Where Secrets Lie

Hannah giggled. "Duh! What else would she be?"

John did not respond. Instead, he just watched Kara from across the room, like a hawk eyeing its prey.

Kara felt vampires glaring at her as she made her way to the bar. She knew that she would regret coming to this party, she just didn't expect it to happen so soon. She sat down on a leather stool and waited for her order to be taken. As she waited, a servant passed by her, holding a tray of drinks. Normally, Kara wouldn't think much about her, but she looked extremely pale and held her stomach as if ready to puke.

Kara heard a crash and her reflexes kicked into gear. She caught the girl just as she was about to fall into the pile of broken glass from the tray she just dropped. The girl looked up at her with cold, lifeless eyes as she clung to Kara, coughing hysterically. "Are you alright?" Kara drew the girl closer to hear her faint whispering.

"Help me," she said, "They're going to kill me."

"Get your hands off of my servant!" A deep voice growled behind her.

"That's my master. Don't let him take me please," the girl pleaded.

This had turned into an emergency situation, and Kara had training for these instances. Of course, she'd never dealt with vampire emergencies, but that wouldn't stop her from helping this poor girl. "Sir, I believe your servant needs to be taken to the hospital."

He laughed. "Hospital? Are you kidding me? She's fine. She's just being a drama queen. She does this all the time. Give her to me and be on your way."

"I don't think so. She's obviously not fine. She nearly passed out. Furthermore, there are bruises and bite marks all over her body."

He looked at Kara as if she was crazy. "It's none of your business. I've told you once already. Get your hands off of my servant. I don't care if you are Michael's prize pet. I don't take commands from a human." His eyes turned a fiery red, Kara half expected to see steam coming out of his mouth as he spoke to her.

The party came to a standstill at the sound of them arguing. Everyone's gaze was fixated on the two of them, half of them fearing what might happen next and the other half amused.

"It seems the Caswell clan doesn't know how to keep their servants in their place," he announced to the room in a booming voice.

She could not believe the nerve of this guy. "It seems that the Powell's will let any low life scumbag who doesn't know how to care for his servants properly into their clan," she responded, raising her voice as well. She had seen his type before in her line of work. If this guy wasn't a vampire, he would be rotting in a cell right now for domestic violence.

Her observance hit a nerve with Eric. He pulled back his fist, preparing to strike her. Kara shut her eyes and braced herself while shielding the girl in her arms. However, the impact never came. She opened her eyes slowly to find Michael standing before her, holding Eric's arm behind his back. The room fell deadly silent.

"Didn't know you had a soft spot for humans, Michael," he said through gritted teeth, wincing in pain.

"Only this one," Michael confessed, never taking his eyes off of Kara.

He released his arm, but there were visible bruises on it. The scolded vampire attempted to hide the marks and backed away from Michael like a dog that had just lost a fight. However, a threat still lingered in his eyes.

Amy rushed to Kara's side and helped her drag the sick girl out of the building. The girl's master watched as they walked away but did nothing to stop them.

"Whatever. She will be easy to replace," he scoffed, then disappeared into the crowd.

After only a brief moment, the party quickly returned to normal. Everyone seemed to completely forget about the scene and began having fun again.

Michael stood looking at the door where Kara and the girl had disappeared, wondering if he should follow them. Just when he was about to, Logan and Alyssa approached him.

"I think we've had enough excitement for one night," Logan said. "We're going to get out of here. I hope you won't miss us too much." He knew the incident disturbed Michael, and while he wanted to lighten the mood, he knew nothing would work.

"Michael," Alyssa put her hand on his shoulder. "Kara has always been more concerned with taking care of me than taking care of herself. She has put me ahead of everything: her job, her love life, and sometimes even her own health. Thank you for caring for her"

As the party resumed, John motioned to Elijah. "We must speak," he said and entered an empty room. "Hannah, you and Kate come too."

The three of them followed John. Kate locked the door behind them.

"I knew there was truth to the rumors," John said, glaring at Hannah.

Elijah wrung his hands and paced. "I don't like this at all."

"Is this going to affect the merging of the clans?" There was a hint of a threat to John's question.

Elijah stopped and looked him straight in the face. "No, but I do know that Michael is his father's son. I've worked hard to get us where we are today. I've done everything I can to help the boy see the truth, but this girl is ruining everything."

"What are you going to do about it?" Hannah asked.