Hi, sorry it's been so long; I've only really been able to write at school, and that's mostly been my other Jez and Morgead story (Jez and Morgead: Memories), because teachers aren't fooled when you've got a book and a notebook open on your table, and you're writing avidly. You can only fool them by writing avidly on a piece of paper.

I don't own Night World.

Chapter 7

Jez watched me silently for a minute. Her voice cut through my hysterics.

"Want to share the joke?"

"It's just... of course. I should have known. Maybe I did know, underneath."

I laughed to cover my pain. I didn't want her to see how much her reaction hurt me.

She kept staring at me with wide eyes.

"There's only one thing that could have brought you back. And I should have realised that from the instant you turned up. It wasn't concern for anybody here; it's got nothing to do with the gang."

I smiled at her as her gaze turned murderous.

"I know what it is, Jez Redfern. I know exactly why you're here today."

She just watched me, growing fear and fury evident on her perfect face.

"And why is that?" her voice contradicted her face; it was calm.

"Jez Redfern. That's the key, isn't it? Your family."

Her hands clenched into fists.

"Your family sent you. Hunter Redfern. He knows that I've really found the Wild Power, and expects you to get it out of me."

I knew it was that. She didn't let up her tense posture.

"You idiot! Of course not. I don't run errands for Council!"

I smiled slightly. I wouldn't give up that easily. "I didn't say Council. I said Hunter Redfern. He's trying to steal a march on the Council, isn't he? He wants the Wild Power himself. To restore the Redferns to the glory of old. You're running errands for him."

She pursed her lips for a second.

"All right, what if is true?" she said. The wall was slammed behind her eyes again. "What if I do come from Hunter?"

"Then you can tell him to get bent. I told the Council my terms. I'm not settling for anything less."

"And what were your terms?"

"As if you don't know."

I hated that she had known what I was doing, where I was, when I had thought she'd died.

She kept on staring at me. I shrugged, crossed my arms and answered, "A seat on the Council."

Jez burst out laughing. Suddenly, she looked carefree, and, of course, beautiful.

"You," she gasped, "are out of your mind."

"I know they won't give it to me," I smiled harshly. "I expect them to offer something like control of San Francisco. And some position after the millennium."

She watched me thoughtfully, her head cocked to one side.

"You want to be a prince in the new world order," she said slowly. Something flashed in her eyes, but it was gone too quickly for me to read it.

"I want what's coming to me. All my life I've had to stand around and watch humans get everything. After the millennium things will be different."

Jez was paler than usual. She seemed... shocked.

"And what makes you think the Council is going to be here after the millennium?" she shook her head, "You're better off going with Hunter. I'd bet on him against the Council any day."

I looked at her for a second and blinked.

"He's planning on getting rid of Council?"

She kept looking at me. "What would you do his place?"

Well, damn Hunter Redfern. Council was going down.

But did I want to work with Hunter? He was known to be harsh and cruel, and terrible to work with.

I moved subconsciously to the window. Hunter might be able to give me more than the Council. If I could bribe him enough... He must really want that Wild Power.

Not to mention, if I worked with him, even if Jez left, I could have leads to her.

I span round to look at Jez.

"All right," I said, "I'll join Hunter's team – but only on my terms. After the millennium-"

"After the millennium you'll get what you deserve," she interrupted me.

She stood there, glaring beautifully, clenching her hands into fists, "You'll get a position. Hunter wants people loyal to him in the new order. And if you can prove you're valuable, he'll want you. But you have to prove it. OK? Deal?"

"If I can trust you."

Because that was the real problem. Before, I'd have trusted her with my life. I always knew that I was her closest friend. But I had no idea anymore.

I'd lost my faith in her.

"We can trust each other because we have to. We both want the same thing. If we do what Hunter wants, we both win," Jez said.

"So we co-operate – for the time being."

"We co-operate – and we see what happens."

We watched each other. We were back to how we'd been before she left, competing, jockeying for dominance. I'd always enjoyed that relationship.

But now... it wasn't enough. I wanted more.

"Business," she said matter-of-factly. "Where's the Wild Power, Morgead?"

"I'll show you," I said, then walked over to the futon to sit down.

I looked back at Jez. She was watching me, shock evident in her blue eyes.

"You'll show me what?"

"Show you the Wild Power."

Obviously.

I fast-forwarded through the movie as Jez came to sit beside me. Well, not really beside me. She was sitting as far away from me as she could.

"You've got the Wild Power recorded?" she said incredulously.

I threw a glance at her. Since when had she been such an idiot? She was usually the smartest.

"Yeah, on America's Funniest Home Movies," I said sarcastically. "Just shut up, Jez, and watch."

She narrowed her eyes at me, then turned to the TV screen.

"Breaking news in San Francisco this hour. We have live pictures from the Marina District where a five-alarm fire is raging through a government housing project. We go now to Linda Chin, who's on the scene."

The scene switch to a dark-haired reporter.

"Regina, I'm here at Taylor Street, where fire fighters are trying to prevent this spectacular blaze from spreading-"

Jez turned to look at me. "What's this got to do with the Wild Power? I saw it live. It happened a couple of weeks ago. I was watching that stupid movie."

She broke off suddenly. I turned to look at her. She was staring with wide eyes at me, her jaw clenched, her hands balled into fists.

