Disclaimer: The Night World is the property of L.J. Smith as are any of the
characters you recognise like Thierry, Hannah, Lupe etc.
Spoilers: All of the Night World books and my story Bound by Flame.
Author's notes: Thank you so much to everyone who reviewed the last part.
Orange- Yep, Des and the others are going to be in the story, except for Winema, I don't see her as having a part in this story though that might change. I think they're going to have a more background role but they seem to be pushing themselves a little to the fore at the moment.
Redaura- well Gwern is alive somewhere but I'm not sure if he's going to come back or not yet, he might but then again he mightn't.
Mandy- Des and Gwern are involved in the story but their story is more of a side story though I'm not exactly sure what's going to happen there yet.
Part 4.
Diablo yawned widely as he sat in the car waiting for the target to come out of the library. This had to be the most boring assignment he had ever been on in his short but illustrious career, well he considered it illustrious anyway. Damn but this girl was in serious need of a life; they were finally released from that purgatory known as a school and the first place she goes is the library bringing along her little friend who looked as dull as dishwater too.
During school they, well Charlotte really, had discovered that there were only three Night World families in town, one lamia, one coyote 'shifter and one witch. None of them had any particularly strong affiliations with the council but Wenona Blessingway was the only Daybreaker, which added to the mystery of why they were sent to kill her. One lone Daybreaker in a hick town, she was hardly setting the world alight or about to bring down the council so why the hell were they wasting the energy and man-hours on her. There had to be more to this mission, which was why Charlotte was back at their house on the phone to headquarters. At least he hoped so; his curiosity was eating him up. Didn't humans have a saying about that, what was it? Oh yeah, curiosity killed the cat. It was lucky he was a vampire so and not a cat 'shifter.
He drummed his fingers impatiently on the steering wheel, how long did it take to get a book or whatever the hell they were doing. They'd been in there for nearly ¾ of an hour. What could they be doing in there?
Ten minutes later, when he was debating whether or not he'd have enough time to feed before they'd finish, they strolled out the doors chatting happily. He didn't know if it was the fact they'd taken so long or because they appeared to have enjoyed themselves but he felt vaguely irritated. He didn't know what was wrong with him, he usually didn't let little things annoy him; it must be because he hadn't fed. He'd have to get on of the others to take over soon.
"Do you want to get a coffee?" Aniela asked Wenona as they left the library.
"I'd love to but I'd better get home; you know how Mom is if I'm late."
"Okay. I probably should get home too. Mom's going to attempt to cook dinner; I don't want to miss the pyrotechnics."
"I thought she was getting better," Wenona said.
"She is," Aniela replied with a laugh, "well she tries, she just doesn't have that part of the brain. There's only one person who wears the apron in our house and that's Dad."
"Yeah but being a chef he must hate having to come home after cooking all day and having to cook again."
"Well he doesn't do much cooking at work anymore, it's mostly doing accounts and all that kind of business stuff and believe me he loves cooking. Mom has to practically tie him down to keep him form interfering and he still yells instructions across the kitchen. He's such a backseat chef. You should come over when mom's cooking someday; it's quite the spectacle. You might want to bring sandwiches though. Mom tends to get flustered and then things tend to get burnt and she starts yelling at Dad in Swedish."
"Sound like fun," Wenona said with a smile.
"It does. I mustn't be telling it right," Aniela replied and laughed.
"Well I'll see you tomorrow I guess," Wenona said as they reached the street.
"I'll call you tonight and tell you about Mom's kitchen escapades."
"Okay," Wenona laughed, "talk to you tonight."
Aniela tossed her backpack into the back of her car with grim satisfaction, she wouldn't have to think about it for a few hours, she wouldn't have to think about school for a few hours. She slid into the front seat and let out an audible sigh of contentment. She loved her car; she had slaved for long hours in her father's restaurant to afford it and she didn't care how many people called it a heap of junk, it was precious to her. She turned the key and the car filled with the sound of loud rock music, she leaned back in the seat letting all the day's tension slide away. It was her daily ritual; the only part of it that ever changed was the music. She started tapping her fingers on the steering wheel along to the beat and smiled, now she was in a good enough mood to face her mother's cooking.
Wenona walked the short distance from the library to her house feeling very uncomfortable. She kept getting the feeling that someone was watching her, which was silly who would be watching her. Still something was making the skin at the back of her neck tingle, it was probably her imagination and the left over frights from the horror film Alex had taken her and Aniela to at the weekend. That was probably it she thought and laughed at herself, imagine a witch who knew about the real horrors in the world getting frightened by some silly movie.
