Chapter 4
It was ten p.m. before Jason and I headed upstairs to bed. "So are you going to tell me why you can't stop smiling?" he asked. I shrugged and climbed into one of the double beds.
"Do you really want to know?" He nodded and sat on his bed, anticipation bright in his eyes. "Just promise me you won't flip out."
"Cross my heart." I took a deep breath.
"Peter and I are soulmates." Jason blinked once, his entire body frozen in place. Silence stretched on for at least five minutes.
"He's human. You can't be soulmates with a human," he argued.
"More Night People are finding human soulmates. And he already knows about the Night World, so I don't have to worry about telling him." Jason stood up and walked over to me, placing his hands on my shoulders. His face was inches from mine.
"Ruby, listen to me. You are a werewolf and Peter is a human. There is no way you can be soulmates. The Redferns and Harmans are the ones finding human soulmates, not us lowly 'shifters. I think you're confused and sear-" I placed a firm hand over his mouth.
"Jason, I have never been more sure about something in my whole life. What matters is that I've found a new group and my soulmate." He nodded obediently and slipped back into his bed. "Besides, I think there's a certain blonde on your mind right now," I added with a smile.
"Doesn't matter anyway. She's involved with the older Tyler."
"What if they just flirt because they're friends? Ask her after the fight." He rolled over and stared at me for a moment.
"I'd give my life to save her, but would she do the same for me?"
"I would save your life." That brought a smile to his lips.
"Thanks Ruby." With that he closed his eyes and went to sleep. I stayed up a few minutes more pondering his statement, hoping that he would never have to prove he'd risk his life for the icy lamia. Though to be truthful, I wasn't completely sure she wouldn't do the same for him. I nodded off after that, my dreams laced with images of the upcoming battle.
* * *
The four of us walked into the Tylers' house at three p.m., six hours before the fight. I'd called Laurel late last night, but all flights were booked for two days. She'd made Jason and me promise to be careful. "Why are we here so early?" I asked. Besides, I needed to practice a little to limber up.
"So we can all practice our self-defense," Peter replied. We made our way into the basement, which had been turned into a small gym. Half the room had free weights and machines, including bikes, treadmills, rowers, and stair-masters. The other half was a dojo, with weapons of all types hanging on the walls.
"Wow! You guys must be down here all the time," Jason remarked. Marik set down a free weight and came over, bare chest lightly beaded with sweat. An impressive six-pack led up to smooth, tan flesh that had strong muscles beneath it. I could see why Amber liked him, as my own heart skipped a beat or two.
"Amber's over on the mat waiting for you, Ruby. She's going to see how well you do in hand-to-hand combat. I'll take Jason." Peter pouted and shuffled over to the mat. Amber came out from a small back room, a gi secured to her body with a black belt. She went over to Peter and whispered with him for a few minutes, then came over to us.
"Marik, let Peter fight Jason. He's itching to try his skill."
"But I wanted to-"
"Please?" To really get her point across she gave him "Bambi-eyes". He sighed and smiled, a blush heating his cheeks when she hugged him.
"I'll fight you, Marik," Sage offered. The older boy smiled as we all moved onto the mat. In five minutes I was surrounded by four shirtless guys- and loving every minute of it.
"I think I'm going to like it here." Peter turned beet-red, the color flowing halfway down his chest. My, my, how self-conscious he was.
"I can make a group of guys half-strip faster than Blaise can strip one, all by saying the word "fight". Though it helps that I actually get dirty too," Amber explained. We bowed to each other and then dropped into defensive crouches. Time to see what she was made of.
"What form? I'm Tae Kwon Do."
"Shorin Ryu. Marik is Judo and Peter is Tae Kwon Do too." I front- snapped kicked, but she blocked it and threw a right cross, which I dodged.
"What is Sage?" Amber laughed as she swept my feet out from under me. Gee, perhaps I should pay more attention?
