A/N: I just felt inspired to continue writing, it's a lot of fun. Um…this chapter was going to be longer but I cut it short because it ended with a better cliff-hanger than the original length. Oh, LJ Smith owns Night World and its characters, etc. Anyways, I hope you guys enjoy this chapter, don't forget to review.

Chapter 4 – Questions without answers

"Mickey!" Ash called out. Mica's pale cheeks warmed to a pink as she winced at Ash's pet name for her. He hadn't used it in months and she'd hoped to the Goddess that he had forgotten it. Of course he hadn't. Vampire…photographic memory.

"Mickey?" Drake looked at her with a cheeky grin. Mica just shook her head, slightly flustered with Ash and Drake at the same time.

"Ash, what are you doing here?" Mica turned on her heel to face him. "Shouldn't you be out with Mary Lynette?"

"We thought we would have a quiet afternoon in." Ash said, a cheeky smirk creeping to his lips. Mary Lynette stalked up behind him and slapped him in the arm. Mica smiled.

"Um…" Drake pressed his lips together. Mica glanced at him, he didn't look very comfortable.

"So, why is Quinn's car here?" Mica queried as the four of them moved into the lounge room.

"Because I dropped by to visit Rashel." Quinn entered the lounge room, extremely cool, calm and collected. Mica broke into a grin.

"Hey!" Mica ran to him and hugged him tightly before taking a seat on the couch. He had been on a scoping mission lately and hadn't been seen around the house in a few days.

"I also had to deliver some new…discoveries for Thierry." Quinn said, glancing at Drake. Mica frowned. She still didn't know how and why Drake was in the house. She looked up into the hallway and noticed a couple of luggage bags. Another frown. Turning back to look from Quinn to Drake, she understood. Oh.

"He's staying?" Ash raised his eyebrows, turning to Quinn, who nodded. A flash of anger hit his bright green eyes. A look that made Mica shiver. Then, through clenched teeth, Ash addressed Quinn, "Can I please have a word with you?"

"Um, Drake, come. I'll show you to a room." Mica said immediately, recognising the look in Ash's eyes and did not want to be in the same room as the angry vampire when he was in state such as this.

"Wait!" Ash growled.

"Ash." Thierry entered the room, allowing Mica and Drake to escape to the second floor. Mica could hear Thierry, Quinn and Ash speaking in muffled voices as she led Drake up to the second floor.

"Here, this one's empty." Mica opened the door to a guest room that was in the same hallway as many of the other occupants, including herself.

"Thank you." Drake smiled. Taking a long look at him while he unpacked, she realized that he had faint scars and healed bruises along his arms and on his cheeks.

"You weren't in school today." Mica spoke after a long silence.

"Mmm."

Mica raised her eyebrows. "Where did you go last night?"

"I needed to feed."

Mica froze, her heart stopping and then thundering. Vampire. Of course. He was a lamia. "Oh."

"I'm sorry." He stopped with his clothes and turned to her, moving closer to her.

"What for?" Mica asked, her eyes wide, suddenly feeling very small.

"For last night. For what happened with Killian. For running off." He took a step closer.

"I still don't understand what happened." Mica pressed her lips together, taking a step back.

"Me neither." Drake answered in a low, husky voice, taking another long stride towards her and closing the gap between them. "But ever since that moment I haven't been able to stop thinking about you." Her heart stopped and her breath was caught in her throat. Mica took another step back and inhaled sharply when she felt her back hitting the cold wall behind her.

"I've never felt like this before in my life." Drake continued, enclosing the space between them. Mica automatically raised her hands to create some sort of barrier between the two of them, but her palms pressed against his warm chest because he was so close and she couldn't bring herself to lower her hands.

"Drake…" She trailed off. He moved his hands up and placed them over her fingers. Then it happened again. As soon as his palms touched her fingers a warm buzzing energy washed over them and it swam through her entire body.

She raised her chin and gazed into his eyes. A sea of green flowed before her, a bright, impossibly emerald green that shone varied depths of jade.

He moved first, leaning in closer for a kiss. He was so close, she could feel his breathe against her cheek and she could literally feel his warmth seeping into her. All the while gazing into his soulfully green eyes.

