Begins just before Quinn arrives to speak with Ash in 'Daughters of Darkness' - the Second Book in the Night World Series.

*

The engine of a car drawing to a close signaled the newest arrival to the little gathering on the small hill in Briar Creek. Poppy, James, Ash and Rowan turned around to see who the interloper was. The car door opened and a dark haired male stepped out from it. Ash growled. Vermin!

It wasn't bad enough that his cousin and soulmate had already just announced that they had come over here and planned for a short stay while they looked for some place more permanent where they could be together without unwanted interruptions from other Night People? Now, adopting a purposeful stride towards the foursome, the human coming towards the group of vampires gave every impression that he felt in no danger whatsoever! Either that, or he thought himself somehow above it.

Poppy blinked twice from next to her soulmate. There was something familiar about this human, something that she hadn't seen in months, since she'd first become a vampire to escape the mortal illness that would have killed her if James had not stepped in first. Although it seemed like a lifetime ago when she had last seen him, there was no doubt in her mind as to who this man was.

Signaling behind her absently, Poppy started forward slowly at first, and then increasingly faster.

"Phil?" she questioned incredulously, not quite believing that it could be her brother, here of all places and so far away from home. Then the practicality of the situation swept over her and her mood dulled a little at the sight of him. "You know you are not supposed to be here."

"Poppy, you have to understand. I can't just let you walk out of my life like that. Things at home are a wreck. Mum and dad; you wouldn't recognize them anymore. It really is that bad. And I. . . I miss you, sis."

While Poppy struggled to harden herself against her older brother's words, she became aware that James had moved up beside her again.

"Phil," he said coldly.

"James," Phil replied in the same tone, barely sparing him a glance. Hard to guess that these two had known each other almost Poppy's entire life from the way they were now. But then, a lot had happened in the past 12 months.

"I think you're forgetting, Phil, that your sister did not walk out of your life like anything. She walked out on her own, as we've been through before." The words out of James' mouth were quite pointed, and at some time during it, his arm slipped with propriety into Poppy's.

Phil's eyes lowered to catch the movement, before he fixed them again on his sister.

"Poppy, please. . ."

"James, is this. . . human disturbing you?" Ash's voice rung with authority from behind them.

Without thinking about it, Poppy's eyes closed in sudden tiredness of the whole thing. James and her brother together were bad enough; but she knew Ash enough already to know that he would only succeed in making an already bad situation so much worse. Couldn't boys, whatever species, just let things alone sometimes?

Before James could reply, Poppy deliberately cut in on top.

"No Ash, I believe we're fine here. Just a little space is all that's needed and it can be cleared up in a moment," she uttered, her jaw hard. Her head turned slightly to anticipate James' reaction to her interference. He had better not override her in this, that was all she could think!

It seemed that that was one thought successfully passed between the two soulmates, for without actually having to look down at Poppy, James nodded his head once to his cousin.

"Yeah. It's okay Ash, really. This will just take a second."

Poppy breathed out in relief. One immediate problem out of the way. Now onto the next one. But when she gave her brother her attention again, she realized that his attention had drifted elsewhere.

And turning her gaze ever so slightly, she realized that the object of that attention, Rowan, was returning the attention. Poppy cleared her throat significantly. Following on only a second later, Ash growled his displeasure and stepped in the way of Phil's sight to Rowan, who deigned to remain silent just then.

"Fine. This better be fixed up now. That's all I can say. Enough of the laws have already been broken around here," Ash muttered pointedly, before stalking away and dragging Rowan along behind him.

Once they were out of sight, Phil gave his full attention back to his sister, continuing to ignore James who was still beside her.

"Phillip. . ." she began, not quite knowing how to go on to telling him to stay away from her when all she really wanted was him to stay in her life this time.

"No. You're not doing it again this time. I've been reading stuff. Everything I can get my hands on. There is a way around this. You don't have to stay apart from your whole family forever!"

"Oh? And how would I go back even now, Phil?" Poppy asked, beginning to get quite annoyed at him. "Say, 'Sorry mum, the doctors were wrong all this time. Why didn't I come back? Oh, well you see, I'm a vampire now.' It wouldn't work, Phil, why can't you see that?" Tears began to appear at the sides of her eyes. "You've gotta stop this now, before it gets you hurt. It could get you killed!"

Phil took a step forward and grasped her smaller but still stronger hand within his.

