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: Thanks so much to everyone who commented on the last part.
Mandy: Heya, thank you for the review. I was kind of hoping for the Des and Gwern reunion too when I finally got him into the story but it wasn't to be, I have said it a few times but I have to say it again Gwern never seems to do what I want him to do.
As for Des's reaction to him I still don't know what that will be, on the one hand she really misses him and on the other she's really mad at him so only time will tell with those two. And as for Ani and Diablo well there's a lot of stuff they have to work out if they want to be together and though I'm not sure if they'll be able to I hope they do.
Adelaide E: I know, I know but I have no control over Gwern, I don't think I've ever had, but I do have to say I don't really think he's a bad ass vampire at least not in the Diablo sense of the word, he's more a pain in the ass, moody vampire.
As for Diablo as I said to Orange he has this whole nice, precious side to him that I never envisioned when the character first popped into my head. He was actually the first character I came up with for the story and I really thought he was going to be a complete bad ass assassin but then I start writing him and Ani and suddenly there's a whole 'nother side to him.
I'm still not sure what's going to happen with Diablo on the whole Wenona thing, it's still up in the air, but I definitely don't think anyone's going to let him get near Wenona without a fight.
Orange: I have to agree that yes Icarus's personality change was a good bit freaky but I have been sort of neglecting him in this story and when I finally got back to writing him I discovered that while I was concentrating on Des and Ani and Diablo Rus has been going through some stuff. There's a further explanation of his actions in this part.
Diablo can be sweet, which was a really unexpected side to him for me at least. To begin with I thought he was going to be the stereotypical bad ass vampire but then this nice side of his personality appeared from out of no where. Though it seems to come out when more when he's around Aniela. Hopefully everyone will be back to themselves by the end of this chapter.
As for Wenona's mystery soulmate, he's not really a mystery but he may be making another appearance at some stage or at least you'll find out who he is.
Redaura: Thank you so much for the review. I'm glad you're happy Gwern's back, and yes he is a big wimp at least when it comes to Des he is, though he has to get points for going after her at the end of Bound By Flame.
I definitely agree Icarus is too scary like that, I turn my back for a couple of chapters and my nice sweet Icarus has turned into a Gwern clone, but not to fear he will be back to himself soon, I hope.
As for the crying well hopefully there won't be too much more of that, Ani's not really one for crying a lot but she just had a huge overload in the last part and well poor Des has just had a really hard time so I say she can cry all she wants.
Ash: Thanks so much for reviewing, I'm so glad you like the story. I don't know when Gwern's going to meet up with Des as soon as he gets up the courage to go see her, which knowing him might take some time.
Part 19.
Crying wasn't a natural state for Aniela, she wasn't sure it was a natural state for anyone but it definitely wasn't for her, especially not in front of other people. Whenever she did cry it was usually alone in her room and it usually didn't last that long, just enough that whatever was bothering her didn't feel as bad.
She didn't know how long she cried for, for a while she just let it all go without thinking. It was a release but it wasn't helping; it wasn't going to help things between her and Diablo and it wasn't helping Wenona. When she realised this she stopped, she was still breathing fast and sort of shallow and her nose was still a little runny but there were no more tears and no more sobs.
She turned to the girl who was hugging her. She was ordinary looking but with lovely, long, auburn hair and warm, friendly brown eyes but there was sadness in them too. Ani saw understanding in those eyes, understanding and sympathy. Not pity or compassion just because she was a person in pain but the sympathy that came from having experienced a similar pain, from having been there too. Aniela could tell that this girl really knew what she was going through. She gave her a small, stiff smile and the girl smiled back.
"I'm Ani," she told her.
"I know, I'm Des," the girl replied.
Ani wiped her eyes on the back of her hands and looked up sheepishly. Rus was looking as embarrassed as she felt, which was good, he should be embarrassed at the very least.
Icarus felt like the biggest asshole ever placed on the Earth and judging from the looks the girls were giving him they felt so too. He really hadn't meant to make her cry, it was the last thing he was trying to do. Today had just not been his day.