"Sage is a form unto himself." I leapt to my feet and side-kicked her knee. At the last instant I held back, only tapping the joint. She nodded at my control. Across the mat I caught a glimpse of Marik throwing Sage over his head. Guess that vampire strength comes in handy sometimes. The wolf took the fall on his arms, doing a handspring and righting himself again. He then whirled around and planted a solid kick in Marik's stomach. The lamia went to his knees in mild surprise.
"Ow! Nice recovery, Sage."
"Thank you." Their fight was cut short as Jason landed on them after Peter threw him. Someone then picked me up around the waist and jumped into the pile, pulling me with him.
"Mosh pit!" Peter yelled, a bright smile on his face. Marik reached out and pulled Amber in too. She shrieked, but joined in anyway. A few minutes later we all collapsed, chests heaving and hearts racing. I was lying on top of Peter, my head on his bare chest. Sage sat up and sighed, standing up and putting his shirt back on. Surprisingly, none of us were that sweaty.
"That was fun," Amber confessed, reaching out and running her hand down Marik's arm. Jason ran a hand lightly down her cheek, staring up at the girl on his chest. She blushed and rolled off him. "If you boys can be patient long enough for me to get dressed, I'll fix everyone a late lunch." I sprang up to follow her, even though Peter complained.
"Amber, wait up!"
"Come to help?"
"Yeah, I figured the boys didn't need me hanging around." We walked into a bedroom, where she proceeded to change into black stretch-pants and a black shirt. "Camouflage?"
"I'm pale enough as it is. This at least hides me better." Upstairs was the kitchen, and we began setting the table with anything we found. Every so often I caught Amber staring at me, and finally asked her why she was.
"You like Peter, don't you?" Her question caught me off-guard.
"Well yeah, I mean he's a sweet guy. And handsome too, and…" Those icy eyes never left mine, and I had to look away.
"He's your soulmate, isn't he?" Her voice was soft and warm, like she'd known it all along.
"How did you know?" She hugged me and then placed her hands on my shoulders as if to tell me a secret.
"I knew he liked you from the way he couldn't stop staring at you. And Peter's usually very awkward around girls, but that's not the case with you. The thing that really convinced me is that I can feel the connection between the two of you." This was very odd. Here was a Night Person who was actually happy that my soulmate was human. Will wonders never cease? Changing the subject seemed a good idea though.
"What about you? Are you and Marik soulmates?" A blush crept up her face as she shook her head, an apologetic smile on her lips.
"No, I haven't found my soulmate yet. At this point I'm very content just to flirt with Marik."
"What about Jason?" The blush returned, which made me smile.
"Jason reminds me of Marik, but more mysterious. Besides, I know you both lost your mates when your pack was killed. I wouldn't want to confuse the poor boy." I blinked at her for a second.
"Confuse him?" I perched on the counter and waited for her to go on.
"You have to understand something about me, Ruby: I'm not looking for a significant other, my soulmate, or a plaything. Blaise is looking for toys, Kat finally got a boyfriend, you have your soulmate, and Angel will fool around, but Julian is the one for her. All I want is a guy or a group of guys that will flirt but don't want commitments."
"You want a harem." She shrugged and nodded.
"Basically. But I want them to think for themselves, not just follow me. That and the sex part." The two of us laughed, then became silent when we heard a loud rumble from below. "Release the hounds!" Amber shouted as the boys thundered into the room.
"FOOD!" they yelled, sitting down and grabbing what was closest.
"You'd think that we'd be more sophisticated than the humans," Sage noted, making himself a ham sandwich.
"Nope," Peter replied, stuffing Pringles into his mouth while Marik gulped down a cup of Pepsi. Jason was cramming a roast beef sandwich down his throat. I rolled my eyes.
"Men."
"Boys," Amber corrected, tossing me a piece of chocolate.
"Truer words were never spoken." We dissolved into laughter while the boys stared at us with puzzled looks in their eyes.