"Please. Can we just try it for a while? If it doesn't work, I can go back and nobody will be the wiser. Please Poppy. Remember how we used to be? Can't you do this for the sake of those times at least?"

Poppy looked helplessly down at their clasped hands, and then up at James, apologizing to him with her eyes. James opened his mouth to object, knowing already what she was about to do, but Poppy's eyes turned pleading. After a moment, James huffed and turned away, in effect telling her to do whatever she would.

"Only a very small time, Phil," Poppy answered finally. "I don't want to be the reason for your death. And Phil? When I tell you to go, you have to promise me that you will."

Phil sighed outwards.

"Okay Poppy. I promise."

*

"Absolutely not!" Ash stormed in anger that had been evident from the moment he had seen Phil walking in with his cousin and Poppy. "He is not staying with us. Why the hell should we put ourselves in danger for. . ."

The look that James shot across the room silenced Ash, at least for that moment.

"Look, it's only while we're staying here. And he's not staying with us much longer than that anyway," James said, including Poppy in his look with that last sentence.

"Exactly. We'll be moving on our own way again soon," Poppy reinforced.

"Oh, whatever," Ash said in aggravation. He pinned Phil with one of his more dangerous looks and for the first time since arriving, Phil seemed genuinely intimidated. "You touch any of my stuff; I'll kill you."

He spun away before any replies could be mustered, but was muttering moodily under his breath when Mary-Lynette hesitated at the door a little while later.

"Stupid James for bringing in even more trouble for us to be tracked by! Like we don't already have enough here."

He swung around and his eyes softened slightly as he realized suddenly what he had said in his human soulmate's company.

"Not that I mind. You and. . . I, we're not the trouble I was talking about, it's just that. . ."

"I know what you were talking about," Mary-Lynette told him, walking slowly into the room. She put a soft hand on his neck between the shoulder and jaw line. Ever so slightly, Ash moved his head so that he was nuzzling into the side of her hand, almost as though he wasn't consciously aware of doing it.

Mary-Lynette withdrew her hand.

"You know, you're going to have to leave here. By your own words, it's not safe," she said softly, looking directly into his eyes, her hand still tingling from the soulmate contact. "Somebody from the Night World is going to come and. . ."

"Mary-Lynette, I am somebody from the Night World," Ash reminded her.

"Ash, you know what I mean," Mary-Lynette sighed.

"I know." Ash paused, his head still lifted proudly. "So, where does this leave us then?"

Mary-Lynette was put off answering for a moment when Jade and Kestrel came crashing into the room. The two sisters looked at the scene they had walked in on, then at each other, and became decidedly uncomfortable looking.

"Did we just interrupt something here?" Kestrel asked archly. At Jade's expression, she became contrite. "Forget I asked that. We're just going to be. . . we're going over here now."

When Rowan came through a moment later and with a dirty look over at Ash, followed in the direction her sisters had taken, Ash swept his hands up in the air. The moment had passed. He stalked across to one of the chairs and slumped gracefully into its cushiony depths. With a wary look turned towards the doorway the three sisters had gone through, Mary-Lynette followed to his side.

"What's wrong with Rowan?" she asked.

"Oh, what does it matter?" Ash asked, his sour mood of before again restored. "Look, you'd probably better go. There are some things that need sorting out that a hu. . . that you don't want to be here for."

Mary-Lynette stepped back and nodded in understanding.

"I'll see you tomorrow then?" she asked.

"Yeah. Tomorrow," Ash answered without much emotion.

*

"Kestrel, could I talk to Jade for a minute?" Rowan asked tersely.

Kestrel looked up from what she was fiddling with, a pert reply at the ready. She swallowed it as soon a she saw the expression on her sister's face.

"Um okay, yeah. I guess so. . ." For all that her comments were kept under wraps, Kestrel sent a loaded expression towards Jade before quietly closing the door behind her. Oh great, now she was going to be stuck alone with Ash and his 'mood'.

"So. . . what did you want to talk about?" Jade asked, looking up at her eldest sister with more than a little confusion in her eyes.

"Well, I don't guess that it's anything so important," Rowan hedged, taking a seat opposite the bed where Jade was. "I just thought you might have a clue on these sorts of things. . . with the way that you and Mark have been lately. . ."

Jade's expression turned from confused to a wistful far away look. Although they had decided against turning him into a vampire, what the two of them shared was very beautiful. Very close; closer than she had ever imagining being to another person. Very. . . inside of him.