She'd been here a couple of weeks ago? Well, that was interesting.

"Keep watching. You'll see what it's got to do with the Wild Power."

I let the rest of it wash over me, just watching for when the girl came on.

"Look here," I said. I pointed at the screen.

I turned to look at Jez. She leaned forwards, watching the screen.

"There," I said.

Jez's eyes were wide, but distant as she watched the screen.

I waited until the fire was put out by the blue flash, and paused the TV.

"They never did figure out what stopped the fire. It went out everywhere, all at once, as if it had been smothered."

She looked at me, frowning slightly. "And you think it was some sort of Power that killed it. I don't know, Morgead – it's a pretty big assumption. And to jump from that to the idea that it was a Wild Power-"

"You missed it, then," I interrupted her.

"Missed what?" she groaned. She went back to glaring at me.

I rewinded back to just before the fire ended.

"I almost missed it myself when I saw it live. It was lucky I was recording it. When I went back and looked again, I could see it clearly."

I played it in slow-motion and watched for Jez's reaction. She gasped and jerked back.

"Goddess," she mumbled, her eyes wide. "Blue fire."

I rewinded again to let her see it.

" 'In blue fire, the final darkness is banished; In blood, the final price is payed.' If that girl isn't a Wild Power, Jez... then what is she? You tell me."

"I don't know," she murmured. She bit her lip. "You're beginning to convince me. But-"

I interrupted her. "Look, everyone knows that one of the Wild Powers is in San Francisco. One of the old hags in the witch circle – Grandma Harman or something – had a dream about it. She saw the blue fire in front of Coit Tower or something. And everybody knows the Wild Powers are supposed to be manifesting about now. I think that girl did it for the first time when she realised she was going to die. When she got that desperate."

Jez kept staring at the screen, biting her lip. She turned her face towards me and said, still looking at the screen, "If this kid is the Wild Power, why didn't her Circle notice what happened? Why didn't she tell them, 'Hey, guys, look; I can put out fires now'?"

Had she gotten stupider the past year?

"What do you mean, her Circle?" I said.

She looked at me, her eyes narrowed with as much annoyance as I felt.

"Well she's a witch, right? You're not telling me vampires or shapeshifters are developing new powers like that."

"Who said anything about witched or vampires or shapeshifters? That kid's human."

Jez blinked and stiffened.

She really didn't know? Hadn't Hunter told her?

He should have. Jez deserved to be respected, not used like a slave.

But... why would she have just left to work for Hunter? It just didn't add up. And Hunter would have told her, I was sure.

"The Wild Powers... can be human?"

I smiled before I could stop myself.

"You really didn't know. You haven't heard all the prophecies, have you?" she glared as I struck a mocking oratorical pose. "There's supposed to be:

" 'One from the land of Kings long forgotten,

One from the hearth which still holds the spark,

One from the Day World, where two eyes are watching,

One from the twilight to be one with the dark.' "

She watched me with a thoughtful expression.

"No wonder you're so eager to turn her in. Not just to get a reward – "

"But because the little scum deserves to die, or whatever it is Hunter's got in mind for her," I paused as Jez widened her eyes. "Yeah, vermin have no right developing Night World powers. Right?"

I looked at her, expecting her to grin and agree. But she surprised me.

She was looking down, tense and seemingly unhappy.

"Of course right," she said flatly.

Something clicked. What was wrong with her? The doubts that had dominated my thoughts before had almost been completely squashed, but now they reared back.

She hadn't wanted to drink my blood. She blocked me out of her thoughts. She almost fainted when I took too much blood. She'd said 'Goddess'. No vampire said that. And now... there was something almost like... pity... in her eyes.

"Jez," I said softly. Her chin jerked up and she looked straight at me, fear evident in her gorgeous eyes. "Why didn't Hunter tell that prophecy? The Council dug it up last week."

She looked steadily at me. "I have no idea," she said unemotionally. "Maybe because I was already out here in California when they figured it out. But why don't you call and ask him yourself? I'm sure he'd love to hear from you."

Why wouldn't she tell me the truth?

I glared at her then turned away. I could see Jez smirking smugly out the corner of my eye.

"So what do the 'two eyes watching' mean in the poem?"she said.

I rolled my eyes. "How should I know? You figure it out. You've always been the smart one."

She looked at me in shock. Her expression softened.

"Well, you seem to be doing all right by yourself," she said gently.

I could feel my own expression softening. I never could help it when she complimented me.

She was the centre of my universe.

"Nah, I'm just blundering along," I said.

I looked away, but her gaze was one I knew, and I could tell she wasn't looking away.

I looked back at her.

Her eyes were strange, torn as if an internal battle were raging in her thoughts.

Neither of us looked away.

I heard Jez's breath quicken.

"Jez, look-" I murmured.

I leaned forwards, putting my hand gently on her forearm. She didn't flinch or back away, just watched me, some powerful emotion holding her in place, keeping her gentle.

"Jez... about before... I didn't..."

She was blushing slightly. Her face was slightly impassive, but her eyes were soft.

"Jez..." I murmured again.

I slid my hand from her arm to her cheek and almost fell towards her. The bond that I'd thought had disappeared completely was back, stronger than ever.

I leaned forwards to press my lips to hers.