Diablo watched the witch walk slowly down the street. He knew she lived close by and she kept looking around so he let her cover a pretty good distance before he pulled the car onto the street and began to follow her, keeping what he hoped was a discrete distance. The last thing they needed was her to realise he was following her.
When she reached her home he parked a couple of houses down and picked up his cell phone. Cassian answered.
"What were you doing?" Diablo asked, "sitting on the phone."
"Just waiting for your call, darling," Cassian replied.
"What did you find out from the boss?"
"They've changed our brief," Cassian told him, "They want us to watch her, get to know her and all her friends, to find out everything about her and do it quick. The Council still haven't been able to re-infiltrate Daybreak after that purge of all their spies a few months ago so they have no idea when or even if Daybreak will send their agents but they want us gone before then."
"Why didn't they tell us that in the first place?" Diablo muttered to himself.
"Must have found out something new about her," Cassian replied. "Anyway I'll tell you more when you get back. Charlotte's on her way over to relieve you."
Des and Icarus sat silently outside Thierry's office. Neither of them had an idea why Thierry wanted to see them though they had gone over every reason imaginable the night before but still hasn't managed to come up with a plausible explanation. They weren't a team any longer, not since Gwern took off and they hadn't been sent on any assignments since then. Truthfully Des was enjoying being just an ordinary Daybreak member. When she was on assignment she was on edge all the time, always wondering what was coming next and always trying too hard because she always felt she wasn't good enough to be there. She was just a human, a young human with few talents to speak of.
She couldn't really share those fears of inadequacies with the others. They were both strong and extremely competent and from the Night World; they couldn't understand where she was coming from. She had once tried to share with Gwern her fear that she would be the cause of them failing an assignment or even worse that she might be responsible foe someone getting killed, but Gwern had just used it as another reason to argue she should become a vampire. Vampires were stronger, had better senses, and were impervious to injury from everything except wood and fire, being a vampire would help her keep people alive, he had argued. She had socked him in the gut after that one.
Icarus started tapping his fingers on the arm of his chair, a sign that he was getting impatient. They had already been waiting for 20 minutes and there was no sign of movement behind the heavy oak door that led to Thierry's office.
"I could be sleeping now," Icarus muttered before stretching and yawning loudly.
"It's nearly 1/2 past 6 in the evening," Des replied.
"Yeah well I could be having a nap, I'm tired."
"That's what you get for staying out all night, you party animal," Des said mockingly.
"Animal okay," Icarus replied with a smile, "but party no, I'm incredibly sorry to say not. I just happen to live above someone who has lots of parties that usually don't end until dawn."
Des grinned, "And I thought I was bad with the guy with the 6 alarm clocks at 6.30 am."
"He's still doing that? You'd think after a while he'd get used to waking at that time and cut back a little."
"Oh, he has," Des told him, "It used to be 10."
Icarus laughed and then looked at his watch.
"Hmmm speaking of time keeping," he said, "I always thought Thierry was a master of punctuality."
"Generally he is," a soft, female voice answered, "but he can't always control how long other people are going to talk for. He is ready for you guys now."
Icarus grinned sheepishly at Hannah, he hadn't meant for anyone but Des to hear that comment. He hadn't known she was there which just went to show how tired he was. So tired his brain hadn't processed the signals his enhanced senses had been sending it.
"So why does he want to see us?" Des asked Hannah.
"I really can't say," Hannah replied, "he wants to tell you himself."
"Sounds ominous," Des said softly.
"And getting called to see Thierry on short notice with no idea why isn't ominous?" Icarus said with a grin.
Des laughed and Hannah smiled softly. It was good to see Des laughing; Hannah had been wondering how Des was coping with Gwern leaving. Considering how Gwern had acted when she'd left him a few months back she was expecting brooding and anger but Des seemed fine. Hannah wasn't too worried anyway she knew Gwern would come back and they'd get back together. Not because they were soulmates, or because they loved each other or even because they needed each other but because despite all the anger and fighting they really wanted to be together.
Thierry smiled at them as they entered his office and indicated for them to sit.
"I realise you must both be wondering why I sent for you," he began, "but before I begin there's someone I want you to meet."
Hannah opened another door and ushered a pretty, young woman through. She appeared to be around the same age as Des and Icarus and was quite tall with thick, brown hair that had bronze highlights. She seemed a little nervous to Des. Her eyes were slightly downcast and her smile was shy.
"Cynthia," Thierry addressed her first, "I'd like you to meet Desdemona Lynch and Icarus Phelan."
She shook hands warmly with them both and said pleased to meet you," in an accent Des pegged as English but she wasn't quite sure of.
