THERE ^^^ THERE’S A BADASS TAO FOR Y’ALL ;D

    I stared numbly at the crib: the firm white mattress, framed by mahogany slats. The pale pink blanket crumpled at the bottom and spotted with crimson, sheets underneath it rumpled and also dotted with red. Whose blood? 
    I reached out to pick up the blanket, inspecting the spatter of blood and clenching the satiny fabric in my fist. A snarl on my lips, I let the blanket go and regathered my fire, coaxing into a flare deep inside my chest. 
    Kris got my attention with a short yell and I yanked my head up, throwing myself to the side as a hunter lunged towards me. He passed me harmlessly, long knife swinging in a silver arc and parting the air by my hip with a faint hiss. 
    I narrowed my eyes and flung my hand out, knocking the knife from his grip and grabbing him around the throat. I threw him back a few steps, watching him stumble to keep his footing, his gloved hands forming into tight fists. He began to rush me again and I growled, winding my arm up like a baseball player and pitching a small ball of flame at him.
    The short blast of fire caught the hem of his shirt, igniting the thin fabric and making him slap at his stomach blindly. He cried out, backing off, and I hissed at the hunter still bullying Yoichi. 
    Kris had moved to protect Aoi from further attack, blocking another hunter’s punch and sending the man skidding back with a rough kick. The hunter turned, running for the stairs and seizing the hunter I had been fighting by the wrist. The hunter slapped at his friend’s flames, extinguishing the blaze, and they both ran down the stairs.
    Kris didn’t try to stop them and I ignored them as well, reaching out to grab the nearest hunter and pick him up the by the collar of his shirt. His feet kicked out, one booted toe catching my shin, accompanied by the dull smart of a future bruise. 
    I slammed him back against the wall, his hands locked around my wrist, fingers searching blindly to dig into the soft flesh around my bones and his eyes narrowed spitefully. 
    “I thought I told you all to stay away from me!” I growled, shaking him roughly. He growled back in reply, his throat vibrating under my palm as he managed a strained scowl. 
    He gathered his feet up under his body and kicked me hard, his feet sinking into my tensed stomach and sliding harmlessly off. A short puff of air was forced from my lungs but I recovered quickly, sliding my hand up until his hard jawbone rested on it, squeezing hard to cut off his air. 
    He coughed, face reddening, and I narrowed my eyes more. A noise from behind me made me turn, and I saw Kris chasing the remaining hunter down the stairs, waiting for the man to reach the bottom of the wooden steps before turning back towards me.
    “Peach, let him go,” Kris said distractedly, striding quickly towards Aoi.
    I turned my head back, feeling the man’s hands on my wrist slackening, his fingers slipping limply off my skin. His lips had gained a bluish tint and his eyes were fluttering, a vein showing in his temple. 
    I flung him down from the wall, his body thumping against the floor as he drew in a gasping breath and coughed. I gestured to the floor around him and felt a thrum of satisfaction when a ring of contained fire erupted around him, the flames as high as my thigh.
    He wouldn’t be going anywhere soon. 
    I left him breathing noisily in the center of the circle, turning to see if Kris needed help. He was tending Aoi anxiously and my gaze was drawn to Yochi, rushing over to stand beside him.
    I dropped to my knees beside Yoichi, staring at the vampire with wide eyes. His knees were drawn up underneath his body and his arms were tucked protectively into the fold created by his thighs and chest, the nape of his neck vulnerably exposed. There was a narrow slice across the pale skin, falling just between two small bumps of vertebrae, and I could see it had been much deeper when it was first created; it had healed partially and then stopped.
    I reached out to grasp his shoulder reassuringly, my fingertips barely grazing his gory skin before his face snapped towards me and he hissed. I pulled back instinctively, staring with open-mouthed horror at his burning red eyes and massive incisors. His gruesome snarl softened as soon as he recognized me and his head fell slack again, his face obscured. 
    “Are you alright? Why weren’t you fighting back?” I asked, hunching forward again and sliding my hand to rest on his bicep. I was trying to see if he was mortally wounded or just scratched up, trying to find a reason for him to just take the abuse the hunters subjected him to. 
    Yoichi mumbled something quietly but his words were lost to me, slipping down into the dark chasm created betwixt his knees and collarbones. He raised his head and I saw a deep cut on the side of his mouth, hampering his speech. I leaned forward to check if his neck was injured, reaching into my pocket to pull out a stray napkin and blot carefully at his mouth, my free hand steadying his jaw softly.
    “Tao, I need you,” Kris said quietly, a low note of urgency in his voice making me lower the napkin and glance at him. I nodded but instead moved around to kneel in front of Yoichi, trying to hold the vampire’s heavy-lidded gaze.
    “Yoichi, where’s Iris? Did they take her?” I asked, reaching out to grasp Yoichi’s jaw again and support his head, his hair falling into his red eyes. 
    Yoichi slurred something again, his chest rising and falling with quick breaths, and he tried to straighten up. I moved to help him, hands falling carefully on the skin of his shoulder, searching for scraps of uninjured flesh to grasp, shreds of his shirt hanging off his shuddering frame.
