Part 3
The glass smashed against the wall, shattering into a million tiny pieces. Flame stormed around her office, not in a good mood. Ugh. This was a disaster. Two of her best allies becoming traitors within two weeks. This was *not* supposed to happen.
But they'd pay. No one crossed her and lived to brag about it.
She sat down behind her desk, a cloak of ice seeming to wash over. They'd pay.
* * *
Weak, stupid and pathetic. He hated them, all of them. So dumb, Idiotic. A total waste of time. Their petty squabbles over trivial things. They were idiots. All of them. A virus that had spread over the world like bacteria.
Richard Borcharde hated being human. But he was stuck the way he was. He kicked the dead body a second time, glancing around the dark alley, making sure no one had seem him. The damned Daybreaker was very dead. Good. Daybreakers were almost worst than regular humans.
"That was fast, even I have to admit, I'm impressed."
Richard looked up, annoyed. He scowled at Jewel Redfern, who emerged from the dark shadows. He was well aware of the Night World, stumbling up on Jewel slaughtering some dumb human. He'd been impressed. He hadn't run screaming.
Night World was the place for him. It was rare, apparently that they'd actually accept a human. But because he hated humans so much, they liked him. But they still wouldn't change him. Jewel said it was better for him to be human. Never being human herself, Jewel wouldn't know about the pains of it.
But she claimed it was good, cause he could fool the Damned Daybreakers, then it would be easier to sneak around and kill them. Tha had actually worked out pretty well for him. But he still despised the human race.
"What do you want, Jewel?" he said bluntly, not in the mood for being polite.
Jewel gave him a stunning smile. She was a stunning girl. Tall and lithe, without being overly muscular. Dark hair fell in curls to her shoulders, and silver eyes shone in a perfectly sculpted face. "I have an assignment for you."
Richard raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"
"But first, the head of the Night World would like to meet you."
Richard smiled faintly. "Really. Should I be flattered?"
"Since you're a puny little human, yes, you should," Jewel answered, and before he could say anything else, she had grabbed his arm and was dragging him to a long black limo at the mouth of the alley.
Convenient. He let the "puny human" remark go. He wasn't exactly sure how to feel about meeting the head of the Night World. They were supposed to hate humans as much as he did.
"So who is this person, anyway?" he asked Jewel once the limo had roared away from the curb.
"Flame Redfern," Jewel answered, crossing long perfect legs at the knees. "She's heard a lot about you."
As far as he knew, the only Night People in the small town were Jewel, Pandora Blackthorn, another Night World assassin, and a few Damned Daybreakers. He doubted the Daybreakers would know who he really was.
Pandora, he knew vaguely. But as far as he knew, Pandora was cruel, cold and self-involved, caring for no one but herself. She wouldn't be talking about him to the council.
So that only left Jewel. He wasn't sure whether he was pleased about that or not.
The Night World headquarters was a large creepy mansion on the outskirts of Las Vegas. The small town he lived in, Elder Creek, was about a half an hour drive away.
He couldn't help feeling grimly amused as Jewel led him into the house. Dark and twisting and vaguely Gothic. Like something from a horror movie.
Flame Redfern was even hotter than Jewel, hair red as blood, softly rippling down her back like a waterfall, eyes like fire burning in a gorgeous face.
"So you're the human who hates being human," Flame said, seeming amused.
Richard shrugged. "Humans are idiots."
Flame chuckled. "All right, I'm with you on that one. Maybe not *all* of them are useless and vermin."
Richard's eyebrow raised. He decided he liked her.
"Do you know a Pandora Blackthorn?" Flame asked.
Richard frowned. "Pandora? I've met her a few times." He made a face. "What a bitch."
Flame frowned, her eyes flashing dangerously. "That may be, but she's a traitor."
Richard frowned himself. That was a surprise. Pandora was one of the coldest people he'd ever met. "What's this got to do with me?" he asked.
"She's Daybreak, I want you to infiltrate Daybreak and kill her."
