Viablentis was cold. That much was fact.
Especially at night… deep night… the most dangerous time of all.
The cohort had already traversed through their worst dangers… or so they believed.
The pair of eyes Vesper had noticed earlier still lingered at the back of thought, uncounted, unchallenged.
For the past three days, the cohort had endured innumerable threats. Too many to name.
What drove the remaining members forward now was not courage or discipline, but something far simpler…survival.
True to the name of the subject they were being tested on.
Combat Primacy.
The primal nature of humans in a constant state of combat.
They were future soldiers, hopefully future survivors.
Amanda Hollie stared at Vesper with sharp, unblinking eyes.
The others slept in their tents, exhaustion having dragged them into shallow, uneasy rest.
Vesper had not joined them. Having already taken a dose of Energon, he was the most logical choice for watch duty.
The leader had accepted it without much thought. They would rest for an hour before moving again.
Amanda had not objected… aloud.
Vesper was an unknown variable. She had not traversed with him before.
'He is strong, though.'
No one survived three days on Viablentis alone.
From what she knew, no one had taken him into their group. No alliances. No protection.
'If he survived this long… he is dangerous.' She thought to herself, quietly.
The way he had appeared and saved their leader had only reinforced it.
'Observant, too.'
Amanda had been watching him since the beginning. She had noticed the hesitation when the cadet fell.
He didn't save him.
He couldn't.
And that… cold as it was… had been the correct decision.
It told her what kind of variable he was.
Amanda shifted where she sat.
The ground beneath her was debris, leeching warmth through fabric and bone alike despite their high-functioning resistance body suits.
Viablentis did not merely feel cold… it took heat, patiently. She exhaled, watching her breath fog in the air before dissolving into nothing.
Across from her, Vesper stood motionless.
He wasn't pacing like a nervous cadet. Wasn't checking the perimeter every few seconds like someone afraid of being caught unaware.
He simply stood like a statue, senses stretched outward, posture loose but ready.
The faint shimmer of illusion still clung to him like a second skin, barely visible unless one looked too closely.
Amanda looked closely.
He hadn't looked at her once.
That annoyed her more than it should have.
She pulled a cloak to her body, fingers stiffening as they moved. She didn't sleep in her tent where it would be warmer.
No she wouldn't. Not with her adrenaline-pumping paranoia.
Sleep would have helped… but sleep was vulnerability, and she refused to give that to an unknown variable.
Especially not one labeled Public Enemy Number One.
She rose quietly.
The debris crunched faintly beneath her boots as she approached, slow and unhurried.
Deliberate.
If Vesper noticed, he gave no sign of it. No shift in stance. No glance in her direction.
Only when she stopped a few steps away did he speak.
"You shouldn't be up," Vesper said calmly. "It's your turn to rest."
Amanda scoffed. She glared at the young vamp, her eyes softening a little bit.
"I don't sleep easily in situations like these. An hour is enough for everything to go wrong."
That earned her his first look.
"Neither do I."
Scarlet eyes that blazed quietly met her ocean blue eyes… not glowing, not predatory, just alert.
For a brief moment, it felt as though the fog itself leaned in, listening.
She took another step closer.
There wasn't much heat coming off of him.
'He must be cold… is his bodysuit failing?' That'd make sense as to why he wasn't moving much.
Standing still like a statue.
Amanda felt warm.
Her body noticed before her mind could fully process it, muscles easing slightly despite herself. She cursed inwardly at the reaction.
'Pathetic.'
Still, she didn't step back.
"It's cold," she said flatly, as if stating an obvious fact required no further explanation.
"It is."
Silence stretched.
Amanda tilted her head, studying his face now… sharp features, calm expression, not even a hint of hunger or expectation.
That, more than anything, unsettled her.
Her eyes fell to his lips slightly and then back to his portrait of a face staring into the foggy horizon as if awaiting something.
'He's handsome.' It was a fact. Vesper was undoubtedly very handsome.
His face was one of those aesthetic visages that had every royal feature sculpted into it. Vampyric and Humane.
'A Bloodvaine afterall… even if exocommunicated.'
His ducal family came from a noble lineage of ancient vampyres that turned on their blood… becoming the most famous vampyre slayers in history.
Hated and loved by humanity… but hated more than Vampyres than anyone… and that was enough for the humans.
"You don't trust me…"
She heard Vesper whisper. His voice ghastly reached her ears.
Amanda shrugged.
"Trust is expensive. There's not much to trust in you."
Vesper chuckled wryly.
"At least you're honest."
His eyes met Amanda's… his lips curled into a smile.
"Do you however trust yourself?"
Amanda's gaze flickered briefly toward the tents. There was no movement nor any sound. The others slept on, unaware.
She looked back at Vesper who was now staring at her face.
Amanda made her decision. Half instinct. Half calculation.
"If we freeze, we die," she said, her voice hushed. "Body heat's efficient. Temporary."
That was false. Both of them knew. The body suit made sure of it.
Amanda held his gaze… glaring at him deeply… daring him to misinterpret it.
She then added, her voice low.
"No promises. No attachments."
Vesper studied her for a long second, his smirk still stretched across his face… he nodded once… shrugging slightly in agreement.
"Of course. It's for survival. On your terms."
She stepped closer. Her body was close enough to Vesper's to smell his aroma.
This time, neither of them pretended the cold was the only reason.
Vesper's scarlet magenta eyes glowed a little as his gaze lingered on Amanda's exposed nape.
The bodysuit did nothing to hide her voluptuous shaped body, sin-made flesh.
His fingers grasped her waist, a little bit hungry while his other hand brushed against the body tight navel to her armpits where he caressed her… right below her chest.
Amanda's left hand wrapped around Vesper's back and she was rather astonished by the toughness of it.
There was a certain quality to it, that made feeling it very addictive. Her knee brushed against his inner thighs and slightly against his manhood.
She lifted her head to look at the beautiful pair of eyes looking into her own.
For a moment she was stunned, Vesper's eyes had an otherworldly beauty to them.
'He is…. Intoxicating!!'
Amanda took a slow deep breath in, slow enough to not make a sound and alert Vesper to how alluring she found him.
The silence of Viablentis spoke volumes, the air was cold… the fog was colder and beasts were roaming in the dark but none could compare to the beasts in human skin.
Vesper's gaze lingered on Amanda's puckered lips, he bit his own lightly… giving into his own resistance as he hungrily pulled her face to his own.