Nightfire Part Nineteen

Thank you to all of you who reviewed J I adored hearing what you thought! Thank you: Dwayberry (Well…I had a good reason...thanks!), Dead Flower (There are three chapters left, plus an epilogue. Last part was pretty chaotic!), Persephone (Well…I can be mean. It happens when I have bad days. Everyone else suffers too :-) Thanks!) and last but infinitely not least, Starrika (Well, it's almost done J I like cliffahngers…but there aren't many more to go!)

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Nightfire Part Nineteen

"This way, witch," Donna said gruffly. They were climbing up the gentle slopes of the valley's mountains. "Our hunter's a smart cookie. Good vantage point here. No way anyone could sneak up on you."

"Why are you helping?" Chatoya managed, concentrating on her footing. She already had scraped knees and elbows from stepping on scree that had slid from under her feet. "Shouldn't you be with your Pack?"

"'Because of his age and his cunning, because of his gripe and his paw, in all that the Law leaveth open, the word of the Head Wolf is Law,'" the redhead cited.

Chatoya frowned, sweeping tangles of raven hair from her eyes. "Why are you quoting Kipling?"

Donna's gravely voice was low in the darkness. "Honey, Kipling was a werewolf. He knew what he was talking about. That girl broke Pack law – we don't kill for the pleasure of it. We kill to survive."

"What about all those people who fall into your pit?" she demanded, recalling the horror stories.

Donna laughed. "Name one."

She was caught out. "I...you can't tell me no one's fallen in there!"

"I can." The werewolf's eyes flashed green, throwing enough for light for Chatoya to see the mischievous smile on her face. "It's all just rumour. No one's ever got that deep into the Ghost Roads. 'Cept you, and your circle. That girl was the first – and we offered her a fair trial. But I'm done playing fair."

A step up, and the wolf stood on a plateau...and was frozen stock still. "Luna bright, our girl's thorough."

Chatoya felt her heart plummet. "Cern?"

"What's left of him."

She pulled herself onto the plateau. He was there, lying unmoving in the shallow shelter of a cave. Hurrying forward, praying, she knelt down by him, laying her fingers on his neck.

Silence and stillness, her muscles feeling strung tight and quivering. Then...a faint beat.

"He's got a pulse." She grinned radiantly, relief surging through her. He would be okay. "I can heal him."

"Better get to work, witch," the werewolf said, moving to stand guard at the edge of the cliff. "He looks a mess to me."

He was a mess. But she could handle this. She'd seen worse. Chatoya put her hands to his temples, and determined, began to heal him.

* * * *

Jal ran blindly, sobs catching in her throat. She half-fell down the slope, rocks catching at her skin and tearing it, but she didn't care. She scrambled to her feet and carried on running. If she ran far enough, fast enough, she could leave the world behind.

She was running towards a stretch of inky water, drowning deep...but she was already engulfed by guilt and sorrow

She had to stop sometime.

The lake drew nearer and nearer, until finally she could see the ripples on the water, only feet away and had to slow, gasping for breath and for peace. She had run miles, and it wasn't nearly far enough.

She stood and watched it, no longer feeling the tears on her face. There was a numbness creeping through her, as over and over again, she saw Cern. She saw herself as she truly was. She saw everything she had been too stupid and too scared and too blind to see.

And worse, she could feel the hunter deep inside her, waiting to rise again, Striving, struggling. But she fought it. What she had done...she fought it with that. Her horror was far greater than its lust could ever be.

"There's no use crying over spilt blood." The voice was deliciously dark, hypnotic almost, and she wasn't surprised that she hadn't heard his footsteps behind her, too wrapped up in her own misery.

She remembered what the final vision had said to her. The sweet-eyed boy, the one who had professed to love her. ~ Find the one who can help you...they are part of you, and you will know them. ~

She had thought it was Cern – it was he she had revealed everything to. But that had been wrong.

She met Blue Malefici's cold, snake-serene gaze. A part of her...yes, he was. Her blood ran in his veins. He was her descendant. And only he could help now.

"What do I do?" she said flatly, hopelessly. Every moment was a draining battle with the other part of her.

"You already know," he said calmly. "You should never have existed. Evil like you has no place here."