Richard wasn't sure what to think. Killing Pandora shouldn't be a problem. She was a traitor, she deserved to die. The only thing he wasn't happy about was pretending to be Daybreak. He hated them.
"Why should I do this?" he asked finally. "What's in it for me?"
Flame smiled again. Her moods seemed to shift so dramatically it should have been scary. To any other human it would have been. "Maybe, if you do this for me, then I might consider making you a full Night Person. You can wave bye-bye to humanity."
Richard frowned. The idea of that did sound very enticing. He studied Flame, thinking he wouldn't mind having her teeth in his throat. If he did this, he would finally get out of being human once and for all. And for that, he was willing to make the sacrifice of pretending to be Daybreak. The best had to suffer sometimes.
"What the hell, I'll take the assignment," he said.
Flame smiled. "I know you won't disappoint me. Go away and get on with it."
He left then, a lot more cheerful than he had been earlier in the evening. This was what made being bad so much fun.
* * *
Part 4
Pandora sighed, tapping her fork against the mush on her place from the high school cafeteria. She looked around the mass of students, finding it hard to believe she seemed to have something of a place amongst them.
She couldn't believe the change in herself either. Circle Daybreak had been a little wary of her at first, but they had helped her deal, and so far, there had been no problems from the Night World.
Pandora was convinced there was something up. There was no way the Night World would let one of their best assassins, and one of their most powerful witches suddenly get away.
"Lighten up!" Willow Silverthorne commanded. "You're the most depressing person I've ever met."
Pandora managed a weak smile. She had moved into a Daybreak safe house with Rose and her friend made vampire Willow. Willow had come into Daybreak after the Night World had murdered her family, for what reason, it was unknown, but she had been happy to settle in with Rose and Pandora, the new recruits sticking together. Willow was nice, but a bit of an airhead.
"Hey, check that out," Willow said, a note of excitement creeping into her voice.
"What?" Rose asked, biting on a carrot stick.
"Look who's eyeing Pandora."
Pandora glanced around. She was used to people gazing at her, but they didn't seem to want to get too close. She could see Richard Borcharde eyeing them. A human who hated being human. She had met him once or twice. She knew Jewel Redfern, the lead Night Person of the town liked him. Richard was cute, muscular, dark hair fell to his shoulders, murky green eyes glowered out of a handsome face. But he was actually giving her the eye. Pandora ignored him and turned back to the thing that was supposed to be passed off as food on her plate.
Willow stared at her in disbelief. "What's the matter with you? He's gorgeous!"
Pandora opened her mouth, but before she could say anything Willow had caught Richard's eye and was waving him over to her table. Pandora glared at Rose, who was trying not to snicker.
"What are you smirking at?" Pandora snapped.
"Nothing," Rose said innocently.
"What's up," Richard said as he joined them, taking the chair between Pandora and Willow.
Pandora just shrugged. Something was up here. She knew this guy despised humans, also despised Daybreaks, hell, she even knew of a few he'd killed.
"Not much," Willow said cheerfully.
Her brightness was really starting to get to Pandora. She tuned Willow out as she went on blathering about innocuous things. One thing she noticed, Richard looked almost nervous. Richard? Nervous? That didn't seem like a likely combination.
"What's wrong?" Rose asked, smiling a little. "We're not going to bite you. Well, Pandora might," she added with a lopsided smile.
"Oh shut up," Pandora said with a glare.
Richard looked around uncomfortably, and Pandora found herself following his gaze to Jewel, who was looking daggers at them.
"Uh-oh," Willow said sympathetically. "That can't be good."
"Tell me about it," Rose snorted. "Jewel's not exactly the type of person you want to piss off."
"You got that right," Pandora muttered.
Richard smiled a little. Pandora didn't like the crackling tension in the air between them. He kept looking over at her, as if he were trying to get her attention or something. Well, it took more than looks to get her to notice a guy.
"I don't think that's why she's got her eyes on me," he said.
He was vain. Pandora didn't like him. She really didn't.
