Part 11
Sephra's attention was briefly distracted by the sudden rush arrival or some girl running to a table near by, waving a letter. Sephra's sharp eyes made out a seal on the letter - the official seal of Circle Daybreak.
Her eyes rolled. For an organisation who were supposed to be more secret than the Night World itself they weren't doing much of a job. Everywhere you seemed to go there was a large population of Night World vs. Circle Daybreak.
Night People were supposed to be masters of secrecy and blending in so nobody knew they were there. Yet Sephra had begun to notice they were starting to make themselves obvious with common surnames of Redfern, Mandrill and Blackthorn for the vampires, Arlin, Harman and Weald for the witches, Keller and Drache for the shapeshifters.
Most of these families were supposed to be like royalty, yet Sephra knew at least two people to each surname.
"As I was *saying*," Rylan said, annoyed.
Sephra blinked and looked back. She'd completely lost track of the story he'd been trying to tell her. "What?"
Rylan sighed. "Please pay attention. This is extremely important."
Sephra bit her lip on a smart remark. She wasn't used to taking orders, normally she was the one who *gave* the orders. "Might as well start again, I wasn't listening."
Rylan's eyes rolled. "Basically, Leandra and her friends are in charge. Most of the humans round here seem to have a vague idea of what they are, but they're smart enough to keep their mouths should. They've killed people who tried to rebel, like Sandra and Lance."
Sephra frowned. That was another thing she'd heard whispers about. People had been saying that if she hit on Rylan, or if anything developed between them they'd end up like Sandra and Lance.
Now she thought she could fill in the blanks herself. "Let me guess, Lance was a guy Leandra liked, only he liked some girl she didn't like, she got jealous and killed them." She snorted with disgust. It was a story she'd heard over and over. Each variation had something slightly different to it, but it was the same basic story line.
Rylan shrugged uncomfortably. "They were both Night People." His voice was low. "Things were pretty peaceful."
Sephra frowned. "So what went wrong?"
"They were Daybreak spies. There used to be much more Night People here. They brought on a full-scale war."
That was something Sephra hadn't expected. "What happened?"
"The Daybreakers were all slaughtered. Lance had been seducing Leandra, Sandra had been after the guy she was seeing at the time, Johna Redfern - "
~Not another bloody Redfern~ Sephra thought with a roll of her eyes.
"They were blabbers, and Johna was killed. Leandra called the council. There was a horrible execution of the Daybreakers they captured. The local people forced themselves to forget."
Sephra eyed him. There was a reason he was telling her all of this. "Don't tell me, one of them was a Redfern, and they're wary of me because *I'm* a *Redfern*," she said dryly.
Rylan glanced over to the new empty table where she'd seen the girl with the Daybreak seal envelope. Maybe that was something that needed investigating.
As much as she loved fighting and action, even she wasn't sure she was in the mood for a full-scale war. Considering the urgency that little group had running out like that, something must be going on.
Wouldn't hurt to find out what.
* * *
Sephra's attention was briefly distracted by the sudden rush arrival or some girl running to a table near by, waving a letter. Sephra's sharp eyes made out a seal on the letter - the official seal of Circle Daybreak.
Her eyes rolled. For an organisation who were supposed to be more secret than the Night World itself they weren't doing much of a job. Everywhere you seemed to go there was a large population of Night World vs. Circle Daybreak.
Night People were supposed to be masters of secrecy and blending in so nobody knew they were there. Yet Sephra had begun to notice they were starting to make themselves obvious with common surnames of Redfern, Mandrill and Blackthorn for the vampires, Arlin, Harman and Weald for the witches, Keller and Drache for the shapeshifters.
Most of these families were supposed to be like royalty, yet Sephra knew at least two people to each surname.
"As I was *saying*," Rylan said, annoyed.
Sephra blinked and looked back. She'd completely lost track of the story he'd been trying to tell her. "What?"
Rylan sighed. "Please pay attention. This is extremely important."
Sephra bit her lip on a smart remark. She wasn't used to taking orders, normally she was the one who *gave* the orders. "Might as well start again, I wasn't listening."
Rylan's eyes rolled. "Basically, Leandra and her friends are in charge. Most of the humans round here seem to have a vague idea of what they are, but they're smart enough to keep their mouths should. They've killed people who tried to rebel, like Sandra and Lance."
Sephra frowned. That was another thing she'd heard whispers about. People had been saying that if she hit on Rylan, or if anything developed between them they'd end up like Sandra and Lance.
Now she thought she could fill in the blanks herself. "Let me guess, Lance was a guy Leandra liked, only he liked some girl she didn't like, she got jealous and killed them." She snorted with disgust. It was a story she'd heard over and over. Each variation had something slightly different to it, but it was the same basic story line.
Rylan shrugged uncomfortably. "They were both Night People." His voice was low. "Things were pretty peaceful."
Sephra frowned. "So what went wrong?"
"They were Daybreak spies. There used to be much more Night People here. They brought on a full-scale war."
That was something Sephra hadn't expected. "What happened?"
"The Daybreakers were all slaughtered. Lance had been seducing Leandra, Sandra had been after the guy she was seeing at the time, Johna Redfern - "
~Not another bloody Redfern~ Sephra thought with a roll of her eyes.
"They were blabbers, and Johna was killed. Leandra called the council. There was a horrible execution of the Daybreakers they captured. The local people forced themselves to forget."
Sephra eyed him. There was a reason he was telling her all of this. "Don't tell me, one of them was a Redfern, and they're wary of me because *I'm* a *Redfern*," she said dryly.
Rylan glanced over to the new empty table where she'd seen the girl with the Daybreak seal envelope. Maybe that was something that needed investigating.
As much as she loved fighting and action, even she wasn't sure she was in the mood for a full-scale war. Considering the urgency that little group had running out like that, something must be going on.
Wouldn't hurt to find out what.
* * *
