Chapter 5



Aurora sat at her desk in her studio. There was no way she could have gone to that meeting. Too many risks. Thierry alone would have recognized her, not to mention anyone else on the high order of Circle Daybreak.

It was getting close to two in the morning. She was wondering if Aden was going to call her at all.

As if thinking of him made him call, her phone began to ring.

"Lilac?" his voice came from miles away.

She really needed to get used to that name. "Hi, Aden?"

"Hey. The meeting was great. We're driving home now."

"What was the big thing they had to talk about?"

"It's probably better to talk about this off the phone. Why don't I stop by your house and I'll tell you about it? We're about half way to Boroway, and with Lander's driving, that should only take us another hour."

Wrong answer. "Um, why don't we meet someplace? My foster mom doesn't like me having people over too late."

"That's cool. I'll call you when I get to town."

Aurora set down her cell phone. His voice was still ringing in her ears. She was incredibly tired and still hadn't fed. She would just have to wait until she was done talking to Aden.

Why was she so content on thinking about him? She hadn't thought about anybody since Oren was killed. She shivered slightly. She didn't want to think about that, or Aden. She was on a mission. Meeting him was strictly business.

~*~

"I don't understand why you wanted to meet in the park," Aden said, looking around at all of the shadows. It was almost six in the morning, and still relatively dark.

Aurora smiled to herself, walking down the pathway. Her breathing was getting short from the lack of feeding and the exercise, but she'd be okay until she got rid of Aden. "So tell me what the meeting was about."

He grinned. "Daybreak is pointing the all-mighty Night World Council in the wrong direction."

She froze in her steps. Uh-oh. This couldn't be good. "What?"

"Yeah, some of the Daybreak people let a rumor out that the fourth Wild Power is somewhere near our area. That's why we were called to the meeting."

She felt her insides begin to crumble. "So it's not true?"

He shook his head as they continued to walk. "Nope. They have no clue where the last Wild Power is, but they wanted to send the Council on a wild goose chase, so that they were distracted while we looked. We were called to the meeting so that we could act as if we knew about the Wild Power. It kind of puts us in the line of fire, but I'd die to keep the Night World from winning the Millennium Battle."

"Some of us don't have the luxury of coming back," she grumbled, kicking a rock out of her path.

"You seem upset about this. Don't worry, we're all going to look out for one another." He gave her a bashful smile. "I'll make sure nothing happens to you."

She had heard that before, but she couldn't help from blushing. "Thanks."

"Oh, by the way, Thierry said that he's sorry you couldn't make it."

She froze again. This time she thought her heart was going to jump up her throat and out of her mouth. How did Thierry know she was there? "What did you just say?"

"We told Thierry about you joining our group, but you couldn't make it. He said he was sorry he didn't get to meet you."

Aurora let out a breath that she hadn't realized she'd been holding. She really needed to feed. "Listen, Aden, thanks for telling me what's going on. I need to-"

"Feed," he interrupted, nodding. "I could see it in your eyes." He touched the sleeve of her jacket, pulling her near a line of trees. "Come on."

Was he offering for her to feed from him? "Aden, really-"

"Don't worry," he smiled. "It's not a big deal."

"I don't feed off of Daybreakers," she said, backing away. Temptation was eating at her. And it was the truth. She only bit them to finish them off.

"Come on, it won't hurt." He had successfully pulled her into the trees. He leaned his neck to the side. Aurora could see the moonlight shining off of his skin.

Her teeth started to poke her in the lip. She could feel her eyes change and her heart began to pound. "I can't."

"I won't let you leave until you do. I'd rather you do this then find some unsuspecting guy from the streets."

This was incredibly awkward. She hadn't fed off of a friend, if she could call Aden that, since before she left Daybreak. She put her hands on his leather-clad shoulders, lightly gripping them. ~Just shield your mind so he can't see anything.~

She leaned in, letting her teeth fully extend. Her lips touched his skin.

And her whole world fell apart.