I'm on a roll with more frequent updates! Here's the next one! Thanks to Oak Tree Woman, StormRaven333, Lunatic Pandora1, Raptor-Chick, juju, and ben revell for the reviews!

Chapter 17: Eve's Challenge

Ravyn paced back and forth in the lab, trying to think of any place Eve could possibly be. It would take far too long to find Eve using their regular methods: alerting other guilds and beating the crap out of weaker vampires.

"What about Nacht's house?" Nathan lounged on one of the random chairs placed in the lab. His brows lifted curiously as his head moved back and forth, following Ravyn's pacing.

"Nah," Ravyn shook her head, "When I last saw Eve, she was raiding Nacht's bedroom and it looked like she was leaving for good."

"Raiding Nacht's bedroom?" Nathan asked laughing. Ravyn nodded and gave a small smile. Eve was an opportunist.

"There are no records of her having any other dwelling besides Nacht's house," Ivy said, scrolling down through a document on her laptop. "It seems Eve has always stayed with Nacht since they were Turned."

Nathan craned his head to peer at the computer screen, "Why would Eve stay with Nacht if she hated her so much."

Ravyn shrugged, "She said that Nacht had too much power and influence for her to run away easily; plus, it wasn't like Eve had it tough were she was. She just had to put up with Nacht occasionally."

"Still, I wonder why Nacht kept her there; it's rare to find two Masters that powerful ruling over the same territory," Nathan commented.

Ravyn paused and said thoughtfully, "Perhaps Nacht thought she was the one running the show when, in reality, she was the puppet."

"You mean… Eve's the more powerful one? I thought Nacht was Turned first."

"Nacht was strong and intelligent," Tarn'se growled, "But she fought without thinking, she let her emotions control her." The Yautja shook his head, "Not a good trait of a warrior."

Ravyn stared at him surprised, "Really? You fought her twice and were able to figure that out?"

Tarn'se gave a small nod, "In the final conflict, she hesitated before killing you; she wanted to enjoy it. A good warrior does not play with his prey. You kill it and be done with it."

"Sweet…" Nathan murmured, staring with unmasked awe at Tarn'se.

Ravyn rolled her eyes and thought, "Well, at least he's not picking some weak, death-metal, rock singer for an idol."

"I've got it!" Ivy shouted, jumping up from her seat, startling the others. She raced over to one of the cluttered desks around the room and began digging through the random objects, throwing them aside as she searched. With a triumphant cry she held her hand high. Ravyn got a glimpse of gold in Ivy's hand before she lowered her arm. Turning and facing the others, she shut her eyes and scrunched her face as if trying to remember something.

A wave of cold entered the room and Ivy gasped, her hand opening quickly, releasing a puff of gold smoke. For a moment, nothing happened, and then a vampire appeared in the middle of the room.

Tarn'se gave a sharp bark and his wrist blades popped out of the gauntlet on his forearm. Ravyn grabbed the dagger hung on her waist and dropped into a defensive posture. Nathan, unarmed and the closest one to the vampire, gave a small squeak and dove for cover under a desk; he wasn't dense enough to not know when to leave the fighting to the experts.

"No!" Ivy shouted, jumping in front of the vampire just before Ravyn and Tarn'se leapt into action, "I summoned him!" Ravyn stared uncomprehendingly at Ivy, but relaxed slightly; Tarn'se stayed tense.

"You called?" The vampire asked Ivy, directing the hunters' attention to him. Ravyn recognized him. It was the vampire with the ginger hair from the club they had attacked a few weeks ago; the same one that had given Ivy a favor when she spared his life.

Ravyn turned to Tarn'se, "You can chill; he's not going to do anything." Tarn'se watched Ravyn sheath her dagger and did likewise with his wrist blades.

"Yes, I need a favor," Ivy said calmly, stepping away from the vampire.

The vampire smirked, "I guessed; normally when I'm summoned by a favor talisman, it's for a favor." The vampire's smirk quickly vanished when he caught sight of Ravyn's glare.

