This is a tie-in to my Huntress II. Happens a few months before the first chapter.
Right, you guys who read Huntress II (thanks for that!) know that just before Jez, Morgead and Adenah go to the desert for the final battle, Jez mentioned that they had to blow out the wall to escape the protection of the Daybreakers? Well, this is that story. Only gonna be one chapter. Give me some feedback, 'kay?
Oh, and just so everyone knows, I'll start seriously writing Huntress III once I've finished SuperStar. Then there will be SuperStar II, and after that I've Huntress IV and Huntress V. I can only focus on one big project at a time!
I don't own Night World.
Jez and Morgead: After Hours
I sighed as I looked out the window. The surroundings were the same as usual, the small blackberry bush just out of reach of the shadow that the massive oak tree cast. The west coast of the island had the same large, deep-grey-with-a-hint-of-blue rock, in the shape of a strangely big strawberry. The sky was azure blue, blah, blah, blah. It never changed.
People weren't even allowed to visit as often as they liked. Even Morgead had a curfew. And, to be honest, I was eighteen now. I didn't get why my Soulmate and I couldn't even share a room.
Although, that was probably my fault. I always had a very immature urge to giggle whenever I talked about anything of any nature. Even to Morgead. I knew he knew that I'd been thinking about it, but he was always a gentleman and didn't bring it up.
Someone knocked on the door. I forced myself to stop blushing (an immensely difficult task) and called out, "Come in."
I almost blushed again when I saw it was Morgead. I stood up and launched myself into his arms. He caught me and chuckled. "You more bored than usual?" he murmured in my ear.
"Yeah," I mumbled against his shoulder.
"I'm sorry about being the bearer of bad news, but I need to show you something," he said.
I pulled away suspiciously. His expression was apologetic. He lifted up one of his hands. In it was a piece of paper folded over a few times.
"I managed to borrow it from the meeting room-"
"You mean you stole it," I interrupted.
He ignored me. "It's the blueprints to the place they're moving us to."
"Ah, crap. I forgot about that."
Every couple of months or so, all the Wild Powers were moved to a different enclave. This was the best so far, though they were all pretty bad.
I had no idea where the other Wild Powers were being kept. I had no idea who they were. Most of the people here didn't even know that I was the Wild Power. Only a couple of the best trained guards had a clue, and even they weren't sure whether it was Morgead or me. The best I knew was that the guy who managed this place, Borealis, or something like that, knew that it was me.
Morgead shaking out the blueprints caught my attention. I looked over them quickly.
It was a flipping fortress.
How in the worlds had they thought this monstrosity would be inconspicuous?
"Where are they putting me," I demanded. It wasn't a question.
Morgead pointed at the middle of the blueprints, in a tiny room. Probably miles away from the outside.
I groaned and leaned against Morgead.
"They can't send me there. I'm not a prisoner. I won't go," I said.
Morgead smiled slightly. "I had a feeling you'd say that. Which is why I've got a plan." His smile turned mischievous.
"Go on," I said.
"We could leave."
I narrowed my eyes. "Did they really say we could?"
"Did you say they could lock you in the middle of a fortress?"
I was starting to like this idea. I smiled back at him. "Okay. When do we go?"
He came closer and whispered the rest of the plan in my ear. My smile widened. It was cruel, but the situation was getting desperate. We had to do something.
We made arrangements to meet later tonight. Morgead kissed me before going to get his things ready.
I was shaking my leg up and down, a sure sign that I was nervous. The second hand on the clock was moving so slowly... Morgead had planned to come to my room at eleven. It was ten to.
My bag was packed, and I had it ready on my back. I was wearing the clothes I felt most comfortable in; my high boots, black jeans and a leather jacket. In my right high boot I'd tucked a two-sided knife, wood on one side, steel on the other. I'd figured that Morgead and I would be able to take out several werewolves at a time without a weapon. It wasn't like they were smart or anything.
A knock resounded on the door. I grinned. Morgead was early. I bounded up to it and swung it open, ready to launch myself at him.
His expression froze me to the spot, though.
"What?" I said.
"You have no idea how difficult it was to get away from them. They know our plan."
I hit the door with my fist before pulling Morgead in and locking the door.
"What do you mean?"
"They must have been spying on us. Ears in the wall or something. They locked me in a room, and I almost broke my shoulder trying to get out. I don't know, Jez. Maybe running away isn't a good idea." He looked away.
I touched his cheek, forcing him to look at me again. "We're not giving up. We'll never get a chance like this at the prison." I smiled. "By the way, we have one of the most powerful weapons in the world."
His eyes widened. "What, are you going to blast out the wall?"
"Yep."
I kissed him quickly, then got the wooden knife out of my boot, making a small cut on the palm of my hand. I felt the tug of the Blue Fire before I even raised my hand.
The blast was a bit bigger than I thought it would be. And also quite difficult to rein back in.
"Sheesh," I heard Morgead say from behind me. "You only needed to take out one wall, not eight."
"I think I need to learn how to control it."
He laughed, then stopped abruptly as footsteps started getting louder and closer.