"Drake, I…" She could barely string two words together. He was so close. And so warm. There was a loud bump and the door opened. Mica felt herself involuntarily jerked herself back and bumped her shoulder against the wall. Drake took a quick step back as Thierry and Quinn entered the room.

"Mica." Thierry nodded his head at her, a small and amused smile crossing his lips. Quinn looked from Mica to Drake with a wary look.

"Thierry, Quinn." Mica smiled shyly.

"Mica, would you mind allowing us speak to Drake for just a moment?" Thierry asked in comedic politeness. Mica nodded quickly, her eyes glancing from Thierry, to Quinn and finally gazing for a beat longer at Drake, before exiting quickly. As soon as she shut the door behind her, she bumped into Ash, who was wearing a not-so-happy-camper look on his face.

"What's going on?" Mica frowned as the two moved up to the third floor and into the mansion's library.

"We aren't exactly sure who this guy is, but we know that he's a lamia, meaning there is some respect expected." Ash grumbled, closing the door behind them. Now they were in the library. Not Thierry and Hannah's personal library, that was a private place for important documents seen only on a need-to-know basis. This library was amazing. Mica loved it. Not only did it have ancient texts describing the entire history of the Night World, but it also had human books too. This was her sanctuary.

"But why is he here now?" Mica asked.

"Quinn said that he found the boy unconscious in an alleyway." Ash reported, sitting down in front of the fire place and began placing firewood into the cold pit. "He's a Daybreaker now, sort of."

"Daybreaker? Sort of?" Mica raised an eyebrow.

"Well, like you are. You are part of Circle Daybreak, but you aren't a field agent like the rest of us or even a desk officer." Ash said simply. "Granted all we have to do is run the boy through some basic training and he'll be qualified for the field."

"Drake." Mica mumbled automatically as she climbed up the bookshelf step ladder to pull out a book about lamia blood lines from the top shelf.

"Eh?" Ash glanced up at her.

"The boy." Mica said simply. "His name is Drake." Ash just looked at her, frowning. She knew what he was thinking, that she had gotten too close to the boy already. That he might not have been as innocent as he seemed. But she ignored Ash's look, jumping down the last four steps and going over to the huge oak desk to peruse the book.

"Lamia Bloodlines Through Time?" Ash raised his eyebrows when he caught a glance at the cover of her book. Mica glanced up for just a second, giving him a look that clearly told him to back off. He took a step back. Even though she was only a human and he was a vampire, she knew his weaknesses and could very well bring both emotional and physical pain to him.

"So…looking for anyone in particular?" Ash queried innocently, sitting down, lazily draped in an armchair.

"Just doing some background reading." Mica said softly, turning the page and finding the chapter she was looking for. Blackthorn Genealogy. The now warm library was filled with silence as her rich eyes that shone with a maroon sheen from the roaring fire quickly skimmed the family tree for the Drake Blackthorn. Unfortunately the last generation to be recorded was born in the early nineteenth century, not even Morgead was listed.

Frowning, Mica snapped the book shut and went over to the step ladder to replace it in its place on the top shelf.

"Oh, did you know that Thea and Eric are coming back tomorrow?" Ash said, not getting up from his slouch in the comfortable chair.

"Really?" Mica brightened immediately. "Fantastic, I haven't seen them for so long."

"I knew that would cheer you up." Ash smiled.

"You thought I was upset?" Mica raised her eyebrows, jumping from the very top of the step ladder and landing on her feet perfectly. She had been training a little bit with Rashel lately, just to prepare her for the real stuff when Thierry and Hannah let her go on field missions. Also, just in case she got attacked when she was out alone. Ash looked impressed when he saw her perfect landing.

"Uh, yeah, well the whole thing with Greg yesterday." Ash continued.

"Oh." To be honest, Mica hadn't thought about Greg since yesterday during class. Ever since she'd met Drake…well, all she could think about was him. "Hey, can I ask you a question?"

"Of course." Ash turned to her, his eyes a serious slate grey.

"Well…you know how you and Mary Lynette are soulmates?" Mica said, cringing. Ash rolled his eyes and nodded. "How did you know that you were soulmates?"

