A/N: I'm honestly amazed I managed to get another chapter out so fast-really, I am. School has been a bit hectic, but, of course, it is only the first two weeks. I'm sure it'll settle into a normal routine soon enough. Anyways...so here's another chapter, and thanks to SpeedDemon315 and keili77 for the reviews!

Disclaimer: Still don't own Underworld. Damn.

"It's a thankless job

But somebody's got to do it

Peeling off the tissue inch by inch

Skinning off the muscles, too

Harvesting the kidneys for the fall

Saving up the livers in the fridge

No one ever thanks me when I'm done

How self-absorbed people can be."

-"Thankless Job" by Anthony Stewart Head (from Repo! the Genetic Opera)

Chapter Six: Away on Business

He sat in a very precarious place: close enough to the fire to feel the heat, but far enough that he wasn’t being scorched; not too far away to hear the gentle crackling, or to use the flickering light to read by, but just far enough that the noise wasn’t deafening and the light wasn’t overwhelming. A very thick, old, leather-bound tome, left by the previous occupants of his home, sat in his lap, but he paid it little mind. In truth, he had been staring at the fire in the grate for about a half-hour now, while the book sat, unread. It wasn’t that the tale wasn’t captivating…it was merely that his mind was otherwise occupied.

No, Lucian was awaiting someone-someone who, at this point, was late and severely trying his patience-and he would not be satisfied until they had arrived. Idly, he tapped his foot, his mounting frustration skillfully hidden under a calm demeanor. His brown eyes watched the dancing flames, as if they could provide him some entertainment.

And then, footsteps, coming from outside his door. He tensed slightly-until he realized they were heavy, too heavy to belong to the one he was waiting on.

A man poked his head into the room, dark eyes staring at the lycan master out of an equally dark face. “Lucian,” he began in a deep, basso profundo voice. “He’s here.”

About time.

“Send him up,” was the simple reply.

With a nod, Raze’s head vanished, and his footsteps retreated down the hallway. Not too long after, footsteps, this time much lighter, replaced them. Kraven strode briskly into the room, eyeing the man in the chair before the fire, as if he expected him to leap to his feet and kiss his boots.

Lucian’s eyes didn’t leave the fire. “You’re late.”

Kraven opened his mouth to argue, but stopped when he saw the book in Lucian’s lap. His brow furrowed in confusion. “I thought you couldn’t read.”

“For the longest time, I couldn’t,” he answered flatly. “When Sonja and I began to see each other, she took it upon herself to teach me to read.” His eyes flickered over to the vampire. “Not, of course, that my education is any of your concern.”

Kraven nodded, plastering an unconvincing smile on his face. “Of course.” His smile quickly melted away, and he began to pace back and forth, approaching the fireplace, before pacing back past Lucian’s chair. The lycan master’s eyes flickered heavenward, and a sigh escaped him.

“You do know, of course, that my time is limited. As is yours, if I’m not mistaken.”

Kraven paced one more round, up to the fireplace, before stopping and turning around to glare at Lucian. “What the hell was that all about earlier?”

The lycan blinked at him, an expression of what could be called innocence on his face. “What was what all about?”

“The lycans!” Kraven whipped around, fixing Lucian with a glare. “You know they swarmed Ordoghaz mere hours ago, with your man Raze leading the pack! Have you lost your good sense? We’re not ready for a full-scale invasion-you know we’re nowhere close to finding Corvinus’s mortal bloodline! I swear I told you to lie low”

“-What do you think I’ve been doing?” Lucian growled, dangerously quiet. “I’ve lain low for six months, ever since we struck our deal, and, at this point, I consider myself quite good at it.”

The vampire snorted in disdain. “And you consider that little spectacle at the manor lying low?”

“Kraven, Kraven, Kraven,” he replied, shaking his head slowly. “As always, you jump straight to conclusions.” He stood slowly, moving towards the fireplace, his hands behind his back. “As you may recall, many of the pack were once under the yoke of Viktor. Those of us who were, needless to say, are none too pleased with him. But if you recall, unlike me, not all the lycans are as patient as I am, particularly when it comes to waiting to exact revenge. Gyorg… Thrassos… Sabas…Xristo…even Raze sometimes can be a bit rash. No doubt, one of them led this little raid.”

“While you sat here and did nothing, let one of your men some and stop it,” the dark-haired vampire finished venomously.

A fleeting smile passed over Lucian’s face, brief as heat lightning in summer. “You really think I simply sat here and did nothing while my pack caused madness and mayhem? No, cousin, I followed them. Matter of fact…who do you think stopped them?”

“Wait-that was you?”

Lucian gave him a look, his dark eyes screaming “Idiot!” at Kraven. “Yes, of course it was me. Why else do you think they obeyed?”

“Oh…right.”

Lucian eased himself back into his chair, closing his book and resting it on his lap. “Is that all you come for?”

For a long moment, there was tense silence between the two men. Kraven stared into the fireplace, his mind seemingly somewhere else. Lucian stared at the vampire’s back, waiting for him to move, to do something.

“Viktor’s received some visitors as of late. They arrived last night-Edward and Catherine Van Helsing.” He glanced over his shoulder, to his cohort. “Do you know them?”

“I’m familiar with the name Van Helsing, yes, although there’s not much left of that family line. Have you met them yet?”

