As the idiotic Daybreaks were so immersed in their welcoming this bright and happy god and that shiny goddess, Donavon and his team had managed to sneak up, an army of darkness surrounded the mansions. Thierry's dumb guards had been easy killed, and now they had all the Wild Powers, isolated where he wanted them.
He could see the one Nova wanted. Winter Redfern. They only needed one to triumph. Nova had taken him to one side, telling him to specifically get Winter Redfern. She had some sort of personal grudge against the Wild Power girl.
The girl was pretty, like an ice sculpture. He moved up silently behind her, grabbing her arms. The music suddenly stopped and the lights went on.
Shouts rang out, fights started, but the Daybreakers were vastly out numbered.
"I suggest maybe everyone stops what they're doing, drop your weapons or she dies right now." His fangs lengthened, and his grip on the girl's neck tightened.
She moved then, as much as she could in his tight hold, and surprised green eyes met his. She studied him, a look of disbelief on her face. "Donavon?" she whispered.
The Daybreakers dropped their weapons. Even Donavon had to admit he was surprised. He'd expected more of a fight. But maybe they cared too much about the Wild Powers. He jerked Winter's arm to make her move, and for a blonde, she was surprisingly smart. She moved where he wanted her to go.
He dragged her out, into the waiting limo, smiling faintly as a fight exploded behind him. He would have liked to have taken part. Darcie was waiting by the limo as Donavon shoved Winter inside.
"That was fast," Darcie remarked, getting inside as the limo screeched off. Winter was sandwiched between them, with no hope of escape. For some reason, Winter couldn't seem to take her eyes off him, her hand kept reaching out to touch him. Darcie was getting mad. She grabbed Winter's wrists, and bound them with some bast cord.
Donavon glanced away from Winter's penetrating gaze, unsure why she kept looking at him like that. All she did know was she didn't like it.
When they arrived back at Nova's mansion, they escorted Winter to the main office. Nova and Azurite were there, waiting, smiling.
"Well, well," Nova said. "I have to admit, I'm impressed, Donavon."
Donavon's eyebrows raised. "You have faith in me," he said dryly. "That's so sweet."
Nova smiled back. "A pleasure," she said brightly. "Now let's get her locked up."
* * *
Darcie followed the group at a distance. She had taken an instant disliking to The Wild Power girl. For some reason, ever since they'd grabbed her, she had been trying to touch Donavon.
She seemed to know him from somewhere, but quite clearly didn't recognise her. They locked her in a cage in the basement. The cage had been built for keeping animals in, for Nova's hunting thrills, occasionally she kidnapped humans and hunted them instead. That was more fun. It suited their purpose now. Donavon left with Nova and the Dragon girl, who didn't seem to like anyone much.
Jorryn and Martina came downstairs, breathless from battle. "Nothing like battling the Daybreakers to make a bad day seem perky," Martina said brightly.
Darcie just shrugged, and walked out, still bugged over the deal with Donavon and the Wild Power. For some reason Nova had a grudge against her, maybe she knew something.
She didn't know Donavon that well, they'd only been dating for about a month. He seemed to be having some memory problems. He never talked about his past, he got mad if anyone mentioned it.
She knocked on the door to Nova's office and went inside. Nova was alone, with some paper work spread out on her desk. She looked up as Darcie came in. "What's up?"
Darcie sat down and shrugged. "I was hoping you could tell me. What do you know about Donavon?" It was common knowledge that Nova had had a thing for Donavon. But he didn't seem all that interested in Nova. He was one of her favourite assassins.
"Donavon was Daybreaker who needed some sense knocked into him," Nova said.
"What's the deal with him and the Wild Power?" she asked. Donavon? Daybreak? The idea was laughable.
"The Wild Power was his soulmate. She was Daybreak, and turned him to turn Daybreak too." Nova pouted. "He was my favourite. I couldn't allow the little bitch to take him. I didn't know she was the Wild Power, then. The girl was a shifter, and she wanted to be a vamp, so he changed her. Technically, that's not against the rules since she's already Night World. We attacked them. I had a witch do a spell, to make Donavon appear dead. But he wasn't dead. The plus side for us, is all he remembers is being bad."
"But the girl's trying to reignite the Soulmate Spark," Darcie said unhappily.
"Who says she's going to?" Nova said, "we keep her away from him, no problems."
"Why can't I just kill the bitch?" Darcie hissed, feeling rage and anger. "Four less one. All we need."
Nova smiled dryly. "As much as I'd like to let you, Azurite's the one in charge. She decides what we do. Talk to her."
Darcie stood up, and stalked out. This was getting nowhere very fast. She didn't like it at all.