"She's got her eyes on you cause you're cute," Willow said. Pandora and Rose exchanged glances. Did the girl have *no* shame?
"I don't know if coming from Jewel that's something to be flattered about," he said dryly. "She's the walking undead after all."
Rose and Willow exchanged glances. They looked over at Pandora who just shrugged.
"You know about..." Rose trailed off.
Richard frowned. "Yeah. I saw her kill someone."
"You need to get somewhere safe and far away from Jewel then," Willow said. Then she brightened. "Hey, come take our spare room."
Pandora looked up, angry, and unsure why. ~What the hell are you *thinking*?~she hissed at Willow mentally.
"She's actually got a point," Rose said with a frown. "Jewel's gonna hunt you down until you die, if you saw her kill. Humans aren't supposed to know about...uh..." She trailed off again.
Pandora gave up. What was the matter with these two? But they were right about one thing. Jewel never gave up. Never. If she wanted someone dead, they would be dead. However, Jewel had a reputation for playing with her victims first off. "Like a cat plays with a mouse," she muttered.
"Something I'm sure you're very familiar with," Willow said with a snort.
Pandora opened her mouth to protest, then shrugged. She regretted what she'd done in the past, but it was all over now. She wasn't going to look back.
"What's she talking about?" Richard asked.
"I used to work for Night World but I don't anymore," Pandora muttered.
Rose smiled. "She got some sense knocked into her."
Richard seemed kind of contemplative. After a while, he said, "If your offer's still good I might take you up on it."
"Of course, we'll have to check with headquarters first but I'm sure they'll be okay with it," Rose said.
"Whatever. Uh, I have to go now." And he left. Pandora lost sight of him in the swarm of students. She hadn't even been aware she'd been watching. She didn't like him. She didn't. Didn't.
"What the hell are you two thinking?" she snapped. They didn't know Richard's reputation. She did. What were he and Jewel up to?
Willow smiled. "Use your imagination. Be creative."
"God, do you ever think of anything else?" Pandora muttered.
"What's the big deal?" Rose asked. "The guy needs help, we'll help him. That's what Daybreakers *do*, you know."
"I know," Pandora said. "But I heard Richard absolutely *hates* humans. He doesn't like Daybreakers much either. I just don't trust him."
"That's just a rumour. Maybe he's different from what you've heard," Willow said. "You're just being paranoid."
Pandora had only heard about Richard through Jewel. She knew Jewel had a tendency to exaggerate. Jewel didn't like her very much, would she lie? Was Richard really up to something?
She found herself wanting to believe Willow's idea that she was just paranoid. But she had trouble convincing herself.
* * *
Part 4
As Richard left the cafeteria, a smug smile on his face, he immediately felt the probing eyes and cold presence. "What is it, Jewel?" he said with a heavy sigh.
Jewel appeared beside him, a smile on her face. She looked at him, with something between confusion and fascination. "How do you *do* that?" she asked with a snort.
Richard just shrugged. "I don't know, I just know when *you're* around is all."
Jewel smiled again. "Is that a compliment?"
Richard paused. "I'm not sure."
"How's everything going?" she asked.
Richard smiled. "So far so good. They think I'm an innocent little human who's trying to avoid the nasty vampire." He gave her a sideways glance.
Jewel chuckled. "The stupidity of these Daybreakers never ceases to amaze me," she snorted. "They accept anyone who they think needs help with open arms."
The bell rang then, and they were almost run down by a mob of students hurrying to get to class. When the crowd cleared, Richard found himself alone. Jewel had gone.
But he could still feel an uncomfortable presence in the air. He really didn't know how he could tell that, but he didn't like what he felt. It wasn't Jewel, she was gone.
He looked around, spying Pandora glaring at him from down the hall. He tried to approach her, but she was gone in a whirl of darkness. For someone who was supposed to be Daybreak, she had a surprising amount of blackness about her. She was still dark and threatening.
But it didn't matter. As attractive as she might be, she was a traitor, and she deserved to die.
Right?
