Disclaimer: I, Eri, do not own, nor intend to make money off of, any characters or concepts recognized from the Night World books by L.J. Smith. Hopefully that will satisfy any want to be lawyers reading this. I do believe that I have come up with an original plot line, though, so please don't steal that.

Love the Night

Chapter One:

"Thierry?" Hannah was trying to not lose patience with her soulmate as he quickly shuffled through papers on his desk in a frantic search for a particular, all important, mysterious, and, no doubt, urgent document.

"I know the report is here, somewhere," he sounded more stressed than he usually did when a report were misplaced, which was quite often in the new headquarters for Circle Daybreak. "I should have paid more attention to the name when I first read it."

Hannah just shook her head at the mess Thierry was creating in the office. What was so important about this one report, she didn't know. All she had understood was that he had just received a phone call from one of his spies on assignment to uncover the plans of the Night World Council, and somehow that phone call spurred Thierry to tear apart his own office to find a report from some rouge circle midnight witches who had just joined circle daybreak.

Coming up with a manila folder, "Ah, here it is," Thierry began to page through the writings until he found what he was looking for. As his eyes scanned through the page to land on the portion of his interest, Hannah watched silently, knowing that her soulmate would provide a clear explanation once he felt his duty was done. "Hannah? Could you please call Nilsson and tell him to get Quinn and Rashel to my study as soon as possible. I'll be there waiting."

"I can find Rashel much faster than Nilsson, and where she is, so will Quinn be. They're working out in the gym, expect them sweaty when they arrive." Hannah left her soulmate with a small chuckle as she went off towards the gym.

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"Those three circle midnight witches who succeed from the Night World reported an incident that didn't seem important at the time. It appears, while at a Black Iris club one night, one these witches ran into a Coal Redfern. He was trying to impress a group by telling them of his recent orders from his uncle, to "reunite the family."" Thierry was not surprised by the reaction he got out of Quinn, though Rashel was.

Rashel glanced back and forth between Thierry and Quinn as she tried to fathom whom this Coal could be to gain such a response from her soulmate. "Okay, since I'm the only one out of the loop, I'll ask. Who is Coal Redfern?"

Quinn took a deep breath, "Coal is a descendant of Garnet Redfern."

Rashel started to put the pieces together, "But…?"

"They're cousins." Rashel's rapid intake of air was the only response to Thierry's answer.

"So, this is it?" Rashel cast a glance at Quinn to catch his facial expression as Thierry laid out what he had pieced together from his spy and the report of a couple of witches who were still questionable on loyalty.

"Look, I know this doesn't seem to be very concrete connections, but it is too coincidental for it not to mean anything. Besides, you know I don't like coincidences, especially when they come from two sources that have no contact, and no benefit from making this up." Thierry seemed to be almost pleading his case with the couple in front of his desk, hoping that he could will them into accepting his judgment.

"Well, it does seem to lead to certain conclusions that would not be nice for some of our members. We all know one who would not take this news very well."

"Well, I wouldn't blame him, would you?" Hannah's reply to Rashel was what the others in the room were also thinking. Not a one of them could imagine being in the same situation and not over reacting.

"Then it's all for the best that he is not here, isn't it? We can handle this quietly while he's away, and he won't even know of the danger until it's taken care of." Rashel looked as if she was ready for a good fight, and hopefully, kill. Quinn looked a little less thrilled, but nodded his head in agreement. He, too, was for the quick fight before the news could travel too far.

Thierry could tell that his fighters were ready to go the extra mile for their friend, but he also knew that it was too late to stop the inevitable. "Unfortunately, it will not be that easy to head them off. I received a call this morning, it seems Coal was called to council and given orders to head to Oregon. That was five days ago. My spy was in peril, and had to go into hiding, which is why this news was delayed. Coal was seen at the night club two nights ago, which means we still have time to send help."

Quinn left his chosen position of standing behind and slightly to the left of Rashel to pace the study. "Then why are we just sitting here listening to you tell us this? Their just sitting ducks in Oregon, thinking their father will leave them alone!"

Hannah stepped up behind Thierry and laid a soft yet restraining hand on his shoulder as he tried to stand to face Quinn's anger. "We do know that the council doesn't know exactly where in Oregon the girls are. As long as you two can beat the Night World team there, this situation can still be rectified." Hannah's words, as always, seemed to be filled with a calm wisdom that was able to break through Quinn's previous anger.

"Now," Thierry, taking control of the meeting once again, looked with questioning eyes towards Quinn. "I want you two to take care of this matter. We lose too many of our own to the Night World to let these girls get sucked back in against their will."

With this, Rashel and Quinn turned to leave the study, but were stopped by Thierry once more:

"I know that he has been using this year to prove himself and make up for his past. I, of all people, understood what this meant and have, thus, not been restricting his movements by having him check in with me. I assume one of you would know where he is currently, so that I could find him, and perhaps protect him from himself." Thierry left the statement at that, awaiting an answer.

Almost as one, Quinn and Rashel slowly looked at each other and then turned fully to look towards Thierry's right.

Hannah's sweet, sad smile spoke more than words could convey. The look in her eyes reminded Thierry of when she died the first time, when she was Hana of Three Rivers. She very simply stated, "It's been a year, love. He went back."

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Ok… annoying A/N time. This being my first fiction posted, I have no idea of how others perceive my writing talents, if I have any at all. I do have the second chapter already written, and will post in a week if I get no reviews. However, reviews could persuade me to post earlier. I'd also like to fix any stylistic errors, so that the reading is more enjoyable.