Disclaimer - The Night World, it's concepts, and it's characters, all belong to L.J. Smith. I claim nothing but the characters unrecognized and the story.



The Tease of Fire II - Burnt



Chapter One

~Prologue~



*Vacation.* Tala absolutely loved it. Of course, her vacation was just a visit to her mother's house for a week with Monroe during Valentine's Day, but she didn't have a mission. That was enough to be thankful for.

She had felt bad leaving Vesta, but Jez had promised to take good care of her while they were gone. The girls--or the Daybreak Sorority, as Tala liked to put it--were supposed to be visiting a water park that day, while Tala was just sitting on the couch, completely enjoying the basic cable and home cooked meals.

The couch itself was utterly comfortable. Circa 1960, it's blue and white flower pattern fading from the constant wear, it offered a wonderful cuddle spot. She smiled, nestling up to Monroe, feeling his protective arms grow tight around her shoulders.

The cell phone in her pocket began to vibrate, causing her to sigh in aggravation. Looking at the caller ID, she added a despairing groan. Thierry just did not know how to leave them in peace. She was seriously considering letting the voicemail get it.

"Answer it," Monroe said with a knowing glance.

"Quit reading my thoughts." Pressing the talk button, she greeted the caller. "Tala Acevedo."

"You need to come back to Las Vegas, Tala." Thierry's voice was somber and almost . . . grieved.

"Sorry, but this is the first vacation I've ever-" She stopped short. What was that in the background? It sounded like Hannah. But that couldn't be Hannah. She was always happy and smiling. Hannah wasn't the type to sob uncontrollably. "Thierry? What's wrong with Hannah?" She stood, an alarming feeling crawling up her spine. She looked at her soulmate, seeing that he had the same worry churning in his eyes.

"Come back to Vegas," Thierry's voice didn't lighten at all, "There's been a breech in security."

Everything was beginning to grow fuzzy. Not "wonderful-love" fuzzy. It was "the-world's-slipping-from-beneath-me" fuzzy. "What do you mean, 'breech in security?'"

He began to repeat himself. "You need to come back-"

"Dammit, Thierry!" She was losing her grip of reality. "What the Hell is going on?"

"Vesta was taken today at the park. So was Jez . . ."

She knew that he was going on, saying something about casualties, but she didn't hear it. The phone slipped from her hand, hitting the ground. The pieces scattering across the pine wood floor echoed in her ears. Her knees hurt. Why did her knees hurt? Oh, it was because she had landed on them.

*Why are my cheeks wet?* She reached up, touching her face. *Am I sweating? That's funny, why would I only be sweating on my cheeks?*

She put her head in her hands, letting the tears fall through her fingers, splashing onto the ground. A million and a half thoughts were crashing through her head without any direction. Nothing was organized, nothing made sense.

They had only been gone for two days. How could have this happened? A lost Wild Power . . . A lost Fire Child . . . Less than ten months until the Millennium Battle . . . Circle Daybreak was doomed . . .

Unless she did something. And she knew she had to. There was no way she'd lose the Battle. She had to save Jez and Vesta.