Thank you too everyone who reviewed , your kind words mean so much. And thank you bellacullen202 and

xxlamia vampressxx who helped me get this chapter out.


Rashel froze. Her sword remained in the air, poised over the vampire's heart.

"Well, what are you waiting for?" the vampire said. "Go on and do it."

"You said you weren't suicidal." Jade yelped.

"Would you shut up?" Quinn growled. "I am not suicidal." True he'd thought of hundreds of ways to kill himself, end his suffering then and there, but he wasn't ready to die yet. He still felt like there was a piece missing from his life. He needed to find that piece or the pain would drive him utterly mad.

Rashel didn't know what she was waiting for. The vampire was in a position to block her sword with his wooden handcuffs, but he didn't do any such thing. She could tell by his body language that he wasn't going to, either. Instead he just lay there, looking up at her with eyes that were as dark and empty as the depths of space.

It's a trick, girl! Rashel wanted to scream at her book self. Quinn would play calm until he found a time to strike.

His hair was tousled on his forehead and his mouth was a bleak line. He didn't seem afraid. He just went on staring with those fathomless eyes.

All right, Rashel thought. Do it. Even the leech is telling you to. Do it fast—now.

But instead she found herself pivoting and stepping slowly away from him.

"Well, that didn't work did it?" Morgead grinned impishly.

"I don't take orders from, parasites." Rashel snapped back.

"Sorry," she said out loud. "I don't take orders from parasites."

"That's still creepy." Gillian shivered.

"You cold, Gillian?" David asked

Thierry coughed at the irony.

"What?" Gillian turned slightly toward David a faint trace of pink covering her cheeks.

He reached out for her arm. "I said are you-" His hand meet her wrist, sending a pleasant tingly feeling down both their spins.

Gillian jerked away letting her hair cover the dark blush. "I'm fine."

Rowan and James stared at them, a knowing look in their eyes.

She kept her sword at the ready in case he made any sudden moves. But all he did was glance down at the wooden handcuffs, wiggle his wrists in them, and the lie back.

"I see," he said with a strange smile. "So it's torture this time, right? Well, that should be amusing for you."

"I think Quinn's going insane." Maggie whispered to Delos. Luckily Quinn and Rashel's seat was too far away and Maggie spoke too softly for the mentioned vampire to hear.

Delos just hummed in amusement.

Stake him, dummy, came the little voice in Rashel's head. Don't talk to him. It's dangerous to get in a conversation with his kind.

Maybe that little voice isn't so bad?Rashel mused.

But she couldn't refocus herself. In a minute, she told the voice. First I have to get my own control back.

She knelt in her ready-for-action crouch and picked up the flashlight, turning it full on his face. He blinked and looked away, squinting.

"Now, that's not very nice." Quinn said, playfully.

"Are you ever nice?" Rashel asked trying to sound bored.

Quinn gave her the strange smile the book must have mentioned. "Only sometimes-"

And only to certain people. Quinn's mental voice floated slowly through Rashel's mind. She frowned and gulped back the burning in her cheeks.

There. Now she could see him, but he couldn't see her. Vampire eyes were hypersensitive to light. And even if he did manage to get a glimpse of her, she was wearing a scarf. She had all the advantages, and it made her feel more in command of the situation.

Wish I felt that way now. Rashel drew a breath still trying to keep the blush away.

"Why would you think we want to torture you?" she said.

He smiled at the ceiling, not trying to look at her. "Because I'm still alive." He raised the handcuffs. "And aren't these traditional? A few vampires from the south shore have turned up mutilated with stocks like these on. It seemed to have been done for fun." Smile.

"Quinn," Poppy looked from the book to the vampire. "You're weird."

Quinn chuckled, "I'm a five hundred year-old-vampire, what did you expect?"

"You still act like an eighteen-year-old." Rashel leaned farther back into the couch.

"I was eighteen when I 'died' old habits are hard to leave behind."

"Mmhmm."

Vicky's work, Rashel thought. She wished he would stop smiling. It was such a disturbing smile, beautiful and a little mad.

Did she like the way he smiled? Quinn thought looking at Rashel. He scowled at the thought becoming angry with himself. What did he care if the human like his smiled?

"What?" Rashel demanded with more force than she'd intended when everyone turned toward her.

The room vibrated with mumbled responses.

"Unless," the vampire was going on, "it's information you want."