* * *
The glass smashed against the wall, shattering into a million tiny pieces. Flame stormed around her office, not in a good mood. Ugh. This was a disaster. Two of her best allies becoming traitors within two weeks. This was *not* supposed to happen.
But they'd pay. No one crossed her and lived to brag about it.
She sat down behind her desk, a cloak of ice seeming to wash over. They'd pay.
* * *
Weak, stupid and pathetic. He hated them, all of them. So dumb, Idiotic. A total waste of time. Their petty squabbles over trivial things. They were idiots. All of them. A virus that had spread over the world like bacteria.
Richard Borcharde hated being human. But he was stuck the way he was. He kicked the dead body a second time, glancing around the dark alley, making sure no one had seem him. The damned Daybreaker was very dead. Good. Daybreakers were almost worst than regular humans.
"That was fast, even I have to admit, I'm impressed."
Richard looked up, annoyed. He scowled at Jewel Redfern, who emerged from the dark shadows. He was well aware of the Night World, stumbling up on Jewel slaughtering some dumb human. He'd been impressed. He hadn't run screaming.
Night World was the place for him. It was rare, apparently that they'd actually accept a human. But because he hated humans so much, they liked him. But they still wouldn't change him. Jewel said it was better for him to be human. Never being human herself, Jewel wouldn't know about the pains of it.
But she claimed it was good, cause he could fool the Damned Daybreakers, then it would be easier to sneak around and kill them. Tha had actually worked out pretty well for him. But he still despised the human race.
"What do you want, Jewel?" he said bluntly, not in the mood for being polite.
Jewel gave him a stunning smile. She was a stunning girl. Tall and lithe, without being overly muscular. Dark hair fell in curls to her shoulders, and silver eyes shone in a perfectly sculpted face. "I have an assignment for you."
Richard raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"
"But first, the head of the Night World would like to meet you."
Richard smiled faintly. "Really. Should I be flattered?"
"Since you're a puny little human, yes, you should," Jewel answered, and before he could say anything else, she had grabbed his arm and was dragging him to a long black limo at the mouth of the alley.
Convenient. He let the "puny human" remark go. He wasn't exactly sure how to feel about meeting the head of the Night World. They were supposed to hate humans as much as he did.
"So who is this person, anyway?" he asked Jewel once the limo had roared away from the curb.
"Flame Redfern," Jewel answered, crossing long perfect legs at the knees. "She's heard a lot about you."
As far as he knew, the only Night People in the small town were Jewel, Pandora Blackthorn, another Night World assassin, and a few Damned Daybreakers. He doubted the Daybreakers would know who he really was.
Pandora, he knew vaguely. But as far as he knew, Pandora was cruel, cold and self-involved, caring for no one but herself. She wouldn't be talking about him to the council.
So that only left Jewel. He wasn't sure whether he was pleased about that or not.
The Night World headquarters was a large creepy mansion on the outskirts of Las Vegas. The small town he lived in, Elder Creek, was about a half an hour drive away.
He couldn't help feeling grimly amused as Jewel led him into the house. Dark and twisting and vaguely Gothic. Like something from a horror movie.
Flame Redfern was even hotter than Jewel, hair red as blood, softly rippling down her back like a waterfall, eyes like fire burning in a gorgeous face.
"So you're the human who hates being human," Flame said, seeming amused.
Richard shrugged. "Humans are idiots."
Flame chuckled. "All right, I'm with you on that one. Maybe not *all* of them are useless and vermin."
Richard's eyebrow raised. He decided he liked her.
"Do you know a Pandora Blackthorn?" Flame asked.
Richard frowned. "Pandora? I've met her a few times." He made a face. "What a bitch."
Flame frowned, her eyes flashing dangerously. "That may be, but she's a traitor."
Richard frowned himself. That was a surprise. Pandora was one of the coldest people he'd ever met. "What's this got to do with me?" he asked.
"She's Daybreak, I want you to infiltrate Daybreak and kill her."