* * *
At eight-twenty p.m. we left for Angel's. Blaise was already there, a long leg draped over Julian while she and Angel kissed passionately. Oh, so we had a menage` a trois. "Excuse me!" Marik shouted, making everyone jump. Angel and Blaise ignored him, but Julian rose fluidly and stalked towards us. Peter pulled me out of the way, and Sage also stepped aside. Amber placed herself between the lamia and the Shadow Man.
"He's stupid, Julian. It's not worth your time."
"I can make it worth my time." Jason stepped up beside Amber.
"Then you'll have to take us down too." Well, if Julian didn't kill him, I just might. What was he thinking? Probably nothing. But the Shadow Man just smiled and whispered something to Amber so that she blushed. Angel stood and stared at us for a moment, Julian returning to her side.
"Where are Austin and Kat?"
"Here!" a panting voice answered as the couple ran into the room.
"You're late," Blaise chided, winking at Kat. The blonde stuck her tongue out in response.
"We were busy." Peter and Marik snickered as Austin blushed.
"Let's get going," Sage interrupted as he headed for the door. Everyone was in black, from Blaise's short dress to the Tylers' jeans to Julian's leather pants. With a wink, Julian vanished into thin air, and Jason and I stopped short.
"Where did he go?" Jason demanded.
"To get the Hunters," Austin replied. They all acted like it was perfectly normal for him to do that, which really made me wonder how many times they'd taken on other gangs. We looked like a bunch of Goths headed for a club, but instead we took off for the woods, Angel in the lead. Peter took my hand as we went deeper and deeper into the mist.
"You nervous?"
"No," I lied. "You?"
"No." I knew he was lying too, but said nothing. Suddenly we were in a clearing, the trees completely concealing us from any passers-by. A minute later the Hunters arrived, Julian leading them. The lead guy had bushy, blonde hair and searching, brown eyes that seemed to take in everything around him. He was dressed in army camouflage from his neck to his shiny- black boots. The rest of his entourage was also in army colors, but a few were in black and red instead of the green. Six guys and five girls stood before us, the guys ranging in size from two bouncers to three jocks to one beanpole. The two bouncers were dark-haired, but one had green eyes while the other had nondescript-brown. One of the jocks had blonde hair and blue eyes, another had brown hair with matching eyes, and the other was just dark everything; skin, hair, and eyes. All the men were in crewcuts, and they made good little soldiers, all standing at attention. The girls were a different story. One was blonde and blue-eyed, but she looked like an Amazon, with huge arms and a face that had definitely been punched a few times. Another one was graceful and small, bronze skin glowing in the small amount of moonlight there was. Her features were all dark like the one jock. Two of the girls were twins, brown hair and blue eyes matching perfectly, their stances betraying their martial arts training. I was betting on Jiu-Jitsu. While not as graceful as the bronze woman, their bodies looked agile and quick. The last woman was rail-thin and pale, like she hadn't eaten all day. But just underneath I could sense a power that I didn't trust. Unfortunately she was blocking herself from being read, and her green eyes bore into mine. Strawberry-blonde hair made her seem innocent, but I knew what I felt.
"You're Angel Redfern?" the leader asked in astonishment, brown eyes wide. You think he'd never seen a girl vampire before.
"I am. You must be Greg. Shall we review the rules?" He nodded. How nice, a compliant human.
"Rule one: No prisoners unless they call retreat," Julian's dark voice rose above the whispers. A few of the Hunters shivered.
"Rule two: No weapons," Sage added.
"Rule three: Pair-fights only. No tag-teaming," Blaise brought up.
"Rule four: Winner determines the fate of the losers," Greg pointed out. Angel nodded, a smile flitting across her face.
"Then let's do it." Circle Starlight shifted into fighting stances while the Hunters did the same. Jason and I braced ourselves as the two sides rushed at each other. Now we were fighting for our lives.