Rashel snorted. "Would I be likely to get information from you if I did want it?"

"Well." Smile. "Not likely."

"I didn't think so," Rashel said dryly.

He laughed out loud.

Oh, God, Rashel thought. Stake him.

She didn't know what was wrong with her. Okay, he was charming—in a weird way.

Got that right. Rashel rolled her eyes.

But she'd known other charming vampires—smooth, practiced flatterers who tried to sweet-talk or cajole their way out of being staked. Some had tried to seduce her. Almost all had tried mind control. It was only because Rashel had the will to resist telepathy that she was alive today.

"You can resist telepathy?" Thierry asked.

"Yeah, why?"

"Well it's rare we hear of human being able to resist even some of our weaker telepaths."

I don't think she's completely human. Keller narrowed her eyes. I don't know what Rashel is but she's not all human.

"What's wrong, Keller?" Galen cocked his head to the side.

Keller's eyes shifted to of him but she didn't move. "Why do you think something's wrong?"

"Well, you're killing the armrests."

Keller glanced at her hands holding onto the arm of the chair in a white-knuckled grip. She released the chair and relaxed into the velvet back of the chair, eyes still narrowed suspiciously.

But this vampire wasn't doing any of the ordinary things—and when he laughed, it made Rashel's heart thump oddly. His whole face changed when he laughed. A sort of light shone in it.

Quinn couldn't decide whether growl and shred something to pieces with his bare hands or whimper (which he hadn't done in hundreds of years) at the harsh tug-of-war game this book was putting his heart through. Did he like the way Rashel seemed to enjoy his laugh? Or laugh at the way she described him?

Girl, you are in trouble. Kill him quick.

It's not gonna happen. James shook his head.

"Look," she said, and she was surprised to find her voice a little shaky. "This isn't personal. And you probably don't care, but I'm not the one who was going to torture you. This is business, and it's what I have to do." She took a deep breath and reached for the sword by her knee.

He turned his face to the light. He wasn't smiling now and there was no amusement in his voice when he said, "I understand. You've got… honor."

So he does understand honor. Rashel wanted to pull her hair out. Maybe I underestimated him….maybe he's not like the other I've fought? No! Rashel fisted her hands. Get a grip. This is Quinn we're talking about…. Her heart twisted painfully.

Looking back at the ceiling, he added, "And you're right, this is the way it always has to end when our two races meet. It's kill or be killed. The law of nature."

"That law sucks." Poppy huffed, crossed her arms, and then blinked. "Uh, no pun intended."

"Of course," Thierry smiled. "The law does suck, Poppy, but sometimes that's the way things are."

"But why?" Poppy argued. "Why do things have to be like that. How hard is it to not kill someone?"

"Some vampires have no shame, Poppy." James said. "They have neither shame nor any boundaries; they do what they want when they want."

"They're what give vampires such a bad name." Thea added.

"You're not a vampire…right?" Eric asked.

Thea smiled slightly. "No, witch not vampire."

"You say vampire like it's a bad thing, cousin." James said in mock hurt.

Thea rolled her eyes. "Shut it, Rasmussen."

He was speaking to her as one warrior to another. Suddenly Rashel felt something she'd never felt for a vampire before. Respect. A strange wish that they weren't on opposite sides in this war. A regret that they could never be anything but deadly enemies.

Heat burned Rashel's cheeks. She realized she wanted that feeling …it might help her sort all of….this out.

He's somebody I could talk to, she thought. An odd loneliness had taken hold of her. She realized she cared about having anyone to talk to.

"What is it?" She snapped when they all turned toward her…again. "You want to tell me none of you have ever realized that or thought about it once or twice?"

Everyone promptly looked away.

She found herself saying awkwardly, "Is there anybody you want notified—afterward? I mean, do you have any family? I could make sure the news gets around, so they'd know what had happened to you."

"That's untraditional," Quinn said.

"This whole situation is untraditional." Rashel answered.

She didn't expect him to actually give her any names. That would be crazy. In this game knowledge was power, with each side trying to find out who the players on the other side were. If you could identify someone as a vampire—or a vampire hunter—you knew who to kill.

It was Batman and Catwoman all over. The important thing was to preserve your secret identity.

"So this Batman did he have feelings for this Catwoman as well? Because it seems that Catwoman has feeling for Batman." Delos asked.

"E-excuse me?" Rashel knew her face was completely red now and Quinn's wasn't much better.