"We need you to give us the location of a vampire." The vampire's brows rose and Ivy continued, "We need to find a vampire named Eve, Nacht's sister."

The vampire gave Ivy a disbelieving look, "That's what you want me to do?" Ivy nodded, looking worried. Suddenly, the vampire started laughing loudly, "That's it? Damn, for a favor that's pretty easy. I wish all the humans I gave favors to asked me to do things this easy."

"Finding Eve is easy?" Nathan asked, climbing out from under the desk.

"Well, she's been celebrating everywhere ever since her sister's death. She's not necessarily keeping a low profile," the vampire replied.

Ivy grinned at Ravyn, turned back to the vampire and said curtly, "Take us to Eve now."

"This is the place?" Ravyn asked skeptically, looking out the tinted window of the car they had taken to the vampire club. Ivy drove with the vampire, Marcus, with Ravyn and Tarn'se in the back. Nathan had wanted to come along, but Ravyn adamantly refused, adding that Tarn'se was going to be extremely cramped as it was in the car. At the mention of the comfort of his new "idol", Nathan backed down easily.

Surprisingly, the building Eve was celebrating in was in a very high-class area of the city, where plenty of humans spent the nights up and about on the streets. The building didn't stand out too much with the exception of the two large vampire guards at the door. They both wore heavily tinted sunglasses to hide their black eyes.

Marcus nodded confidently, "Yep, this is it. Eve isn't as concerned with staying away from humans as Nacht was. No humans are allowed in there of course; though there are the occasional ones that manage to sneak in… they are taken care of, of course." Marcus turned to Ivy, "Is my favor fulfilled?"

"If Eve's in there and you can get us in the building without us getting harmed, the favor's done," Ivy replied.

Marcus nodded slowly and left the car. Walking up to the guards he began to talk to them. Ravyn rolled down the window slightly and strained her ears to try to hear what they were saying. The guards seemed reluctant at first, but at Marcus's consistent demands, they began to nod. Marcus came back to the car and put his head near Ivy's window, "They'll let you in, but you have to get rid of all your weapons."

Ravyn grimaced, but nodded in acceptance and began to take off all of her daggers, and other hunting paraphernalia. Ivy too pulled off the belt of crossbow bolts she had around her waist and set them in the back of the car with her crossbow. Tarn'se growled at the news and shook his head. Ravyn glared at him, but he remained stolid, the glassy lenses of his mask seeming to glare back at her. With a sigh Ravyn relented and stepped out of the car, closely followed by Ivy and Tarn'se.

As the approached the door one of the vampires hissed and pointed at Tarn'se, saying, "He has weapons; he isn't allowed in."

Ravyn snorted in exasperation, "Listen, he has issues with leaving behind his weapons, but he won't attack unless he's provoked. And if you two have a problem with that, you can talk to him about it." The vampires looked closely at Tarn'se and quickly decided they were better off letting him in. The guard turned and fiddled with the locks on the doors, finally pulling them open to reveal a short, plain corridor ending in a large, open elevator.

Ravyn and Tarn'se quickly strode down the hallway into the elevator, Tarn'se stooping due to the low ceiling. Ivy paused and turned to Marcus, "Those guards aren't going to cut the cords and have us fall to our deaths, right?"

Marcus shook his head, "They will not harm you."

Ivy nodded back, "You're dept is repaid."

The vampire grinned, "My thanks, Milady. Perhaps we will meet again under better circumstances." He gave Ivy something akin to a charming smile and disappeared, leaving Ivy standing outside of the building, alone but for the guards.

Ivy quickly made her way to the elevator and heard Ravyn sigh as the doors shut and the elevator began to lower them underground, "Here we go."

The doors opened to another plain hallway, longer than the one above ground. Ravyn could hear and feel a strong bass beat coming from the door that lay twenty yards away from the elevator entrance. She strode quickly down the hallway and pushed open the doors revealing the club.

The club was much bigger than the one the Ash Guild had destroyed recently. Bright colorful lights flashed in random patterns as strobe lights flickered making the club look like an old movie. The fact that the walls, floors, and ceiling looked like they were made of solid panes of glass only added to the dizzying sensation. It least it was an improvement over the other club which had helpless humans chained to the walls for snacks.

