Disclaimer: Night World and it's concepts belong to L.J.Smith.

Chapter 1

Willow strode through the thick doorway and into the club. She raked her fingers through her silky, waist length blonde hair and stretched luxuriously. She smiled when she saw guys staring at her. "Sorry boys," she murmured and shoved past them. Willow's grin widened as a teenage girl came into view. "Hey, Ebony! ? What's shakin'?" She asked her friend as she sat down beside her at the bar. "Willow! You didn't tell me you were going to be here today!" Ebony said surprised but excited. "Sorry. It was kind of a spur of the moment decision." She didn't mention that five vampire hunters had been after her and she thought that this would be a good place to hide out. At least if they found the club, they couldn't get in because of the guard at the door. And even if they did get in, that chance being less than one percent, the crowd was too large for them to find her. Besides, while she was here, she planned on having a little fun. "Any news I should know about, Vampire Ebony?" Willow questioned her friend with a bit of humor. Ebony's inhumanly beautiful face and features were a sure sign she was one with the night. "Any new enclaves or clubs around?" Willow added, while leaning back in the chair and raising her feet onto the counter. Her short black skirt rode up her thighs, showing much more skin than it had before. "Nope," Ebony answered, staring at her friend. "Damn, girl. How do you do it?" "Do what?" "Look so sexy without any effort. Do you know how much I wish I were you?" "Trust me, that is NOT a good wish to make," Willow said, her eyes darkening. She shifted in her seat feeling uncomfortable. "Look, I'm gonna go dance. Care to join me?" "No," Ebony replied with a rueful smile on her face. "I'm going to drown myself in these drinks some more. Have fun!" Willow jumped off her chair and walked with purpose towards a large group of werewolves, vampires, witches, and shapeshifters, all of which were boogying near a strobe light. Her long legs covered the distance quickly. The music was a mix of rock, techno, and new age. It pulsed through the floor and walls like a heart beating in someone's body. Willow scanned the dance floor for someone hot, her eyes pausing on a brown haired boy. No, she thought. His nose was a little too big. Willow continued searching, finally deciding on a guy looking for a partner. His sandy hair was flipped up in the front and his skin was tan. This boy's nose was perfect and lightly dusted with freckles. Look left hunk, Willow said using telepathy. The guy instantly turned around slightly. Now Willow could see that he had well-defined ab muscles underneath the tight black shirt he was wearing. What a stud, she thought. He studied her and smiled; he obviously liked what he saw. She smoothed her hands over her body, noticing the male's eyes glinted with lust when she ran them over her breasts. She knew what he was thinking of: sex. Why shouldn't he be? After all, she was persuading him. Willow seductively raised her arms in the air as she slowly shook her hips. The guy started to walk towards her. Willow knew that she had him. Where would be a good place? Was there any good place in here? Well, they could make out in the corner.She licked her lips thinking of the pleasure to come. She only needed to do one more thing to convince him a little more. Ah. She knew what to do. Willow slowly unknotted her halter- top and let it slide down to her feet. The male's eyes traveled down her face to her chest and the corners of his mouth turned up in a barely suppressed smile. Two arms suddenly snaked around her and wrapped themselves around her bare waist. God, who was it? Willow jerked the hands away from her and turned around, forgetting that she wasn't wearing a stitch on the upper half of her body. Everyone knew her reputation. When she got angry, she got violent. Who would just grab her like that? When she saw the person's face, her face paled. This person was her own worst enemy. "Dethor Redfern, what the hell are you doing here?"

********* As Willow looked up at him, he felt immense satisfaction. Obviously she still felt threatened by him. He still didn't know why she hated him so much. They had met two years before at a Night World party in L.A. At first it had seemed that she found him attractive, but as soon as he had walked over to her and told her his name, she glowered at him and stalked away. He found Willow's dislike of him amusing. She had grown in power since Dethor had last seen her and now her aura told him that she was quite strong, yet not as strong as him or other Redferns. Despite the bitter rivalry between them, he couldn't help but notice how stunning she looked tonight. Her long, lemon colored blonde hair seemed to glow with almost an unearthly sheen and her lips were as red as berries, despite her attempts to cover them with black lipstick. All of that was wonderful but what really caught Dethor were Willow's eyes. They were a pale gray, like fog that creeps in from a lake in the morning. Around the pupil ran a thin line of iridescent blue, flickering like the center of a flame. Willow had lined her eyes with black liner and had added faux jewels on her lids. Her lashes had been lengthened with dark mascara. Dethor allowed his eyes to wander down her body but stopped when he saw her bare chest. His eyes widened for a fraction of a second before resuming their normal size. "Having a little fun, were you." Dethor said. Willow looked down and blushed. She reached down and picked up her skimpy halter-top. Like her skirt, there was barely enough of it to cover her. She quickly started to knot the ties that went around her neck. Dethor grabbed the ones that ran just under her bust line. He purposely tied them extremely tight, too tight for her to be comfortable. Willow glared at him. "Bitch," she muttered before undoing the knot and retying it looser. He yanked her to him, so it would look like they were dancing together and almost jumped. There was a tingly feeling in his hands, one that had erupted as soon as he had touched her skin. Some new trick of hers, Dethor thought, angry with himself for being startled. He put his mouth to Willow's ear. "So how are things going," he murmured. He noticed the vampire she had tried to seduce was walking away in disgust and contempt. He was good at getting people to do that. "Things were going fine until you came here," Willow replied haughtily. "Yeah, and you were going to have sex with a guy you didn't even know." "No," Willow said defensively. "We might have just made out." Dethor snorted. "Fat chance. I know what you really wanted to do. You could have gotten pregnant!" Willow glared at him. Even when she's mad, she's still beautiful, thought Dethor. But then all vampires are beautiful. This was how she had looked when they had first met and she had decided that she hated him. Why didn't she look older? "Did you stop aging sometime before I met you?" Dethor asked. "You looked the same way when I saw you two years ago." "So what if I did? Do you have a problem with it?" "I was just curious. By the way, your power is still not as strong as mine." Willow's eyes narrowed and suddenly a blinding pain exploded in his head. Wanna bet? Her mind voice asked. Black dots were dancing in Dethor's eyes. He stumbled, barely preventing himself from falling flat on his ass. His eyes stung and his head pounded like Hell. He slowly stood up, blinking heavily. During this embarrassing moment, Willow yanked herself away from him, trying to get away. That's it. It was payback time. Dethor summoned all of his power, forming it into a giant thought bomb. He made it hotter than fire, white lightning that would stop her in her tracks. Silently, he let it flow into her head and explode. Willow grabbed her head and screamed, but her voice was drowned out by the music. She swayed and slowly crumpled to the floor in a heap. Other dancers looked at her, shrugged, and resumed what they were doing. That was Night people for you; most don't care about anyone but themselves. Dethor walked over to Willow with his usual cat-like grace and I'm-In-Charge demeanor. He picked her up smoothly and walked to the club exit. The werewolf guard glanced at him suspiciously, but didn't say anything. No one wanted to mess with a Redfern. If they did, they would have to answer to Hunter, who was basically the vampire leader. He was not exactly known for being kind. Dethor walked to his car quickly, wanting to leave the club before Willow awoke. He had no idea how long she would stay unconscious. He would drop her off in some unpleasant place and leave her there. Dethor smiled when he thought of how mad Willow would be when she woke up. Oh, if only he could watch her when she did. It would be hilarious! Rain fell from heavy gray clouds and splashed on the dirt. Dethor's shirt clung to his skin and his boots squelched as he walked. In little time, he reached the side of the rode where his car was parked. After he tossed Willow in the back, he started the car and sped away into the night.