"Uh, Delos maybe you should let me explain a few more things." Maggie got his attention on her once again.

But this vampire, who was obviously a lunatic, said thoughtfully, "Well, you could send a note to my adopted father. He's Hunter Redfern. Sorry I can't give you an address, but he should be somewhere down east." Another smile. "I forgot to tell you my name. It's Quinn."

Rashel felt as if she'd been hit with an oak club.

"Been there done that." Rashel muttered.

Quinn.

One of the most dangerous vampires in all the Night World. Maybe the most dangerous of the made vampires, the ones who'd started out human. She knew him by reputation—every vampire hunter did. He was supposed to be a deadly fighter and a brilliant strategist; clever, resourceful… and cold as ice. He despised humans, held them in utter contempt. He wanted the Night World to wipe them out, except for a few to be used for food.

Quinn flinched, "Ouch."

I was wrong, Rashel thought dazedly. I should have let Vicky torture him. I'm sure he deserves it, if any of them do. God only knows what he's done in his time.

Quinn had turned his head toward her again, looking straight into the flashlight even though it must be hurting his eyes.

"So you see, you'd better kill me fast," he said in a voice soft as snow falling. "Because that's certainly what I'm going to do to you if I get loose."

Somehow I doubt he would actually be able to kill Rashel. Rowan thought.

Rashel gave a strained laugh. "Am I supposed to be scared?"

"Only if you have the brains to know who I am." Now he sounded tired and scornful. "Which obviously you don't."

"Well, let me see. I seem to remember something about the Redferns… Aren't they the family who controls the vampire part of the Night World Council? The most important family of all the lamia, the born vampires. Descended directly from Maya, the legendary first vampire. And Hunter Redfern is their leader, the upholder of Night World law, the one who colonized America with vampires back in the sixteen hundreds. Tell me if I'm getting any of this wrong."

He gave her a cold glance.

"You see, we have our sources. And I seem to remember them mentioning your name, too. You were made a vampire by Hunter… and since his own children were all daughters, you're also his heir."

Quinn laughed sourly. "Yes, well, that's an on-again, off-again thing. You might say I have a love-hate relationship with the Redferns. We spend most of the time wishing each other at the bottom of the Atlantic."

"Tch, vampire family infighting," Rashel said. "Why is it always so hard to get along with your folks?" Despite her light words, she had to focus to keep control of her breathing.

It wasn't fear. She truly wasn't scared of him. It was something like confusion. Clearly, she should be killing him at this moment instead of chatting with him. She couldn't understand why she wasn't doing it.

I don't understand it either. Quinn sighed internally.

The only excuse she had was that it seemed to make him even more confused and angry than it did her.

"I don't think you've heard enough about me," he said, showing his teeth. "I'm your worst nightmare, human. I even shock other vampires. Like old Hunter… he has certain ideas about propriety. How you kill, and who. If he knew some of the things I do, he'd fall down dead himself."

Well, this is just great. This won't help at all. Quinn's growled in irritation.

Good old Hunter, Rashel thought. The stiff moral patriarch of the Redfern clan, still caught up in the seventeenth century. He might be a vampire, but he was definitely a New Englander.

"Maybe I should find a way to tell him," she said whimsically.

Quinn gave her another cold look, this time tempered with respect. "If I thought you could find him, I'd worry."

Rashel was suddenly struck by something. "You know, I don't think I've ever heard anyone say your first name. I mean, I presume you have one."

"How would you know?" Quinn asked.

Rashel stared at the made vampire. She didn't know herself. Honestly, Rashel had heard of Quinn but never put much thought into him or even if he had a first name.

Rashel met his bottomless eyes. They were hard to read but Rashel saw surprise in his eyes and maybe…anticipation? He wanted to tell her his real name…and even though she'd really just met him she wanted to know.

He blinked. Then, as if he were surprised himself, he said, "John."

"Jonathon." Ash and Morgead chorused.

"Be quiet." Quinn snarled.

John. Rashel thought in wonder. Such a human name.

"John Quinn. John."

"I didn't invite you to call me it."

"All right, whatever." She said it absently, deep in thought. John Quinn. Such a normal name, a Boston name. The name of a real person. It made her think of him as a person, instead of as Quinn the Dreadful.

"That is a horrible nickname." Quinn said in mock seriousness.

"Oh, shut up." Rashel answered.