"And you do?" she whispered softly.

"Whatever I am, this is my time and my world," he said coolly. "I belong. You...your lifespan ended centuries ago. You've been dead a long time, ancestress. You just didn't realise."

"I breathe, I feel, I hurt!" she said angrily. "How can you say I'm dead?"

His hooded cobalt eyes snapped with a flicker of emotion. "You were dead the moment you summoned Nightfire. It has changed with the times but you have not, and anything which cannot change cannot live."

"I've changed!" she said desperately.

He reached out, and lifted up her chin so she had no choice to look at him, his grip hard and painful. He didn't care that he hurt her. "Tell me that you can control the hunter, Jallakri. Tell me that with one taste of blood, you won't kill. Tell me, but it will be a lie."

She saw her own death writ on his stark, cold face, saw the truth. As long as the hunter lived, there was no hope. Such dark magick could not be fought...she held it back now, but every moment, the hunter fought more fiercely and Jal's hold slipped a little more.

The scornful curl of his mouth acknowledging her fear. "For it to die...you must die."

She wrenched away, her eyes fearful and furious. "No!" she cried . "There must be another way!"

Blue simply watched her. "There isn't."

"I'll find one!" she snarled.

A small, cold smile. "Ancestress, let your head rule your heart for once." He moved past her, to stare down at the swishing water. "It is a simple ritual. It will not take long. You will be free. The hunter has won for ten thousand years – do you honestly think you can banish it forever? Or is it that halfbreed witch of yours that makes you so blind?"

She felt her breath catch, and her heart with it.

"Ah. It is." He didn't look away from the water, where a wavering mockery of the moon lay trapped. "True love may conquer all in fairytales, but the chances of it happening in real life are about the same as me dressing in drag and dancing a samba. And let me point out that I don't even know the steps."

Jal stared at him. He thought this was *funny*. Her pain amused him. She opened her mouth to shout at him, but then he looked up, and his stare bit into her with the fierce strength of a lion, bold and infinite.

"In real life, death is the only one who ever wins."

"No," she said flatly. She couldn't leave this. She couldn't leave *him*.

A shrug, and he crouched to pick up a stone and skim it across the water effortlessly. It bounced with tiny splashes, sending ripples across the water. And where those ripples met, waves formed.

"Stop denying it, ancestress. It's a hard truth, and maybe it's a cruel one for you, but you are a killer. Don't pretend that hunter is a different person. You said it yourself – spells can't work on the unwilling."

She froze. He had been there. On the mountain, as she said those words to Cern Akafren. He had watched her attack him, he had watched and he had done *nothing*. "You were there?"

"Like death and taxes, I get everywhere," he agreed dryly.

Jal could barely speak for her fury. "You could have saved him!"

"I could have," he concurred. "But I have your blood in me, ancestress. I am a vampire with wolf blood. Considering what you did to your other half, I don't even want to think about your family rates."

"Don't joke about this!" she screamed.

"Why not?" He shrugged. "Oh, run away, Jallakri." His voice was bored, contemptuous. "Go and pretend to search for ways to save yourself. And when the hunter is roaring in you, when you can't control it any longer, when dozens more are dead, if you can, come crawling back. Maybe I'll help you then."

She stared for a moment, heaving breaths as she was caught between anguish and rage. Then she turned and ran from him again, ran from the boy who was her only deliverance and her only doom.

* * * *

Lisa Ochai paced the Pack clearing endlessly, a rare hardness in her face. Cern had gone after her, he had *gone after her*, the mad, stupid fool. She stopped clenched her fists under her nails were cutting into her palms. It didn't help, that tight knot was still lodged in her stomach like a rock, the fear was building and building until she couldn't bear it anymore.

"Lise?" Ria, all soft voice and shyness, looking at her. "Are you okay?"

"Worried," she bit out. Any god who existed, let him live, even let Jal live, if only he would be all right.

"Me too." The girl was nestled among the wolves, who were surprisingly subdued. One had its head on her lap, a little scrap of a pup with liquid eyes. "I hope..."

I don't, Lisa thought. I gave up on hope a long time ago. What has hope ever brought me but disappointment? I don't hope. I *act*.

