn't come out yet," Aislin forgot all about tempting yummy humans as she switched back to gossiper. "Rafe had me start making the arrangements to move that Warden boy to the city next week." It was kind of tragic that Chance had fallen so suddenly and accepted the Change so early in his life but she was quite familiar with his bloodline and respected their dedication to the Family. She knew Chance would do well once he adjusted to his new life.

"You know about the Wardens, right?" Some of them were out at the manor and some were in the city so surely Jasper at least knew of them even if he didn't interact a lot. He at least knew about Chance's Turning since that had been a big fuss and Aislin shared the details she knew with her young friend.

“That’s what I wondered,” Jasper said honestly, still confused by Moonlight’s name choice, “but I didn’t ask about it.” Because of course he hadn’t. Not that Moonlight had been very forthright when Jasper had at least commented on the name. He could have dug a little more, though, gotten a little more information out of the kid. Surely the word had some significance to him? It seemed far too specific to be just random, like Bob would have been. The suggestion Fig had had Jasper blinking, as he hadn’t thought of that and he smiled slightly. “Maybe,” he allowed, feeling a little better as the implications of that train of thought made themselves known. If somehow Moonlight was a real name, which Jasper was sure it was, even though it was weird as hell, then the master would be able to find him. So he hadn’t completely failed! Yay!

“Oh, he is?” It felt like forever since Jasper had seen Malachite, but he knew that wasn’t exactly true. It was just that the previous night was overwhelming his sense of time. It was kind of annoying how it was doing that, and he hoped it would stop soon; he just wanted to go back to normal. The before meeting Moonlight normal, but he had a feeling that would either be a long time coming, or not coming at all. Joy of joys. “You and your sharing,” Jasper teased, as if he was any less inclined to share a fun toy. Sharing was caring, after all, and it was best to share with friends.

Jasper’s ears pricked at the announcement that Fig had forgotten the juiciest of gossip, and he turned hungry eyes on her, always eager to feed off the grapevine she tended. Aislin had the best sources that Jasper was still getting his fingers into. Not that he wasn’t an expert spy for Rafe as it was, and not even Fig knew he reported the gossip back to their sire. Some things were best not shared, especially if Jasper wanted her to continue sharing with him. Spying on the Family was a unique job, and Jasper knew he was uniquely good at it, which he loved.

“Yeah, I know about them,” Jasper nodded, looking interested. “He was the kid with the health issues?” Just to make sure he had the right story assigned to this information. Jasper remembered hearing when Rafe had Turned someone new, since Jasper had been the last newbie (that he was aware of) and it was a strange combination of proud and jealous that he wasn’t going to be the newest vampire in the Family any more. Though, he was two years old now, he should have expected that someone else would come along soon. Didn’t mean he wasn’t sorry to see the title wear off, even if he was proud to be ‘growing up’.

“Did you meet him Before?” Jasper asked curiously. He himself had never been out to the manor where the Wardens all lived, so knew he hadn’t met the kid. Benefits of coming in off the street, he supposed. But it seemed likely that Fig had met the boy. Maybe?

Aislin nodded in confirmation that Jasper had the right kid in mind. It had to be rough on him to be one of the two Wardens of the ninth generation since the pact was made but to only be known as the one that was always sick and frail. Now Chance would be known for dying young and accepting the Change to stay alive. She suspected that was only part of the reasoning but that he wanted to prove he could protect the Family like his ancestors.

"I met Chance a couple of times when he was younger and several of his relatives over my time with Rafe." It was hard to believe she was nearing her one hundredth year as a vampire. Most women worried about reaching their forties or fifties but there she was, one hundred and eighteen and still looking like a fresh twenty-one. But hitting each century as a vampire was a huge milestone and Aislin was kind of excited for it--mostly because she loved a good party and dancing.

"You've met some of the Wardens, you know. His parents are based out of the city and his... seven or is it six times great grandfather serves in the mansion." Realisation dawned on Aislin as Jasper's question sank a bit deeper into her mind. "Wait, you didn't know Gerald was a Warden? He's the one that made the pact with Rafe and still serves and protects him faithfully." Not that Rafe really needed protecting as their master was kind of scary without putting any effort into it. But even he had to sleep and having the humans in the bloodline on guard, especially back then, made sense and it just continued. Rafe was nothing if not loyal to those that returned the gesture.

"I'm going to steal you on your next night off and give you a crash course in a few things," Aislin promised, a need to help out her fledgling friend growing. How had they slacked so much in making sure he was aware of nulls and even members in the Family? Rafe was loyal but he did do some things for his own purposes, though Aislin failed to see how keeping people in the dark about the basics helped him any.