* * *
"We've got to get her back," Jez said flatly.
The remains of Circle Daybreak sat around one of the lounge, cleaning their wounds.
"I think that's pretty much a given," Ash said dryly. "Any ideas?"
At the surprise attack they'd suffered heavy losses, the other Wild Powers had survived, and most of the recent pairs of soulmates. Some of them were badly injured, Iliana, Thea and Winnie were working together with their powers to try and heal them up before the battle, and if they didn't get to Winter before the Night World killed her, they didn't stand a chance. The idea of vampires taking over the world was not an appealing one.
"We sneak up on them like they did us," Maggie suggested. "We know they're outside somewhere. It's not going to be hard to find a big creepy mansion somewhere."
The Daybreakers exchanged glances. At least someone had a brain still working. Most of them were still in shock, ones like Ash, dealing with it with annoying sarcasm. Mary-Lynnette seemed to be ready to throttle him. Ash was going to need new shins by the end of the day with the amount of times she kept kicking him.
Eventually, they had a plan of their own.
"Jez, Morgead, go with Keller and Rashel," Thierry said. "Ash, you go too, make some use of yourself."
Ash opened his mouth to protest, then shut it gloomily. Maybe in future he should learn to keep his mouth shut and not be a smart-ass. It was going to take a lot of work.
* * *
Winter sat on the floor of her cage, not sure what else to do. There were two Night People there, two vampires. She could blast them with her blue fire, of course, but they hadn't done anything to hurt her. Yet.
Winter wasn't a cruel person, she didn't like to hurt people unnecessarily. If they tried to hurt her first, well, that would be a different situation.
Her thoughts drifted back to Donavon. She didn't understand. He was *dead.* Or at least, that's what she'd thought. She frowned, shaking her head in confusion. He didn't know who she was.
The knowledge of that hurt almost like a physical pain. These - people - had done something to him. They'd changed him, corrupted him. He'd been one of them once, but she thought she'd straightened him out, but now...he was bad again.
He wouldn't let her touch him. Winter felt fore sure if she touched him, then the soulmate spark would reignite, and Donavon would remember who he should be. He would remember her.
"What's the deal with Donavon and the Wild Power chick, anyway?" the tall, scary one was saying, gesturing over to Winter.
Winter stood up, moving closer to the bars. Why the hell did they even need a cage anyway? It seemed absurd.
The big scary guy chuckled. "I don't think Darcie likes her much, the Wild Power's making Don *think*."
"We're soulmates," Winter said simply.
The girl laughed. "I don't think so, honey," she snorted. Winter fought to keep her temper, the pet-names annoyed her. "Don's too bad to have a soulmate. That's just mushy shit you damned Daybreakers dreamed up."
"It's not mushy shit," Winter snapped, feeling her anger rising. She could feel the power starting to grow inside her. "You people did something to him. You made him forget me."
The girl studied her, an unfriendly smile on her face. "It doesn't look like you're worth remembering, sweetie."
And Winter got mad. Forget her principles. This bitch deserved to die. She made a cut on her wrist with her sharp fingernails, and could see the blood come out, welling dark red in the cut.
The scary guy frowned. "What the hell are you doing?" he asked, sounding alarmed.
Winter gave then an unpleasant smile of her own, and let the blue fire out. She could feel it come out of her in an intense blast of heat, the sparkling blue surrounded the room, and her vision.
When it cleared, the bars of the cage had melted. The two vamps were gone. Winter smiled. A stroke of luck for her.
She slipped between what was left of the bars and headed up the stairs. She didn't get very far. The door opened, and she found herself face to face with her soulmate.
"Donavon."
* * *
Alerted by the sudden flash of blue Donavon hurried down into the basement. He stopped dead, seeing the Wild Power was free. She stood two steps below him, looking at him with innocent blue eyes.
"You don't remember me," she said. She sounded hurt.
Donavon just stared at her. "Should I?"
The girl just looked at him sadly, reached out two slender hands to take his. He jerked back, not wanting to touch her.
"We're soulmates," she said, her tone wistful. "They did something to you, made you forget."
Donavon stared at the girl for several minutes, before he suddenly burst out laughing. "Soulmates? That's just Daybreak crap. I don't *have* a soulmate, and I don't want one. I have Darcie."
The girl looked at him, her lip trembling, as if on the verge of tears. Donavon could feel his disgust rising. What a wimp. How did she ever get blue fire in her veins.
"You can't love Darcie," she went on softly. "You loved me. You made me a Redfern so we could be together, forever. They corrupted you, changed you."
Donavon stared at her, suddenly feeling uncomfortable at her insistence. "All right," he said finally. "Prove it. Prove it to me that we're soulmates."
