With the sun setting down, Kaz managed to somehow got loose of all his duties and enjoy the outside for a moment. The sun on his skin felt unpleasant but it would soon vanish behind the roofs of Brightwater Keep, almog with the people still roaming the streets. Physically, he felt perfectly normal. Mentally was a different story. He hadn't slept in a few days and it felt like his mind was overclocking. So perhaps a brief walk outside would clear things up.

The honeymoon had been wonderful, though it had had its downsides. The beach, the water and that goddamn sun. But what else could you expect from a place called Sunfall. He was just glad he hadn't bumped into Jasper again. It was good to be back in Brightwater again.

The vampire had made his way into town, walking around the parts that were a little more remote, giving himself the silence he wished for. With a soft sigh he closed his eyes, sniffing up the salty air mixed with the smell of baked bread from a bakery not far from where he was. In moments like these, Kaz could enjoy life. The thought of returning tonight to Allison made him move forward. He would wrap her in his arms again, kiss her hair and tell her how he loved her. How soft he had become.

And how unbeknowst he was for what was about to unfold.

As always, the silence lasted relatively short as someone somehow always found a way to bother him. Her voice was unfamiliar, her heartbeat non-existent. Slowly, Kaz turned around, frowning. Somewhere she felt familiar to him, but he couldn't exactly place where he had seen her. Her words were strange and he was at a loss for words as he had no idea if he should answer them truthfully or his she was just playing with him. It didn't matter, he didn't like it.

The frown stayed as he completely turned around, eyeing the woman. She was smaller than him, but that didn't mean he could overpower her easily. ''This city is my city. It would be bad if I didn't even know every corner of it.'' Truth was, he knew this area already. He had lived here for years before he had decided that roaming the lands had been a better idea. But as far as he knew, she didn't know that. ''Do we know each other?'' He then dared to ask, hoping the woman in front of him would be honest and reveal herself. Not that it would ring any bells probably.

Her words didn't calm him nor did it help with gaining his trust. She knew Mort she told him. A short nod confirmed her question. If she knew Mort, then why hadn't he ever told him about her? Perhpas they were just aqquintances, maybe they had only met once. Her step in his direction alerted him, the growing feeling of paranoia surfacing in his chest. He wanted to take a step back, but eventually stayed where he was. He could give this a chance and for once try not to be let by his paranoid thoughts.

''He's doing well as far as I've heard.'' With the return from their honeymoon a few days ago they hadn't really had the time to meet up and chat, but since Mort hadn't given him any distress calls, Kaz figured his brother was probably fine. After all, he was his big brother. ''He should be in Brightwater himself, so why don't you ask him yourself?'' Kaz spoke a little suspicious, suddenly feeling like this wasn't really the perfect place to have this conversation here.

He needed to cut this off. This woman might know his brother, might know Mort, but that didn't mean she had no ill intentions. And by seeing her, standing there, hearing her words and noticing her body language, Kaz figured that she wasn't just here to small talk. The fact that she also seemed to be a vampire, didn't improve this situation. The frown on his face stayed, his teeth finding his bottom lip. The question was; now what?

He decided to ignore her question, discarding it as he thought about the situation. He was probably at a disadvantage here. But maybe they could talk things out. ''Why are you asking all this?'' He decided to fire his question at her, carefully taking a step back in hopes of creating some distance. ''What do you want?'' Skeptic and paranoid, that was what he was feeling at the moment. Perhaps a little afraid as well. He had promised Allison he would be back early tonight. The last thing he wanted was to break a promise so quickly after their time together. That would send a real bad message.

How was it that whenever he tried to do something on his own, things went awry. He couldn't even simply walk around this city anymore without being bothered. And this wasn't the kind of bother where you could roll with your eyes annoyed and just turn around and walk away. No, this was the kind of bother where you were thinking that this might be the last step you ever took. And the closer the female got to him, the more Kaz could feel his anxiety rising. He didn't want this. The vampire was confused, paranoid and yes, he was scared.

She took a step forward, he took another backwards. He tried to remember her, tried to think if he had ever done anything to her. The fact that she remembered his name didn't came as a surprise, he was the Duke now after all, but it didn't make things any more comfortable. The vampire narrowed his eyes, trying to control his thoughts which were screaming for him to run. ''What do you want.'' He repeated with clenched teeth, knowing that he probably wouldn't get an honest answer.

He should not have repeated his question. Instead, he should have told her to back off and turn around, hoping she would leave him alone. But that was false hope and he knew it, she knew it as well. It was obvious that this woman had the upper hand in the game they were playing and while Kaz wasn't a coward, he wanted to give up playing. These games sucked and he didn't want to get hurt. He finally thought he had everything he wanted and he wasn't ready to let someone screw it all up again.

The vampire shook his head. ''I won't.'' He spoke confident, hoping that somewhere she would be intimidated. But again, that was probably false hope. This woman seemed to show no emotion besides that gmillering hunger in her eyes and he was getting sick of it. ''This conversation is over.'' He said more firmly this time, taking a few more steps back. Turning his back to her was the worst idea ever so how he was going to get out of her sight unharmed, was the next task he had to worry about.

Oh no, they were not going to do this. Not today, not tomorrow, not ever. Kaz wanted to have a peaceful evening, he wanted to get back to Allison and tell her everything was fine and that he had seen the sun sink into the sea again. He wanted to hear her ramble about her books and other discoveries she had made in the lirbary. What he didn't want was for this woman to throw those plans in the gutter.

The fact that she so suddenly stood in front of him and had her hand on his chest made him stumble and almost lose his balance. There was a short time window where the fear was visible in his eyes before it faded and was replaced with a mixture of determination and anger. ''Get. Lost.'' He growled, not planning to show his fear for her just yet. If she expected him going down without a fight, he might have a surprise for her yet.

She wanted to play a game. Weren't they already right in the middle of one? It confused him for a moment but then his instincts kicked back in. He needed to get out of this place, away from her and back to the castle. He looked over her shoulder, eyeing the hill. The castle seemed miles away, unreachable. If he even managed to get past her, he wouldn't last. She would catch up in no time and he was doomed. It was only a stay of execution.

She got closer again and it didn't matter that he didn't have to breathe anymore but somehow he felt like he needed some air right now. ''No.'' He spoke after a time of silence, trying to figure out if it was an answer to her words about the game or an answer to her question. Because he truly didn't know anyone who had the name of Edmund. And honestly, he hoped it would be her last question and she would leave him alone. But how big was that chance really?