CHAPTER FIFTEEN - ALL THE WAY
"Thierry?"
"Ash! How are you?"
"Fine. It's Mary Lynette." Thierry was silent, letting Ash tell the story.
"I've got her in an abandoned hotel on the edge of the town almost directly north of Briar's Creek. I'm not sure of the name."
"How is she acting?"
"Well, she's not really acting at all. We've only been here a couple of hours, but she seems to have calmed down somewhat. At least she's not trying to kill me anymore. She just seems so confused, so very confused. She's sleeping now."
"Try and keep her calm, Ash. I'll send Quinn to get you in the plane. And try not to worry, concentrate on the present."
She laid on the mattress, thinking. She was so confused. She wanted to remember who the people were from her dreams were but every time she tried, Tar tormenting came to the forefront of her mind. So close to his death, even knowing what she knew, she just couldn't deal with it and forced herself out of it. The way Ash looked at her drove her mad, like he'd known her for a lifetime already. The not knowing was irritating. She respected him, his persistency, his need to do the right thing. Nevertheless, although she felt more of a connection with him than anyone else she'd met, a feeling of closeness, every time he mentioned something of her past she felt isolated. She felt used and puzzled, and after what she'd done to Ash, how could she look at him without thinking about her memory of driving his head into her knee and laughing as his nose broke? How could she ever see past those memories. She knew that he was Ash Redfern and she loved him in a strange kind of way, but that was almost all she knew.
The plane landed in the car park of the hotel and Ash went out to meet them. His sisters rushed out to greet him, followed by Mark. Rowan still had a bandage around her head as did Mark, Jade seemed hyperactive as usual, fully recovered from her time in the chest. Kestrel seemed the worst off, one arm in a sling and limping slightly.
"How is she?" Rowan murmured.
"Okay I think. She needs help. A lot of help."
Rowan seemed to take the meaning of his tone and ushered everyone back into the plane. It was obvious that confronting the awful things she'd done quite so soon could very well tip her over the edge once more. Quinn followed Ash back to Mary Lynette and helped lift her sleeping form onto the plane. He sat in a small room on the plane alone with Mary Lynette, not wanting any unnecessary pain for her in this vulnerable state. She woke up after take off and looked at him watching her.
"Why are we going to Thierry's mansion?" Ash looked puzzled.
"How did you know?"
"You were thinking loudly. Answer the question."
"So that you can rejoin your family."
"The witches are here. I can hear them you know." Ash didn't seem to take her point and flickered his head towards the wall, straining to hear anything.
"Not like that dummy. They're all thinking very loudly about meeting me again. They want to just huddle me off to Briar's Creek and consume me with their love and hope all this bad stuff will go away. I must admit your thoughts seem to echo theirs remarkably."
He looked at her, trying to figure her out. Here was a fledgling vampire with telepathy far greater than him, being a Redfern lamia. He wondered if even Thierry would be able to contend with her.
When the plane set down, Ash let everyone else file off and into the mansion before coaxing Mary Lynette out. She'd reverted back to her Xanna personality as he called it, but came without complaining. She eyed everything suspiciously, looking for escape routes and exits as she walked around the front of the house.
"I feel their eyes on me. I feel their disapproval as they watch me walk up this drive." She said without looking at him.
"Where are they?"
"Fourth top window away from us."
Ash said nothing.
She was in a cage. They called it a suite, but her primitive instinctive was that it was a cage. They were confining her, limiting her, suppressing her. Various items in the room began to shake, the lamp jittered and fell off the table and several painting came off their hinges. How dare they, these vermin, these vermin worshippers contain her like this! Her fury came to it's peak as Ash came into the room. She knew there was a guard outside her room, she could hear his weak thoughts. Bored.Hungry.47 diamonds on the carpet.Bored. She couldn't see herself being stopped by a guard if she should want to leave
Ash came into the room cautiously, in the same way he'd approached her when she'd tried to kill herself. He gave a momentail glance at the disarray in the room, but thought better of asking about it. He sat heavily on a chair and looked up several times as if to speak, but seemed to talk himself out of it before he started.
"You don't have to watch over me you know. You pay a guard for that."
He seemed hurt by her comment but followed her tone of voice and left. She watched the birds flying free outside the window and wished she could be there with them. She was so involved in her imagination of flying free on the wind that she didn't notice the vampire creep into her room behind her.
"Am I disturbing you?" She spun around, surprised but not at all unexpected. She studied him.
"I know you." She said, sitting back onto her chair. She cocked her head, watching him. "Tar knew you to." She whispered under her breath, unsure why she had said that.
Thierry let the moment stand. "Thierry."
"Yes that is I. But tell me, how do you know of me."
"Darthanian used to speak of you all the time, about how he would kill you. He used to boast about how many of your soul mates he'd killed."
Thierry nostrils flared briefly and he noted the way Xanna reacted the change, the way she read it easily.
"I never thought you knew Darthanian. I was under the impression he was long dead."
"Well that just shows in touch with the Night World you are doesn't it?" Let's cut to the chase shall we. What exactly do you want? Have you come to kill me? Or perhaps you've come to try and recover Tar's memories? He gave me a trust when he gave himself to me and I would rather die than betray it."
