[ A/N: Hey guys, tis Alix (PoisonedApples6) here~ So I FINALLY found my spark for this story again. Hopefully it won't be so long before I update next time. Enjoy~! ]

Alix’s POV

And so a new agreement was formed between Yixing, Jiaheng and I. It was not an easy alliance, and there was no trust between any of us (my story having lessened Jiaheng’s faith in his lover), but we trusted one another to act in a way we could each foretell and that was enough for us. They wished to meet our threats and I complied - it was easy to lure them out. I simply had to let them know where I was and they came.

“You disappeared rather quickly.” Kai.

“I messed up,” I placated.

“Chanyeol?”

“Partially.”

“He’s a mess.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.”

Kai was too predictable. It was simple to manipulate his attraction towards me - something he made apparent now we were sure of one another - and he spilled his secrets easily enough.

“So you and Sehun...?”

A nod - “We are to bring her to him.”

I glanced to my companions - Jiaheng, Yixing and I were sitting with Kai in my rented room - in question. They understood and nodded. I scooted closer to Kai, my fingers trailing down his jaw.

“Jongin,” I spoke softly. His eyes had been studying Jiaheng, but they snapped to mine as soon as I voiced his name.

“Xandria?” He replied, equally quiet - I’d allowed him the use of what he believed to be my real name, to make him believe he’d gained my trust.

“Are you aware he is my brother?”

An intake of breath was my response - clearly, he did not.

“I know him better than any other.”

“He speaks of you,” he admitted.

“Oh?”

“He seeks you out - he must miss you. Let me bring you to him.”

I almost laughed at that - I knew he sought me out, but it was not because he missed me.

“I cannot do that Jongin.” My tone ensured he didn’t ask why. “I need you to do something for me.”

“Anything.”

“Bring her to me.”

“I can’t-”

“I only wish to see her, nothing more. But you can’t tell him about this meeting - I do not wish him to know of my presence here. When we meet, it shall be on my terms.”

He looked pained for a moment, but a teasing press of my lips to his had him nodding his head.

“I’ll need to convince Sehun.”

I decided I could agree to that.

“Okay. Does he know you are here?”

“No.”

That surprised me, and I let a small smile grace my lips.

“Such a bad boy~” He flushed scarlet at that and I couldn’t help but laugh. Even Yixing looked amused, although Jiaheng seemed anything but. “You should let your friend know where you are.”

He nodded and I allowed him to leave.

“That boy loves you,” Yixing mused when he had left.

“He is foolish to do so,” I replied.

Jiaheng put an end to our conversation - “It is beneficial to us that he does.”

*

“You’re his sister?” Sehun sounded more concerned about this fact than I would have liked; leaning away from me in our private booth (he hadn’t wanted to venture to my room; still wary). Even my allowance for them both to address me alone - to make them feel like they were the ones in control - didn’t seem to quell his agitation at what I had just told him.

“She’s that sister.” Kai stressed, much to my chagrin, but the look on Sehun’s face distracted me from scolding him. His following words panicked me, because although Kai’s romanticisation of me could be used as way of explanation; Sehun had no excuse.

“He misses you.”

I knew he did not, but Sehun was perceptive and even the slight possibility of my brother wanting anything but blood from me was distressing. However, I suppose I should have counted their belief as a blessing as it greatly helped me convince them I was working towards the same goal as their master.

“I miss him,” the words tasted foul as they spilled from my lips, “but Li An is... I have known her for nearly her whole life and I care.”

“Like you cared for Chanyeol?” Sehun’s tongue was sharp. It cut.

“You suggest I don’t still?” And mine was careless, causing my other companion to stiffen. I spared him a glance before returning to Sehun. “I have always cared for him. I wanted to protect him, and when he read that as interest I decided it was beneficial for my cover. Because although I want to protect him, I need to protect Li An. The care I have for her is not the same.”

“You know what she is?” Kai spoke then, earning him a disapproving glance from Sehun - he didn’t approve of Kai’s admiration of me. He was smart, but I was smarter.

“Of course I know.”

“Then when you say you’ve known her for most of your life-”

“I speak the truth.”

“And when you claim to need to protect her-”

“An oath.”

They both took an intake of breathe at that, Sehun’s eyes calculating and Kai’s frightened.

“One I did not make willingly, I assure you. She cared for me in my time of weakness - it’s a debt I couldn’t refuse. But my brother is my brother, and we of all know that blood is thicker than water.”

“You cannot break an oath,” Sehun accused. I dipped my head in deference.

“No, but there are ways of twisting them.”

“And you want to?”

“I do. I want to help my brother achieve what he has always deserved.”

“You’re the eldest living member of your family - should it not be you who deserves it?” I was a bit taken aback at that - not expecting my brother to have revealed to them so much. I resentfully decided to reveal a truth of my own.

“He killed our father.”

The silence that followed was cold.

“He claims it was you who did so.”

My head jerked to Kai at that, the disbelief written on my face entirely honest.

“Then he lies. We both fought him but he finished it. I am more indebted to him than any other in this world,” I couldn’t even attempt to hide the rawness in my voice. They considered me for a while, and finally it seemed as though Sehun believed me, his shoulders relaxing and the crease in his brow disappearing.

“So why do you want to see Li An?” he questions, much more amiably now.

“To say goodbye, even if she does not know it. As I have said, I care - even if that care has been imposed upon me,” I paused, choosing my words carefully. “I am certain I can make her release me from my vow.”

This, however, neither seemed convinced by.

“How can you, when she does not even know it exists?”

“We agreed that if she was ever to use her force against me I would be released.”

“You want to provoke her.” It wasn’t a question.

“Yes.”

“That could be dangerous.”

“More dangerous than me being forced to become an enemy of you?”

Sehun was decided after that, I could tell. But as he left I realised I wanted to build a friendship with him, to be certain he would do as I wished. Kai stayed for much longer. I used the time to cement his faith in me.

“You care for Chanyeol-”

“I have an urge to protect him - the boy is so careless with himself; he needs protected,” my voice was soft now; as I would speak to lover. Without Sehun here to observe I did not need to worry about making my manipulation apparent: Kai was truly blind to it. “Jongin, he is so many years younger than me. What interest could I have in a child?”

“I’m younger than you.”

“You are not a child.”

He was trapped as soon as I leant into him; bearing my throat in a false act of submission. He wouldn’t have stood a chance against me after that - he would have become addicted not only in feeling but in body as well; for if he tasted the blood of a vampyr as old as me he would unlikely be able to ever again appreciate anything less. But a dhampyr? The human life essence aged far past what it naturally should have? He wouldn’t even be able to stomach it.

His eyes widened in disbelief, and he slowly lowered his eyes to my skin. Before his mouth could follow his gaze I felt a tug at my morals. Cursing them quietly, I decided to secure him in a way that could be reversed.

“My name... isn’t Xandria.”

The confession brought his eyes up from my offering.

“What?”

“It is the oldest name I associate with. My birth name... It holds many bad memories. Everyone who once called me that is dead. No one calls me it; no one knows it is mine - not even my brother.”

The look on his face then made me begin to doubt that this was in fact reversible. And as I considered it, I realised it wouldn’t be. I couldn’t take this back.

“You... You’re going to give me something of yourself that no one else has.”

But my morals were placated enough by the fact that he would still be able to live without me after it. And that it would affect me as much as him.

“When we are alone... You should call me Lysandra.”