Disclaimer: I do not own the Night World or any characters in that series. I do own all original characters in this story. This takes place before Daughters of Darkness, and will hopefully involve the Redfern siblings. Please R & R but don't flame or suffer the Demon Ponies...
"We're nearly there," Sparrow Whiteheath said to his sister.
"Mm."
"I wonder what it'll be like outside the enclave?"
"Mm."
He took one arm off the steering wheel and placed it around Opal's shoulder. "Apparently, the scenery's really beautiful."
"Mm."
"We'll be in a different apartment from Mother and Father."
"Mm."
"You nervous?"
Opal shot a killer glare at her twin.
"Me neither. Maybe there'll be some nice lamia boys nearby," Sparrow commented, trying to steer the 'conversation' to a topic his sister would be more interested in.
"Mm."
"You're not really very excited, are you?"
"I'm not going to marry Ash Redfern," Opal said with no expression whatsoever. Sparrow removed his arm from her shoulder.
"I never mentioned Ash Redfern," he protested.
Opal didn't look away from the car window. "Don't think I don't know what you and dad are planning. I'm female, not retarded. And I would rather marry a pig." Her voice was still utterly deadpan.
"I wouldn't make you," Sparrow said quietly. "I still love you, Opal. You do know that, don't you, sister?"
She snorted. "Lamia men are all the same, Sparrow. You might not have the guts to push this plan through, but father would, and Ash's dad. Not to mention Hunter Redfern and Larch Whiteheath." The twins' father, Sage, and their ancestor Larch, had been making plans for Ash Redfern to marry Opal. Ash's father-Fox Redfern-and even the ruler of the lamia and head of the Redfern family, Hunter, approved the idea. For a long time, Larch and Hunter had been enemies. This marriage plan was part of a truce, even an alliance, between two of the oldest, most powerful lamia clans, the Whiteheaths and the Redferns. Opal was dead set against it, not that anyone asked her opinion.
Opal continued bitterly, "Not that anyone actually cares about what I want. I'm just Hunter's pawn, and Larch's. I don't matter. All that matters about this is that the eldest Whiteheath girl marries the eldest Redfern boy, and the eldest Whiteheath boy marries the eldest Redfern girl. No, sorry. That Blackthorn guy gets Rowan. You get Kestrel. So I marry Ash and you marry Kestrel. Lucky you. At least you get an opinion. I don't."
She slumped back in the leather seat of the Mercedes. Sparrow gaped at his sister. It was rare to hear so many words out of her mouth at once. Opal was normally very demure and polite, only exploding every now and then in her own room. He guessed he was in for a lot more of his sister's inner lamia fire away from the enclave. Secretly, though, he wouldn't mind marrying Kestrel Redfern. She was gorgeous, with blonde hair and gold eyes. He also liked her sarcastic sense of humour, and her ferocity. He would never say as much to Opal, though, and they spent the rest of the journey in silence.
The Whiteheath twins, Opal and Sparrow, were both very good-looking, and had a noticeable family resemblance-wavy brownish hair and blue eyes. However, Opal had skin like white porcelain, sable hair, and fathomless dark blue, almost black, eyes. Sparrow was tan, with blond-brown hair to his sister's black-brown, and had ice-blue eyes. Their features were similar, too, high chiselled cheekbones, heart-shaped faces and full red lips. They had unusually small and broad fangs for lamia, which were no less deadly, and gleamed flawless white.
The twins' parents had recently moved from the vampire enclave-the island near Maine-to a town just out of Boston. Sage and Pearl had asked their children to come and join them, and the pair had instantly taken their parents up on the offer. Knowing the twins' desire for independence, Sage had bought a smaller house a short drive away for them, nominally for Sparrow's approaching eighteenth birthday, but in actuality to provide a little privacy for all involved. The fact that her early eighteenth birthday present was a pointedly white, flowing dress did not discourage Opal from the prospect of getting away from the enclave.
It wasn't that which was depressing Opal. It was that no matter what, she was probably still going to be forced to marry Ash. Also, she would still be under supervision by her older brother Sparrow. He might only be elder by twenty minutes, but it still meant he had authority over her. Opal was sure he was only protesting brotherly love for her because he'd had a vodka and cranberry juice at the service station. She'd probably still end up having to wear dresses and skirts which covered all her legs, and tying up her hair in a proper bun, and never speaking first. Or never even being alone with a male, much less one of the many Boston humans.
Sometimes life sucked.
Eventually, Sparrow stopped the car, at a small but charming half-wood house. Damn, Opal thought. Wood. Then, feeling as if she may as well go ahead, she let her dark brown hair down out of its customary bun. She ran her fingers through the long waves, and then smoothed her midnight-blue dress. Opening the door, she stepped out into the dark. Sparrow had a couple of the bags on the doorstep, and was fumbling with the keys. Grinning at her brother's back, Opal sat on the car bonnet. A voice made her turn.
"Hi." It was a boy…a human boy, no less. He looked about seventeen, Opal's age, with soft chestnut curls and round hazel eyes that had flecks of brown and green and blue and yellow around the pupils. He wore jeans and a short-sleeved T-shirt.