"You mean when we first met?" Ash asked. Mica nodded. "Well when we first met…I knew immediately. There was this…connection."

"Connection?"

"Well…its difficult to explain." Ash shrugged. "It's like when you're in love. You can't explain it, you just know it."

"So, when you meet your soulmate, you just, sort of, know it?" Mica asked.

"Yeah, I guess." Ash shrugged again. Then he frowned, narrowing his eyes that were lightening to a pale, silvery grey. "Why?"

"Oh." Mica shrugged, putting on a smile. "I was just curious. I should probably go. I've got an essay to start." Ash watched her as she left the room, narrowing his silver eyes at her.

Dinner could only be described with one word that night. Awkward. Mica sat quietly, eating her dinner with her dark eyes glued to her plate. She did not want to look up and meet anyone's gaze. Not Ash, or Quinn, or Drake. It was rare that the entire household would be home to have a meal together. Probably once or twice a month. But when a substantial amount of people were home, they would eat formally, in the dining room. Usually, the younger ones would just order pizza or Chinese or something.

"So, Mica, how is school going?" Thierry asked as he took a sip of wine. The vampires ate human food as a formality, although Mica knew that the cook traced blood into their food to add some sort of sustenance.

"It's good." Mica said, nodding even though she was looking at her chicken.

"Yeah, how's that essay going?" Ash mused. Mica did glanced up this time. He had a cheeky glint in his eye. "What are you writing about?" Mica smiled this time.

"An analytical exposition about the ancient Athenian democracy and how it changed because of an archon named Solon. It's really quite fascinating." Mica smiled sweetly at Ash. He knew that she had just used the essay writing as an excuse to avoid an awkward situation before, but she really was writing an essay. "You see Solon developed what used to be a very biased and unfair situation for the common class and helped them out a little. He loosened the class structure and turned them from a division by birth to a division by wealth. It allowed citizens to climb the class system through trade."

Ash blinked.

"I remember that." Thierry said, glancing at Hannah who smiled. "Hannah was the daughter of a rich tradesman, she was betrothed to a complete pig."

"Literally?" Ash's clear green eyes lit up in laughter. "Man, you guys are old, back to when the shapeshifters ruled." Mary Lynette rolled her eyes, swatting him sharply. Mica grinned.

"Actually, I remember that." Hannah bit her lip thoughtfully, her cool grey eyes gazing before her, not focusing on anything in particular. "That was one of the times we found each other." The two gazed at one another. Thierry lifted Hannah's hand to his lips and kissed her gently.

Their sweet and romantic moment was disrupted by a strange noise Ash made. Somewhere between a snort and a gag of disgust. The noise earned him another slap from Mary Lynette. Mica rolled her eyes.

When dinner was finished everyone went their separate ways. Either to work or play or sleep. Most of the vampire couples left for the Black Iris to continue their research.

Just as Mica, Drake, Hannah and Mary Lynette were getting settled in the lounge room with a movie on the television, the doorbell rang. Sighing, Mica stood up, turned the light on and went to see who it was. Unbeknownst to her, Drake followed her to the foyer.

Smiling casually at the bodyguard standing by the hallway, Mica opened the door to find Greg standing there. He looked from Mica to something above her shoulder. Mica ignored that strange look that crossed his face, thinking that maybe he had come here to break up with her.

"Greg. Hi." Mica greeted without so much as a smile.

"Hi Mica," he said softly. "Drake." He added firmly, nodding his head in acknowledgement. Mica frowned and turned to see Drake standing just ten inches from her. Drake returned Greg's acknowledgement with a slight nod of his head.

"What's he doing here?" Greg asked immediately. Mica frowned.

"He lives here." She answered simply. A territorial glaze formed in Greg's eyes. "Greg, what are you doing here?"

"What, I can't visit my girlfriend?" Greg shot back. Mica shut her eyes and took in a deep breath. "I'm sorry. But can we talk for a little bit? Alone." Mica opened her eyes, pressed her lips together and nodded. She owed him that at least. She moved outside, giving Drake a look of apology and walked Greg towards a small bench placed near some rose bushes.