    “Tao, I need you,” Kris said, slightly louder this time. I turned to go but found one of Yoichi’s arms had reached forward, clutching at my shirt, a deep scratch across his shoulder.
    “Wait,” Yoichi croaked, fingers tightening in the fabric. I turned back towards him and he let me go, shuddering again.
    “Tao! Now!” Kris snapped, an impatient scowl flashing across his face when I looked at him again. He was kneeling over Aoi and I patted Yoichi reassuringly, looking at his weary face.
    “I’ll be right back; hang tight.” I said, aching for answers to my questions but not willing to argue with Kris’ frustration. Yoichi nodded raggedly, his arms shifting underneath his hunched shoulders as he fiddled with something resting on his thighs.
    “What is it?” I asked, scooting over towards Kris and avoiding the wide crimson puddle spreading from under Aoi. 
    “I can’t heal this without you,” Kris said, gesturing to the sword and wiping his palms on his jeans.
    “Okay.” I replied immediately, watching Kris pull the blade free from Aoi’s chest. The warlock coughed and let loose a long, guttural stream of swears, his arms falling to his sides. There were open gashes on his palms from the blade and I slipped my hand against his comfortingly. 
    Kris grabbed my other hand, lacing our fingers together and pressing his palm to mine firmly. His other hand spread to cover the wound, fingers flexing as they settled against the torn flesh. Kris closed his eyes and I felt a deep tug that gripped my stomach and the back of my neck, a growing pressure that wasn’t entirely unpleasant. I tried to help him along, focused on restoring Aoi to his full health and trying to help lend him some of the warmth I felt in my muscles.
    After a few moments I heard Kris give a surprised gasp, my eyes sliding open so I could look down at Aoi. Kris removed his hand and wiped the blood from Aoi’s chest, staring down at the unmarked skin underneath. The warlock was still pale but he was breathing easier, his grimace gone.
    “What is it?” I asked impatiently, looking at Kris’ wide eyes.
    “That’s the fastest I’ve ever healed anything.” Kris said breathlessly, looking at me. 
    “Great?” I said, eager to return to Yoichi.
    “We’re so much stronger together.” Kris murmured, looking down at Aoi before helping the warlock to stand.
    Aoi swayed softly, touching a hand to his forehead with a soft wince, and looked down at me.
    “Thanks, Tao.” Aoi said warmly. His eyes slid past me and he nearly fell again when he saw Yoichi, blood pooling wetly by the vampire’s pale feet. “Yoich—”
    “We’re going to take care of him,” Kris interrupted, a hand on Aoi’s bicep both supporting him and holding him back. “Go get blood from the fridge, as much as you can.”
    Aoi started for the stairs and fell, his knees hitting the hard wood with a sharp thud. Kris sighed and lunged after him, propping his back against the wall and resting light fingertips on the man’s shin.
    “You stay, I’ll get the blood. Don’t move.” Kris ordered, giving me a look and then rushing down the wooden steps.
    I wheeled, kneeling again by Yoichi and beginning to take stock of his injuries. It had looked worse at first than it really was, but he still had a few deep cuts. I realized for the first time that his blood had a peculiar sheen to it, almost like oil, light reflecting off the red surface in greasy rainbow colors. 
    I decided his wounds would probably heal on their own as soon as he fed, and I focused on getting his attention.
    “Yoichi? Yoichi, where’s Iris?” I said, watching him slump forward. I boosted him up with a hand on his shoulder, pushing him slightly up.
    “You don’t…understand,” Yoichi gasped, the wound on his mouth having sealed enough for me to understand him. His breath came faster and faster, his eyes flickering and his skin pale as a ghost’s.
    “What?” I said, my brow furrowing. Yoichi struggled to draw in a deep enough breath, leaning forward heavily into my hand.    
    “Like she was…like she was my own.” Yoichi panted, his eyes flickering as he repeated the last thing he had said to me when I left earlier this evening. My mouth opened to question him again and Yoichi moved his arms with great difficulty, bringing them away from his chest and uncurling his body with painful slowness.
    He finally straightened enough to reveal a precious bundle clutched to his chest, the white blanket spotted with his blood. Yoichi held the bundle out to me with shaking arms, struggling to breathe and keep his eyes open. Iris began to cry, separated from the comfort and darkness Yoichi had wrapped her in, and I took her gently.
    She quieted in my arms and Yoichi slumped to the side, stretching out thankfully on the wood floor and peering up at me with half-closed eyes. His mouth hung open and his chest rose rapidly with his breath, reminding me of a big cat sprawled out in the sun after a run, that same fulfilled but exhausted look in his feral eyes. 
    I pulled Iris to my chest and bent my head over hers, gratefully relieved tears pooling in my eyes and shaking my chest. She cooed and I gave thanks with every cell in my body when I felt her fingers curl in the collar of my shirt.
    “Yoichi, thank you,” I breathed, knowing there would never be the words to express how deep my gratitude and relief ran. He had sacrificed his body, had been willing to sacrifice his life, for the amazing creature fidgeting against me. 