Ash hadn't been kidding when he'd said she had a fiery temper.
"What did Tar give you."
"His life."
"Well it couldn't have amounted to much." Thierry took a deep breath. He was deliberately provoking her. He just hoped he hadn't overstepped the mark.
You just did
He could feel her anger spill over and something else rising up within her, something evil. She dealt him a blow that made him waver, even if it was only mentally. His walls were bending.
" Look Xanna, I came here to show you something, not fight with you. I'm sorry I just got caught up in the moment."
"You're kidding." She stopped, intrigued by his rapid change of strategy.
"Take my hand."
"No."
"Why not? Are you scared?" He paused. "Do you trust Ash?"
"No."
"Do you trust anyone?"
"No one that's alive, no. Why are you keeping me here? I want to leave. I have relatives to meet."
"Do you care for him at all?
"No." Thierry raised an eyebrow at her. It was plainly obvious that she loved him, she just didn't know exactly how to act on those feelings. And relatives? Who were they?
He held out his hand, willing her to take her own first step to recovery. She looked at him and felt himself being read. Not violently searching, just a gentle probing of one or two concerns. She placed her hand cautiously on top of his and Thierry used his vampiric power to let her see what Ash was doing right now. He was crying into Rowan's shoulder and she was trying to comfort him.
"I just don't know what to do Rowan. I've tried everything. I've left her alone, I've given her company, I've been harsh, I've even been nice. It's the way she looks at me, the disgust and hate in her eyes cuts me in places I never thought existed. I'm so tired. I love her so much and I don't care what she's done as long as I can be with her. She hates me, Rowan. I don't know if I can hold together much longer. She's my soul mate for the Goddess's sake."
"sshh Ash. We all miss her, especially you and Mark. We just have to give her time to adjust to what she's become. I seem to remember doing this before when you realised what a bad boy you'd been for all these years."
Ash managed a small smile.
Thierry let go of Mary Lynette's hand. Hannah had told him to appeal to her weakness, her emotions. If she truly had become a telepath as his provoking had confirmed, her emotions would overreact. He was hoping Ash's pain would give her a purpose, something to comfort and nurture, leaving everything else to the soul mate connection. He was gambling a lot, and he knew it.
She now had tears falling down her cheeks and she turned towards the door. The guard turned to stop her but she gave him a mental slap around the face and he let her pass without a fight. She came to the door of the room where she knew Ash and Rowan were and listened to the pounding of her heart. She pushed the door open a few centimetres, then pushed it open all the way.
"Thierry?"
"Ash! How are you?"
"Fine. It's Mary Lynette." Thierry was silent, letting Ash tell the story.
"I've got her in an abandoned hotel on the edge of the town almost directly north of Briar's Creek. I'm not sure of the name."
"How is she acting?"
"Well, she's not really acting at all. We've only been here a couple of hours, but she seems to have calmed down somewhat. At least she's not trying to kill me anymore. She just seems so confused, so very confused. She's sleeping now."
"Try and keep her calm, Ash. I'll send Quinn to get you in the plane. And try not to worry, concentrate on the present."
She laid on the mattress, thinking. She was so confused. She wanted to remember who the people were from her dreams were but every time she tried, Tar tormenting came to the forefront of her mind. So close to his death, even knowing what she knew, she just couldn't deal with it and forced herself out of it. The way Ash looked at her drove her mad, like he'd known her for a lifetime already. The not knowing was irritating. She respected him, his persistency, his need to do the right thing. Nevertheless, although she felt more of a connection with him than anyone else she'd met, a feeling of closeness, every time he mentioned something of her past she felt isolated. She felt used and puzzled, and after what she'd done to Ash, how could she look at him without thinking about her memory of driving his head into her knee and laughing as his nose broke? How could she ever see past those memories. She knew that he was Ash Redfern and she loved him in a strange kind of way, but that was almost all she knew.
The plane landed in the car park of the hotel and Ash went out to meet them. His sisters rushed out to greet him, followed by Mark. Rowan still had a bandage around her head as did Mark, Jade seemed hyperactive as usual, fully recovered from her time in the chest. Kestrel seemed the worst off, one arm in a sling and limping slightly.
"How is she?" Rowan murmured.
"Okay I think. She needs help. A lot of help."
Rowan seemed to take the meaning of his tone and ushered everyone back into the plane. It was obvious that confronting the awful things she'd done quite so soon could very well tip her over the edge once more. Quinn followed Ash back to Mary Lynette and helped lift her sleeping form onto the plane. He sat in a small room on the plane alone with Mary Lynette, not wanting any unnecessary pain for her in this vulnerable state. She woke up after take off and looked at him watching her.
"Why are we going to Thierry's mansion?" Ash looked puzzled.
"How did you know?"
"You were thinking loudly. Answer the question."
"So that you can rejoin your family."
"The witches are here. I can hear them you know." Ash didn't seem to take her point and flickered his head towards the wall, straining to hear anything.