It was ten p.m. before Jason and I headed upstairs to bed. "So are you going to tell me why you can't stop smiling?" he asked. I shrugged and climbed into one of the double beds.
"Do you really want to know?" He nodded and sat on his bed, anticipation bright in his eyes. "Just promise me you won't flip out."
"Cross my heart." I took a deep breath.
"Peter and I are soulmates." Jason blinked once, his entire body frozen in place. Silence stretched on for at least five minutes.
"He's human. You can't be soulmates with a human," he argued.
"More Night People are finding human soulmates. And he already knows about the Night World, so I don't have to worry about telling him." Jason stood up and walked over to me, placing his hands on my shoulders. His face was inches from mine.
"Ruby, listen to me. You are a werewolf and Peter is a human. There is no way you can be soulmates. The Redferns and Harmans are the ones finding human soulmates, not us lowly 'shifters. I think you're confused and sear-" I placed a firm hand over his mouth.
"Jason, I have never been more sure about something in my whole life. What matters is that I've found a new group and my soulmate." He nodded obediently and slipped back into his bed. "Besides, I think there's a certain blonde on your mind right now," I added with a smile.
"Doesn't matter anyway. She's involved with the older Tyler."
"What if they just flirt because they're friends? Ask her after the fight." He rolled over and stared at me for a moment.
"I'd give my life to save her, but would she do the same for me?"
"I would save your life." That brought a smile to his lips.
"Thanks Ruby." With that he closed his eyes and went to sleep. I stayed up a few minutes more pondering his statement, hoping that he would never have to prove he'd risk his life for the icy lamia. Though to be truthful, I wasn't completely sure she wouldn't do the same for him. I nodded off after that, my dreams laced with images of the upcoming battle.
* * *
The four of us walked into the Tylers' house at three p.m., six hours before the fight. I'd called Laurel late last night, but all flights were booked for two days. She'd made Jason and me promise to be careful. "Why are we here so early?" I asked. Besides, I needed to practice a little to limber up.
"So we can all practice our self-defense," Peter replied. We made our way into the basement, which had been turned into a small gym. Half the room had free weights and machines, including bikes, treadmills, rowers, and stair-masters. The other half was a dojo, with weapons of all types hanging on the walls.
"Wow! You guys must be down here all the time," Jason remarked. Marik set down a free weight and came over, bare chest lightly beaded with sweat. An impressive six-pack led up to smooth, tan flesh that had strong muscles beneath it. I could see why Amber liked him, as my own heart skipped a beat or two.
"Amber's over on the mat waiting for you, Ruby. She's going to see how well you do in hand-to-hand combat. I'll take Jason." Peter pouted and shuffled over to the mat. Amber came out from a small back room, a gi secured to her body with a black belt. She went over to Peter and whispered with him for a few minutes, then came over to us.
"Marik, let Peter fight Jason. He's itching to try his skill."
"But I wanted to-"
"Please?" To really get her point across she gave him "Bambi-eyes". He sighed and smiled, a blush heating his cheeks when she hugged him.
"I'll fight you, Marik," Sage offered. The older boy smiled as we all moved onto the mat. In five minutes I was surrounded by four shirtless guys- and loving every minute of it.
"I think I'm going to like it here." Peter turned beet-red, the color flowing halfway down his chest. My, my, how self-conscious he was.
"I can make a group of guys half-strip faster than Blaise can strip one, all by saying the word "fight". Though it helps that I actually get dirty too," Amber explained. We bowed to each other and then dropped into defensive crouches. Time to see what she was made of.
"What form? I'm Tae Kwon Do."
"Shorin Ryu. Marik is Judo and Peter is Tae Kwon Do too." I front- snapped kicked, but she blocked it and threw a right cross, which I dodged.
"What is Sage?" Amber laughed as she swept my feet out from under me. Gee, perhaps I should pay more attention?
