Chapter 12

In the evening, the two new 'guests' arrived. Sarah noticed, as she came downstairs, that Rita embraced the girl far more warmly than the guy, which wasn't about gender difference. It was a clue to what they were.

The girl had dark, shiny hair, her skin was healthily tanned. When she turned and looked at Sarah, her eyes were clear blue with an intelligent sharpness. "You must be Sarah," she said.

Sarah nodded.

The guy had extraordinary eyes, that shifted colour as swiftly as thunderclouds forming in the sky, as flames crackling in the fire. His hair was ash blond. He stood uneasily, his eyes often drifting to the girl as though she might disappear.

Playfully, the girl lightly elbowed him. "Don't worry. I'll be gone tomorrow, Ash."

A slight smile twitched at his face and he relaxed, touching her hand lightly, then turned to Rita. "I'd prefer that M'lin stays here for as short a time as possible. So she doesn't go anywhere near the others."

"I wish Sarah would do that as well," Rita agreed. "But it's a bit late for that. We're all involved, whether we like it or not."

The girl, M'lin, was more serious suddenly, offering out a hand, clasping Sarah's. "I'm Mary-Lynette," she said gravely. "Ash's soulmate. He's a vampire, I'm a human."

Sarah blinked, startled. "I guess you know then," she mumbled.

"Human Soulmates aren't too bad," Ash said, suddenly teasingly, though his eyes were the musing colour, for one second, of willow tree bark.

"And neither are supernatural Soulmates," Mary-Lynette shot back firmly. "Now. Sarah. Shall we go off and talk? Leave all the witches, werewolves and vampires to their stuff?"

"Your room's tidy, isn't it?" Rita asked knowingly. It was only Susie who ever seemed to get her room messy.

"I'm just going to stay here the night, then head back," Mary-Lynette said as she sat down in the desk chair. Sarah sat down on the edge of her bed. "So what's your Soulmate like, Sarah?"

For once, she didn't feel like bad-mouthing Kierlan. "He's a nice guy…underneath," she said carefully, not certain if she was telling the truth. The corner of Mary-Lynette's lips twitched. "Loathe him with a burning passion?"

"No!" Sarah shook her head immediately. "I just…find him hard to get alone with, sometimes."

"Who doesn't?" Mary-Lynette wanted to know. "Look, I'm not going to play Dr. Laura to your love problems. I'll just tell you that I had a bit of a similar problem. Two Nightworld guys wanting me. Of course, one of them was homicidal, the other was insane—" she laughed at herself, eyes distant and melancholy for a moment, remembering something. "But there's a reason your Soulmate's Kierlan Harman. Just like there's a reason my Soulmate's Ash Redfern."

"That I'm meant to teach him the error of his ways?" Sarah asked sarcastically, then apologised. "Sorry."

"No," Mary-Lynette smiled faintly. "I mean, the Soulmate connection isn't wrong. It matches us to the person that's perfect for us. Ash is…perfect for me. And Kierlan…you just haven't seen everything about him. I guess he's feeling a bit trapped at the moment. That sort of thing can bring out the worst…or best…in all of us."

That actually made sense to Sarah. "He does care for me," she said grudgingly, remembering how Kierlan had actually been there for her in her dream. "And I care for him."

"Things will become easier for you," Mary-Lynette assured her with a small smile. "And meanwhile, Ash will hang around and make sure no one makes off with your Soulmate. Or with you, for that matter."

"Me?" Sarah asked, startled.

Mary-Lynette winced. "Knew I'd put my foot in it, somewhere today," she muttered, then sighed. "Yes. You're his Soulmate. Hunter would think of that as a pretty good bargaining chip to get Kierlan to come to him. That's why you need to stay here."

Standing outside the doorway, Ash smiled slightly at Kierlan, who was smiling too, faintly, at what Sarah had just said. She cares for me…and she knows I care for her… but a lump formed in his throat too, at what Mary-Lynette had said. Please, goddess, he suddenly prayed fervently, don't let anyone harm her. Don't let me harm her.