Disclaimer: I do not own the lovely Vampire Knight, Matsuri Hino does. I'm just borrowing them.

Summary: She dug the edge deeper into the pureblood's fragile skin, a thin strip of crimson slithered along the collar of Zero's bloodied shirt, soaking into the material like an ink stain.

A/N: Finally, I bring you Chapter Six. I tried to make it tug at your heart strings, so enjoy. And review. Not necessarily in that order.

Chapter VI: The Lonely King and His Bloodied Knight

Oh god, fate was cruel. The intoxicating smell of blood swirled around them, but Zero felt like throwing up, heaving the dark, sickly sin that throbbed in his veins into plain view for all the world to see. Frozen, still naked, he searched for a pulse. Fluttering weakly but it was still something, Kaname was breathing.

Palms shaking, the fire was blazing, growing in volume, Zero gently, carefully so as not to shatter him, shifted his pained body to glimpse the… damage. His skin was peeling, singed and bubbling, crimson pouring over every plane of Kaname's flesh. Breath catching, fighting back the urge to curl that frail body against his own, Zero grimaced at the horrific, nightmarish, twisted pieces of metal now residing within the pureblood's frame; some of them were clearing through his back.

Zero knew only one thing: they had to get away. Every vampire for at least a hundred miles would be attracted to Kaname's blood, and the evidence was very, very incriminating against him.

For one thing, they were both still bare, most of their clothes currently burning; Kaname was… broken, to say the least, and Zero had the Bloody Rose loaded with the safety off, what exactly would the important vampire community have to say to that? 'Nothing good.' Zero shuddered at the thought of how many different ways they could find to rip his body apart for this apparent offense, but he shrugged it off, focusing on the wounded pureblood.

Worry struck him viciously, twisting his insides into a bubbling, sickened mass when he realized, as far as he knew from his knowledge as a hunter, that a vampire could theoretically survive bullet wounds… or being impaled but only if the muscle and tissues were free of the foreign material. This meant…

Zero would have to free Kaname's body of every piece of metal embedded into it before any regeneration wouldn't have possible side effects, such as internal bleeding or numerous other symptoms that would wrack the pureblood's flesh. This was the easiest solution the ex-human could find to protect Kaname's delicate, inner organs from long-term damage; the metal being enclosed on the inside had the possibility of shifting during movement and tearing open the unprotected skin. 'So in other words, Zero surmised, 'I have no choice.'

Gritting his fangs, gathering his conviction, Zero cradled the older vampire's body in a strong grip, avoiding pressure near the puncture wounds, wrapping the fingers of his other free hand around one of the jagged spikes and inhaled. Exhaling shakily, he blanched at the wet, gruesome slide of the metal from the pale flesh before weakly letting it clatter against the rubble around them. Ashen-faced, he continued to pull the remaining pieces out until the tenth one caught in something vital, Zero could tell, because as it ripped free Kaname jolted to the surface of awareness. Screaming hoarsely, gasping with sobs, the pureblood shook with burning waves of red hot pain, hotter even than the flames flickering around them. Zero's face twisted in anguish, whispering hushed words of supposed comfort, but he knew if hell appeared this would be what it looked like. No amount of sugar-coated words could change that; it couldn't erase the seemingly long rivers of blood that wouldn't stop flowing or the gaping dozens of holes in the pureblood's body. It couldn't blow out the raging fire around them or fix the surrounding rubble. Only Zero could change their fate. Live or die. In the end, that's the single law of the world Zero had ever learned.

Leaning Kaname against the rubble, wincing as he hissed in agony, Zero scrambled to find the remains of his clothes. Locating his pants first, he ripped them into wide strips and bandaged the pureblood's shredded skin tightly. Trying desperately to ignore his pained whimpers, Zero covered him with the length of his white button-up, a far cry from modesty but better than nothing. Shouldering the weight of the older vampire, planting his feet firmly in slippery puddles of blood, eyes stinging from the ashes settling, Zero trudged forward, scanning for an escape route that was hopefully immediate.