He nodded. “Edward seems to be a very sullen man-he glared at me when I merely asked his wife for a dance! By the end of the evening, he was scowling to such an extent his forehead was practically touching his chin!”

Well, knowing how you can be around a woman you find striking, this Edward fellow may have found you asking his wife for a dance an intrusion of the sanctity of his marriage, Lucian mused inwardly. I would if it were Sonja. But then again, that’s just me.

“His wife, though-Catherine? Let’s just say that Selene’s got a little competition.” He smirked. “She’s a pretty little thing, especially with those sapphire eyes of hers. She’d be good for a little fun.”

Lucian raised a brow. “Never mind that she’s married?”

“I won’t tell if she won’t. Although the real challenge will be getting her alone.” Kraven made a face. “She’s either with her bloody husband or her bouncing baby brat.”

“She has a child?” the werewolf asked curiously.

The vampire nodded. “A toddler boy. Last night, at the dance we held to welcome the two of them, things were going so well-I was enjoying a dance with Catherine when that brat screamed and burst into tears, and she went scurrying off to calm him down. Couldn’t find her for the rest of the night.”

“Well, that’s to be expected. He is, after all, her son. No parent can stand silent and do nothing when they hear their child’s cry,” Lucian reminded him, thinking back to the days shortly after Sonja’s birth, how Viktor had dropped everything to tend to the baby girl when she cried, despite the fact he was in mourning for his wife, the late Lady Ilona. Though Viktor wasn’t the only one who dropped everything-the lycan-master could still recall watching Sonja day and night, rushing to her side when she wailed, playing nursemaid to the young vampiress well into her childhood years. Despite his young age (only seven years her senior), Viktor had trusted him to look after Sonja…so long as he was under constant supervision of Luka, Sonja’s future lady-in-waiting.

Kraven blinked at Lucian, staring at him for a long moment, before the latter snapped out of it and realized that their conversation had ground to a halt, and that he had a rather important question for Kraven.

“What does Viktor want with his two guests? Why did he invite them?”

“Well, he never gave an official reason to the coven,” the vampire replied. “But he did have a sit-down with a select few of the coven, myself included. According to him, he wants them as his ambassadors to the rest of Europe-and maybe the rest of the world, if he can persuade them.”

“Ambassadors?”

“Without a council, and without an heir, he’s afraid to leave the coven for an extended period of time.” A sour look overcame his face. “He doesn’t trust me enough to leave me in charge of the coven by myself, even though I am his regent.”

“Well, looks as though the old bat isn’t as foolish as I thought he was,” Lucian snickered.

Kraven cut him a withering glare. “That’s not amusing.”

“However unamusing it may be, you cannot deny that it is the truth.” The lycan paused. “Do you think they will accept Viktor’s request?”

“I cannot tell. I would think yes, especially since Viktor is offering to pay them for their troubles. But they might turn him down because they might not want to drag their whelp all over Europe. It could go either way.” A lecherous grin crept over his face. “If being an ambassador means I could see Catherine every so often, I hope she says yes.”

Lucian had to fight down the urge to slap Kraven in the back of the head. “Focus. We have a plan we’re trying to accomplish here. Please, let your brain be the organ in charge.”

He nodded, though the black smiled remained in place. Lucian sighed.

I am surrounded by incompetence. “Tell me, what do you know about the Van Helsings-aside from the fact that you find Catherine fetching and Edward cannot stand you. How old are they?”

Kraven shrugged. “Not sure.”

“Where are they from?”

Another shrug. “Couldn’t tell you.”

“How did they come to know Viktor?”

Again, a shrug. “Haven’t an inkling.”

“Are they human or vampire?”

And yet another shrug. “Cannot tell.”

“So what you’re telling me,” Lucian began, his voice tight with frustration, “is that you know absolutely nothing about these two?”

“Viktor told us nothing!” Kraven cried defensively, throwing his hands in the air. “He only said that he intended to ask them to be ambassadors! He told us nothing more than that!”

“Then I trust that when you return to Ordoghaz, you will find out everything about them that you possibly can. And when you gather this information, I trust you will bring so I can make sure he couldn’t be trying to use them for a different purpose, such as trying to sniff out conspiracies such as ours. Can I trust you with all that?”

Kraven nodded as Lucian glared at him. “Aye, you can.”

“Good.” His eyes flickered to the window, looking out into the beyond, where the beginning to lighten over the mountains. “Your room is prepared for you, as always. One of the retainers will inform you when the sun has gone down.”

“Thank you-good day, Lucian.” Kraven left the room, closing the door behind him, leaving Lucian alone. He stared out the window a moment longer, before his eyes flickered back to the fireplace before him, and the dancing flames within.

It was more interesting, anyways.

A/N: Now, you may be wondering why I chose a song about dismembering people for the song at the beginning. Well, one, it's pretty friggin hilarious, especially if you actually watch the video clip from the movie (warning, this man is a little disturbed). Two, it's a little appropriate for vampires and werewolves. Three-it's more about the message, said message being that Kraven thinks he has a thankless job, but really, when you look at it, it's Lucian who has the thankless job. After all, he has to babysit Kraven, essentially.

So I hope you guys enjoyed, and look forward to seeing you next time!