"Look," Rashel said, and then she asked him something she'd never asked a Night Person before. She said, "Did you want Hunter Redfern to make you a vampire?"

There was a long pause. Then Quinn said expressionlessly, "As a matter of fact, I wanted to kill him for it."

"I see." I'd want to do the same, Rashel thought. She didn't mean to ask any more questions, but she found herself saying, "Then why did he do it? I mean, why pick you?"

Another pause. Just when she was sure he wouldn't answer, he said, "I was—I wanted to marry one of his daughters. Her name was Dove."

"You wanted to marry a vampire?"

"I didn't know she was a vampire!" This time Quinn's voce was quick and impatient. "Hunter Redfern was accepted in Charlestown. Granted, a few people said his wife had been a witch, but in those days people said that if you smiled in church."

"So he just lived there and nobody knew," Rashel said.

"Most people accepted him." A faint mocking smile curved Quinn's lips. "My own father accepted him, and he was the minister."

Despite herself, Rashel was fascinated. "And you had to be a vampire to marry her? Dove, I mean."

"I didn't get to marry her," Quinn said tonelessly. He seemed as surprised as she was that he was telling her these things. But he went on, seeming to speak almost to himself. "Hunter wanted me to marry one of his other daughters. I said I'd rather marry a pig

That got the vampires howling. Mary-Lynette and Jez were pretty sure Ash and Morgead were going to roll off the couch any minute. Jade, Rowan, and even Kestrel were giggling uncontrollably. Poppy was chuckling quietly at James who had tears running down his face. Thierry was even clutching his side trying and failing to stop laughing.

"Anyone get why that's so funny?" Maggie asked.

"Maybe it's a vampire thing." Thea shrugged

Delos seemed to keep his princely demeanor coughing to hide his amusement and returned to reading.

. Garnet—that's the oldest—was about as interesting as a stick of wood. And Lily, the middle one, was evil. I could see that in her eyes. I only wanted Dove."

"And you told him that?"

"Of course. He agreed to it finally—and then he told me his family's secret. Well." Quinn laughed bitterly. "He didn't tell me, actually. It was more of a demonstration. When s dead and a vampire. It was quite an experience."

Rashel opened her mouth and then shut it again, trying to imagine the horror of it. Finally she just said, "I bet."

They sat for a moment in silence. Rashel had never felt so… close to a vampire. Instead of disgust and hatred, she felt pity.

"But what happened to Dove?"

Quinn seemed to tense all over. "She died," he said nastily. It was clear that his confidences were over.

"How?"

"None of your business!"

Rashel tilted her head and looked at him soberly. "How, John Quinn? You know, there are some things you really ought to tell other people. It might help."

"I don't need a damn psychoanalyst," he spat. He was furious now, and there was a dark light in his eyes that ought to have frightened Rashel. He looked as wild as she felt sometimes, when she didn't care who she hurt.

She wasn't frightened. She was strangely calm, the kind of calm she felt when her breathing exercises made her feel one with the earth and absolutely sure of her path.

"Look, Quinn—"

"I really think you'd better kill me now," he said tightly. "Unless you're too stupid or too scared. This wood won't hold forever, you know. And when I get out, I'm going to use that sword on you."

Startled, Rashel looked down at Vicky's handcuffs. They were bent. Not the oak, of course—it was the metal hinges that were coming apart. Soon he'd have enough room to slip them off.

"Vicky only shows more her stupidity." Kestrel scoffed.

He was very strong, even for a vampire.

And then, with the same odd calm, she realized what she was going to do.

"Yes, that's a good idea," she said. "Keep bending them. I can say that's how you got out."

"What are you talking about?"

Rashel got up and searched for a steel knife to cut the cords on his feet. "I'm letting you go John Quinn," she said.

He paused in his wrenching of the handcuffs. "You're insane," he said, as if he'd just discovered this.

"Honestly, you want to lecture me on brains?" Rashel almost laughed. "You're the one who could be related to the freaking Mad Hatter."

Quinn held up his hands in surrender. "Hey, I didn't say it, book me said it."

"Yeah, blame it on the book."

"You may be right." Rashel found the knife and slit through the bast cords.

He gave the handcuffs a twist. "If," he said deliberately, "you think that because I was a human once, I have any pity on them, you are very, very wrong. I hate humans more than I hate the Redferns."

"Why?"