The girl met his eyes directly, and held out her hands. "Touch me. Take my hands, touch my bare skin. The soulmate spark will reignite."
After a brief hesitation, Donavon reached out for her, he took her hands in his. And his mind was blown away.
* * *
White light filled his mind, engulfing him. He was being pulled into Winter's *mind.* He could feel it surrounding them, something pulling them together, like two drops of water merging. He could see images flashing through her mind, pictures, feel feelings he wasn't feeling, experiencing things he'd never experienced, hearing thoughts that weren't his.
They were Winter's thoughts, Winter's feelings. The soulmate connection, merging them together, letting one see the other for who they really were.
And for some reason, Donavon suddenly felt afraid. He didn't *want* Winter to see his past. See how...evil...he was. But how could something so evil be soulmated with something so pure, like Winter.
~Light to darkness~ she said.
It was her voice, but it wasn't out loud. It was inside his head, in the whirl of confusion and feelings brought on by the connection sparking between them.
~Twilight to be with the dark~.
~It still doesn't make much sense,~ he grumbled. Darcie and Nova were gonna be so pissed when they found out.
~You don't need them,~ Winter said. ~Look deeper.~
Donavon frowned, not understanding what she meant. Without knowing how he was doing it, he seemed to be pulled deeper into her mind, seeing...himself.
To her he was noble and brave and strong...
What the...?
That wasn't *him.* He shook his head, but couldn't seem to pull out of the hold she had on him. She was clinging on tightly, not wanting to leave.
He wasn't good. He was *bad*. He loved the darkness.
But why was Winter's mind showing him himself as a different person?
The deeper he looked, he could see something like this had happened before. He could clearly see himself hunting the pretty girl...touching her...sparks flying, a feeling as if she was electrocuting him...
He remembered feeling the same things he was feeling now, doubt, confusion...even fear.
But she had shown him he could be so much better. Even convincing him to make her a Redfern...
The memories surged around him, but they were his own, not hers.
~Donavon?~ she asked.
~It's all just a little overwhelming,~ he said.
He let go of her hands, and the connection was broken. He suddenly found himself in the real world, looking at her. She gazed at him, her features softened with longing.
"Now what?" he said with a sigh. He certainly wasn't ready to go all out soppy Daybreak again. His eyebrow raised. But who said he had to go Daybreak? What was to stop *her* from becoming Night World?
"Not going to happen," she said stubbornly.
He folded his arms and started at her. "Why not?"
"Because they're *evil*," she snapped. She looked around the room. He frowned, noticing the melted bars of the cage, the black spots on the floor that had been Martina and Jorryn.
"Okay, we've got a problem," he said with a sigh.
"You think?" she snorted. "Are you gonna let me out of here or what?"
He hesitated, not sure what to do. If he let her pass, would Nova and Azurite kill him? How would they know he let her out? But something told him there was a cloud of suspicion hanging around Nova.
He knew there was more he hadn't remembered yet. Something to do with Winter and Nova...
Winter sighed with impatience. "All right, all right. To cut a long story short you were bad and nasty, you chased me, you caught me, we discovered we were soulmates, and you realised what an asshole you'd been. You let me convinced you to try Daybreak, and we fell in love, and you changed me into a vampire so we could be together forever. Then Nova found out and she was pissed. She tried to kill us. I thought she *had* killed you, but she must have faked it, or done it with illusions or something. Then she did something to your mind to make you forget."
Donavon stared at her. "Okay, that's a lot of information to get in such a short space of time."
He wasn't sure how he was supposed to feel. But why would Winter lie? She didn't seem like the type to lie.
"So what are we going to do?" she asked.
"You're not going to do *anything,*" a surprised, harsh voice said, cutting in.
They both turned around to see a very surprised Nova standing at the top of the steps.
* * *
Winter stared at Nova in dismay. The bitch had a habit of getting in the way and ruining the situation. And who was the dark, creepy girl behind her, looking equally surprised?
"How the fuck did she get loose?" Nova was raging. "What happened to Jorryn and Martina?"
"You let her out," the dark-skinned woman was saying, looking at Donavon with a little frown on her face.
Nova groaned. "I should have known."
"I didn't do anything!" he protested. "*She* was the one who blasted them with her blue fire."
"They made me mad," Winter said simply. She could feel the power welling up inside her again, and was ready to use it on Nova and her friend if they made any move to hurt her or Donavon. She glanced over at Donavon, frowning, wondering if she used her Power how she could avoid accidentally blasting him as well. She had lost him once, and it had nearly killed her, and now she had him back she wasn't losing him again.
Donavon wouldn't meet her eyes, and seemed torn, between staying with her or going back to Nova. Winter stared at him intently, wondering why men were so stupid sometimes.