"Not like that dummy. They're all thinking very loudly about meeting me again. They want to just huddle me off to Briar's Creek and consume me with their love and hope all this bad stuff will go away. I must admit your thoughts seem to echo theirs remarkably."
He looked at her, trying to figure her out. Here was a fledgling vampire with telepathy far greater than him, being a Redfern lamia. He wondered if even Thierry would be able to contend with her.
When the plane set down, Ash let everyone else file off and into the mansion before coaxing Mary Lynette out. She'd reverted back to her Xanna personality as he called it, but came without complaining. She eyed everything suspiciously, looking for escape routes and exits as she walked around the front of the house.
"I feel their eyes on me. I feel their disapproval as they watch me walk up this drive." She said without looking at him.
"Where are they?"
"Fourth top window away from us."
Ash said nothing.
She was in a cage. They called it a suite, but her primitive instinctive was that it was a cage. They were confining her, limiting her, suppressing her. Various items in the room began to shake, the lamp jittered and fell off the table and several painting came off their hinges. How dare they, these vermin, these vermin worshippers contain her like this! Her fury came to it's peak as Ash came into the room. She knew there was a guard outside her room, she could hear his weak thoughts. Bored.Hungry.47 diamonds on the carpet.Bored. She couldn't see herself being stopped by a guard if she should want to leave
Ash came into the room cautiously, in the same way he'd approached her when she'd tried to kill herself. He gave a momentail glance at the disarray in the room, but thought better of asking about it. He sat heavily on a chair and looked up several times as if to speak, but seemed to talk himself out of it before he started.
"You don't have to watch over me you know. You pay a guard for that."
He seemed hurt by her comment but followed her tone of voice and left. She watched the birds flying free outside the window and wished she could be there with them. She was so involved in her imagination of flying free on the wind that she didn't notice the vampire creep into her room behind her.
"Am I disturbing you?" She spun around, surprised but not at all unexpected. She studied him.
"I know you." She said, sitting back onto her chair. She cocked her head, watching him. "Tar knew you to." She whispered under her breath, unsure why she had said that.
Thierry let the moment stand. "Thierry."
"Yes that is I. But tell me, how do you know of me."
"Darthanian used to speak of you all the time, about how he would kill you. He used to boast about how many of your soul mates he'd killed."
Thierry nostrils flared briefly and he noted the way Xanna reacted the change, the way she read it easily.
"I never thought you knew Darthanian. I was under the impression he was long dead."
"Well that just shows in touch with the Night World you are doesn't it?" Let's cut to the chase shall we. What exactly do you want? Have you come to kill me? Or perhaps you've come to try and recover Tar's memories? He gave me a trust when he gave himself to me and I would rather die than betray it."
Ash hadn't been kidding when he'd said she had a fiery temper.
"What did Tar give you."
"His life."
"Well it couldn't have amounted to much." Thierry took a deep breath. He was deliberately provoking her. He just hoped he hadn't overstepped the mark.
You just did
He could feel her anger spill over and something else rising up within her, something evil. She dealt him a blow that made him waver, even if it was only mentally. His walls were bending.
" Look Xanna, I came here to show you something, not fight with you. I'm sorry I just got caught up in the moment."
"You're kidding." She stopped, intrigued by his rapid change of strategy.
"Take my hand."
"No."
"Why not? Are you scared?" He paused. "Do you trust Ash?"
"No."
"Do you trust anyone?"
"No one that's alive, no. Why are you keeping me here? I want to leave. I have relatives to meet."
"Do you care for him at all?
"No." Thierry raised an eyebrow at her. It was plainly obvious that she loved him, she just didn't know exactly how to act on those feelings. And relatives? Who were they?
He held out his hand, willing her to take her own first step to recovery. She looked at him and felt himself being read. Not violently searching, just a gentle probing of one or two concerns. She placed her hand cautiously on top of his and Thierry used his vampiric power to let her see what Ash was doing right now. He was crying into Rowan's shoulder and she was trying to comfort him.
"I just don't know what to do Rowan. I've tried everything. I've left her alone, I've given her company, I've been harsh, I've even been nice. It's the way she looks at me, the disgust and hate in her eyes cuts me in places I never thought existed. I'm so tired. I love her so much and I don't care what she's done as long as I can be with her. She hates me, Rowan. I don't know if I can hold together much longer. She's my soul mate for the Goddess's sake."
"sshh Ash. We all miss her, especially you and Mark. We just have to give her time to adjust to what she's become. I seem to remember doing this before when you realised what a bad boy you'd been for all these years."
Ash managed a small smile.
Thierry let go of Mary Lynette's hand. Hannah had told him to appeal to her weakness, her emotions. If she truly had become a telepath as his provoking had confirmed, her emotions would overreact. He was hoping Ash's pain would give her a purpose, something to comfort and nurture, leaving everything else to the soul mate connection. He was gambling a lot, and he knew it.
She now had tears falling down her cheeks and she turned towards the door. The guard turned to stop her but she gave him a mental slap around the face and he let her pass without a fight. She came to the door of the room where she knew Ash and Rowan were and listened to the pounding of her heart. She pushed the door open a few centimetres, then pushed it open all the way.