Nothing. The rubble stretched on, various scraps of furniture blocking their path, large pieces of the walls bowing out dangerously, and the only exit was blockaded somehow… Zero traced along the borders of the standing walls, determining that the room they were in had been nearly doubled in size, connecting into the hall beside it by way of collapsed walls. Striding through the first gap he could find, Zero paused to scent the air. He could only pick out distinct flavors, fire, blood, and their own signatures. Sighing, actually wishing he had the pureblood's sense of direction, Zero adjusted the body limp in the cradle of his arms and stepped left.

Darkness crowded around them, and the only sound was the faint brush of Zero's feet against what felt like carpet, and the gasping breaths wrenching from Kaname's lungs. Squinting, praying for an exit, the ex-human stilled, sniffing cautiously. He smelt… metal and gunpowder. It wasn't from his bullets. An enemy.

That's when the first bullet tore through his shoulder.

Choking, pain searing along the nerves of his right arm, Zero regretfully cushioned Kaname against the floor, making sure he was as comfortable as he could be before turning to their threat, intending to murder him or her to protect his lover from harm. Or more damage, either way Zero wasn't sure he could guard him for very long at this rate. Blood ran down his arm, even as he desperately tried to stop the flow. Grateful he had managed to find the Bloody Rose among the ruins and carry it with him; he loaded the chamber, crouching in defense as the metal slid loudly.

His enemy was slinking a few feet away, male from the heavier shock of his steps, a vampire hunter from the feel of the bullet still residing in Zero's shoulder. He could handle this. Stilling his heavy panting, Zero felt the air shift and change around him. He recognized the feel of shockwaves preceding the deadly bullets coming his way. Dodging by a hair's breadth, Zero chuckled hopelessly. 'I guess I'll have to even the odds with him darting in the shadows like that.' The chain from the Bloody Rose pinched and stung his skin with cold, and he shivered but realized he had the advantage with it. Feeling proud of his battle strategy, the ex-human taunted the man.

"What's the matter, Mr. Hunter? Too afraid of the superior species?" Zero knew he was stretching the truth a little, but Kaname would never find out that he had actually complimented him in an offhand sort of way. It would be like the icing on the cake for Kuran, to find him stealing out of the cookie jar and then openly denying that he didn't like the cookies while crumbs still littered his lips. Shaking his head ruefully, Zero thought he must be losing too much blood to be thinking of childish cookies.

Luckily, his opponent rushed to the challenge, and Zero didn't disappoint; he thought Kaname would be proud of him for this before realizing that he wasn't supposed to care if the pureblood did or not. Wrapping the chain from the Bloody Rose swiftly around the man's neck, he growled in suppressed rage, pulling the metal tighter and tighter, choking his impatient enemy. Zero angled the barrel of the Bloody Rose against the man's abdomen before emptying the entire magazine, all fifteen bullets into him. He was pissed and seeing the contorted face of the hunter did nothing to appease Zero. Turning to collect the damaged pureblood in his arms, so they could be on their merry way, the ex-human froze, eyes screaming red, hissing in warning.

A blade cut a thin, mean line along Kaname's neck, and Zero followed it upward to the woman's face attached at the other end. Female eyes glittered dangerously at him from beneath light blonde bangs, pressuring him to stay silent and very, very still. She dug the edge deeper into the pureblood's fragile skin, a thin strip of crimson slithered along the collar of Zero's bloodied shirt, soaking into the material like an ink stain.

"DON'T TOUCH HIM!," Zero roared, baring his extended fangs.

She simply smirked at him and responded, "Why should it matter to you, ex-human? The King here will know what to do with himself after he receives this." Dipping her finger in Kaname's dwindling blood, she traced an inscription along his neck, burning symbols into the skin. Suddenly they lit along the pureblood's visible flesh, drawing an elaborate path of agony. He jerked in the throes of it, throat working soundlessly around a scream. Zero's mind went blank, and the vampire smothered everything he had forced to keep buried.

