Veti moved swiftly behind Bain, letting the ancient vampire take point as she cradled Aislinn's body in her arms. She tried not to think too hard, of the warm stickiness that was spreading against her own belly. She tried so hard not to let the flickering of the candlelight on the walls give her false hope, the illusion she could see the rise and fall of breath in Aislinn's body. There was little she would not give, just to stop long enough to press the elder wolf's muzzle to the tender flesh of her neck, to see if she might yet feel the reassuring, steamy heat of a living breath, a single exhalation, however faint.

But there was not a moment to be wasted as she veered swiftly to the right at Bain's command. The lack of any sign of danger sat no better with the werewolf, than it did with the vampire. The coppery scent of blood and the musk of wet wolf pelt mingled just beneath the astringent smell of the conjured rain, the overpowering reek of alcohol and salt water and heaven only knew what else Thad had managed to pull into his working. But Veti could not tell, not even with her sensitive nose, where Aislinn's blood began and the would-be assassins' ended and, for all her exquisitely honed senses, she could not rid herself of the feeling that somehow, some way, she was running blind.

There wasn't even a moment's consideration for taking the elevators. Death traps - she would have to be out of her mind to step claw in one now. No, whether there might still be a Lupus Naturae assassin - or assassins - looking for an easy way to take out the majority of their team in one fell swoop; or whether one of a seemingly endless series of explosions without the keep finally brought these stone walls crashing down atop them? No, Veti would not make ending them all [i]that[/i] easy.

[i]"Thad,"[/i] she growled softly to her lover, never once breaking her long-legged strides as she hurtled down the keep's stairwell to the room of the shade gates. "Love, keep us safe just a little longer. There's [i]nothing[/i] to trust in nothing. Not 'til we see the other side of that gate." 

Veti's long tongue lolled from her mouth, over the ivory rows of fangs. She remained hunched over Aislinn's body as she moved, her own flesh and pelt all the shield she had for the dear creature in her arms. Knowing just how thin and flawed that shield truly was, Veti whined softly in her throat, running her muzzle tenderly over the soft fur atop Aislinn Hoyle's head, a tentative, hopeful lap of her tongue over the elder wolf's still-closed eyes.