He bared his teeth. "No, thank you. I don't have to explain anything to you. Just take my word for it."

She believed him. He looked as angry and as dangerous as an animal in a trap. "All right," she said, stepping back and putting her hand on the hilt of her bokken. "Take your best shot. But remember, I beat you once. I was the one who knocked you out."

He blinked. Then he shook his head in disbelief. "You little idiot," he said. "I wasn't paying attention. I thought you were another of those jerks falling over their own feet. And I wasn't even fighting them seriously." He sat up in one fluid motion that showed the strength he had, and the control of his own body.

"You don't have a chance," he said softly, turning those dark eyes on her. Now that he wasn't looking into the flashlight, his pupils were huge. "You're dead already."

Rashel had a sinking feeling that was telling her the same thing.

What's gotten into me? Rashel put her head into her hands.

The soulmate principle. It was Quinn's voice.

What? No answer. He had left her feeling more confused than ever.

"I'm faster than any human," the soft voice went on. "I'm stronger than any human. I can see better in the dark. And I'm much, much nastier."

Panic exploded inside Rashel.

All at once, she believed him absolutely. She couldn't see to get her breath, and a void had opened in her stomach. She lost any vestige of her previous calm.

He's right—you were an idiot, she told herself wildly. You had every chance to stop him and you blew it. And why? Because you were sorry for him? Sorry for a deranged monster who's going to tear you limb from limb now? Anyone as stupid as that deserves what they get.

She felt as if she were falling, unable to get hold of anything…

And then suddenly she did seem to catch something. Something that she clung to desperately, trying to resist the fear that wanted to suck her into darkness.

You couldn't have done anything else.

"Stupid little voice." Rashel huffed

It was a little voice in her mind, being helpful for once. And, strangely, Rashel knew it was true. She couldn't have killed him when he was tied up and helpless, not without becoming a monster herself. And after hearing his story, she couldn't have ignored the pity she felt.

I'm probably going to die now, she thought. And I'm still scared. But I'd do it over again. It was right.

Quinn cut his eyes sharply toward Rashel. This human was a conundrum. A puzzle he wanted to solve. No. Not again…

Too late.

Rashel's right that little voice is a pain. Quinn thought, sardonically.

She hung on to that as she let the last seconds tick away, the last window of opportunity to stake him while the cuffs still held. She knew they were ticking away, and she knew Quinn knew.

"What a shame to rip your throat out," he said.

Rashel held her ground.

Quinn gave the handcuffs a final wrench, and the metal hinges squealed. Then the stocks clattered onto the concrete and he stood up, free. Rashel couldn't see his face anymore; it was above the reach of the flashlight.

"Well," he said evenly.

Rashel whispered, "Well."

They stood facing each other.

Rashel was waiting for the tiny involuntary body movements that would give away which direction he was going to lunge. But he was more still than any enemy she'd ever seen. He kept his tension inside, ready to explode only when he directed it. His control seemed to be complete.

He's go zanshin, she thought.

"You're very good," she said softly.

"Thanks. So are you."

"Thanks."

"But it isn't going to matter in the end."

Rashel started to say, "We'll see"—and he lunged.

She had an instant's warning. A barely perceptible movement of his leg told her he was going to spring to his right, her left. Her body reacted without her direction, moving smoothly… and she didn't realize until she was doing it that she wasn't using the sword.

She had stepped forward, inside his attack, and deflected it with a mirror palm block, striking the innerside of his arm with her left arm. Hitting the nerves to try and numb the limb.

But not cutting him. She realized with a dizzy sense of horror that she didn't want to use the sword on him.

My head hurts. Rashel thought head still in her hands. And to make it even worse her hearts was in knots.

"You are going to die, idiot," he told her, and for an instant she wasn't sure if it was him saying it or the voice in her head.

She tried to push him away. All she could think was that she needed time, time to get her survival reflexes back. She shoved at him—

and then her bare hand brushed his, and something happened that was completely beyond her experience.

Rashel quietly released the breath she didn't know she had been holding in. The stress on her heart receded.

"Well, this has gotten interesting." Delos held the book out for someone else to take.

"Toss it over here." Hannah held up her hands.


Yeah, I don't think this is the best chapter I've ever written but review please. Oops forgot the disclaimer.

Ash pops out of nowhere. "Water doesn't own the Nightworld." He disappears,

Water:…. *breaks the fourth wall* Y'all saw that too right?