Richard wasn't sure what to think. Killing Pandora shouldn't be a problem. She was a traitor, she deserved to die. The only thing he wasn't happy about was pretending to be Daybreak. He hated them.
"Why should I do this?" he asked finally. "What's in it for me?"
Flame smiled again. Her moods seemed to shift so dramatically it should have been scary. To any other human it would have been. "Maybe, if you do this for me, then I might consider making you a full Night Person. You can wave bye-bye to humanity."
Richard frowned. The idea of that did sound very enticing. He studied Flame, thinking he wouldn't mind having her teeth in his throat. If he did this, he would finally get out of being human once and for all. And for that, he was willing to make the sacrifice of pretending to be Daybreak. The best had to suffer sometimes.
"What the hell, I'll take the assignment," he said.
Flame smiled. "I know you won't disappoint me. Go away and get on with it."
He left then, a lot more cheerful than he had been earlier in the evening. This was what made being bad so much fun.
* * *
Part 4
Pandora sighed, tapping her fork against the mush on her place from the high school cafeteria. She looked around the mass of students, finding it hard to believe she seemed to have something of a place amongst them.
She couldn't believe the change in herself either. Circle Daybreak had been a little wary of her at first, but they had helped her deal, and so far, there had been no problems from the Night World.
Pandora was convinced there was something up. There was no way the Night World would let one of their best assassins, and one of their most powerful witches suddenly get away.
"Lighten up!" Willow Silverthorne commanded. "You're the most depressing person I've ever met."
Pandora managed a weak smile. She had moved into a Daybreak safe house with Rose and her friend made vampire Willow. Willow had come into Daybreak after the Night World had murdered her family, for what reason, it was unknown, but she had been happy to settle in with Rose and Pandora, the new recruits sticking together. Willow was nice, but a bit of an airhead.
"Hey, check that out," Willow said, a note of excitement creeping into her voice.
"What?" Rose asked, biting on a carrot stick.
"Look who's eyeing Pandora."
Pandora glanced around. She was used to people gazing at her, but they didn't seem to want to get too close. She could see Richard Borcharde eyeing them. A human who hated being human. She had met him once or twice. She knew Jewel Redfern, the lead Night Person of the town liked him. Richard was cute, muscular, dark hair fell to his shoulders, murky green eyes glowered out of a handsome face. But he was actually giving her the eye. Pandora ignored him and turned back to the thing that was supposed to be passed off as food on her plate.
Willow stared at her in disbelief. "What's the matter with you? He's gorgeous!"
Pandora opened her mouth, but before she could say anything Willow had caught Richard's eye and was waving him over to her table. Pandora glared at Rose, who was trying not to snicker.
"What are you smirking at?" Pandora snapped.
"Nothing," Rose said innocently.
"What's up," Richard said as he joined them, taking the chair between Pandora and Willow.
Pandora just shrugged. Something was up here. She knew this guy despised humans, also despised Daybreaks, hell, she even knew of a few he'd killed.
"Not much," Willow said cheerfully.
Her brightness was really starting to get to Pandora. She tuned Willow out as she went on blathering about innocuous things. One thing she noticed, Richard looked almost nervous. Richard? Nervous? That didn't seem like a likely combination.
"What's wrong?" Rose asked, smiling a little. "We're not going to bite you. Well, Pandora might," she added with a lopsided smile.
"Oh shut up," Pandora said with a glare.
Richard looked around uncomfortably, and Pandora found herself following his gaze to Jewel, who was looking daggers at them.
"Uh-oh," Willow said sympathetically. "That can't be good."
"Tell me about it," Rose snorted. "Jewel's not exactly the type of person you want to piss off."
"You got that right," Pandora muttered.
Richard smiled a little. Pandora didn't like the crackling tension in the air between them. He kept looking over at her, as if he were trying to get her attention or something. Well, it took more than looks to get her to notice a guy.
"I don't think that's why she's got her eyes on me," he said.
He was vain. Pandora didn't like him. She really didn't.