~ Lisa? Ria? ~ The strong voice was Cougar Redfern's. He was moving, Lisa realised, no, running. Jepar dashed on ahead in cheetah form. ~ Toya and Donna Ares have found Cern. They say it...isn't good. She's healing, but we need both of you. Leave the Pack, Jal's gone. I can't sense her nearby. ~

~ What's wrong with him? ~ she forced out. She didn't see Ria glance quickly at her.

A pause; Cougar must be talking to Donna at the same time. Chatoya couldn't telepath that far. ~ What's not. Let's just say that right now, you could scrape him up, put him in a jar and serve him as a tasty side-dish. ~

I'm going to throw up, Lisa thought. She swallowed hard. Not now. They need you. *He* needs you.

~ We're on our way, ~ Ria sent worriedly. ~ Be careful. ~

~ You too, babe. ~ And an aside only Ria could hear. ~ Lisa okay? She sounded...wrong. ~

The witch looked over. The vampire seemed to be collecting herself, taking deep breaths and calming. ~ She will be. ~

~ Oh...babe? ~

~ Yeah? ~ There was something tumultuous and dark in his mind, like an avalanche at midnight.

~ Ruby's dead. ~ She gasped...she and Ruby weren't friends, no, but the vampire had saved her life once. ~ JJ and I buried her. Jal...ripped her apart. ~

She had no words to answer him.

* * * *

Blue stayed to watch the sunrise, settling himself on the cool grass as morning crept in cold and fresh while he let his thoughts fly free around the valley.

His dragon powers flicked out inquisitively, almost idly, skipping into any creature he could sense nearby, borrowing their senses to garner information. The pinpoint vision of a hawk, swooping low over the mountains showed him the ones who called themselves Circle Strange carrying the witch-boy back, unconscious. All pale, all drained. Some angry, some distraught, some grim.

Only one aware of what had to happen. Chatoya Irkil, with her mourning black hair and her astute face, even now searching for him with the remnants of her magick. She saw the hawk, and wondered, but Blue carelessly forced the bird to wheel away with a screech.

The striking face of that boy who lounged by the lake didn't change. Still calm, still confident. Still without compassion gracing his eyes or anything but a cold cruelty.

He would be avenged for the heedless way she had destroyed his plans. Three times he had warned, and not once had she listened. And well...she was so easy to toy with. So fierce, so eager, believing that she could really get the better of him if she tried. So much more interesting than the first time he had met her.

Destroying her would be...fun.

By the time full light hit the earth, throwing everything into sharp relief, he was gone.

* * * *

Lisa Ochai was sitting in Jepar's house, watching Cern Akafren sleep. A book sat open in her lap, a half-empty glass on the table, but she never glanced down at the pages or sipped the drink. Her eyes were strained and unhappy, the first hints of anger in the whiteness of her knuckles.

Damn Jal. How could she have hurt him? How? If she caught hold of that werewolf...Lisa wanted to wrench her limb from limb, only that might hurt Cern. So she wouldn't.

Chatoya and Ria were asleep downstairs, drained of every last drop of energy. Jepar had curled up in front of the fire, equally sapped after lending his power to the witches – and all, she knew, was not well with him, but that didn't seem to matter to her much right now. Jepar was strong. He'd get over it.

"You okay here?" Cougar said softly, putting his head round the door. "Ria told me he should wake up any time now. They did some...pretty illegal spells to try and heal him."

She looked at the lamia, It too ka moment for his words to register. "Yeah. Fine. Where are you off to?"

"Going to talk to the Pack." The lamia's eyes were no longer gold but the creamy hazel they always melted into when he was upset or hurt. "Explain about what happened. I figure we owe them that. Lise...are you sure you're okay? You look like you're going to..." Burst into tears, he'd been going to say, but trailed off as he realised that was decidedly untactful. A rare event with Cougar.

"Hon, I'm *fine*," she said empathically, and managed to paste a smile onto her face. There. See, now go away.

He gave her a look that said he knew better, but wouldn't argue, and left like a cat sliding out of a window.

She didn't know how long it was before he woke. She simply watched his pale face, the face she knew so well and loved so well, and had never told her love to. She couldn't believe how it had been when Chatoya had told her he was hurt.