First he discovered he'd made the most elementary mistake ever and put Wenona in danger, then he'd discovered Wenona was missing. Then the two of them strolled in followed shortly afterwards by a Dark Ninja. Of course he wasn't going to be in the best mood after that, but yeah he'd gone a little too far and been a little too Gwern-like, but judging from the looks the girls were giving him he was going to pay for it.
"Okay," he said, "hands up who wants to help me build a time machine so I can go back in time and stop myself from being so stupid and prevent the ass kicking I am so obviously going to get for being such a misogynistic asshole."
Ani stared at Rus; he had suddenly gone from being scary, screaming guy to being Alex with a larger vocabulary. He definitely was a strange guy but she understood why he had reacted the way he had and it wasn't really his fault that she had started to cry, he'd just yelled at her at the wrong time. She'd probably have started crying anyway even if he hadn't shouted at her so she wasn't going to let him get in trouble over something that wasn't his fault even if she was angry with him. If it was anyone's fault it was Diablo's.
"Look," she said, "I'm not exactly happy with you right now and I'm definitely not sure if I like, though a guy who knows what misogynistic means and can use it in a sentence might actually be someone I'd like to know or maybe you've just been called that by one too many women, either way what just happened wasn't your fault."
Taking in the looks of disbelief from the other girls and even from Icarus himself Aniela decided she had better amend that statement.
"Wasn't entirely your fault," she said. "Look I just found out my soulmate isn't just an asshole, he's an asshole who's killed lots of people and was sent here to kill my best friend, having a stranger yell at me isn't exactly the worst thing that's happened to me in the past few days. You just sort of made me realise that I was putting Nona in danger, that's all."
"I'm sorry," Icarus told her still looking really uncomfortable and sort of shamefaced, "I didn't realise. I mean if I'd known, well even if I'd known I'd probably have said the same thing, I've been having a really bad day and I sort of took it out on you. I know that's not an excuse but I'm really, really sorry, I'm usually not like this, I swear."
"Wait a minute," Wenona burst in her voice unusually loud and distressed. "What do you mean he was sent to kill me? You knew about this?"
Aniela sighed, how the hell was she supposed to explain this. Yes the guy who I'm in love with and who's actually my soulmate, the one person in the world I'm supposed to be with was actually sent here to kill you and even though I just found out for sure I sort of always knew; at the very least I knew he wasn't one of the good guys. Luckily for her Icarus saved her from having to go through that arduous conversation.
"That's what we were telling you," he said, "before we got interrupted. While you were," he paused searching for a way to say it that wasn't going to aggravate anyone, "out, we got a call from Vegas. Diablo Mandril, Charlotte Adams and Cassian Ashcroft are all Night World assassins. They're Dark Ninja's Wenona."
Des watched as Icarus finished filling Wenona in on what all the rest of them already knew, that she really was in danger and from people she had accepted into her life; it was a hard thing to find out. She watched Rus as he talked and saw the pain he was feeling at having to do what basically came down to destroying a piece of Wenona's innocence and she saw the tenderness that crossed his face. She felt like kicking herself, she should have realised sooner, she should have known.
Goddess, poor Icarus, he was falling for her. No wonder he'd been acting that way, no wonder he was so angry about putting her in danger. He always seemed to fall for the wrong girls, girls who couldn't appreciate him, girls who didn't want him, girls who used him and girls who were taken. She really had been way to wrapped up in herself this mission, Icarus was her friend, her best friend and he'd been there when she needed him, the least she could do was be there for him.
Disbelief shone in Wenona's face, "No they can't be. It doesn't make any sense; it can't be them. I mean if they were sent after me who's the guy who attacked me and Ani."
Aniela knew Wenona had said the wrong thing the moment the words left her mouth. Icarus's expression darkened instantly.
"What the hell do you mean the guy who attacked you and Ani?" Icarus demanded his voice rising rapidly to a pitch that only dogs could hear.