"She's got her eyes on you cause you're cute," Willow said. Pandora and Rose exchanged glances. Did the girl have *no* shame?
"I don't know if coming from Jewel that's something to be flattered about," he said dryly. "She's the walking undead after all."
Rose and Willow exchanged glances. They looked over at Pandora who just shrugged.
"You know about..." Rose trailed off.
Richard frowned. "Yeah. I saw her kill someone."
"You need to get somewhere safe and far away from Jewel then," Willow said. Then she brightened. "Hey, come take our spare room."
Pandora looked up, angry, and unsure why. ~What the hell are you *thinking*?~she hissed at Willow mentally.
"She's actually got a point," Rose said with a frown. "Jewel's gonna hunt you down until you die, if you saw her kill. Humans aren't supposed to know about...uh..." She trailed off again.
Pandora gave up. What was the matter with these two? But they were right about one thing. Jewel never gave up. Never. If she wanted someone dead, they would be dead. However, Jewel had a reputation for playing with her victims first off. "Like a cat plays with a mouse," she muttered.
"Something I'm sure you're very familiar with," Willow said with a snort.
Pandora opened her mouth to protest, then shrugged. She regretted what she'd done in the past, but it was all over now. She wasn't going to look back.
"What's she talking about?" Richard asked.
"I used to work for Night World but I don't anymore," Pandora muttered.
Rose smiled. "She got some sense knocked into her."
Richard seemed kind of contemplative. After a while, he said, "If your offer's still good I might take you up on it."
"Of course, we'll have to check with headquarters first but I'm sure they'll be okay with it," Rose said.
"Whatever. Uh, I have to go now." And he left. Pandora lost sight of him in the swarm of students. She hadn't even been aware she'd been watching. She didn't like him. She didn't. Didn't.
"What the hell are you two thinking?" she snapped. They didn't know Richard's reputation. She did. What were he and Jewel up to?
Willow smiled. "Use your imagination. Be creative."
"God, do you ever think of anything else?" Pandora muttered.
"What's the big deal?" Rose asked. "The guy needs help, we'll help him. That's what Daybreakers *do*, you know."
"I know," Pandora said. "But I heard Richard absolutely *hates* humans. He doesn't like Daybreakers much either. I just don't trust him."
"That's just a rumour. Maybe he's different from what you've heard," Willow said. "You're just being paranoid."
Pandora had only heard about Richard through Jewel. She knew Jewel had a tendency to exaggerate. Jewel didn't like her very much, would she lie? Was Richard really up to something?
She found herself wanting to believe Willow's idea that she was just paranoid. But she had trouble convincing herself.
* * *
Part 4
As Richard left the cafeteria, a smug smile on his face, he immediately felt the probing eyes and cold presence. "What is it, Jewel?" he said with a heavy sigh.
Jewel appeared beside him, a smile on her face. She looked at him, with something between confusion and fascination. "How do you *do* that?" she asked with a snort.
Richard just shrugged. "I don't know, I just know when *you're* around is all."
Jewel smiled again. "Is that a compliment?"
Richard paused. "I'm not sure."
"How's everything going?" she asked.
Richard smiled. "So far so good. They think I'm an innocent little human who's trying to avoid the nasty vampire." He gave her a sideways glance.
Jewel chuckled. "The stupidity of these Daybreakers never ceases to amaze me," she snorted. "They accept anyone who they think needs help with open arms."
The bell rang then, and they were almost run down by a mob of students hurrying to get to class. When the crowd cleared, Richard found himself alone. Jewel had gone.
But he could still feel an uncomfortable presence in the air. He really didn't know how he could tell that, but he didn't like what he felt. It wasn't Jewel, she was gone.
He looked around, spying Pandora glaring at him from down the hall. He tried to approach her, but she was gone in a whirl of darkness. For someone who was supposed to be Daybreak, she had a surprising amount of blackness about her. She was still dark and threatening.
But it didn't matter. As attractive as she might be, she was a traitor, and she deserved to die.
Right?
* * *