"Sage is a form unto himself." I leapt to my feet and side-kicked her knee. At the last instant I held back, only tapping the joint. She nodded at my control. Across the mat I caught a glimpse of Marik throwing Sage over his head. Guess that vampire strength comes in handy sometimes. The wolf took the fall on his arms, doing a handspring and righting himself again. He then whirled around and planted a solid kick in Marik's stomach. The lamia went to his knees in mild surprise.
"Ow! Nice recovery, Sage."
"Thank you." Their fight was cut short as Jason landed on them after Peter threw him. Someone then picked me up around the waist and jumped into the pile, pulling me with him.
"Mosh pit!" Peter yelled, a bright smile on his face. Marik reached out and pulled Amber in too. She shrieked, but joined in anyway. A few minutes later we all collapsed, chests heaving and hearts racing. I was lying on top of Peter, my head on his bare chest. Sage sat up and sighed, standing up and putting his shirt back on. Surprisingly, none of us were that sweaty.
"That was fun," Amber confessed, reaching out and running her hand down Marik's arm. Jason ran a hand lightly down her cheek, staring up at the girl on his chest. She blushed and rolled off him. "If you boys can be patient long enough for me to get dressed, I'll fix everyone a late lunch." I sprang up to follow her, even though Peter complained.
"Amber, wait up!"
"Come to help?"
"Yeah, I figured the boys didn't need me hanging around." We walked into a bedroom, where she proceeded to change into black stretch-pants and a black shirt. "Camouflage?"
"I'm pale enough as it is. This at least hides me better." Upstairs was the kitchen, and we began setting the table with anything we found. Every so often I caught Amber staring at me, and finally asked her why she was.
"You like Peter, don't you?" Her question caught me off-guard.
"Well yeah, I mean he's a sweet guy. And handsome too, and…" Those icy eyes never left mine, and I had to look away.
"He's your soulmate, isn't he?" Her voice was soft and warm, like she'd known it all along.
"How did you know?" She hugged me and then placed her hands on my shoulders as if to tell me a secret.
"I knew he liked you from the way he couldn't stop staring at you. And Peter's usually very awkward around girls, but that's not the case with you. The thing that really convinced me is that I can feel the connection between the two of you." This was very odd. Here was a Night Person who was actually happy that my soulmate was human. Will wonders never cease? Changing the subject seemed a good idea though.
"What about you? Are you and Marik soulmates?" A blush crept up her face as she shook her head, an apologetic smile on her lips.
"No, I haven't found my soulmate yet. At this point I'm very content just to flirt with Marik."
"What about Jason?" The blush returned, which made me smile.
"Jason reminds me of Marik, but more mysterious. Besides, I know you both lost your mates when your pack was killed. I wouldn't want to confuse the poor boy." I blinked at her for a second.
"Confuse him?" I perched on the counter and waited for her to go on.
"You have to understand something about me, Ruby: I'm not looking for a significant other, my soulmate, or a plaything. Blaise is looking for toys, Kat finally got a boyfriend, you have your soulmate, and Angel will fool around, but Julian is the one for her. All I want is a guy or a group of guys that will flirt but don't want commitments."
"You want a harem." She shrugged and nodded.
"Basically. But I want them to think for themselves, not just follow me. That and the sex part." The two of us laughed, then became silent when we heard a loud rumble from below. "Release the hounds!" Amber shouted as the boys thundered into the room.
"FOOD!" they yelled, sitting down and grabbing what was closest.
"You'd think that we'd be more sophisticated than the humans," Sage noted, making himself a ham sandwich.
"Nope," Peter replied, stuffing Pringles into his mouth while Marik gulped down a cup of Pepsi. Jason was cramming a roast beef sandwich down his throat. I rolled my eyes.
"Men."
"Boys," Amber corrected, tossing me a piece of chocolate.
"Truer words were never spoken." We dissolved into laughter while the boys stared at us with puzzled looks in their eyes.