"When we went for our walk this guy attacked us and I can tell you right now he wasn't Cassian or Diablo."
"Yeah but he can't have been very good if you got away, no offence," Cynthia's English accent broke into the conversation for the first time. "It might just have been a coincidence."
"It wasn't a coincidence," Wenona declared, "this is a small enough town, we don't really get many attacks here especially not by strange vampires. And he was good, he was really good or do I mean bad. Hmmm, how about he was really good a being bad?"
"Wenona, this isn't a joke," Icarus cried looking like he wanted to shake her. "You are in real danger."
"Wenona," Aniela said softly, "it's true. What he said, it's true; they were sent after you. Diablo admitted it to me."
Aniela could see Wenona actually physically deflate and she hated herself for being the cause of it.
"Well what are we going to do?" Wenona asked.
"I think we should get you and your mom out of here," Icarus said, "take you to a safe house."
"Leave," Wenona said, "run away, leave everything I've ever known, my whole life. I don't think so."
"It could mean your life if you stay here," Icarus retorted, "don't you realise that."
"Of course I realise it," Wenona snapped, "you've spent the last few days convincing me of it. But even if I leave what about Aniela and Alex? What about all the people I know here, what's to the keep them from trying to get to me through them?
Goddess this is so stupid, I'm no one, I'm nothing special, I have no great power, I'm just an ordinary member of Daybreak and yeah I know that in itself means an automatic death sentence from the Night World but there are more important things going on in the world, why are they wasting time with me?"
Icarus sighed, "I can't answer that, but as for Ani and Alex, we can protect them too."
"No," Aniela said her refusal calmer and even more definite than Wenona's as if it wasn't even a question. "I'm not going anywhere, my entire family lives around here, my parents, my nonna, my uncles, my aunt, my cousins. I'm not letting him chase me away from here, this is my home and that means something to me. Anyway I don't believe he'll hurt me, I don't believe he'll let the others hurt me but that doesn't help Wenona."
"Well," Wenona said softly, "you guys were sent here to protect me, so protect me."
"Okay," Des agreed, "but that means listening to us, doing what we tell you to do."
"Alright," Wenona agreed.
"First things first," Des said taking control, "I don't think you should go to school. Aniela maybe you could say that she's sick, try not to arouse suspicion and if anything happens there we should know about you could fill us in."
"Sure, no problem," Aniela replied.
"Ani, I don't think you should get involved," Wenona said.
"Too late," Aniela told her, "you got me involved way back in kindergarten when you started talking to me and we became friends. Plus Diablo sort of involved me too; I'm not going to let him hurt you, for you and me and for him too. I know this is going to sound stupid but I think there's good in him, deeply hidden but there all the same."
"Okay," Des said, "now I'm going to talk to Daybreak about getting stronger wards put up, though your Mom might be able to help, and we're going to have to find out who this new guy is."
"Yes Ma'am," Icarus said with a grin looking relieved that Des had decided to take control and that he was no longer having to take the lead.
"I'd better get home," Aniela said, "my Mom wants me back for dinner." She grinned slightly self-consciously, they were having a war council and she had to run home for dinner. Life had definitely taken a strange turn in the past few days.
"Okay," Des said grinning back at her, "if you find anything else out from Diablo will you let us know? I think we need all the help we can get right now."
"I will," Aniela replied as she pulled her keys from her pocket.
As she drove home Ani felt a new resolve harden inside of her, she was not going to let anything happen to Wenona. And well she had a decision to make about Diablo, she loved him and she believed there was good in him but was that going to be enough? She couldn't be with him if he was going to continue on the way he was, could he really change? Would he really change to be with her? Was love really that strong?
She didn't really know she'd never been in love before but she knew that she would do anything for the people she loved, for her family and her friends, she'd even die to protect them if it was necessary, but that was her nature, that was how she'd been brought up, to love her family and friends and to want to protect them. Diablo had been brought up to kill, could he really change his nature for her even if he wanted to?
Spoilers: All of the Night World books and my story Bound by Flame.
