Nightfire Part Seventeen

My huge thanks to those of ye who commented on the last parts J Thanks for telling me what you think! Thank you Dead Flower (Hey, glad you're liking J!) Diomede ( I just love writing…the words fall out. Jepar's soulmate is Tali. It's in another story.), Kirsty Marie (I hope your finals went well! Thanks :-) There's about four more chapters to come now.) Me (Thanks – I enjoyed writing Firefly, but this series is more fun. I know the characters that well! Ta!), Myst (I would bow…but my knees are killing. Don't fall down stairs. It's a stupid thing to do.), Persephone (Sometimes I just get these bouts of kindness where I feel compelled to be nice to my characters. It won't do. Thanks!) Sapamfa (Thanks for the encouragement J Jal and Cern are fun to write.), Starrika (Thank you so much! ::grins:: Glad you like – I'll try to spot more often.) Starwisher (I know, it's evil...but I like cliffhangers. They're addictive! I'm glad you're liking it – thanks for telling me!).

Comments would be treated like a long-lost friend - welcomed, adored and a sight for sore eyes :-) I love hearing what you think, goods and bads, it makes my day!

Nightfire Part Sixteen

By the time Cern and Jal got back, Chatoya was on the phone, Cougar was plotting how to murder his brother, and Ria was sitting, watching him. Jal knew she had a stupid grin on her face, but she couldn't help herself. How long had it been since she'd felt this happy? Too long, that was for sure.

"Well, I wonder what *you* two were doing," Cougar drawled sardonically, his eyes devilish, leaving no doubt as to just what *he* thought they'd been up to. "Get out of the Pack's clutches, did you?"

"Not quite," Cern said, taking a seat and absently flicking on the stereo. "Jal's got to fight them tomorrow. But going on today...she'll kick their asses." His confidence warmed her, and so did his gaze.

Ria leaned over and whispered meaningfully, "Well? What *were* you doing?"

She could feel herself blushing. The memories of that afternoon played out in her head. She wanted to live them again, to be caught in that moment of perfect understanding forever. "Talking..."

Toying with the heart pendant around her neck, Ria chuckled. It lit her up. "In body language?"

From the corner of her eye, Jal could see Cougar watching the witch. "Seems like I'm not the only one," she said gleefully. "Are you working things out?"

"Mmm-hmm." As the music crashed into electric guitars, Ria twisted herself round. "Hey, can you turn that down? I'm trying to talk here."

The dark-haired lamia gave her a rakish grin. "But I'm just a teenage dirtbag, baby," he protested. Jal didn't really get why the other three laughed. "Music's meant to be loud!"

"Yeah, I don't—" Ria began.

"Hey!" Chatoya cut in, cradling the phone between her ear and shoulder as she tried to get their attention. "Guys, any of you seen Jepar?"

"He went off hunting," Jal chirped, remembering the cheetah boy's bright smile. "Something about deer? It sounded kind of...gross."

Chatoya frowned and turned back to her conversation. "Weird. No, Tali, last thing we know is he went hunting three hours back." The other four tuned in shamelessly. "Really? That *is* weird. Tried the Dahlia? Not there? Well...shouldn't worry about it. You know Jep, he's probably just met up with some of the local shifters. And they're all traipsing round wreaking havoc. Yeah. Bye!"

"Jepar's missing?" Cougar guessed, not bothering to hide the fact they had all been eavesdropping. "Well...remember what happened last time we thought he was missing?"

The others grinned while Jal looked around, confused. Cern explained dryly, "He called us the next day – from Vegas. Turned out the idiot had meant to catch a bus from the lake to us, went off daydreaming and missed his stop by about a hundred miles."

Jal giggled, enjoying the affectionate contempt in his voice. The rest of the evening passed peacefully, chatting and trying to fix the stereo and for the first time, Jal slept deeply and peacefully, with no nightmares to haunt her and the lingering impression of a goodnight kiss on her lips.

* * * *

Jepar Jubatus was, in fact, lost.

It was a new experience. One moment, he had been running through the place that had been his home for nearly four years, the next, his vision blurred and everything seemed unfamiliar.

The woods were nothing but a mass of green, endlessly confusing, dim with shadows and darkness. Jepar turned around, instinctively looking for somewhere to hide. This was unknown, it was danger. He wasn't safe here...but how could he get lost? He knew this place...it was *his*.

I don't feel so good, he thought, as his head began to throb heavily. He was cooking, *roasting* in invisible fires. It hurt, it hurt and he wanted it to *stop*...this wasn't right. There was someone he should reach out to, someone who would help. But...the name had slipped away from him, leaving only blankness.

"Jepar?"