"Why aren't you doing anything?" the dark skinned woman asked Nova.
Nova shrugged. "It's your show. You deal with them."
The dark skinned woman smiled, and started towards Winter. Donavon's paralysis seemed to break, and he threw himself in front of the woman, who knocked him aside easily, laughing harshly.
She reached out, grabbing Winter's slender shoulders with claw-like hands. There was something very wrong in the woman's black eyes. It was as if there was no soul behind them, they glared at Winter blankly, eyes of obsidian, nothing penetrated. A dragon. The woman was a *dragon.*
Before she could shift and attack, something slammed into the dragon's shoulder. The dragon woman screeched in rage, throwing Winter to one side. Winter fell back, hitting her head against the wall. Dazed, she sat there, trying to focus on what was going on.
She could see people moving around, and there seemed to be a fight. But she was too confused to comprehend. She tried to et up, but her legs were shaky and wouldn't support her. She slid down again.
A bright flash of blue obscured her vision.
When everything was clear again the dragon woman was gone. So were the bad guys. Was Nova gone too? Winter couldn't tell. She felt someone helping her up, and glanced into shifting eyes.
"Come on, the sooner we get out of here the better," Ash was saying. She allowed him to help her stand up, and looked around again.
Where was Donavon?
There...but he seemed to be struggling. She didn't recognise the dark haired girl with the stake, about to plunge it into his heart. "No!" she cried out.
The two other people turned to look at her in surprise. Winter didn't recognise them either. She looked desperately at the girl with the stake. "No! He's on our side!"
Donavon opened his mouth as if to protest, but then shut it, shaking his head. Winter couldn't quite read his expression.
"We're soulmates," he said finally.
The girl reluctantly moved away.
"Can we get out of here now?" Ash said impatiently.
The others exchanged glances, groaning. They left. Winter clung to Donavon, who remained silent. She didn't know what he was feeling right now. He didn't seem to know himself. But at least they were safe. For now.
* * *
A seething fury was making Nova's blood boil as she stalked around her office, wrecking anything she could get her hands on to release the pent-up fury inside. She screamed aloud with frustration. The only one left of her group of bad guys was Darcie, who was equally pissed. They had lost the Dragon Princess, who had been blasted back to hell. Their Prize Wild Power had gone, as well as one of Nova's favourite bad guys. Donavon was lost again.
How she hated those fucking Daybreakers. They really had a knack for showing up at the most inconvenient moments and spoiling everyone's fun.
"So what are you planning on doing?" Darcie asked, glaring.
Nova stopped to look at her. "I haven't a fucking clue," she snapped. "You tell me."
Darcie didn't say anything, just stood there scowling. There was an uncomfortable hiatus, in which Nova felt her out of control fury slipping away. She took several deep breaths to calm herself down. It was ironic really, since vampires didn't need to breathe, but it was the only thing she could think of. She took a seat in her large leather office chair.
There was only two days left until the millennium battle. A thought sparked in her mind, just a little idea, but the more she thought about it, the more she realised a plan was developing.
"You have a plan?" Darcie asked, obviously seeing Nova's change of mood.
Nova smiled faintly. "I'm working on it."
* * *
The millennium was in less than an hour. Tension was heavy amongst the Daybreakers. Every soulmate couple was spending time together, enjoying each other's company for what could possibly be the last time. The day had been getting steadily darker from the middle of the afternoon.
When 6:00 PM had hit, the sky had changed to a fiery wash of reds and oranges, as if it were burning. There had been Night People gathering around the mansion all day, setting up what seemed to be an impenetrable wall, trapping the Daybreakers inside.
Winter sat with Iliana, Delos and Jez, the Wild Powers, waiting. Waiting was the worst thing ever. Tension was heavy amongst everyone. Winter felt like screaming.
"I hate this," Iliana complained. "Just sitting around doing nothing while they're all getting prepared."
"It really does seem kind of stupid," Delos said dryly, glancing around.
"Thierry's orders," Jez said, her tone almost a growl.
They were in a separate room from the others, ready to be called on when they were needed. The waiting was driving everyone crazy. She wanted to be with Donavon, not stuck in a room with people she barely knew. But there was nothing she could do.
Nothing but wait...
* * *
Donavon paced about Winter's bedroom, not wanting to see anyone else right now. He was an emotional mess, and he doubted anyone else was doing much better. Glancing out the window he could see Nova had gathered every single minion she could lay her hands on, her army was starting to gather.
Winter was with the other Wild Powers right now. He wanted her to be with *him*. He loved her, and wanted to at least have the chance to make things up to her. But it seemed fate had other things in store for them. No one knew what would happen when the millennium finally struck, in...he checked his watch, and drew a deep breath, 12: 56.
