(A/N:
"Hey guys, I decided to write this as I've always been a huge Kestrel fan and don't feel that or any of her sisters are represented well enough. I hope you enjoy the story, and please comment and review, I would love to know your thoughts!)
""Yes..No…Yes…No, look I'm going out again, I'm walking out the door as we speak, could you just relax?" Kestrel asked, exasperated as she was bombarded by questions from the other side of the phone. It had been three months since Kestrel had left Briar Creek. And every day she went through the same routine with Rowan. Rowan would call her, all frantic and concerned. Asking her if she was getting enough blood, if she was washing well, if she was safe, if she was keeping good company, and of course when she would make her return.
Kestrel couldn't say she blamed her sister for pestering her with worry. After all, the three had always been close. And Kestrel did worry about them as well. However once Kestrel had turned eighteen, she wanted to see more of the outside world than just Briar Creek. She'd always been envious when her older brother would return home and tell them all the tales of his wild adventures from New York, or Las Vegas. There was even an instance when Ash had claimed he wound up in some random village in Hungary, unsure of how he'd even gotten there. The idiot said he'd woken up in a barn bare naked covered in chicken feathers with absolutely no recollection of the night before.
While Kestrel didn't plan to go exactly that wild, she wanted more than some boring hick town where there was nothing more to do than run around the woods at night looking for animals to try and best. And as far as she could tell, Ash may have been onto something when he bragged about his partying. She'd gone out nearly every night since she'd arrived in Las Vegas, and honestly she'd a memory for every night. And as odd as it was for her to say, she'd even made friends. Her. Kestrel Redfern. Prickly and cold natured, had found company of people she'd actually enjoyed spending time with. Kestrel looked in the long mirror of the hotel room she'd been living out of. It wasn't a great room. Not by a long shot. But it was the best she could do upon having to live off of what she could swipe from the humans she was getting her blood from. She knew of course that Rowan and Jade wouldn't approve of her drinking from humans, but live stock was a bit hard to come by in a city like Las Vegas. And besides that, it wasn't like she was killing anyone. She would simply take what she needed then let them go.
Kestrel smirked at herself in the mirror in approval of her appearance. She never was one to dress to impress, Kestrel was more about movability. She liked to ensure that should anything happen she'd be able to defend herself. So far, she hadn't run into much trouble. However she knew just how unpredictable the life of someone apart of the Night World could be. That's why, rather than dressing in some tiny dress and strappy heels, she wore a simple but tight black tank top to go with her black jeans that were ripped a bit at the thighs and knees. Yet even in such a simple attire, she knew she could still stand out thanks to her golden hair and striking amber eyes. With her own seal of approval, out the door she went to what had become one of her favorite night clubs.
"The Crescent."
It wasn't one that mostly catered to any particular species. Though witches and vampires did seem to make up the main occupancy.
"Welcome back." The bartender stated with a wink as he set Kestrel's favorite drink on the table. A simple Vodka Cranberry. Kestrel took hold of the drink and began sipping it as she traced around the edge of the club. It was already full of life as the music blared so loud you could hardly hear anything anyone said, and hardly see through the crowd of people dancing. She was just about to jump in when a hand clasped around tightly around her arm. Instantly Kestrel jerked herself back and tossed her drink on the attacker before attempting to deliver a quick punch to their Jaw. Another hand grasped around her wrist before she could, another restrained her other arm before forcing them to pin at her sides. She began thrashing around as she looked to see the face of her 'attacker'. Upon getting a good look she slowly stopped struggling and began to laugh as she watched the familiar figure before her glare down at his soaked red chest from her drink.
"What the fuck Kestrel?!" He yelled, his blonde hair falling in his eyes as he finally looked up to glare at her.