Author's Notes: Thanks so much to everyone who commented on the last part.
Mandy: Heya, thank you for the review. I was kind of hoping for the Des and Gwern reunion too when I finally got him into the story but it wasn't to be, I have said it a few times but I have to say it again Gwern never seems to do what I want him to do.
As for Des's reaction to him I still don't know what that will be, on the one hand she really misses him and on the other she's really mad at him so only time will tell with those two. And as for Ani and Diablo well there's a lot of stuff they have to work out if they want to be together and though I'm not sure if they'll be able to I hope they do.
Adelaide E: I know, I know but I have no control over Gwern, I don't think I've ever had, but I do have to say I don't really think he's a bad ass vampire at least not in the Diablo sense of the word, he's more a pain in the ass, moody vampire.
As for Diablo as I said to Orange he has this whole nice, precious side to him that I never envisioned when the character first popped into my head. He was actually the first character I came up with for the story and I really thought he was going to be a complete bad ass assassin but then I start writing him and Ani and suddenly there's a whole 'nother side to him.
I'm still not sure what's going to happen with Diablo on the whole Wenona thing, it's still up in the air, but I definitely don't think anyone's going to let him get near Wenona without a fight.
Orange: I have to agree that yes Icarus's personality change was a good bit freaky but I have been sort of neglecting him in this story and when I finally got back to writing him I discovered that while I was concentrating on Des and Ani and Diablo Rus has been going through some stuff. There's a further explanation of his actions in this part.
Diablo can be sweet, which was a really unexpected side to him for me at least. To begin with I thought he was going to be the stereotypical bad ass vampire but then this nice side of his personality appeared from out of no where. Though it seems to come out when more when he's around Aniela. Hopefully everyone will be back to themselves by the end of this chapter.
As for Wenona's mystery soulmate, he's not really a mystery but he may be making another appearance at some stage or at least you'll find out who he is.
Redaura: Thank you so much for the review. I'm glad you're happy Gwern's back, and yes he is a big wimp at least when it comes to Des he is, though he has to get points for going after her at the end of Bound By Flame.
I definitely agree Icarus is too scary like that, I turn my back for a couple of chapters and my nice sweet Icarus has turned into a Gwern clone, but not to fear he will be back to himself soon, I hope.
As for the crying well hopefully there won't be too much more of that, Ani's not really one for crying a lot but she just had a huge overload in the last part and well poor Des has just had a really hard time so I say she can cry all she wants.
Ash: Thanks so much for reviewing, I'm so glad you like the story. I don't know when Gwern's going to meet up with Des as soon as he gets up the courage to go see her, which knowing him might take some time.
Part 19.
Crying wasn't a natural state for Aniela, she wasn't sure it was a natural state for anyone but it definitely wasn't for her, especially not in front of other people. Whenever she did cry it was usually alone in her room and it usually didn't last that long, just enough that whatever was bothering her didn't feel as bad.
She didn't know how long she cried for, for a while she just let it all go without thinking. It was a release but it wasn't helping; it wasn't going to help things between her and Diablo and it wasn't helping Wenona. When she realised this she stopped, she was still breathing fast and sort of shallow and her nose was still a little runny but there were no more tears and no more sobs.
She turned to the girl who was hugging her. She was ordinary looking but with lovely, long, auburn hair and warm, friendly brown eyes but there was sadness in them too. Ani saw understanding in those eyes, understanding and sympathy. Not pity or compassion just because she was a person in pain but the sympathy that came from having experienced a similar pain, from having been there too. Aniela could tell that this girl really knew what she was going through. She gave her a small, stiff smile and the girl smiled back.
"I'm Ani," she told her.
"I know, I'm Des," the girl replied.
Ani wiped her eyes on the back of her hands and looked up sheepishly. Rus was looking as embarrassed as she felt, which was good, he should be embarrassed at the very least.
Icarus felt like the biggest asshole ever placed on the Earth and judging from the looks the girls were giving him they felt so too. He really hadn't meant to make her cry, it was the last thing he was trying to do. Today had just not been his day.