Kaname was the only being he gravitated towards in this world and if he left him, Zero wouldn't cease to move in the same hopeless pattern, a pawn in the larger scheme of things. He needed the pureblood like an addiction, and all the blots and mistakes on his existence didn't mean anything when they were together. That was exactly the reason for this insanity to make sense. With clarity, Zero finally realized that he was willing to die for Kaname. Every breath was already indebted to him, so wasn't his soul just a little bit larger to give up? Maybe death was already kissing his lips and clinging to him, making him decide in distorted patterns that his stubborn personality wouldn't usually admit to, but if he was going to die, to end, then he should make his peace with everything. Bleeding slowly now, Zero sucked in a hot, shaking, heaving breath, tensing his tired muscles.

'See you in hell Kuran.' Not that he believed Kaname was worthy of hell, or that any devil, evil or otherwise, could live with tormenting the older vampire. And besides, maybe they didn't even have souls to corrupt? If not, what the hell was wrong with them regardless?

Lunging forward without pause, forgetting any hesitation and giving in to the dark boiling in his blood, Zero's eyes flashed a deeper crimson. Charging her head on, his head whip-lashed in shock, glaring at the tensing blood whips caught around his neck, flowing from the female's fingertips. He wasn't aware of the ability to do that, he thought the only extension of the blood could be like Senri Shiki's, not a physical manifestation. Zero would have to ask him about that later.

Struggling, thrashing his head in protest, Zero feared the black that edged his vision, trying to ignore the forceful pulls for air his lungs were orchestrating unsuccessfully. Choking, wrapping his long fingers around the red chords, tearing, pulling at them in vain, he was losing consciousness rapidly.

Kaname rose unsteadily, breathing in unnatural shudders, feeling like he was crawling in vicious fire ants that dug into his skin. Sweat blurred his eyes, fever raged in his veins but none of it mattered. Zero's blood littered the air, a blaring siren call but as much as he struggled, and he did, desperately, his body refused to obey. The fusing holes along his stomach stopped any possible intervention.

"Z-Zero," he rasped, forcing his lungs to expand with breath. Kaname felt utterly wretched, hopelessness welling up in his heart. For all the strings he commanded, all the power he wielded, he couldn't even move. 'Zero, I c-can't…' Convulsing, the burning spread, bringing him to his knees.

But he shouldn't have worried. Just hearing Kaname's heavenly, breathtaking whisper breathed life into Zero. Roaring in blinding, consuming rage, adrenaline coursing through his veins, oxygen rushed to relieve his aching lungs. Ripping the blood red chords from his neck, hissing as they dug into his palms, Zero pulled his enemy closer and gripped her throat with unrelenting fingers. Choking her, taking immense pleasure from the sight, he decided to be lenient and tossed her through the remains of a crumbling wall. His enemy was silent and unmoving.

Eyeing her for the scarcest second possible, Zero forgot all pretenses of not needing the pureblood and ran to his side, cradling his weakened body protectively. Throwing away his pride, he didn't give a damn about it, not when Kaname's red irises glittered beautifully at him and especially not when that slight, godly smile caressed the pureblood's perfect lips. His countenance tightened in agony, drawing Zero back to their immense problem. Kaname was still bleeding all over, the strange markings were glowing brighter, and they were both trapped, possibly underground with no apparent escape routes.

Tracing the Hunter symbols wrapping over the pureblood's skin, Zero translated them: 'Blood to blood, bone to bone, the King will always walk alone.' He faintly remembered the woman referring to Kaname as the king, but what did the rest of it mean? Could it be a warning to him personally for becoming attached?