This was it.
* * *
He could see the one Nova wanted. Winter Redfern. They only needed one to triumph. Nova had taken him to one side, telling him to specifically get Winter Redfern. She had some sort of personal grudge against the Wild Power girl.
The girl was pretty, like an ice sculpture. He moved up silently behind her, grabbing her arms. The music suddenly stopped and the lights went on.
Shouts rang out, fights started, but the Daybreakers were vastly out numbered.
"I suggest maybe everyone stops what they're doing, drop your weapons or she dies right now." His fangs lengthened, and his grip on the girl's neck tightened.
She moved then, as much as she could in his tight hold, and surprised green eyes met his. She studied him, a look of disbelief on her face. "Donavon?" she whispered.
The Daybreakers dropped their weapons. Even Donavon had to admit he was surprised. He'd expected more of a fight. But maybe they cared too much about the Wild Powers. He jerked Winter's arm to make her move, and for a blonde, she was surprisingly smart. She moved where he wanted her to go.
He dragged her out, into the waiting limo, smiling faintly as a fight exploded behind him. He would have liked to have taken part. Darcie was waiting by the limo as Donavon shoved Winter inside.
"That was fast," Darcie remarked, getting inside as the limo screeched off. Winter was sandwiched between them, with no hope of escape. For some reason, Winter couldn't seem to take her eyes off him, her hand kept reaching out to touch him. Darcie was getting mad. She grabbed Winter's wrists, and bound them with some bast cord.
Donavon glanced away from Winter's penetrating gaze, unsure why she kept looking at him like that. All she did know was she didn't like it.
When they arrived back at Nova's mansion, they escorted Winter to the main office. Nova and Azurite were there, waiting, smiling.
"Well, well," Nova said. "I have to admit, I'm impressed, Donavon."
Donavon's eyebrows raised. "You have faith in me," he said dryly. "That's so sweet."
Nova smiled back. "A pleasure," she said brightly. "Now let's get her locked up."
* * *
Darcie followed the group at a distance. She had taken an instant disliking to The Wild Power girl. For some reason, ever since they'd grabbed her, she had been trying to touch Donavon.
She seemed to know him from somewhere, but quite clearly didn't recognise her. They locked her in a cage in the basement. The cage had been built for keeping animals in, for Nova's hunting thrills, occasionally she kidnapped humans and hunted them instead. That was more fun. It suited their purpose now. Donavon left with Nova and the Dragon girl, who didn't seem to like anyone much.
Jorryn and Martina came downstairs, breathless from battle. "Nothing like battling the Daybreakers to make a bad day seem perky," Martina said brightly.
Darcie just shrugged, and walked out, still bugged over the deal with Donavon and the Wild Power. For some reason Nova had a grudge against her, maybe she knew something.
She didn't know Donavon that well, they'd only been dating for about a month. He seemed to be having some memory problems. He never talked about his past, he got mad if anyone mentioned it.
She knocked on the door to Nova's office and went inside. Nova was alone, with some paper work spread out on her desk. She looked up as Darcie came in. "What's up?"
Darcie sat down and shrugged. "I was hoping you could tell me. What do you know about Donavon?" It was common knowledge that Nova had had a thing for Donavon. But he didn't seem all that interested in Nova. He was one of her favourite assassins.
"Donavon was Daybreaker who needed some sense knocked into him," Nova said.
"What's the deal with him and the Wild Power?" she asked. Donavon? Daybreak? The idea was laughable.
"The Wild Power was his soulmate. She was Daybreak, and turned him to turn Daybreak too." Nova pouted. "He was my favourite. I couldn't allow the little bitch to take him. I didn't know she was the Wild Power, then. The girl was a shifter, and she wanted to be a vamp, so he changed her. Technically, that's not against the rules since she's already Night World. We attacked them. I had a witch do a spell, to make Donavon appear dead. But he wasn't dead. The plus side for us, is all he remembers is being bad."
"But the girl's trying to reignite the Soulmate Spark," Darcie said unhappily.
"Who says she's going to?" Nova said, "we keep her away from him, no problems."
"Why can't I just kill the bitch?" Darcie hissed, feeling rage and anger. "Four less one. All we need."
Nova smiled dryly. "As much as I'd like to let you, Azurite's the one in charge. She decides what we do. Talk to her."
Darcie stood up, and stalked out. This was getting nowhere very fast. She didn't like it at all.
* * *
"We've got to get her back," Jez said flatly.
The remains of Circle Daybreak sat around one of the lounge, cleaning their wounds.