First he discovered he'd made the most elementary mistake ever and put Wenona in danger, then he'd discovered Wenona was missing. Then the two of them strolled in followed shortly afterwards by a Dark Ninja. Of course he wasn't going to be in the best mood after that, but yeah he'd gone a little too far and been a little too Gwern-like, but judging from the looks the girls were giving him he was going to pay for it.
"Okay," he said, "hands up who wants to help me build a time machine so I can go back in time and stop myself from being so stupid and prevent the ass kicking I am so obviously going to get for being such a misogynistic asshole."
Ani stared at Rus; he had suddenly gone from being scary, screaming guy to being Alex with a larger vocabulary. He definitely was a strange guy but she understood why he had reacted the way he had and it wasn't really his fault that she had started to cry, he'd just yelled at her at the wrong time. She'd probably have started crying anyway even if he hadn't shouted at her so she wasn't going to let him get in trouble over something that wasn't his fault even if she was angry with him. If it was anyone's fault it was Diablo's.
"Look," she said, "I'm not exactly happy with you right now and I'm definitely not sure if I like, though a guy who knows what misogynistic means and can use it in a sentence might actually be someone I'd like to know or maybe you've just been called that by one too many women, either way what just happened wasn't your fault."
Taking in the looks of disbelief from the other girls and even from Icarus himself Aniela decided she had better amend that statement.
"Wasn't entirely your fault," she said. "Look I just found out my soulmate isn't just an asshole, he's an asshole who's killed lots of people and was sent here to kill my best friend, having a stranger yell at me isn't exactly the worst thing that's happened to me in the past few days. You just sort of made me realise that I was putting Nona in danger, that's all."
"I'm sorry," Icarus told her still looking really uncomfortable and sort of shamefaced, "I didn't realise. I mean if I'd known, well even if I'd known I'd probably have said the same thing, I've been having a really bad day and I sort of took it out on you. I know that's not an excuse but I'm really, really sorry, I'm usually not like this, I swear."
"Wait a minute," Wenona burst in her voice unusually loud and distressed. "What do you mean he was sent to kill me? You knew about this?"
Aniela sighed, how the hell was she supposed to explain this. Yes the guy who I'm in love with and who's actually my soulmate, the one person in the world I'm supposed to be with was actually sent here to kill you and even though I just found out for sure I sort of always knew; at the very least I knew he wasn't one of the good guys. Luckily for her Icarus saved her from having to go through that arduous conversation.
"That's what we were telling you," he said, "before we got interrupted. While you were," he paused searching for a way to say it that wasn't going to aggravate anyone, "out, we got a call from Vegas. Diablo Mandril, Charlotte Adams and Cassian Ashcroft are all Night World assassins. They're Dark Ninja's Wenona."
Des watched as Icarus finished filling Wenona in on what all the rest of them already knew, that she really was in danger and from people she had accepted into her life; it was a hard thing to find out. She watched Rus as he talked and saw the pain he was feeling at having to do what basically came down to destroying a piece of Wenona's innocence and she saw the tenderness that crossed his face. She felt like kicking herself, she should have realised sooner, she should have known.
Goddess, poor Icarus, he was falling for her. No wonder he'd been acting that way, no wonder he was so angry about putting her in danger. He always seemed to fall for the wrong girls, girls who couldn't appreciate him, girls who didn't want him, girls who used him and girls who were taken. She really had been way to wrapped up in herself this mission, Icarus was her friend, her best friend and he'd been there when she needed him, the least she could do was be there for him.
Disbelief shone in Wenona's face, "No they can't be. It doesn't make any sense; it can't be them. I mean if they were sent after me who's the guy who attacked me and Ani."
Aniela knew Wenona had said the wrong thing the moment the words left her mouth. Icarus's expression darkened instantly.
"What the hell do you mean the guy who attacked you and Ani?" Icarus demanded his voice rising rapidly to a pitch that only dogs could hear.