"We need to go," I said as I grabbed my finger-less gloves from the side and put them on. We started running.
After about half-an-hour of sprinting, we reached a deserted road that had cars parked along the outside. The trees hung over, casting shadows along the tarmac, and the rustling was competing with the crashing of a small waterfall somewhere to the left of the road.
"Shall we take one of the cars?" I asked Morgead.
He looked down the road, then nodded. "Okay."
I move towards a black Ford, the best one. It took less than two minutes to get it open and running, using my wooden knife. Morgead insisted on driving, and quickly, we were moving swiftly up the road, the speedometer gradually inching its way round. The countryside whipped past, until we were finally in a small town.
"Where shall we go?" Morgead asked.
I bit my lip, suddenly feeling guilty for taking off like that.
"Thierry Descouedres is the leader of Circle Daybreak, isn't he?" I asked.
"Yes. At least, I think he is."
"Maybe we should go see him. Just so that he knows that I'm not dead. Where does he live?"
"Las Vegas."
"D'you know how to get there?"
"I think so. It's south from here." He looked at me, smiling wryly. "He'll lock us up as soon as he sees us."
I held out my hand and he took it. "We have to tell them."
He nodded before turning back to the road, keeping his hand entwined with mine. I turned to look out of the window, watching the sun slowly drop lower, staining the sky purple and red. My hair blew out of the window, probably going into a million tangles. I didn't care, though. I felt free, for the first time in over a year. Whatever we did now, it would all be our choice. We didn't have to be ruled by other people.
I smiled. Finally, we were liberated.
It was past midnight by the time we finally found the mansion. We got out, automatically sticking to the shadows, preferring not to be caught off-guard by a vampire. Or even more embarrassing, a werewolf. We didn't encounter anyone. Strange for a Circle Daybreak headquarters.
After walking down a long driveway, sticking to the edges, we reached a big, wrought iron gate. Behind was a girl. Ah, a werewolf. Best guards in the world.
"What do you want?" she said pugnaciously. She stood up, standing lightly, ready to attack.
"We're looking for Thierry Descouedres," I said.
She watched us suspiciously. "You think I would just let a couple of vampires in, just like that?"
"Of course not," Morgead said.
"I'm Jez Redfern," I said experimentally.
Her eyes widened, then narrowed again, searching me. "Huh. He's really not happy with you two, you know."
I grimaced.
"Wait here," she said.
I leaned against the gate as she swiftly turned round and started running down the small path.
"Well. We're gonna have to pay," Morgead said.
I sighed. "At least we'd have shown him that we're not going to stand for being stuck in a flipping fortress with no outside contact for two months. The next one would've been worse, you know." I spied the werewolf coming back, and a tall man next to her. "Time to face the music," I said, standing up straighter.
The man stopped half a metre away from the gate. Even in the practically non-existent light, I could see that he was angry.
"What," he said slowly, "the hell do you think you were playing at?"
I saw out of the corner of my eye that Morgead was flicking quick, worried glances towards me. I ignored him and squared my shoulders. Just because this man led the Daybreakers, it didn't mean that he could control me.
"I could ask the same of you."
I heard the werewolf give a sharp intake of breath as Thierry looked at me incredulously.
"What do you mean?"
"We saw the blueprints for the fortress that you were going to send us to," I glared at him, refusing to give any ground. "It's our lives, and we don't want to spend two months of them stuck in a place like that. Are the rest of the Wild Powers put in prisons? You'll drive them away from you if they all are."
He pinched the bridge of his nose. "Jez, you don't really have a say in where you're going. I'm sorry, but that's the way it is for all the Wild Powers."
I took a deep breath. "Then let me stay here. If I'm in danger, I could fight. And Morgead would know where to find me."
He turned exasperatedly to Morgead. "Can't you control your Soulmate?"
Morgead grinned whilst I stood there in complete shock. How dare he?
"No-one controls Jez. Unless you want to be beaten with a wood stick. I learnt that a long time ago."
Thierry turned back to me, watching me for a minute.
"I cannot believe I am saying this," he muttered to himself, before saying, "Fine. Trial period. If it doesn't work out, then you are going back to the safe house. And you will not be allowed to argue."
I thought for a moment, then nodded once.
"We'll tell Keller and Galen what you are, and maybe Rashel and Quinn once they get back. They're talented fighters, and can help your Soulmate keep you safe as much as possible. Whenever you go out, you will have a bodyguard." His gaze turned musing. "You'll get on fine with Rashel and Keller. They're a lot like you."
He opened the gate and I walked in.
It was probably the best deal I would get. I would try to get some more freedom later.
"You are not to tell anyone else that you are a Wild Power, and you do not tell them that you are half-human. You're full vampire, as far as they know. Got it?"
I nodded again. I was getting the impression that Thierry didn't like me.
"As for accommodation, we have enough rooms for you both to have separate rooms, if you wish. Just choose anything you want. They are on the second floor."
We turned a corner and I caught sight of the mansion for the first time.
Oh. Wow. It was bigger than the fortress seemed to be.
Figures.