"I think that's pretty much a given," Ash said dryly. "Any ideas?"
At the surprise attack they'd suffered heavy losses, the other Wild Powers had survived, and most of the recent pairs of soulmates. Some of them were badly injured, Iliana, Thea and Winnie were working together with their powers to try and heal them up before the battle, and if they didn't get to Winter before the Night World killed her, they didn't stand a chance. The idea of vampires taking over the world was not an appealing one.
"We sneak up on them like they did us," Maggie suggested. "We know they're outside somewhere. It's not going to be hard to find a big creepy mansion somewhere."
The Daybreakers exchanged glances. At least someone had a brain still working. Most of them were still in shock, ones like Ash, dealing with it with annoying sarcasm. Mary-Lynnette seemed to be ready to throttle him. Ash was going to need new shins by the end of the day with the amount of times she kept kicking him.
Eventually, they had a plan of their own.
"Jez, Morgead, go with Keller and Rashel," Thierry said. "Ash, you go too, make some use of yourself."
Ash opened his mouth to protest, then shut it gloomily. Maybe in future he should learn to keep his mouth shut and not be a smart-ass. It was going to take a lot of work.
* * *
Winter sat on the floor of her cage, not sure what else to do. There were two Night People there, two vampires. She could blast them with her blue fire, of course, but they hadn't done anything to hurt her. Yet.
Winter wasn't a cruel person, she didn't like to hurt people unnecessarily. If they tried to hurt her first, well, that would be a different situation.
Her thoughts drifted back to Donavon. She didn't understand. He was *dead.* Or at least, that's what she'd thought. She frowned, shaking her head in confusion. He didn't know who she was.
The knowledge of that hurt almost like a physical pain. These - people - had done something to him. They'd changed him, corrupted him. He'd been one of them once, but she thought she'd straightened him out, but now...he was bad again.
He wouldn't let her touch him. Winter felt fore sure if she touched him, then the soulmate spark would reignite, and Donavon would remember who he should be. He would remember her.
"What's the deal with Donavon and the Wild Power chick, anyway?" the tall, scary one was saying, gesturing over to Winter.
Winter stood up, moving closer to the bars. Why the hell did they even need a cage anyway? It seemed absurd.
The big scary guy chuckled. "I don't think Darcie likes her much, the Wild Power's making Don *think*."
"We're soulmates," Winter said simply.
The girl laughed. "I don't think so, honey," she snorted. Winter fought to keep her temper, the pet-names annoyed her. "Don's too bad to have a soulmate. That's just mushy shit you damned Daybreakers dreamed up."
"It's not mushy shit," Winter snapped, feeling her anger rising. She could feel the power starting to grow inside her. "You people did something to him. You made him forget me."
The girl studied her, an unfriendly smile on her face. "It doesn't look like you're worth remembering, sweetie."
And Winter got mad. Forget her principles. This bitch deserved to die. She made a cut on her wrist with her sharp fingernails, and could see the blood come out, welling dark red in the cut.
The scary guy frowned. "What the hell are you doing?" he asked, sounding alarmed.
Winter gave then an unpleasant smile of her own, and let the blue fire out. She could feel it come out of her in an intense blast of heat, the sparkling blue surrounded the room, and her vision.
When it cleared, the bars of the cage had melted. The two vamps were gone. Winter smiled. A stroke of luck for her.
She slipped between what was left of the bars and headed up the stairs. She didn't get very far. The door opened, and she found herself face to face with her soulmate.
"Donavon."
* * *
Alerted by the sudden flash of blue Donavon hurried down into the basement. He stopped dead, seeing the Wild Power was free. She stood two steps below him, looking at him with innocent blue eyes.
"You don't remember me," she said. She sounded hurt.
Donavon just stared at her. "Should I?"
The girl just looked at him sadly, reached out two slender hands to take his. He jerked back, not wanting to touch her.
"We're soulmates," she said, her tone wistful. "They did something to you, made you forget."
Donavon stared at the girl for several minutes, before he suddenly burst out laughing. "Soulmates? That's just Daybreak crap. I don't *have* a soulmate, and I don't want one. I have Darcie."
The girl looked at him, her lip trembling, as if on the verge of tears. Donavon could feel his disgust rising. What a wimp. How did she ever get blue fire in her veins.
"You can't love Darcie," she went on softly. "You loved me. You made me a Redfern so we could be together, forever. They corrupted you, changed you."
Donavon stared at her, suddenly feeling uncomfortable at her insistence. "All right," he said finally. "Prove it. Prove it to me that we're soulmates."
The girl met his eyes directly, and held out her hands. "Touch me. Take my hands, touch my bare skin. The soulmate spark will reignite."