"When we went for our walk this guy attacked us and I can tell you right now he wasn't Cassian or Diablo."
"Yeah but he can't have been very good if you got away, no offence," Cynthia's English accent broke into the conversation for the first time. "It might just have been a coincidence."
"It wasn't a coincidence," Wenona declared, "this is a small enough town, we don't really get many attacks here especially not by strange vampires. And he was good, he was really good or do I mean bad. Hmmm, how about he was really good a being bad?"
"Wenona, this isn't a joke," Icarus cried looking like he wanted to shake her. "You are in real danger."
"Wenona," Aniela said softly, "it's true. What he said, it's true; they were sent after you. Diablo admitted it to me."
Aniela could see Wenona actually physically deflate and she hated herself for being the cause of it.
"Well what are we going to do?" Wenona asked.
"I think we should get you and your mom out of here," Icarus said, "take you to a safe house."
"Leave," Wenona said, "run away, leave everything I've ever known, my whole life. I don't think so."
"It could mean your life if you stay here," Icarus retorted, "don't you realise that."
"Of course I realise it," Wenona snapped, "you've spent the last few days convincing me of it. But even if I leave what about Aniela and Alex? What about all the people I know here, what's to the keep them from trying to get to me through them?
Goddess this is so stupid, I'm no one, I'm nothing special, I have no great power, I'm just an ordinary member of Daybreak and yeah I know that in itself means an automatic death sentence from the Night World but there are more important things going on in the world, why are they wasting time with me?"
Icarus sighed, "I can't answer that, but as for Ani and Alex, we can protect them too."
"No," Aniela said her refusal calmer and even more definite than Wenona's as if it wasn't even a question. "I'm not going anywhere, my entire family lives around here, my parents, my nonna, my uncles, my aunt, my cousins. I'm not letting him chase me away from here, this is my home and that means something to me. Anyway I don't believe he'll hurt me, I don't believe he'll let the others hurt me but that doesn't help Wenona."
"Well," Wenona said softly, "you guys were sent here to protect me, so protect me."
"Okay," Des agreed, "but that means listening to us, doing what we tell you to do."
"Alright," Wenona agreed.
"First things first," Des said taking control, "I don't think you should go to school. Aniela maybe you could say that she's sick, try not to arouse suspicion and if anything happens there we should know about you could fill us in."
"Sure, no problem," Aniela replied.
"Ani, I don't think you should get involved," Wenona said.
"Too late," Aniela told her, "you got me involved way back in kindergarten when you started talking to me and we became friends. Plus Diablo sort of involved me too; I'm not going to let him hurt you, for you and me and for him too. I know this is going to sound stupid but I think there's good in him, deeply hidden but there all the same."
"Okay," Des said, "now I'm going to talk to Daybreak about getting stronger wards put up, though your Mom might be able to help, and we're going to have to find out who this new guy is."
"Yes Ma'am," Icarus said with a grin looking relieved that Des had decided to take control and that he was no longer having to take the lead.
"I'd better get home," Aniela said, "my Mom wants me back for dinner." She grinned slightly self-consciously, they were having a war council and she had to run home for dinner. Life had definitely taken a strange turn in the past few days.
"Okay," Des said grinning back at her, "if you find anything else out from Diablo will you let us know? I think we need all the help we can get right now."
"I will," Aniela replied as she pulled her keys from her pocket.
As she drove home Ani felt a new resolve harden inside of her, she was not going to let anything happen to Wenona. And well she had a decision to make about Diablo, she loved him and she believed there was good in him but was that going to be enough? She couldn't be with him if he was going to continue on the way he was, could he really change? Would he really change to be with her? Was love really that strong?
She didn't really know she'd never been in love before but she knew that she would do anything for the people she loved, for her family and her friends, she'd even die to protect them if it was necessary, but that was her nature, that was how she'd been brought up, to love her family and friends and to want to protect them. Diablo had been brought up to kill, could he really change his nature for her even if he wanted to?