"Des, Rus," Thierry said turning his attention to them, "this is Cynthia Leonard. Cynthia's a member of Circle Daybreak in Britain; she's over on a sort of exchange we agreed with Gawen when he was over. She's basically acting as a liaison between the two circles. And she's the new member of your team."
"What?" Des and Icarus both exclaimed in shock.
"She's the new member of your team," Thierry repeated patiently.
Icarus's surprise changed to interest as he began to examine her, evaluating her use as a team member. Des however remain in a state of bewilderment with a healthy dollop of disappointment and pain mixed in. They'd got someone to replace Gwern, which meant that they didn't he'd be coming back. He was never coming back.
"Of course this will just be a temporary arrangement," Thierry added quickly, "just until Gwern returns."
"Guess I thought that one a little too loudly," Des said softly.
"No," Thierry replied compassionately, "you just let your barriers down for a moment, intense emotions can cause that sometimes."
Both Hannah and Icarus turned looks of pity on Des while Cynthia looked at the floor looking as she felt left out.
"So I guess this means we're going on an assignment," Des said in an attempt to remove the unwanted attention from herself.
"You guess correctly," Thierry told her with a smile.
"So what is it?" Icarus asked. "The fourth wild power in desperate need of our protection? Or an awakened dragon bent on murder and destruction?"
"Not quite," Thierry replied suppressing a grin. "An old friend of mine requested some protection for a friend of his. He believes she may be in danger."
Icarus sighed, "See how far from grace we have fallen, those who were once held high in esteem now sent to baby-sit our boss's chum's girlfriend."
Des giggled, "Come on 'Rus you love the quiet life, admit it."
"I won't force you to accept the assignment," Thierry told them. "This is a request, not an order but I'd consider it a personal favour if you would."
Des thought over his offer for a moment, Thierry obviously had his reasons for wanting to send them and though the girl might not be in danger, she might be too. Whatever her hang ups about her own abilities it wouldn't feel right to leave someone in potential danger without protection and going on an assignment was just one more step in getting her life back to some kind of normality since Gwern's departure.
"We'll do it," Des replied.
"But Des," 'Rus whined but was quietened by a cold glare that would have made Gwern proud.
"We accept," Des repeated then shot a pleading look at Rus. "Come on Rus, we need a little action and we need to get out of Vegas for a while before we get too soft. Then softly she added, "I think it's about time we both started living our lives again."
Spoilers: All of the Night World books and my story Bound by Flame.
Author's notes: Thank you so much to everyone who reviewed the last part.
Orange- Yep, Des and the others are going to be in the story, except for Winema, I don't see her as having a part in this story though that might change. I think they're going to have a more background role but they seem to be pushing themselves a little to the fore at the moment.
Redaura- well Gwern is alive somewhere but I'm not sure if he's going to come back or not yet, he might but then again he mightn't.
Mandy- Des and Gwern are involved in the story but their story is more of a side story though I'm not exactly sure what's going to happen there yet.
Part 4.
Diablo yawned widely as he sat in the car waiting for the target to come out of the library. This had to be the most boring assignment he had ever been on in his short but illustrious career, well he considered it illustrious anyway. Damn but this girl was in serious need of a life; they were finally released from that purgatory known as a school and the first place she goes is the library bringing along her little friend who looked as dull as dishwater too.
During school they, well Charlotte really, had discovered that there were only three Night World families in town, one lamia, one coyote 'shifter and one witch. None of them had any particularly strong affiliations with the council but Wenona Blessingway was the only Daybreaker, which added to the mystery of why they were sent to kill her. One lone Daybreaker in a hick town, she was hardly setting the world alight or about to bring down the council so why the hell were they wasting the energy and man-hours on her. There had to be more to this mission, which was why Charlotte was back at their house on the phone to headquarters. At least he hoped so; his curiosity was eating him up. Didn't humans have a saying about that, what was it? Oh yeah, curiosity killed the cat. It was lucky he was a vampire so and not a cat 'shifter.
He drummed his fingers impatiently on the steering wheel, how long did it take to get a book or whatever the hell they were doing. They'd been in there for nearly ¾ of an hour. What could they be doing in there?
Ten minutes later, when he was debating whether or not he'd have enough time to feed before they'd finish, they strolled out the doors chatting happily. He didn't know if it was the fact they'd taken so long or because they appeared to have enjoyed themselves but he felt vaguely irritated. He didn't know what was wrong with him, he usually didn't let little things annoy him; it must be because he hadn't fed. He'd have to get on of the others to take over soon.
"Do you want to get a coffee?" Aniela asked Wenona as they left the library.