He looked up at the voice, fighting the urge to shapeshift and run.

"Are you all right?" Suddenly something was clear through the blur of pain. There was a girl there, with her head to one side, and her hand outstretched as if to help. There was a star on one finger, he thought dimly, glowing with a strange garnet light.

He tried to identify her. "I don't know." His voice sounded groggy even to him. He could imagine what she was seeing. Him, slumped down and trying so damn hard to fight away the pain. "I...don't think so. My head hurts." Hurts. God, what an understatement. His head was one tight ball of stabbing pain.

"It's okay," she told him soothingly. "I'll look after you."

Ruby. That was who she was, with her short crimson hair and pale face. She peered at him anxiously, seeming to look for something in his face. Whatever it was, she must have found it, because she smiled.

Was it Ruby he should have called? he wondered as he squinted up at her. Somehow, the pain seemed to fade a little looking at her. She was a blazing princess, drenched in crimson and flushing coral. Her face was delicate, dominated by her mouth which was a vivid scarlet. Wisps of red hair clung to her cheekbones.

But I don't even *like* her—

The heat and the hurt swamped his mind, and he curled into a ball, trying to send it away. When it was gone, he couldn't even remember what he'd been thinking. Just pleasant numbness. Better than the pain.

"Jay!" She was crouched down by him, the star on her finger glowing more brightly than ever. "Come on, come with me. I'll look after you."

Will you, he questioned silently, but took her hand because he didn't know what else to do. He couldn't remember if there was anyone else except her. Or why he was here...all he had was his name and hers.

Her secret smile broadened. "It'll be all right now," she reassured. "It'll be all right."

There was very little Jepar remembered after that.

* * * *

Morning broke with the door slamming back and a voice screaming for Cougar and Cern get their asses downstairs *right now*.

Jal staggered out of her room, blinking sleep away. She had been warm and safe for the first time in too long, and then that *voice* had cut into her head like a chainsaw.

The lovely girl at the bottom of the stairs was Tali, the dragon with the red-brown hair and anguished face.

"Oh god," Cougar moaned, clinging to his doorframe. He was in Calvin Kleins and not much else, looking sleepy and well...adorable. "I don't mind women screaming my name at night, but this early is just not on."

"It's Jepar!" Tali yelled, running up the stairs two at a time. She looked...upset. "I can't sense him!"

"Count yourself lucky and go back to bed!" a muffled voice came from the closed door of Cern's room. "Do you know what time it is?"

"Time you started getting worried," the girl shouted, her voice like a waterfall as she stormed past Jal and kicked the door open. "I can't *feel* him! He's been gone all night."

Through the door, Jal saw her soulmate, oh, that word was sweet to think, sit up, suppressing a yawn.

Oh my.

He had, she realised with an electric jolt, a very nice body. Compact, tanned, muscled...tempting.

The purple eyes were still dark and drowsy. "C'mon, Tali, it's not like he can't take care of himself."

"Maybe Ruby's got him tied up in her basement," suggested the lamia.

Tali turned on him furiously, waving a finger at him. Jal was startled to see Cougar hit the floor. "It's not funny! And *what* are you doing? It's not like I'm armed."

"You're a dragon," Cougar snapped. "Your arm *is* your weapon. I don't want to get made into the world's biggest chicken twister just yet."

The girl's sapphire eyes dimmed briefly as her shoulders sagged. "I'm careful," she said flatly. "Look, it's not like Jep. I've never been this long without talking to him."

"Maybe he got into trouble with the Pack," Jal chimed in, trying not to cower at the intensity of Tali's gaze. Her eyes, they were wrong somehow. Too old. Too knowing. Like she had seen everything and didn't think much of it. "It's...easy to do."

The dragon seemed to deflate. "Are you sure? It's just...with Ruby..."

"Look," Cern said reasonably, "she may well have fallen out of her proverbial tree, which was pretty stunted anyway, but Jep's a shapeshifter. How's she going to coerce him?"

"Yeah, piss him off and it's hell in a handbasket," the sardonic vampire put in. He was leaning on the doorframe again, his black hair demonic in the morning muss. "Don't worry, Tali. If he's not back and he's not called by this evening, then we'll agonize and all. Being out in the hunter's moon isn't a good idea."

Jal frowned; a faint discord went through her at the mention of the hunter's moon. Distantly, she heard a howl... Then nothing, only the realisation that she was ravenous. The hunter's moon...hadn't someone told her about that once? But it was like the words were in another language, one Jal didn't know anymore.

"All right..." Tali sighed. "I couldn't have breakfast here, could I? I didn't bother to stop."

