Disclaimer: I, in now way, own the ideas or concepts of the Night World. These all belong to the lovely LJ Smith and her publishers. Please don't sue. I'm broke.
Spoilers: Every Night World book you can think about. Trust me, I'll find a way to fit everyone in. Just you wait until the end. =) And now . . .
Lilac Rose
Chapter 1
Sunlight. Bright Sunlight. That's all Aurora could see. She slid her sunglasses on as she closed the apartment door behind her. The California sun beat down on her as she walked out to her Mitsubishi Eclipse, not feeling any of the slight winter chill. She was completely unprepared for what she was about to do.
She caught the reflection of a girl that looked no older than seventeen in the dark tint of her car window. Her sleek brown hair brushed softly past her shoulders as she tossed her head to the side. Analyzing herself, she wondered how such an innocent looking girl like herself could be seen as what she was: a vampire . . . a killer.
As she started the engine she thought back to a year ago. She hadn't always been a killer. There was a time when she was a member of Circle Daybreak, a group who believed Night World people and humans could live together in a peaceful existence. They were naive enough to assume that there was such a harmonic world that could accept that. One day she woke up and was forced to draw that a world like that couldn't exist. Death did that to you.
Driving into town, she almost grimaced at the thought of a world like that. She knew now that Night World law should not be broken. Humans should never know about the Night World, a secret society of vampires, werewolves, witches, and other creatures of darkness that live among humans. And you were an idiot if you fell in love with a human.
It was almost hypocritical of her to think that. Some idiot Night person falling in love with her was how she got here in the first place. If it hadn't been for him, she would still be an Old Soul.
She shook her head quickly as she pulled up to the huge fortress of stone and brick, watching the masses walk through the door. Getting out of her car, staring up at the monstrous building, she sighed deeply. Yet another school to deal with.
Aurora Ream had been through six schools in the past two years. With two months until the end of her senior year, she hoped that Boroway High School would be the last.
She walked through the halls, getting the usual look she got from the people. The look of wonder. A girl who looked almost too beautiful, who moved too fluidly, who was too quiet. A few Night World people stuck out in the crowd. A 'shifter walked past with feather-like blond hair. A group of two or three people with black dahlia insignia was hanging out in a corridor. One lamia walked past and nodded, his silver yellow eyes reflecting, his skin glowing from a recent feeding. Aurora just nodded back.
As usual, she looked for a familiar face, ready to hide. Even though she was hundreds of miles from her last location, and this was the second time the Council had changed her name, she still was on the look out. She couldn't risk anyone finding her.
Lost in her thoughts, she didn't realize someone walking directly toward her. She bumped into the guy, hard.
"Excuse me," she said, shaking her hair out of her face. She looked into gray-blue eyes that held centuries behind them. Light blond hair immediately fell over them.
The boy, who looked no older than she did, stuttered. "I- I'm so sorry, I didn't see you. I guess I was in another world."
"Aren't we all?" Aurora smirked, enjoying her private joke. She raised her right hand to her face to remove the hair from her eyelashes.
"A black rose?" The boy smiled. He had noticed the ring on Aurora's hand: a gold band with a black onyx gem carved into the shape of a rose. He offered his hand. "Unity. My name is Aden Cole."
She eyed him conspicuously, reaching out her hand. "Lilac Rose." She wasn't used to the name, but it would have to suffice. She couldn't let anyone from Circle Daybreak find out what her real name was.
Just before their hands could make contact, the bell rang. She brought her arm to her side quickly and turned. "Sorry, have to run," she called over her shoulder.
"I'll see you later?" It sounded more of question than an invitation.
She waved and ducked into the classroom that was her English Literature class. Handing the teacher her pink slip of paper, she looked around the room. Not a Night person in the bunch. She breathed a sigh of relief. She'd been sociable enough for the morning.
She sat in the seat assigned to her, and leaned back. The teacher was discussing poetry from Robert Frost, something she had studied as a human.
This gave her time to think about her mission. The Night World Council had assigned her to find the local Circle Daybreak and get what information she could about the fourth Wild Power. There had been rumor that the Wild Power was in the area, and the council was furious that they were behind while Daybreak was on the case.
Even though Aurora used to be human, changed against Night World law, the Council had taken her in. Since she knew a lot about Daybreak, and hated them just as equally, she was the utopian spy.
She had a feeling that Aden was the perfect person she could have met. From his eyes she could tell he was a reincarnated soul, and Circle Daybreak was the only part of the Night World that took to Old Souls. She would have to look for him later.