"Let me go." Kestrel demanded as she jerked herself away from the man that held her. This time though, he released her and she was finally able to get a look at him. This one she didn't recognize, though he was large, a vampire like herself, with messy, thick black hair. "What are you doing here?" Kestrel demanded. So far, her trip had gone without interruption. She had been happy to assume that Ash simply just had no idea that she was in town, and she had planned to keep it that way.
"We'll talk in the car." Ash stated sternly before lowering his voice. "It's not safe here." He added as he glanced around the area, though as far as Kestrel had been able to tell, there was no immediate danger. With that in mind, Kestrel rolled her eyes at her brother and attempted to take a few steps to walk away. The black haired man stepped in front of her to block her way causing her to scowl. "I'm not going anywhere with you Ash, shouldn't you be going to save some old lady from a mugging? Get out of my way." Kestrel demanded.
"No, you're coming with us. Even if I have to drag you out. Trust me, it's not my idea of fun either. If it were up to me I'd have just left you to your own devices. But Mary-Lynette insisted you be taken too, my hands are tied." Ash argued, holding his hands up in defense. Kestrel whipped around to look at him. "What are you talking about?" Kestrel demanded. When had he spoken to Mary-Lynette?
Just as Ash opened his mouth to answer Kestrel's question, there was a loud BOOM just before the room began to fill with smoke. Within seconds people began to run for the door, and at the back of the club Kestrel just barely see a group of people fighting. "TIME'S UP!" Ash shouted to the other man above the screams. The large man scooped Kestrel up in his arms, holding her so tight she thought her bones might begin to crack before he bolted for the door, Ash following closely behind as the black haired man made a beeline for a black SUV parked at the edge of the parking lot. Ash ran ahead and opened the back seat door, the black haired man simply tossed Kestrel in like a rag doll then ran around and jumped into the other side, Ash jumped into the seat beside Kestrel, leaving her squished between the two as the SUV sped off.
"What the hell is going on?!" Kestrel shouted while Ash and the man beside her panted with relief.
"Relax kid, we're good now. There's time for questions later." The stranger beside her stated as he glanced in the rear view window to see if they were being followed.
"That's right we haven't even had introductions." Added another voice, this one coming from the front seat. His blue eyes piercing through her from the rearview mirror in a way that made her breath catch in her throat. Kestrel couldn't tell what it was about them, but she couldn't stop looking. Like she was entranced. She couldn't have been staring for more than a few seconds though when Ash shouted "WATCH THE ROAD DUMBASS!" just in time for the driver to veer the SUV back into the right lane after he'd allowed it to drift towards oncoming traffic, causing horns to blare out at them.
"You said you were a professional!" Ash added in annoyance at the driver.
"I am! And besides I didn't see anyone else offering to drive you and the ex gang member around!" The driver shouted right back. "We're almost to the mansion anyway." He added with a
Finally Ash turned to look at Kestrel. "That-" He gestured to the driver, shooting a glare in his direction. "Is Tobias-uh…well I'm not sure of his last name. And him-" He said pointing to the large man beside me. "Is Val." Ash stated with a grin, seeming much more pleased with the companion that sat beside me than the one in the front seat.
"Great, sure, I don't care." Kestrel stated bluntly, turning her body more to face her brother after she ripped her eyes away from the review mirror where Tobias was no longer looking at her. "Where are you taking me, and why?"
"Well that's hurtful." Val stated with mock sadness, leaving Kestrel to simply ignore his comment. She never was one for too many words.
"Circle daybreak headquarters…also known as Thierry's mansion. Why, well, there will be a meeting in the morning when Rowan, Jade, Mark and Mary-Lynette arrive." Ash replied, his eyes becoming distant after he mentioned his soulmate. Honestly sometimes it made Kestrel want to barf. Being forced against your will to be in love was just something that didn't sit well with Kestrel. Being forced to be consumed by thoughts of them, and this need to make them happy. It sounded just terrible. After all, Kestrel had always been all about looking out for number one.