"Hello," Opal said, and felt dizzy as she gazed into his astounding eyes. She'd seen vampire eyes, witch eyes, shapeshifter eyes, and nothing compared with this human's poor-sighted, dazzling eyes. Not even Ash's colour-changing…no. She promised herself not to think about Ash from now on.
"My name's Jason. You new to Boston?" the boy-Jason-asked.
"Yes…my name is Opal Whiteheath, and that one over there's my brother. Sparrow," she answered breathlessly. Just looking at this Jason was making her feel lightheaded and giddy.
"Nice names," Jason said with a shy smile. Opal gave her slightly crooked grin in response.
"Thanks," she murmured, and hesitantly offered her hand to shake. He looked at it sideways, a little unsure of what she was getting at. "Shake," Opal told him. Jason reached out slowly, and then gently took her hand and shook it.
The touch blasted Opal's reality to pieces. Warmth spread through her body in waves, sending shivers up her spine. The world spun, and all the colours, clearly visible to her vampire eyes, swirled together in a maelstrom of leaves and trees and pavement and sky. For a second, the world seemed to have flipped over, and she was unsure of which way was up.
Then the feeling passed, and the world was back the right way again. Opal let go of Jason's hand with tingling fingers, and gradually became aware of her brother standing right behind them.
"Well, hello," Sparrow said mildly to Jason. "I see you've met my sister."
"Er, yeah," the human said, rubbing his hand distractedly.
"I'm Sparrow," he told Jason in the quietly confident way he reserved for dealing with obnoxious or irate werewolves.
"Er, Jason," Jason said distractedly. He hadn't broken eye contact with Opal. She wished he would-his eyes were making her feel woozy. "Welcome to Boston," he tried, desperate to say something constructive.
"Thanks. Well, it's getting late, Opal, and we've just driven right through Maine. Come on inside the house." Sparrow gently took hold of her shoulders and pressed slightly with his fingers, to signal to her she should move.
"See you around...Jason," Opal blurted. He smiled at her, and nodded.
Come on, Sparrow urged in her mind.
I'm coming, Sparrow, Opal snapped, and wriggled out of his firm hands. What's up with you, anyway? He wasn't doing any harm. He was being friendly.
Sparrow sighed, and opened the front door. Listen, Opal. It wasn't that he was a guy-she snorted in disbelief-it's just...you went all funny. You breathing sped right up and you staggered. When you shook his hand, I mean.
She looked away. "I don't know what you're on about, brother." To avoid his gaze, she looked around the living room. "Nice place. Drop it," she warned Sparrow as he opened his mouth again. He dropped it.
Privately, Opal was surprised her brother cared that much about her. He was generally nicer than your average lamia man back at the enclave, but he hadn't acted so kindly towards her since the twins were about ten.
"Hey." Sparrow grinned at her. "You wanna go upstairs and change into some human jeans?" Her face was transformed by a pure smile. Girls were forbidden to wear trousers, particularly jeans, at the enclave, but Opal had bought some on the way to Boston, along with other ordinary human clothes. She grinned right back at her brother, grabbed a bag, and ran upstairs.
Jason couldn't stop thinking about the strange girl with the amazing eyes. They were deep blue, like the night sky, and seemed bottomless-infinite. Looking into them, he thought her eyes went on forever, as if he were looking into an incredibly deep ocean.
Such a strange girl…such a beautiful girl. With such a strange and lovely name. Opal, and Sparrow. Opal Whiteheath. He'd never seen anyone like her, from her nearly black hair to those bottomless eyes to her full-length blue dress. Not to mention the way white light had exploded behind his eyes when he touched her. He was still tingling now, as if he'd suffered an electric shock. Although, there hadn't seemed to be anything unduly unpleasant about it. Just that in one blinding second, Jason realised he would never find anyone like Opal again. This was a one-off chance to get a girl who would…who would just be right for him. He couldn't explain it, but Jason Marten thought he'd just fallen in love.
There was only one thing to do. Call his best friend. In a dream, he picked up the phone, and dialled Charlotte's number.
"Hello, Jace," she said when she answered.
"I think I'm in love," Jason blurted out. Charlotte made a half-choked noise like laughter. "Charlie, I'm serious."
"Oh, yeah. So who is it, then? Christina Aguilera?"
"No. This is different...it's like, I don't know, finding a part of me. I can't explain it."
Charlotte's tone changed from sarcasm to mild interest. "So go on, describe her. Convince me."
Jason sighed and closed his eyes. "She's tall. Pale. High cheekbones, heart-shaped face, very red lips. Her eyes are amazing dark blue, and they kind of go on forever, like a bottomless ocean. Dark brown, nearly black, wavy hair, quite long. She seems so different, so strange, exotic almost. She's got this way of talking, this ever so polite-without-being-snooty way. And when I touched her hand, it was just...incredible."
"Uh-huh," his best friend said cynically. "And a big chest, I'm guessing?"
"Charlotte!" He yelled. "I'm serious. Completely serious. That doesn't matter to me, and if you really want to know, she's completely flat. She's got a brother, too…they're new to Boston. You might like him."
He could practically hear Charlotte chewing on this. Then she snorted, but happily. "We'll see tomorrow, I guess. So what's her name, then?"
Jason sighed, and said dreamily, "Opal. Opal Whiteheath."