"The King will always walk alone," the ex-human whispered, his tongue curling uncomfortably around the words. It unsettled him to try to wrap his mind around the possible hidden meanings of the repeating symbols, so he sighed and lifted his precious cargo once more into his arms. Sniffing the air, searching desperately for any sign of fresh oxygen, the silver-haired male grew weary with disappointment. Nothing, no confusing mazes leading to an escape, no enemies to beat the answers out of, just an endless passageway. Until, suddenly, Zero crashed into a wall, stumbling backwards, and almost let go of Kaname in his surprise. His heightened eyesight had overlooked anything hidden in the constant shadows surrounding them. Feeling the roughness with his palms, Zero tried to topple the barrier by force, but no amount of shoving could move it. 'Even an inch would be better than feeling less like a vampire than I already do. If Kaname was awake, he could destroy this in seconds, but no, he gets stuck with me, a pitiful ex-human,'Zero thought bitterly. Sucking in a heavy breath, pressing his palm to the cold barrier, concentrating on mapping the texture and solidarity of it, Zero focused the roiling anger inside himself. Draining the energy along his nerves, burning into his fingers, the ex-human contained it, shaped it and after a heavy moment, released it with a rush of gritting pain spiraling into the rock before him. The force crumbled the wall into a dune of sand at his feet.

Shaking, gasping for breath, Zero simply blinked at the destruction, pulled the sleeping Kaname into his arms and moved forward. He forced himself not to think of the inner power he had just unleashed; the only thing he cared about was getting his pureblood to a soft bed and bandages. Squinting with hope, not daring to believe the sunlight glaring through the cracks ahead of them, the silver-haired vampire quickened his pace to an aching trot. Cautiously peering through the opening, he stepped through, shading his eyes from the blinding light.

Hope bloomed in Zero's chest, weightless before he could stop it. Kaname wasn't dead, still bleeding severely, and he could hardly stand from blood loss, but their survival rate had significantly improved. Just as he looked down at the glorious, closed eyelashes of his lover, everything changed. Stilling as a warning thrilled through his veins, Zero clutched Kaname closer, bracing him. Enemies were coming. Pulse throbbing in his ears, the ex-human snarled low, threatening those who would dare to hurt the pureblood, his pureblood. Trying to save Kaname's life must've ingrained possessiveness into the ex-human's heart because he loaded the Bloody Rose without hesitation, towering protectively over the one he would die for.

Laughter fluttered menacingly through the air as a fierce wind tore through the trees, and Zero's silver strands brushed the sides of his face, stinging his eyes. Hunters surrounded him in a tight, defensive pattern, wide smiles twisting their faces. A variety of weapons glinted in the dim sunlight, and the ex-human's breathing increased tempo, surging more adrenaline into his bloodstream.

"Well, well, the King and his whore. Quite an image you make, bloodied and stripped down to nothing, no wonder he took a fancy to you."

"I'm not his fucking whore!"

"And that mark on your neck means nothing?" Zero hissed, grasping at the burning puncture wounds giving him away. A tall male, presumably the leader, smirked and moved to a stop before the ex-human. With a pompous sneer stretching his face, the man pulled out his orders and read, "Zero Kiryu, under order of the Vampire Hunters Society, we have come to execute you for the murder of the pureblood Kaname Kuran."

"Murder?" 'Oh fuck, they're setting me up. I abandon Kaname to save my own skin, they kill him with my bullets, and claim to be the innocent third party while I'm assassinated.' "Unless you're blind, he's still breathing," Zero stated harshly, anger flashing in his eyes. They all smiled at him as if he was five years old and had no comprehension of the situation.

"Easily remedied," the male responded, charging towards the pureblood, blade in hand, only to sink it into the flesh of Zero's thigh. Kaname chose to moan in that second, drawing everyone's attention. He was pulling up from the darkness, throbbing in hellish agony, red irises hazy and unfocused. Even through the blurs, Kaname growled in warning, blood boiling at the nightmarish image of his lover bare and bleeding. Crouching, beautiful muscles coiling, the pureblood's brunet strands slithered as if alive, and he was a breathtaking, destroying angel.