"Help yourself," Cougar muttered. "We don't have any meat though. Someone nicked it all. I'm in the shower first – you lot keep out," he added and looked at Jal slyly. "Unless of course—"

"Say it and I kill you," Cern said, innocently hefting his alarm clock. Cougar shut up.

Another day, Jal thought. She could get used to this. And no school...just Circle Strange, for an entire day.

Until the wolves...but that was no big deal.

* * * *

Darkstar glared at the phone until it caught fire. "It's not working," he said in dangerously vibrating voice.

"Could that be because you're not supposed to set it alight before you dial?" Zara offered tiredly. "Someone's onto us, aren't they?"

She was worried. Very worried.

Dark had finally translated the scroll that came with the painting. And when she found the truth of what Jallakri ap Ganra was, she had been horrified. A mistake. A relic. A buried weapon that resurfaced.

Nightfire had made her ten thousand years ago, in their efforts to keep the races pure. That had been their original driving force, and they had created a creature that would eradicate every half-breed in an instant. A werewolf who drew her power directly from the moon itself, a merging of magic and mutation.

But times had changed, and Nightfire changed with them. Its aim was no longer the purity of the races, but the power. Jallakri ap Ganra became obsolete, unwanted...uncontrollable. She had run rampant for centuries while Nightfire desperately chased her, until finally, she was caught and subdued, forced into a deep sleep.

But she had woken again, roused by a resounding fight between two dragons.

She had woken...and the time of year when she would be all-powerful was here. Was *tonight*.

The hunter's moon. It was Nightfire who had created the phrase, named after their killing machine. For she was the hunter beyond all, and the moon was her source of power that night.

Ria, Cern...both half-breeds. Even Cougar, with his Harman-tainted Redfern blood might be at risk.

And someone was stopping them from getting through. The phone lines were filled with static, the faxes garbled. There was no way to get on to the Internet, or reach anyone except by speech. Too far to telepath, not a single communication spell working. They were, in a word, screwed.

"How do we tell them?" Zara whispered, her face haunted.

Dark looked over at her, his black eyes seeming darker than ever. But determined. "We go ourselves," he said grimly. "We shouldn't have waited this long. I'd hoped..." Hoped it was just a glitch, she knew.

Hope was all there was now.

* * * *

It was as if he woke up from a dream.

Jepar blinked, and the world was clear. He was...in a house he didn't know, a house strangely bare of any personality. And he was hungry. He should have hunted yesterday, he realised. But he had felt strange, hadn't he? There had been pain, pain beyond his reckoning and—

Ruby.

However he said that word, it didn't sound good. It didn't feel good.

And a star on her finger. That meant something. Damn. Couldn't think what. There was noise nearby that sounded like the clean clink of plates and glasses. He followed it, getting up to find no pain. Good.

The ominous feeling grew steadily, until he didn't want to look into the kitchen and see what was there. But he was done running away, he had given that up long ago. Deep breath, and he stepped in.

Ruby. Washing dishes, with her back to him and singing under her breath. Dishes? That...was not good. How long had he been here? He glanced at his watch.

A day? A *day*? No...

The star was on the side too. The one that had been on her finger. It still glowed with that unholy light—

Magick! His teacher's voice, so long ago, came into his head. ~ Although most magick is invisible, powerful magick, if it is mere power without finesse, can be seen by our eyes. It appears as a bright light, often mistaken for a reflection of the sun or a star... ~ He squinted until his eyes watered. It was a ring. A magicked ring. She had taken it off to wash up, and it had betrayed her. It had no power over him now.

How could she have? Damn it, she knew how he felt about people messing with his head. They all did.

Even looking at it made the fogginess come back. Jepar looked away, his mind racing. She had used magic on him. A spell...god, he couldn't remember *anything* of the last day. A hiss of fury escaped him.

And Ruby turned. The look on her face was avid, hungry. "Oh, you're awake!" she said.

That *really* worried him. Still, he thought...at least I'm still fully clothed. That's got to be a start.

"Oh yes," he purred, his anger beginning to take over. "I'm completely, utterly and absolutely awake."

She giggled. It was like nails being dragged down a blackboard. "Oh *good*."

But as he didn't smile back, or drop his eyes, her smile dimmed and the first vestiges of fear came into her face. "You bewitched me," he said very quietly. The anger boiled in his veins and he had to fight to keep calm. "You put a spell on me. How. Dare. You?"

"I..." Her eyes flicked about desperately. They lighted on the ring, and he saw what she meant to do. He was too far away to grab it, but Jepar narrowed his eyes and pulling on the jade stream of energy that lay within him, kinetically *flung* it into the basin off water, then took off, dodging out the door.

And his last thought, as she scrabbled for it with a cry, was: so much for not running.

