Part 8
Aidan sighed, pleased to be out of Shaine's mansion. Everything had gone, of course, hideously wrong. He'd had no idea Shaine was planning on bringing Zaire Discord into this thing. He'd never consider trusting the vicious bastard. What the hell had Shaine been /thinking/?
Now Sydney was gone, and worse, Darcy suspected something. He'd managed to dismiss the fact Darcy had seen him talking to Sydney in the first place, when now he realised he should have done something.
Darcy was his friend, he didn't want to hurt her. How could he be sure she wouldn't do anything to Sydney? He didn't even know if Darcy was sure about what was going on. Worse, now Zaire knew.
At least on the good side of things, it looked like Sydney had left the party before anything had happened. So with any luck, she'd have no idea about what was going on. Which meant, of course, he was just going to have to think of another way to make her a Night Person.
He couldn't risk touching her, setting off their soulmate connection while she was still human. He didn't know anyone powerful enough wit Council ties to get permission to change her.
And why would a Council rep be interested in a human like Sydney anyway? She might have potential for being an assassin, Aidan mused as he walked home. She was quiet and blended in easily, with the added powers of the vampire, she could make a name for herself. But he didn't want to do that to her. He couldn't turn her into a ruthless killer.
He just wanted her to be a Night Person so they could be together without the Council having good reason to hunt them down and destroy them.
He turned down the dark streets, but found himself approaching Sydney's house rather than his own. It wasn't like anyone would notice he wasn't at home, anyway. The house was dark, everyone in the house was probably asleep.
He wondered which window belonged to Sydney as he walked silently around the perimeter. If only I could tell her more, he thought with a sigh. Just something to make her interested.
A sound like a car door opening made him turn his head sharply. He watched with a frown, seeing an unmarked van across the street, directly from Sydney's house. That was odd. The windows of the van were tinted so he couldn't see who was inside.
He moved away from the house, blending into shadows and heading quickly home himself. He needed to figure out his next move.
* * *
Sydney woke the next morning, convinced the world would be - different - somehow. Things may have changed now she knew this great secret. Annoyingly, everything was exactly the same.
Opening her curtains after she'd dressed she saw a van parked directly across the street from her house. Elenia had said she'd see about Daybreak protection. That was probably them. She giggled as she gathered her books for school that day. She hadn't expected that. The van was the type of things you saw the police or FBI set up with surveillance equipment to spy on you in the movies.
She didn't know how she was going to explain this to her parents when they got back from their vacation.
The kitchen smelled good when she went downstairs, fresh coffee was brewing, and Tim was cooking bacon and eggs. As Sydney came into the kitchen toast popped up, golden brown, and not burnt. It made a welcome change to have people in the house early in the morning. Usually Sydney found herself alone, or caught in her parent's rush to get to work on time.
"Sleep okay?" Tim asked with a cheerful smile, getting plates out the cupboard.
Sydney nodded, getting herself a glass of orange juice from the fridge. "Okay, I guess. Where's Elenia?"
Tim served the bacon, eggs and toast onto two plates and put them on the kitchen table. "Out feeding the surveillance team out there."
Sydney couldn't help giggling again. "That just sounds so - weird." She shook her head, digging into her breakfast.
"Don't worry, it's just a safety precaution."
Sydney nodded. She wondered how she was going to make it through school that day without bragging to Darlene that something interesting had finally happened to her. Darlene had dragged her to a party she didn't want to go to, and the result had been the discovery of a world that wasn't supposed to exist but did.
Despite all the warnings Elenia had given her, she was more than a little curious to find out about this Night World. Maybe it was dangerous, maybe Aidan was dangerous, but so what? Sydney was tired of being the girl without a face.
How did she get them to notice her? If she was supposed to be having Daybreak protection, how did she even get close to Aidan? She didn't want to wait for him to just find her. He'd seemed so sincere when he'd been talking about destiny. And there was that note in her locker.
But to her, a red rose and a note saying 'together forever' just didn't seem like the type of thing a /guy/ would do. Then again, if he was a vampire, that didn't make Aidan any ordinary guy.
"The wards are set up, so if any Night Person tries to enter the building, we'll know," Elenia said, coming in the back door.
"Wards?" Sydney asked, coming out of her musings.
Elenia nodded. "Set up by one of the witches." She checked her watch. "We'd better get to school. There'll be a new girl arriving today, Terra Livingston, she's half vamp, half shifter, she'll have the same schedule as you and be your bodyguard."
Sydney was annoyed, but managed a polite smile. She didn't /want/ a girl she'd never met following her around all day. Elenia seemed more on edge this morning that she had last night. She double checked all the locks before they left. She was twitchy and snapped a lot.
"What's up with /her/" she whispered to Tim.
Tim shrugged. "I don't know. I think there's something she's not telling us."
Sydney's eyes rolled. Great, she thought. Just what she needed right now. More secrets. This Night World thing was going to drive her nuts.