And very illegal by Night World law. Maybe that was what Rowan wanted to talk to her about, thinking to spare her pain before it got too intense between them.

"The way me and Mark..?" Jade questioned, trying to pull more out of her sister.

Rowan ran a frustrated hand through her raven colored hair.

"Look, I'm not even sure myself; there was just this. . . something passed through me when I saw. . ." Biting her lip until she drew blood, and then darting her tongue out to lap the beads, Rowan decided to attempt another tack. "You've met Poppy's brother, haven't you?"

A smile began on the edges of Jade's lips.

"Poppy's very. . . human brother?" she asked, an eyebrow raised.

"Enough of that," Rowan said testily. "I don't even know if it was anything; it was just. . . Oh I don't know. Maybe nothing at all."

"Look, if it is something, you might as well go for it." Jade looked deep into her sister's eyes. "I mean, it's hardly like you're going to bring more trouble down on us right now, right?"

Rowan couldn't help but smile at that.

"So. Speaking of, how are things between you and Mark at the moment? Have you decided what you're going to do so far as a lasting relationship yet?"

*

"It's Quinn. He's here already."

Rowan bit her lip, a habit that was becoming, well, quite a habit for her in nervous times. She, Kestrel and Jade were standing by the kitchen window, shielded from outside sight by the hanging curtains. Jade was biting a nail. Kestrel was putting forth a cool and calm outward appearance in front of the others. Behind them, Poppy and James were working on keeping Phil out of sight and silent.

Everything was depending on Ash's performance out there talking to the Night World representative who had been sent here as soon as the L.A. outposts had caught wind of rumors of foul play occurring in this area. Even if they had tried, they could not have thought of a worse, more suspicious made vampire to bring over here to ruin them.

"Who's this Quinn again?"

Poppy only glared at her brother to keep him quiet. Phil looked immediately subdued.

"Hey, I think he's actually buying Ash's story. And he looks extra eager to get back to Los Angeles. Special bonus," Kestrel murmured. "Look, he's already walking back towards his car. Ash is seeing him off."

Rowan stepped away from the window and turning around, her eyes instantly rested on Phil. For a moment, the air seemed taken from her lungs, until Jade turned around and bumped into her.

"He's gone! Quinn's gone. And Ash is coming back inside," Jade said with an elation that everyone there understood.

"Well, what happened?" Kestrel pushed as soon as Ash closed the front door. Even James seemed genuinely interested for once in what his cousin had to say.

Ash paused a moment, more to heighten the anticipation in the room than anything else. Kestrel slapped him.

"Come on then!" she insisted.

Ash smiled a leisurely, catlike smile.

"Well," he drawled slowly, "He's satisfied that everything here is taken care of. But there was one extra tidbit of interesting information that I probed from his mind when I was checking to make sure that there was no suspicion left in his mind about us. He's even happy for you three to stay here a while if you so wish."

He smirked to himself, a thought suddenly occurring to him. "I don't think that high and mighty made vampire realized I was even there!"

Again he paused, just to be infuriating. Another look passed between Phil and Rowan. Poppy rolled her eyes and moved into James' arms, gladdened now that the news seemed good, even if not all of it was being shared yet.

"If you're just going to leave it at that, I'm going over to tell Mark the good news," Jade interjected after a while, breaking the weighty silence.

"Alright, there's just one more thing." Ash looked at his youngest sister almost fondly. "I think this is going to interest you most of all. There was something about a new group within the Night World that the elders are worrying about. Apparently more and more members of it are popping up all over L.A., but nobody can seem to find where they are all gathered. It's called Circle Daybreak. A group of vampires, witches and werewolves who have found their soulmates are human or are able to get along with them in peace."

With every passing word out of Ash's mouth, Jade's face lighted even further. As he came to a close, she was positively glowing. Even Ash's face seemed openly softer than its usual sternness. So surprised were they by his words and expression that nobody in the room noticed how close Rowan and Phil were now standing next to each other.

"Go on. Fetch Mark and tell him to bring Mary-Lynette with him. Let's tell them both the good news." Then, almost as though he could not stand any further happiness, he inclined his head to everyone and left the room.

After Jade had gone to get Mark and Mary-Lynette, Poppy and James went off to be alone and only Kestrel, Rowan and Phil were left in the room. Kestrel opened her mouth to begin a conversation, but then very quickly realized that she would not be listened to in either case.