Upon deciding that Ash wouldn't be telling her anything tonight, that left Kestrel with her only one option. It was time to antagonize her brother. "Why Ash, is that puppy love I smell? Day dreaming about your girlfriend, that's so sweet. What are you going to do when she gets here? Flowers? Chocolates? Oh, how about you take a long walk on the beach." Kestrel began, though there was not a single ounce of sincerity behind her. It worked almost too easily. She could see Ash's face begin to burn red. He'd never been the romantic mushy type.
"No, yes, I mean-Shut up Kestrel!" He yelled at her, shooting a glare. If looks could kill, she'd have been ten times over years ago. But that was just apart of their relationship. They would take turns picking at one another, agitating the other until things usually got violent. They would fight, sometimes Ash won, sometimes she won. And then they would do it all over again.
"We're here." Tobias stated as he parked the car in a large garage before getting out himself. "Uh, Hannah will probably want to show her to a room herself." He stated as Ash got out of the car, followed by herself. Tobias led the way through a small door into the large hallway of the mansion where Kestrel couldn't help but to watch as he sort of lazily shed off his coat, exposing a few tattoo markings that she'd never really seen before. "Are you just going to stand there?" He asked, turning to look at Kestrel, who had taken to simply standing at the edge of the hall as Val and Ash headed towards a door at the end of the hall. This prompted Kestrel to follow behind the three.
Val slowed down to walk beside Kestrel, giving her a side smirk. "You know, if you didn't want to sleep alone, I'd be happy to accompany you." He said suggestively causing Ash to whip his head around. "Val you're disgusting, that's my sister." He said in a tone of disgust the caused a small laugh to come from Tobias. Kestrel's heart fluttered just a little at the sound.
"Not if you were the last man on earth." Was all Kestrel replied with, though she couldn't help but shoot a smirk in Val's direction at his invitation. After all, he was attractive. And from the looks of him, he knew how to have a good /As they entered the main house, Kestrel was struck by how beautiful everything was. She looked around in awe at the chandelier, and how high the ceiling was. People lived here? It seemed unreal. "Ash, Tobias, Val, you're back." The voice of a woman came from what looked to be a living room. The woman was young, but beautiful, with fair hair and striking gray eyes. She had an air of leadership about her that anyone could sense the moment they saw her. "Is this Kestrel? I'm so sorry we had to bring you here on such short notice…but never the less, I'm glad to meet you." She stated kindly, taking Kestrel's hand with a gentleness that made her think of Rowan. "I'm sure you have a lot of questions, but Thierry thought it best to get you cleaned up and sent right to bed. All will be explained tomorrow. Thea, do you mind to take Kestrel up to her room? I told Thierry I would meet him in his office shortly." Hannah asked as she turned to a girl looking to be about Kestrel's own age who had taken to standing in the doorway of the living room. Kestrel had never met her before, but it was a name all the Redfern's knew. Thea Harman.
"Of course, I was about to go up anyway, Eric and I were going to watch a movie together. He said it's a surprise." She replied, blushing just a little. From behind her another young woman pushed forward. A pretty brunette girl this time, that no one seemed inclined to introduce. From what Kestrel could tell, she was human, but she noticed how both Thea and Hannah seemed to roll their eyes as the young woman strode right up to Tobias and planted a seemingly never ending kiss right on his
Kestrel wasn't certain why but she felt her jaw tighten in anger as Tobias grinned at the girl and put an arm around her before slipping his hand in her back pocket and making his way up the steps of the mansion. "We'll be in bed." Tobias called behind him, the grin clear on his face as he disappeared around the
"Oh a ladies man." Kestrel stated dryly amidst the silence.
Thea chuckled a little and began up the stairs as her brother made his way down a separate hall, Val towing behind him muttering about being starved. "Well, he does spend his time in a particular way, I'll give you that. But not to worry, we are going the opposite direction." Thea assured as Kestrel followed her up the stairs towards this unknown room that she was being given.