Blood coated Zero's feet as he turned away from the beheaded corpses, pulling Kaname into his arms, fearless at the older male's flashing, crimson eyes. His lover's skin was feverish, the red symbols glowing even brighter if possible. "Kaname, do you have a safe house?," the ex-human questioned softly.

"Yes and the address is…" Zero leaned closer, shuddering as Kaname's lips brushed the shell of his ear.

"Wrap your arms around my neck," the silver-haired vampire coaxed, securing his fingers underneath Kuran's thighs, near the knee. Inhaling heavily, readjusting his precious cargo, Zero attempted a sprint, wincing at the raw ache in his bleeding thigh. He prayed the directions weren't just the ramblings of a feverish pureblood.

Rain poured down from the hateful heavens above, and Zero fell, scraping his face against the cold cement. "Damn it!," he wiped the stinging blood from his cheek, glancing over his shoulder with worried eyes, sighing in relief at Kaname's dripping, closed eyelashes. Shaking, knees barely supporting them both, Zero felt immense, staggering hope as he recognized the colossal mansion towering in front of him to be Kaname's. Of course, he couldn't just traipse in; Zero had to resort to breaking a low window and climbing inside. Glad to be out of the rain, the ex-human ran up the staircase, searching for Kaname's room. Finding it empty, Zero slid Kaname off his back, onto the silk sheets before glancing around for a phone. A black, slim cell phone sat innocently on a large, aged desk and he grabbed it, flipping the cover open. Scanning through the numbers, picking the one who would ask the least questions, Zero pressed the call button with dread.

Seiren blinked at the sound of her ring tone before answering briskly. "Yes?"

"Seiren? It's Kiryu. I need your-"

"Your position?" Aido looked up at her with suspicion, leaning closer to eavesdrop. She leaned away, nodding in response to Zero's reply.

"I'll be there in twenty. Stay there."

Zero jolted awake, unaware that he had fallen asleep. Seiren was waiting outside; he could smell her distinct signature. Pulling one of Kaname's black, leather trench coats over his shoulders, covering the bandaged pureblood in silk sheets, Zero lifted him into the cradle of his arms. He wanted to conceal his lover's tempting skin from any onlookers, but the ex-human worried the material would irritate his open wounds.

Seiren opened the passenger door, stepping aside as Zero slid onto the leather seats, shivering and settled Kaname onto his lap. Aido turned to glare at him before blanching at his state of undress. Gripping the wheel with tense knuckles, Seiren slammed on the gas causing the car to swerve a one-eighty before straightening out their path.

"So, you-"

"Yes, Aido," Zero's irritation was obvious in the arch of his eyebrows.

"Your-"

"Yes."

"YOU HAVE A BLOOD BOND WITH KANAME-SAMA!!!!" Aido's blue eyes were wide, anger coating his cheeks.

"This isn't the fucking time to complain about our… liaison," Zero snarled heatedly. Aido reached over to brush his fingertips along Kaname's cheek in worry, surprise flitting across his expression as Zero clenched his fangs together audibly. Pressing a fervent, open-mouthed brush of his lips along Kaname's collarbone, the ex-human's eyes glared at Hanabusa, claiming Kuran as his own. The blond hissed in reply, coating ice rapidly over the leather, sending it sprawling over his enemy's thigh.

"Your jealousy is unbecoming, Aido." Seiren glanced at him with hostile eyes. Bowing his head in shame, he released the ex-human from his icy grasp.

"Seiren, why the fuck did you have to bring him?!," Zero complained, covering his countenance with his palm.

"He insisted on coming," Seiren answered smoothly.

"Well, his face is as red as a pompous tomato," the ex-human smirked.

"I know," Seiren let her lips lift in a cautious smile.