Rolling her eyes and muttering something about a taint in the air, Kestrel flounced off, leaving Rowan and Phil completely alone for the first time since they had met the day before.

"So, sounds like vampires and humans together might not be so terrible after all," Phil murmured.

"Well, you can never be too sure when it is Ash who's telling you these things," Rowan said flippantly.

"Yeah, have to say that I have noticed that not so open part of your brother's personality," Phil commented. "Not that I'm getting down on him or anything. I mean, he is still your brother. . ."

"Even if he's not very fond of you," Rowan finished.

"Well, yeah. Noticed that too," Phil admitted.

By now, they had stepped closer with each passing sentence and were standing only inches from each other's faces.

"Could be a vampire thing," Phil continued. "Don't think there's any lost love between me and James either."

"I don't think you're so bad, and I'm a vampire," Rowan told him.

"That's a plus," Phil acceded. He paused a moment, seeming to weigh up his words before speaking them. "I don't suppose we could go so far as to admitting you even liked me?"

"I think there could be worse things," Rowan replied.

"Well, that's good anyway," said Phil stiltedly.

Rowan smiled gently, before her head tilted to the side.

"You're not. . . nervous. . . of me, are you?" she asked.

"Nervous? Of you? Of course not," Phil said. "I mean, I could be. . ."

"Don't be," Rowan said, before leaning in the remaining inch and kissing him sweetly on the lips and taking away the rest of the room in the action.

Phil's arms, well muscled for a human, wrapped around Rowan's lithe form. She moaned her pleasure softly, and clung to him even more tightly. One of her little, pointed teeth lightly pieced the inside of Phil's mouth, but rather than pain, there was only the sudden opening and melding of two minds into each other.

iIs this what Poppy felt? No wonder she was able to leave. . . It's a gift.i

Thoughts merged with wonder and the birth of love. Looked like there was going to be more than one member of the family seeking out this Circle Daybreak idea in the end.

*

The cars were being loaded up for the road trip across to L.A. James, Poppy, Rowan and Phil all together in Phil's car. Jade and Mark were already sitting tight in the car Ash had driven down to find them in the first place. Ash was standing on the front step of the house they had lived in during their stay, talking softly with Mary-Lynette.

"It isn't looking too good over there, is it?" Jade commented, looking out the window over Mark's shoulder. "She's your sister. You know her. Do you think there's any chance that..?"

Mark was already shaking his head.

"She's not ready. She knows it. She won't stand to ruin what could happen between her and Ash now while knowing that it's not the right time for them." He offered his soulmate a sad smile. "She can be almost painfully stubborn sometimes."

"And how about you?" Jade asked, leaning her head into his chest and trailing a fingernail up and down his arm. "How do you feel about leaving your sister?"

"Honestly, she would be far more annoyed if I stayed for her while you went away with Ash and the others," As he watched his sister out of the window, saw the pain in her eyes as she spoke to her soulmate, an echoing pang shot through his own heart in response.

"Are you sure you won't come with us?" Ash was asking softly. "Please. Please come with us. With me."

Although the most part of her was a puddle, Mary-Lynette forced herself to stand firm in her beliefs. As hard as it was for her to do, she pushed him back an arms length.

"I love you. You know that. And I know you'll come back to me. When it's right, we'll both feel it. On that day, I'll be waiting for you. Besides, someone's got to stick around and look after dad, and since there's no reason for Mark not to go. . ."

"There's a reason for you not to go as well," Ash murmured, leaning past the space she had put between them and kissing her softly along her cheeks and nose. "All you need to do is say one word."

"I know," Mary-Lynette whispered. "And that word is no. I'm sorry, Ash. I'm sorry. It has to be goodbye."

Ash bowed his head, perhaps the first break in his great pride that she had ever seen in him thus far. Then, as if gathering himself again, he lifted his head up and nodded.

"I said I'll be back for you. One year. I'll be back," he said, before picking up the last of his things to pack in the car, and joining his sister and her brother and leading Phil's car down the path and out of Mary- Lynette's sight.

With a sound somewhere between a sob and a sigh, Mary-Lynette collapsed in a pile on the stair, Only Ash's promise to return and the knowledge that her father was waiting for her to come home kept her together. She dreaded to think of what he would say as soon as she told him that Mark wasn't going to be coming home tonight. Tonight or any other night.

It was going to be a fun couple of week's transition to come.

*