* * *
Aidan sighed, pleased to be out of Shaine's mansion. Everything had gone, of course, hideously wrong. He'd had no idea Shaine was planning on bringing Zaire Discord into this thing. He'd never consider trusting the vicious bastard. What the hell had Shaine been /thinking/?
Now Sydney was gone, and worse, Darcy suspected something. He'd managed to dismiss the fact Darcy had seen him talking to Sydney in the first place, when now he realised he should have done something.
Darcy was his friend, he didn't want to hurt her. How could he be sure she wouldn't do anything to Sydney? He didn't even know if Darcy was sure about what was going on. Worse, now Zaire knew.
At least on the good side of things, it looked like Sydney had left the party before anything had happened. So with any luck, she'd have no idea about what was going on. Which meant, of course, he was just going to have to think of another way to make her a Night Person.
He couldn't risk touching her, setting off their soulmate connection while she was still human. He didn't know anyone powerful enough wit Council ties to get permission to change her.
And why would a Council rep be interested in a human like Sydney anyway? She might have potential for being an assassin, Aidan mused as he walked home. She was quiet and blended in easily, with the added powers of the vampire, she could make a name for herself. But he didn't want to do that to her. He couldn't turn her into a ruthless killer.
He just wanted her to be a Night Person so they could be together without the Council having good reason to hunt them down and destroy them.
He turned down the dark streets, but found himself approaching Sydney's house rather than his own. It wasn't like anyone would notice he wasn't at home, anyway. The house was dark, everyone in the house was probably asleep.
He wondered which window belonged to Sydney as he walked silently around the perimeter. If only I could tell her more, he thought with a sigh. Just something to make her interested.
A sound like a car door opening made him turn his head sharply. He watched with a frown, seeing an unmarked van across the street, directly from Sydney's house. That was odd. The windows of the van were tinted so he couldn't see who was inside.
He moved away from the house, blending into shadows and heading quickly home himself. He needed to figure out his next move.
* * *
Sydney woke the next morning, convinced the world would be - different - somehow. Things may have changed now she knew this great secret. Annoyingly, everything was exactly the same.
Opening her curtains after she'd dressed she saw a van parked directly across the street from her house. Elenia had said she'd see about Daybreak protection. That was probably them. She giggled as she gathered her books for school that day. She hadn't expected that. The van was the type of things you saw the police or FBI set up with surveillance equipment to spy on you in the movies.
She didn't know how she was going to explain this to her parents when they got back from their vacation.
The kitchen smelled good when she went downstairs, fresh coffee was brewing, and Tim was cooking bacon and eggs. As Sydney came into the kitchen toast popped up, golden brown, and not burnt. It made a welcome change to have people in the house early in the morning. Usually Sydney found herself alone, or caught in her parent's rush to get to work on time.
"Sleep okay?" Tim asked with a cheerful smile, getting plates out the cupboard.
Sydney nodded, getting herself a glass of orange juice from the fridge. "Okay, I guess. Where's Elenia?"
Tim served the bacon, eggs and toast onto two plates and put them on the kitchen table. "Out feeding the surveillance team out there."
Sydney couldn't help giggling again. "That just sounds so - weird." She shook her head, digging into her breakfast.
"Don't worry, it's just a safety precaution."
Sydney nodded. She wondered how she was going to make it through school that day without bragging to Darlene that something interesting had finally happened to her. Darlene had dragged her to a party she didn't want to go to, and the result had been the discovery of a world that wasn't supposed to exist but did.
Despite all the warnings Elenia had given her, she was more than a little curious to find out about this Night World. Maybe it was dangerous, maybe Aidan was dangerous, but so what? Sydney was tired of being the girl without a face.
How did she get them to notice her? If she was supposed to be having Daybreak protection, how did she even get close to Aidan? She didn't want to wait for him to just find her. He'd seemed so sincere when he'd been talking about destiny. And there was that note in her locker.
But to her, a red rose and a note saying 'together forever' just didn't seem like the type of thing a /guy/ would do. Then again, if he was a vampire, that didn't make Aidan any ordinary guy.
"The wards are set up, so if any Night Person tries to enter the building, we'll know," Elenia said, coming in the back door.
"Wards?" Sydney asked, coming out of her musings.
Elenia nodded. "Set up by one of the witches." She checked her watch. "We'd better get to school. There'll be a new girl arriving today, Terra Livingston, she's half vamp, half shifter, she'll have the same schedule as you and be your bodyguard."
Sydney was annoyed, but managed a polite smile. She didn't /want/ a girl she'd never met following her around all day. Elenia seemed more on edge this morning that she had last night. She double checked all the locks before they left. She was twitchy and snapped a lot.
"What's up with /her/" she whispered to Tim.
Tim shrugged. "I don't know. I think there's something she's not telling us."
Sydney's eyes rolled. Great, she thought. Just what she needed right now. More secrets. This Night World thing was going to drive her nuts.
* * *