* * * *

Evening drew down fast, and Blue Malefici moved to the Pack's clearing with supple ease. Everything had to go right. One slip...and it could be fatal.

He glanced up. Clouds everywhere, obscuring the moon. Good. That would dim Jallakri's powers fractionally. And of course, he had kept her out of contact with any sort of blood. During the fight yesterday, it had been easy enough to stop everyone bleeding with a scrap of dragon power. For something so destructive, it healed with remarkable simplicity.

Ruby had been useful. He had no doubt she would destroy Jepar Jubatus's relationship very easily with that trinket of a ring. It amused him to see how bonds were so quickly snapped, so meticulously mended.

When in doubt, bribery and terrorism covered almost every situation.

There were always exceptions, of course.

But he was sure forbidding his brother and group of friends to come here would bring them out in force. That would keep the rest of the Pack occupied. He just had to wait for the right moment in the duel...and Jallakri would be dead. Mission over, get a gold star, inscribe your name on the honours roll.

It was risky for him, yes, considering that he was descended from a part-werewolf and part-vampire line. He was a prime target for her. But that was half the fun.

It only took him a few moments to set up the wards around the clearing, a strong line of black dragonfire. He left them inactivated, waiting for the Pack and Circle Strange to arrive. After that...no one got in, and on one got out.

At all.

His blue eyes gleamed once in the growing darkness, and he settled back to wait.

* * * *

"I wasn't expecting company," Jal murmured. There was a kind of nervous fluttering in her stomach. She was going to fight the Pack. A werewolf. She thought she knew how to shift...but what if it went wrong? What the hell did she do then?

"Tough. You got us." Cougar Redfern flashed her a dangerous smile. They were nearing the Pack now, Cern beside her, and Ria with a tight twist to her mouth. Lisa Ochai was chatting with Chatoya, their voices low. Most of them armed to the teeth, and in some cases, with teeth. Their presence was comforting.

"Blue's here." It was Chatoya, the dark-haired witch that Jal didn't know too well. "Nearby. I think I can find him."

"Not on your own," Lisa said quickly. "I'll—"

"No." The witch cut her off flatly. Jal half-turned and saw the determination on Chatoya's face. "Look, I'm the only one he can't, *can't* kill, okay? And I've got enough of Cougar's blood to make me equal to him. And *my* power. I'll be fine – go with Jal. You know what the Pack are like when they lose."

"They lose control," Cern said softly in her ear. Her mouth had gone dry and chalky...damn, why had she had to fall in that trap?

Because of the vision, she answered herself at once. But they've stopped now.

By the time she had glanced round again, Chatoya was gone, nothing but a shadow fading into the gloom.

* * * *

"So you're here." Donna Ares, her eyes a red slick. In the shadows, she was a dim silhouette. "Shame 'bout the clouds. There's gaps though...we'll see the moon soon enough."

Jal nodded stiffly. The fluttering in her stomach had increased, until she felt like a crow had been set free inside her, trying to beat its way out.

"Brought company, I see," the werewolf continued. The white gleam might have been her smile. "Well...if you're ready? Romulus?"

The sullen boy came forward, his eyes the same hellish crimson. Jal stepped forward, her legs like lead. Gods, was she really about to do this?

Donna's voice snapped across the air as Jal felt fear shoot through her like hot magma.

"Begin!"

He shifted so fast she wasn't even aware, only saw a dark blur looming at her. She dived sideways before she had even realised, rolling her body into a tight ball. Hard-packed earth under her, and she was on her feet, her body melting away. Freedom, glorious freedom as she slid into her wolf-form and felt the strength slide into her bones.

They circled. Jal snapped the air, scenting his fear on the air. Oh, he was afraid all right. Afraid. That made him prey. Her night vision showed her the people standing around, all with wary eyes, ready to move.

Some of them for a moment seemed curiously bright, a rancid orange colour that screamed to her they were wrong, they should not exist—

The wolf sprang...she felt her own body leave the ground, moving of its own accord and moving on pure reflex. She hit him, swiped at him and dug her teeth into messy fur, and below that, flesh.

The scent of blood in her mouth, thick and rich and potent—

Then the clouds parted, and a strong whir ray of moonlight slipped through.

It touched her, and she felt a harsh jolt that rocked her forwards, onto her belly and drew a throaty, wild scream from her throat. Her eyes snapped up to the bloated blind eye of the moon, and flashed a bright silver.

The power stampeded her, filling her every cell with white-hot fire...

Fire and blood. It was all that was needed.

Light exploded into her vision, and Jal was lost.

The hunter was here.

* * * *

I would love to hear your thoughts.

Ki