"I'd love to but I'd better get home; you know how Mom is if I'm late."
"Okay. I probably should get home too. Mom's going to attempt to cook dinner; I don't want to miss the pyrotechnics."
"I thought she was getting better," Wenona said.
"She is," Aniela replied with a laugh, "well she tries, she just doesn't have that part of the brain. There's only one person who wears the apron in our house and that's Dad."
"Yeah but being a chef he must hate having to come home after cooking all day and having to cook again."
"Well he doesn't do much cooking at work anymore, it's mostly doing accounts and all that kind of business stuff and believe me he loves cooking. Mom has to practically tie him down to keep him form interfering and he still yells instructions across the kitchen. He's such a backseat chef. You should come over when mom's cooking someday; it's quite the spectacle. You might want to bring sandwiches though. Mom tends to get flustered and then things tend to get burnt and she starts yelling at Dad in Swedish."
"Sound like fun," Wenona said with a smile.
"It does. I mustn't be telling it right," Aniela replied and laughed.
"Well I'll see you tomorrow I guess," Wenona said as they reached the street.
"I'll call you tonight and tell you about Mom's kitchen escapades."
"Okay," Wenona laughed, "talk to you tonight."
Aniela tossed her backpack into the back of her car with grim satisfaction, she wouldn't have to think about it for a few hours, she wouldn't have to think about school for a few hours. She slid into the front seat and let out an audible sigh of contentment. She loved her car; she had slaved for long hours in her father's restaurant to afford it and she didn't care how many people called it a heap of junk, it was precious to her. She turned the key and the car filled with the sound of loud rock music, she leaned back in the seat letting all the day's tension slide away. It was her daily ritual; the only part of it that ever changed was the music. She started tapping her fingers on the steering wheel along to the beat and smiled, now she was in a good enough mood to face her mother's cooking.
Wenona walked the short distance from the library to her house feeling very uncomfortable. She kept getting the feeling that someone was watching her, which was silly who would be watching her. Still something was making the skin at the back of her neck tingle, it was probably her imagination and the left over frights from the horror film Alex had taken her and Aniela to at the weekend. That was probably it she thought and laughed at herself, imagine a witch who knew about the real horrors in the world getting frightened by some silly movie.
Diablo watched the witch walk slowly down the street. He knew she lived close by and she kept looking around so he let her cover a pretty good distance before he pulled the car onto the street and began to follow her, keeping what he hoped was a discrete distance. The last thing they needed was her to realise he was following her.
When she reached her home he parked a couple of houses down and picked up his cell phone. Cassian answered.
"What were you doing?" Diablo asked, "sitting on the phone."
"Just waiting for your call, darling," Cassian replied.
"What did you find out from the boss?"
"They've changed our brief," Cassian told him, "They want us to watch her, get to know her and all her friends, to find out everything about her and do it quick. The Council still haven't been able to re-infiltrate Daybreak after that purge of all their spies a few months ago so they have no idea when or even if Daybreak will send their agents but they want us gone before then."
"Why didn't they tell us that in the first place?" Diablo muttered to himself.
"Must have found out something new about her," Cassian replied. "Anyway I'll tell you more when you get back. Charlotte's on her way over to relieve you."
Des and Icarus sat silently outside Thierry's office. Neither of them had an idea why Thierry wanted to see them though they had gone over every reason imaginable the night before but still hasn't managed to come up with a plausible explanation. They weren't a team any longer, not since Gwern took off and they hadn't been sent on any assignments since then. Truthfully Des was enjoying being just an ordinary Daybreak member. When she was on assignment she was on edge all the time, always wondering what was coming next and always trying too hard because she always felt she wasn't good enough to be there. She was just a human, a young human with few talents to speak of.
She couldn't really share those fears of inadequacies with the others. They were both strong and extremely competent and from the Night World; they couldn't understand where she was coming from. She had once tried to share with Gwern her fear that she would be the cause of them failing an assignment or even worse that she might be responsible foe someone getting killed, but Gwern had just used it as another reason to argue she should become a vampire. Vampires were stronger, had better senses, and were impervious to injury from everything except wood and fire, being a vampire would help her keep people alive, he had argued. She had socked him in the gut after that one.
Icarus started tapping his fingers on the arm of his chair, a sign that he was getting impatient. They had already been waiting for 20 minutes and there was no sign of movement behind the heavy oak door that led to Thierry's office.
"I could be sleeping now," Icarus muttered before stretching and yawning loudly.
"It's nearly 1/2 past 6 in the evening," Des replied.
"Yeah well I could be having a nap, I'm tired."
"That's what you get for staying out all night, you party animal," Des said mockingly.