There looked to be three levels to the club: The first level was the large, main dance floor. There was a large bar in the far southeastern corner, though Ravyn didn't, and had no desire to, know what drinks besides blood they served that could interest a vampire. There were also random couches and tables with chairs positioned along the walls, most of them occupied.

The second level was a large walkway which wrapped itself around the back and side walls. It seemed that the older and more sophisticated vampires were in that section from what Ravyn could see. Shadows hid most of the level with the exception of the occasional flash of color from one of the lights.

Finally, in front of them was the third level, which looked like a balcony stretching out from the entire front wall. Directly beneath it on the first level was a little area for the DJ, and also the source of the ear pounding music, judging from the huge speakers on either side of the area. The balcony was too high to see what or who was there, but if Ravyn had to guess, she figured that was the most likely place Eve would be.

Ravyn winced as she, Tarn'se, and Ivy pushed through the throng of vampires. It probably wouldn't be so bad if the vampires actually wore more than the bare essential pieces of clothing. Hell, the place looked more like a strip club than a dance or partying one.

At first, the vampires ignored the group until they were about in the middle of the dance floor. The dancing was the first part to fade, and soon Ravyn could feel almost every vampire's gaze resting on her and her companions. The music was suddenly cut and the only movements were the flickering shadows caused by the lights.

The vampires had formed a tight circle about them, not letting them move further, nor showing any aggressive motions. The vampires knew that hunters had come into their midst, the weapons Tarn'se carried and the mere fact they weren't vampires was an easy indication; however it seemed the vampires were unsure of why the hunters hadn't attacked or made any threat. The vampires' curiosity was probably the only reason the group wasn't drained dry yet.

Ravyn took a deep breath and called into the silence, "We have no quarrel with any of you. We are looking for…" Ravyn paused considering how she should address Eve, "the Master vampire, Eve. We will leave once we speak with her."

There was complete silence for a few moments. Ravyn could feel the tension in the room, knowing if it snapped, there would be no hope for any of them.

Fortunately, a familiar voice broke the silence, "The Master vampire, Eve? I'm truly flattered." Ravyn craned her head upward and saw Eve walk to the edge of the upper balcony. She wore a bright, acid green halter top which was covering in silver studs along with loose, black leather pants and knee-high black boots with visible steel-toes. Her tie-dye hair hung over her shoulders and her large hat with the peacock feather cast a shadow on her face.

She leaned over the rail observing them, and grinned, "I knew I'd be seeing you again, but I didn't imagine it would be so soon." She glanced at Tarn'se briefly, "I see you brought your… unique friend as well." She seemed to sigh and asked, "What can I do for you dashing, young hunters?"

"We need to talk."

Eve grinned wider, "We are talking, hon."

Ravyn rolled her eyes and glanced around, "We need to talk in private."

"Do we now?"

Ravyn glared at Eve and growled at her, "Yes, we do."

Eve began to pick meticulously at her claws, examining them as if she was bored, "And what incentive do I have for chatting with you?"

Ravyn held back a curse, "I'll come up there and kick you ass if you don't." A ripple went through the vampires as they bristled at the threat.

Eve laughed loudly, "Ah, that ever violent disposition so common in hunters. Is the Turning affecting your personality, or did I just catch you in a good mood when you were tied to that chair in my sister's hideaway?"

Ravyn went to snap a reply when she heard a quiet beeping sound. Glancing over at Tarn'se she saw him pressing buttons on the weird gauntlet he had around his left wrist. Eve glanced at him curiously as well.

Looking up at Eve, Tarn'se growled, "I have a self destruct mechanism that will explode on my command. If you do not come with us, I activate it and kill everyone in this room, instantly."

Hisses and even one or two shrieks echoed in the room. Ravyn stared a Tarn'se incredulously. A self destruct devise? What the hell? Ravyn saw a few vampires disappear as they teleported away; the more powerful ones that could teleport to a place based on memory, not sight.