Numbness, then pure terror, then nausea and a dull horror that pounded in her. She was powerless; she could only watch while the witches healed, and maybe if she'd believed in a god, she would have prayed.

"Lise?"

His voice made her blink and stand, striding over at once. Just looking at him sent the usual bittersweet feeling through her veins.

"How are you?" she said anxiously, trying to sound bright and cheerful. Cern opened his eyes a little and hissed softly – the intensity of the light, she guessed. She flicked off the lamp.

"Well," he drawled. She heard the faint ring of sadness in his voice, but ignored it as he did. "I feel like someone put me in a sack and hit me repeatedly with a sledgehammer. Let's see..." His eyes closed for an instant. Cern was an expert healer. "Cracked ribs, broken leg, sprained ankle, snapped wrist, left arm broken in three places, a lot of cuts and bruises. How close am I?"

She smiled slightly. "You missed a broken finger and no cuts anymore. And your arm's broken in four places, not three. Sorry, that's a B-Plus. But if you'd broken anything else, you could have won world's biggest human percussion instrument."

That wry smile pulled up the corners of his mouth. "Damn, another lifetime goal missed." He moved uneasily and swore under his breath, face paling abruptly. Lisa didn't think she was supposed to hear. "What have Toya and Ria been doing? Because it sure doesn't feel like healing."

"Oh?" she said archly. Joy filled her. He was awake, he was all right, he would live. She made up her mind to buy Toya and Ria a *huge* bar of chocolate.

Cern glared at her and she relented, not wanting to see even muted anger directed at her. "Honey, they said the best person to be healing you *was* you. But if it's any consolation, they fixed your other broken leg, put your shoulder back in its socket, fixed up your spine and head and stopped you bleeding to death."

"Oh well, maybe I'll forgive them." Again, that flicker of sadness, in his eyes as well as his voice. "Couldn't borrow a little of that vampire blood, could I?" Hopeful look, eyes wide and imploring. "I can't keep this puppy-dog look up forever, you know," he added when she didn't answer.

"Sure," she said finally, uneasily. She didn't like sharing blood – it let someone see your thoughts. But she had learned over the years to guard herself from such intrusions. It should be safe enough.

She emptied the water from her glass onto the floor, and broke it on the table. Slight surprise on his face at that, but Lisa didn't care. She wanted this over and done with. Slashing her wrist open with a fragment didn't hurt much, and she didn't need to open any cuts on him (she knew he preferred that method to drinking blood. There might be a touch of vampire blood in his veins, but he didn't acknowledge it.). There were enough to choose from.

The pull at her mind was unnerving, a sudden jolt of energy that made her slam up her shields more firmly, and resolve not to think about him at all.

~ Lise? ~ his voice, distant, confused. ~ Why are you shielding? ~

She didn't answer, but kept her face smooth and empty.

His unhappiness was a dash of saltwater in her face. ~ Please, Lise, I need to talk to you. I have to talk to someone... ~

She bit her lip. ~ I need to concentrate. ~

~ No you don't, ~ he said, anger and misery all mixed up together. ~ Why are you shutting me out? I have to tell someone about how I feel or I think I'll go crazy, completely mad. ~

~ Tell someone else, ~ she muttered through her shields.

~What's wrong with you? ~ he snapped.

She realised a fraction too late that he had gotten much more powerful since the last time she had linked minds with him, nearly three years ago when they had first met.

He punched through her shields like they didn't even exist. And he saw.

And he *knew*.

She broke the connection with a jolt. Her stomach was leaping as though an entire flock of crows had gotten loose. She felt as though she had been run into a corner. Trapped. That was it. It wasn't a feeling she often experienced. And humiliated too. If a chasm had opened in the floor, she would have been the first to leap into it.

Cern sat up, his body already healed. Far too close for comfort, though comfort certainly wasn't what she needed right now. A time machine maybe, to snatch back those few moments. He looked…stunned, that was the only way she could think of to describe it, all his anger disappeared. Eyes gone the colour of indigo nights with sheer shock, mouth half-open.

"Oh my god," he said quietly. There was a dazed incredulity on his face. "You're in love with me?"

She looked at him, her lips trembling. "Yes."

* * * *

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Hugs n' honey,

Ki