"Animal okay," Icarus replied with a smile, "but party no, I'm incredibly sorry to say not. I just happen to live above someone who has lots of parties that usually don't end until dawn."
Des grinned, "And I thought I was bad with the guy with the 6 alarm clocks at 6.30 am."
"He's still doing that? You'd think after a while he'd get used to waking at that time and cut back a little."
"Oh, he has," Des told him, "It used to be 10."
Icarus laughed and then looked at his watch.
"Hmmm speaking of time keeping," he said, "I always thought Thierry was a master of punctuality."
"Generally he is," a soft, female voice answered, "but he can't always control how long other people are going to talk for. He is ready for you guys now."
Icarus grinned sheepishly at Hannah, he hadn't meant for anyone but Des to hear that comment. He hadn't known she was there which just went to show how tired he was. So tired his brain hadn't processed the signals his enhanced senses had been sending it.
"So why does he want to see us?" Des asked Hannah.
"I really can't say," Hannah replied, "he wants to tell you himself."
"Sounds ominous," Des said softly.
"And getting called to see Thierry on short notice with no idea why isn't ominous?" Icarus said with a grin.
Des laughed and Hannah smiled softly. It was good to see Des laughing; Hannah had been wondering how Des was coping with Gwern leaving. Considering how Gwern had acted when she'd left him a few months back she was expecting brooding and anger but Des seemed fine. Hannah wasn't too worried anyway she knew Gwern would come back and they'd get back together. Not because they were soulmates, or because they loved each other or even because they needed each other but because despite all the anger and fighting they really wanted to be together.
Thierry smiled at them as they entered his office and indicated for them to sit.
"I realise you must both be wondering why I sent for you," he began, "but before I begin there's someone I want you to meet."
Hannah opened another door and ushered a pretty, young woman through. She appeared to be around the same age as Des and Icarus and was quite tall with thick, brown hair that had bronze highlights. She seemed a little nervous to Des. Her eyes were slightly downcast and her smile was shy.
"Cynthia," Thierry addressed her first, "I'd like you to meet Desdemona Lynch and Icarus Phelan."
She shook hands warmly with them both and said pleased to meet you," in an accent Des pegged as English but she wasn't quite sure of.
"Des, Rus," Thierry said turning his attention to them, "this is Cynthia Leonard. Cynthia's a member of Circle Daybreak in Britain; she's over on a sort of exchange we agreed with Gawen when he was over. She's basically acting as a liaison between the two circles. And she's the new member of your team."
"What?" Des and Icarus both exclaimed in shock.
"She's the new member of your team," Thierry repeated patiently.
Icarus's surprise changed to interest as he began to examine her, evaluating her use as a team member. Des however remain in a state of bewilderment with a healthy dollop of disappointment and pain mixed in. They'd got someone to replace Gwern, which meant that they didn't he'd be coming back. He was never coming back.
"Of course this will just be a temporary arrangement," Thierry added quickly, "just until Gwern returns."
"Guess I thought that one a little too loudly," Des said softly.
"No," Thierry replied compassionately, "you just let your barriers down for a moment, intense emotions can cause that sometimes."
Both Hannah and Icarus turned looks of pity on Des while Cynthia looked at the floor looking as she felt left out.
"So I guess this means we're going on an assignment," Des said in an attempt to remove the unwanted attention from herself.
"You guess correctly," Thierry told her with a smile.
"So what is it?" Icarus asked. "The fourth wild power in desperate need of our protection? Or an awakened dragon bent on murder and destruction?"
"Not quite," Thierry replied suppressing a grin. "An old friend of mine requested some protection for a friend of his. He believes she may be in danger."
Icarus sighed, "See how far from grace we have fallen, those who were once held high in esteem now sent to baby-sit our boss's chum's girlfriend."
Des giggled, "Come on 'Rus you love the quiet life, admit it."
"I won't force you to accept the assignment," Thierry told them. "This is a request, not an order but I'd consider it a personal favour if you would."
Des thought over his offer for a moment, Thierry obviously had his reasons for wanting to send them and though the girl might not be in danger, she might be too. Whatever her hang ups about her own abilities it wouldn't feel right to leave someone in potential danger without protection and going on an assignment was just one more step in getting her life back to some kind of normality since Gwern's departure.
"We'll do it," Des replied.
"But Des," 'Rus whined but was quietened by a cold glare that would have made Gwern proud.
"We accept," Des repeated then shot a pleading look at Rus. "Come on Rus, we need a little action and we need to get out of Vegas for a while before we get too soft. Then softly she added, "I think it's about time we both started living our lives again."