Jasper shrugged awkwardly, and gave a wry smile. “I guess it never came up,” he said honestly. He knew some stuff, but he didn’t know an even larger amount of stuff, and it was as much of not more his fault than anyone else’s. Jasper knew he should ask more questions, get more answers, but he wasn’t prone to question asking at the best of times, and he’d often felt like he was annoying his guardians during the first year or so of his time as a Vampire. Maybe he just got a shitty guardian? “I guess a lot of topics never came up,” he said slowly, thinking back now hat he’d learned since yesterday evening. With Moonlight being a Null and all that that meant, and now that Gerald was a Warden. Things he should have known something about. Jasper was suddenly wondering what else he should have been taught about in the past two years and hadn’t been.

His wry smile returned when Aislin promised to school him on his next night off. He would certainly be finding out how much he didn’t know with Aislin poking around to find all the holes! He half hoped he wouldn’t get Nicolai into trouble, but part of him also hoped the older vampire would get at least scolded for not helping Jasper to be the best vampire he could be. Wasn’t that basically the purpose of the babysitter? Answer questions and help prevent Jasper form fucking up? Not that Jasper had had to be babysat for a while now – at least, not unless he was live feeding – but that just meant Nicolai should have finished educating him, right?

Jasper was so confused. He needed to stop thinking. “Who is babysitting the new kid — Ah, Chance?” Hopefully it wasn’t Nicolai!

Aislin sent a quick mental message to Rafe that they needed to talk about Nicolai’s handling skills, otherwise she’d likely forget to mention it by the time she saw him later that night. He hadn’t done a horrible job with Jasper and it wasn’t entirely his fault as others could have taught her friend things—even she could have stepped in more! But maybe getting Rafe to review what was taught by those selected to watch over the fledglings would help keep things more uniform. Although, she was still wondering if Nicolai had been told not to divulge too much. Jasper had been a sweet boy in life and perhaps Rafe hadn’t wanted to overwhelm him?

“Chance has Ricky and Marco looking out for him. You probably don’t know them since they’re stationed more out at the manor and kind of helped raise Chance. It seemed like a good fit for him.” The poor kid only had those that lived there as his friends and as part of the pact with the Wardens, Rafe had felt giving Chance vampires he already knew and was comfortable with would be best for him during the difficult transition period. She wasn’t delusional and knew how terrifying Rafe could be but it was the little things like that that made Aislin love their master so much.

“Anyway!” Aislin bounced to her feet and slipped her shoes back on before grabbing Jasper’s arm and tugging it lightly. She was probably stronger than him and could have easily pulled him up if she truly wanted but she was in a playful mood and pouted at him with the light tugging. “Let’s go see Malachite, Jassie. A little blood and fun will do you wonders.”

Jasper nodded at the comment following the names he didn’t know, but it sounded like Chance was in good hands and that was the most important thing.He was eager to meet the newest member of their family, maybe find out more about the Wardens from someone who had been a part of it. The new world was so fascinating, and Jasper was still overwhelmed by it at times; at other times, he wondered how he – or anyone else, for that matter – could live so blindly when there were creatures and beings around them that were so far outside the norm.

Jasper laughed when Aislin was suddenly on her feet and tugging on his arm; he let her guide him to his feet and then paused with a blink as he tried to remember in which obscure location he’d put his socks and shoes this time; shrugging one shoulder and pressing a kiss to Aislin’s cheek with a grin, Jasper nipped into his bedroom to find himself a fresh set of clothing – he couldn’t go to Indulge in just anything! He had to look presentable! So he came back out in skinny jeans, sneakers, and a tee shirt that had a band on it that Jasper had gone to see once when he was alive. He wondered for a brief moment how hard it would be to get into a concert now that he couldn’t see daylight… Couldn’t be too bad if one went via underground and into big buildings, right?

No doubt Aislin would know, she seemed the type to go to things like that for the atmosphere and maybe Jasper would quiz her about it later. For the now, he let her grab his arm again and lead him to the door; Jasper barely had time to grab his keys before he was whisked away, laughing and amused, but also hungry. He’d have to work a bit harder than normal to keep himself in check, what with the worrying and the stressing and the anxiety he was walking a thin wire and he knew it. Relaxing with Aislin and Malachite would be good for him.

“You always know what’s best for me,” Jasper teased playfully as he held open the building’s front door for his companion, grinning mischievously as she passed and he followed.