    Yoichi managed a lazy half-smile that upturned part of his mouth and exposed one long fang. Before he could try to speak, Kris came thundering back up the stairs, clutching packets of blood in his arms.
    He tossed them down in front of Yoichi and the vampire grabbed one too fast for me to track with my eyes, biting down savagely into the plastic with a fine spray of red.
He gulped at the plastic greedily, tossing the drained packet aside and picking up another with each hand, ing both into his mouth together. 
    I watched the wounds on his back close slowly, his body processing the new fuel and returning color to his cheeks. Yoichi began to slow after the first few packets, regaining his suave manners and greatly reducing the amount of blood spilled every time he pierced another container.
    I watched him drink until the packets were empty, his slender fingers reaching out to carefully stack the strewn plastic in a neat pile by his left knee. He started to use the scraps of his shirt to clean the tiny spots of blood dotted in front of him—the result of his feeding—but gave up when he realized his shirt was only rubbing more blood across the wood.  
    “I could kill you,” I said slowly, looking at Yoichi accusingly. He turned with a surprised look and I narrowed my eyes sternly. “Why didn’t you fight back? You could’ve been killed.”
    “She might’ve been hurt if I tried to fight. It was more important to keep her safe.” Yoichi said. 
    “That was very—” I started, fear and worry making me scold him as he slowly stood.
    “Brave,” Kris broke in, giving me a warning look. I nodded, sighing softly, and I reached out carefully to wrap one arm around Yoichi.
    “You scared me.” I admitted shakily, turning back to glance at Aoi. “Both of you did.” 
    Although Kris remained stony-faced, I could feel an answering pang of fear from my mark. We both loved Yoichi and Aoi; they were like family to us. 
    “We’re okay now.” Aoi said quietly, a faint blush on his cheeks. Yoichi nodded in agreement, wrapping his arm around the warlock and leaning into his shoulder gently.
    “What happened?” Kris asked, worry pitching his voice even deeper than normal as he looked at the remaining blood spotting the floor. 
    “They broke through the front door.” Yoichi said, his eyes darkening. “Aoi went to try to hold them off and I ran for Iris.”
    “We’re lucky both of you did.” Kris said, looking at them levelly. “Thank you.”
    “Why was the crib out here?” I asked, looking at the crib residing just in front of the door to the guest room. 
    “We had just put her down for the night. She fell asleep so peacefully, we didn’t want to risk waking her by moving the crib all the way into your room.” Aoi said, sharing a look with Yoichi. I nodded, looking down at the sleeping girl in my arms and knowing exactly how they had felt. 
    “We’ll put the crib in our room, if that’s alright. She should get to bed.” Yoichi said, looking at me for permission. 
    I nodded, pressing my lips to Iris’ forehead in a lingering kiss and then passing her to Kris. He nuzzled at her cheek, her small body dwarfed by his giant hands, and he handed her carefully to Yoichi.
    Yoichi nodded goodnight to both of us, laying Iris down and then carefully wheeling the crib into his room. He came back to help Aoi into the room, the warlock still looking shaky, and then closed the door behind him.
    “Why would they come here, after everything that’s happened?” Kris mused, crossing his arms.
    We were both silent, thinking, and then I looked up at Kris hesitantly.
    “Her parents were killed.” I said, raising one finger. Kris nodded, raising an inquisitive eyebrow, and I continued.
    “Her hellhound guards were killed.” I said, raising another finger and flashing the visible account of both events at Kris.
    “And tonight,” Kris started with an enlightened lift of his chin.
    “Hunters tried to kill her other guards.” I finished, raising yet another finger.
    “It’s about Iris?” Kris asked, looking dubious but half-convinced. “What would they want with her?”
    My eyes dropped to the man contained by the fire, taking in his now-easy breathing.
    “You,” I said, looking at the hunter. He raised himself slowly to his knees, fists balanced on his thighs and his eyes narrowed in hatred. 
    The flames held no true heat on the side I was standing on, just a pleasant warmth akin to sunlight. I could tell it was different for the hunter, my gaze caught by the sweat slicking a sheen on his neck and face. One of his sleeves was torn in half and dangled from his elbow, sweat glistening on his strong forearm and a small scratch marring his skin.
    “Why were you here?” I asked, crossing my arms. The hunter glared stonily back at me, his chest rising and falling with calm rhythm.
    “I said, why were you here?” I repeated, an edge slinking into my voice. I knew Iris was safe with Yoichi and Aoi and that made me bold, fearless. 
    The hunter was silent and I waited, his mouth opening suddenly. He leaned forward and spat at my feet, flames catching the liquid and evaporating it with a hiss. One thumb dragged over his lower lip, wiping away excess, and he lifted a challenging brow.
    “I have no wish to harm you. I want to know why you're here; why you targeted our Iris.” I said with a small impatient sigh.
    “All of you deserve death,” he hissed in reply, eyes narrowed to slits and a droplet of sweat sliding down from his hairline.
    “We mean you no harm. Tell us what we want to know, a