After a brief hesitation, Donavon reached out for her, he took her hands in his. And his mind was blown away.
* * *
White light filled his mind, engulfing him. He was being pulled into Winter's *mind.* He could feel it surrounding them, something pulling them together, like two drops of water merging. He could see images flashing through her mind, pictures, feel feelings he wasn't feeling, experiencing things he'd never experienced, hearing thoughts that weren't his.
They were Winter's thoughts, Winter's feelings. The soulmate connection, merging them together, letting one see the other for who they really were.
And for some reason, Donavon suddenly felt afraid. He didn't *want* Winter to see his past. See how...evil...he was. But how could something so evil be soulmated with something so pure, like Winter.
~Light to darkness~ she said.
It was her voice, but it wasn't out loud. It was inside his head, in the whirl of confusion and feelings brought on by the connection sparking between them.
~Twilight to be with the dark~.
~It still doesn't make much sense,~ he grumbled. Darcie and Nova were gonna be so pissed when they found out.
~You don't need them,~ Winter said. ~Look deeper.~
Donavon frowned, not understanding what she meant. Without knowing how he was doing it, he seemed to be pulled deeper into her mind, seeing...himself.
To her he was noble and brave and strong...
What the...?
That wasn't *him.* He shook his head, but couldn't seem to pull out of the hold she had on him. She was clinging on tightly, not wanting to leave.
He wasn't good. He was *bad*. He loved the darkness.
But why was Winter's mind showing him himself as a different person?
The deeper he looked, he could see something like this had happened before. He could clearly see himself hunting the pretty girl...touching her...sparks flying, a feeling as if she was electrocuting him...
He remembered feeling the same things he was feeling now, doubt, confusion...even fear.
But she had shown him he could be so much better. Even convincing him to make her a Redfern...
The memories surged around him, but they were his own, not hers.
~Donavon?~ she asked.
~It's all just a little overwhelming,~ he said.
He let go of her hands, and the connection was broken. He suddenly found himself in the real world, looking at her. She gazed at him, her features softened with longing.
"Now what?" he said with a sigh. He certainly wasn't ready to go all out soppy Daybreak again. His eyebrow raised. But who said he had to go Daybreak? What was to stop *her* from becoming Night World?
"Not going to happen," she said stubbornly.
He folded his arms and started at her. "Why not?"
"Because they're *evil*," she snapped. She looked around the room. He frowned, noticing the melted bars of the cage, the black spots on the floor that had been Martina and Jorryn.
"Okay, we've got a problem," he said with a sigh.
"You think?" she snorted. "Are you gonna let me out of here or what?"
He hesitated, not sure what to do. If he let her pass, would Nova and Azurite kill him? How would they know he let her out? But something told him there was a cloud of suspicion hanging around Nova.
He knew there was more he hadn't remembered yet. Something to do with Winter and Nova...
Winter sighed with impatience. "All right, all right. To cut a long story short you were bad and nasty, you chased me, you caught me, we discovered we were soulmates, and you realised what an asshole you'd been. You let me convinced you to try Daybreak, and we fell in love, and you changed me into a vampire so we could be together forever. Then Nova found out and she was pissed. She tried to kill us. I thought she *had* killed you, but she must have faked it, or done it with illusions or something. Then she did something to your mind to make you forget."
Donavon stared at her. "Okay, that's a lot of information to get in such a short space of time."
He wasn't sure how he was supposed to feel. But why would Winter lie? She didn't seem like the type to lie.
"So what are we going to do?" she asked.
"You're not going to do *anything,*" a surprised, harsh voice said, cutting in.
They both turned around to see a very surprised Nova standing at the top of the steps.
* * *
Winter stared at Nova in dismay. The bitch had a habit of getting in the way and ruining the situation. And who was the dark, creepy girl behind her, looking equally surprised?
"How the fuck did she get loose?" Nova was raging. "What happened to Jorryn and Martina?"
"You let her out," the dark-skinned woman was saying, looking at Donavon with a little frown on her face.
Nova groaned. "I should have known."
"I didn't do anything!" he protested. "*She* was the one who blasted them with her blue fire."
"They made me mad," Winter said simply. She could feel the power welling up inside her again, and was ready to use it on Nova and her friend if they made any move to hurt her or Donavon. She glanced over at Donavon, frowning, wondering if she used her Power how she could avoid accidentally blasting him as well. She had lost him once, and it had nearly killed her, and now she had him back she wasn't losing him again.
Donavon wouldn't meet her eyes, and seemed torn, between staying with her or going back to Nova. Winter stared at him intently, wondering why men were so stupid sometimes.
"Why aren't you doing anything?" the dark skinned woman asked Nova.