* * *
At eight-twenty p.m. we left for Angel's. Blaise was already there, a long leg draped over Julian while she and Angel kissed passionately. Oh, so we had a menage` a trois. "Excuse me!" Marik shouted, making everyone jump. Angel and Blaise ignored him, but Julian rose fluidly and stalked towards us. Peter pulled me out of the way, and Sage also stepped aside. Amber placed herself between the lamia and the Shadow Man.
"He's stupid, Julian. It's not worth your time."
"I can make it worth my time." Jason stepped up beside Amber.
"Then you'll have to take us down too." Well, if Julian didn't kill him, I just might. What was he thinking? Probably nothing. But the Shadow Man just smiled and whispered something to Amber so that she blushed. Angel stood and stared at us for a moment, Julian returning to her side.
"Where are Austin and Kat?"
"Here!" a panting voice answered as the couple ran into the room.
"You're late," Blaise chided, winking at Kat. The blonde stuck her tongue out in response.
"We were busy." Peter and Marik snickered as Austin blushed.
"Let's get going," Sage interrupted as he headed for the door. Everyone was in black, from Blaise's short dress to the Tylers' jeans to Julian's leather pants. With a wink, Julian vanished into thin air, and Jason and I stopped short.
"Where did he go?" Jason demanded.
"To get the Hunters," Austin replied. They all acted like it was perfectly normal for him to do that, which really made me wonder how many times they'd taken on other gangs. We looked like a bunch of Goths headed for a club, but instead we took off for the woods, Angel in the lead. Peter took my hand as we went deeper and deeper into the mist.
"You nervous?"
"No," I lied. "You?"
"No." I knew he was lying too, but said nothing. Suddenly we were in a clearing, the trees completely concealing us from any passers-by. A minute later the Hunters arrived, Julian leading them. The lead guy had bushy, blonde hair and searching, brown eyes that seemed to take in everything around him. He was dressed in army camouflage from his neck to his shiny- black boots. The rest of his entourage was also in army colors, but a few were in black and red instead of the green. Six guys and five girls stood before us, the guys ranging in size from two bouncers to three jocks to one beanpole. The two bouncers were dark-haired, but one had green eyes while the other had nondescript-brown. One of the jocks had blonde hair and blue eyes, another had brown hair with matching eyes, and the other was just dark everything; skin, hair, and eyes. All the men were in crewcuts, and they made good little soldiers, all standing at attention. The girls were a different story. One was blonde and blue-eyed, but she looked like an Amazon, with huge arms and a face that had definitely been punched a few times. Another one was graceful and small, bronze skin glowing in the small amount of moonlight there was. Her features were all dark like the one jock. Two of the girls were twins, brown hair and blue eyes matching perfectly, their stances betraying their martial arts training. I was betting on Jiu-Jitsu. While not as graceful as the bronze woman, their bodies looked agile and quick. The last woman was rail-thin and pale, like she hadn't eaten all day. But just underneath I could sense a power that I didn't trust. Unfortunately she was blocking herself from being read, and her green eyes bore into mine. Strawberry-blonde hair made her seem innocent, but I knew what I felt.
"You're Angel Redfern?" the leader asked in astonishment, brown eyes wide. You think he'd never seen a girl vampire before.
"I am. You must be Greg. Shall we review the rules?" He nodded. How nice, a compliant human.
"Rule one: No prisoners unless they call retreat," Julian's dark voice rose above the whispers. A few of the Hunters shivered.
"Rule two: No weapons," Sage added.
"Rule three: Pair-fights only. No tag-teaming," Blaise brought up.
"Rule four: Winner determines the fate of the losers," Greg pointed out. Angel nodded, a smile flitting across her face.
"Then let's do it." Circle Starlight shifted into fighting stances while the Hunters did the same. Jason and I braced ourselves as the two sides rushed at each other. Now we were fighting for our lives.