Eve gave Tarn'se a surprised look, then began to chuckle, "My, you drive a hard bargain now, don't you? Alright… I'll bite. Where would you prefer we go?"

"Outside at least, not far from here," Ravyn stated.

Eve gave a small nod and leapt over the railing and landed without a sound on the glass floor. If any human tried that, the glass would have shattered into a million pieces and the human would most likely have died.

"Show off," Ravyn thought.

With a confident smile Eve walked towards them and led them out of the club.

"Now, what's this all about?" Eve asked, turning to Ravyn and crossing her arms, "Though it may be a surprise to you, I am quite a busy vampire. I've got fledglings to cow, Masters to insult, humans to bite… you get the drift."

"You gave me the cure for a Turning human," Ravyn stated.

Eve gave her a small smile and put a modest look on her face, "Yes I did; aren't I such a wonderful person?" Ravyn fixed Eve with a glare. Eve's smile disappeared and she regarded them with wariness, "I would think you would be thanking me… but I don't see happy faces."

Ravyn narrowed her eyes, "Did you ever look at the cure?"

Eve shook her head, "I had no desire to… why?"

Ravyn now understood Eve's confusion, "Well, one of the ingredients for the cure is the blood of the vampire that created the Turning human."

Eve blinked and what looked like a true look of compassion and pity entered her face, "Oh… now I see why you aren't such a happy bunch…" Eve paused, thinking, "I suppose it really sucks to be you now, doesn't it?"

Ravyn raised one brow, "Perhaps."

Eve stared carefully at Ravyn, "And the clever hunters have found a way around that particular problem?" Ravyn gave a sharp nod and Eve grinned, "I always though you hunters were a lot smarter than my sister gave you credit for. However, I don't see what you could possibly want with me."

Ravyn took a deep breath, "You are Nacht's twin and were changed by the same vampire. You'd have similar blood, if not the exact same. We need your blood for the cure."

Eve's eyes widened and a shocked look crossed her face, "Well, that is quite a clever idea." She paused, then tilted her head and narrowed her eyes at them, "You know, of course, that I can't just give you my blood."

Ravyn glared sharply, "Why not?"

Eve sighed, "Well, not only would it make me look weak to the other vampires, but it would be incredibly degrading for me just to give you a jar of my blood. In case you didn't know, our blood is the most precious thing we vampires have. Any half-wit vampire would know how sacred and intimate the giving of our blood is. That is why we only give it to our children or perhaps a lover. You are neither."

Ravyn took a menacing step forward, "I don't give a damn about your morals or feelings. I'm only requesting your blood as a courtesy. I will hunt you to the ends of the Earth to get your blood and I will never stop."

Eve blinked, "Well, you know my blood is perfectly useless to you once you've fully Turned, and you've got a week or so left, by my wager."

"Then I will hunt you down and kill you if I do Turn," Ravyn snarled.

"And fall on your blade afterwards?"

At Ravyn's sharp nod, Eve's face froze in an impenetrable mask. Ravyn knew she was thinking carefully, weighing odds and results. In a few seconds a mischievous look entered Eve's eyes and she smiled softly, "Alright… I see your point. However, I'm not just going to give you my blood. You're going to have to work for it."

Eve teleported away and was spotted squatting on the roof of the club fiddling with something in her hand. Ravyn caught a glimpse of something gold before it flew towards her. She instinctively caught it and realized it was an old pocket watch. The gold was tooled beautifully and when Ravyn opened it, she could see the hands too were of gold. The time was set to one minute before midnight.

Eve held up her own hand and swung an almost identical watch from its chain; the one she had, however, was silver, "You have until midnight tomorrow to find me and fight me. If I beat you, I leave and I doubt you will ever find me again. If not, you will gain my blood and your salvation."

Eve stood and began to turn away when Ravyn called, "Where will you be!"

Eve laughed, "Now that would just be much too easy. Though, I suppose I should give you a hint." Eve paused then called back, "I will be at a place that now better resembles its' name." With that, Eve tipped her hat and disappeared.

I hope you liked it! Please review and I'll try to update quickly again!