Nova shrugged. "It's your show. You deal with them."
The dark skinned woman smiled, and started towards Winter. Donavon's paralysis seemed to break, and he threw himself in front of the woman, who knocked him aside easily, laughing harshly.
She reached out, grabbing Winter's slender shoulders with claw-like hands. There was something very wrong in the woman's black eyes. It was as if there was no soul behind them, they glared at Winter blankly, eyes of obsidian, nothing penetrated. A dragon. The woman was a *dragon.*
Before she could shift and attack, something slammed into the dragon's shoulder. The dragon woman screeched in rage, throwing Winter to one side. Winter fell back, hitting her head against the wall. Dazed, she sat there, trying to focus on what was going on.
She could see people moving around, and there seemed to be a fight. But she was too confused to comprehend. She tried to et up, but her legs were shaky and wouldn't support her. She slid down again.
A bright flash of blue obscured her vision.
When everything was clear again the dragon woman was gone. So were the bad guys. Was Nova gone too? Winter couldn't tell. She felt someone helping her up, and glanced into shifting eyes.
"Come on, the sooner we get out of here the better," Ash was saying. She allowed him to help her stand up, and looked around again.
Where was Donavon?
There...but he seemed to be struggling. She didn't recognise the dark haired girl with the stake, about to plunge it into his heart. "No!" she cried out.
The two other people turned to look at her in surprise. Winter didn't recognise them either. She looked desperately at the girl with the stake. "No! He's on our side!"
Donavon opened his mouth as if to protest, but then shut it, shaking his head. Winter couldn't quite read his expression.
"We're soulmates," he said finally.
The girl reluctantly moved away.
"Can we get out of here now?" Ash said impatiently.
The others exchanged glances, groaning. They left. Winter clung to Donavon, who remained silent. She didn't know what he was feeling right now. He didn't seem to know himself. But at least they were safe. For now.
* * *
A seething fury was making Nova's blood boil as she stalked around her office, wrecking anything she could get her hands on to release the pent-up fury inside. She screamed aloud with frustration. The only one left of her group of bad guys was Darcie, who was equally pissed. They had lost the Dragon Princess, who had been blasted back to hell. Their Prize Wild Power had gone, as well as one of Nova's favourite bad guys. Donavon was lost again.
How she hated those fucking Daybreakers. They really had a knack for showing up at the most inconvenient moments and spoiling everyone's fun.
"So what are you planning on doing?" Darcie asked, glaring.
Nova stopped to look at her. "I haven't a fucking clue," she snapped. "You tell me."
Darcie didn't say anything, just stood there scowling. There was an uncomfortable hiatus, in which Nova felt her out of control fury slipping away. She took several deep breaths to calm herself down. It was ironic really, since vampires didn't need to breathe, but it was the only thing she could think of. She took a seat in her large leather office chair.
There was only two days left until the millennium battle. A thought sparked in her mind, just a little idea, but the more she thought about it, the more she realised a plan was developing.
"You have a plan?" Darcie asked, obviously seeing Nova's change of mood.
Nova smiled faintly. "I'm working on it."
* * *
The millennium was in less than an hour. Tension was heavy amongst the Daybreakers. Every soulmate couple was spending time together, enjoying each other's company for what could possibly be the last time. The day had been getting steadily darker from the middle of the afternoon.
When 6:00 PM had hit, the sky had changed to a fiery wash of reds and oranges, as if it were burning. There had been Night People gathering around the mansion all day, setting up what seemed to be an impenetrable wall, trapping the Daybreakers inside.
Winter sat with Iliana, Delos and Jez, the Wild Powers, waiting. Waiting was the worst thing ever. Tension was heavy amongst everyone. Winter felt like screaming.
"I hate this," Iliana complained. "Just sitting around doing nothing while they're all getting prepared."
"It really does seem kind of stupid," Delos said dryly, glancing around.
"Thierry's orders," Jez said, her tone almost a growl.
They were in a separate room from the others, ready to be called on when they were needed. The waiting was driving everyone crazy. She wanted to be with Donavon, not stuck in a room with people she barely knew. But there was nothing she could do.
Nothing but wait...
* * *
Donavon paced about Winter's bedroom, not wanting to see anyone else right now. He was an emotional mess, and he doubted anyone else was doing much better. Glancing out the window he could see Nova had gathered every single minion she could lay her hands on, her army was starting to gather.
Winter was with the other Wild Powers right now. He wanted her to be with *him*. He loved her, and wanted to at least have the chance to make things up to her. But it seemed fate had other things in store for them. No one knew what would happen when the millennium finally struck, in...he checked his watch, and drew a deep breath, 12: 56.
This was it.
* * *