Disclaimer: I don't own the Daughters, or the Sons. pouts Just a chemistry book. -- Please R &R, you all make my day….:-)

Ivebeen: Right backatcha! I love your story! And…I'm sorry to say that I cannot tell you Ry's powers…because you'll just find out yourself, possibly in this very chapter, and if not this one, the next:-D

Goddess from Your Nightmares: Your wish is my command!

Chapter 4

"All right," Obie said to the second Follower, the Regulator Magnus, looking for an opportunity to grab Ry and get out of there. "I'll go with you quietly, just don't hurt her."

Magnus' yellow eyes gleamed in surprise. "Always the hero, I suppose. What's in store for her is much less than what's going to happen to you. You're going straight back to your master, slave, but first I think the Cinciti wanted the pleasure of torturing you to find out about what you know. Then it's back to Nefandus, and for her? I wager that the Inner Circle will be plenty hungry after dealing with you, and then she'll be sold off like the rest of you worthless servi." Without warning, he sent a blaze of power at Obie, temporarily paralyzing him.

In Ry's eyes, everything had disappeared, the Follower, the graveyard, Obie, and the Follower attacking him. She was in a place she hadn't been in for a long time. It was empty, and cold, but strangely peaceful. She felt a dark presence, a black cloud in the center of darkness, watching her, and as she watched it, it reached out and stroked her hair with a smoky, finger-like gentleness. It waited at the threshold of her mind, requesting entrance, like a polite guest. She didn't shrink away, her worst fault being curiosity. Was this familiar? She couldn't remember….

"Ry!" cried Vanessa in horror as she saw her friend sprawled out over the ground, with a leering Regulator standing over her. The Daughters burst into the cemetery, plus an angry looking Stanton.

"Hey, that guy looks familiar," Catty said, squinting at Obie.

"WATCH OUT!" yelled Jimena, tackling Catty to the ground as one of the Regulators shot an energy blast right through where her head had been.

"Hey!" Serena challenged the Regulators, fire in her eyes. "If you wanna pick on my friends, you gotta get through me first!"

The smaller one groaned. "I didn't sign up to be killed tonight," he whined to the bigger one, who nodded.

"Until we meet again, Renegade," he sneered at Obie, who had run to Ryelle's side the moment she fell. Serena fired two warning shots with her mind, and they dissolved into black specters, taking off into the night.

Obie knelt to Ry's side and picked her up, as easily if she were a doll.

"Thanks for helping our friend—'' Vanessa came up to take her from him, but he cut her off, his gaze going from Vanessa to Jimena to Serena to Catty and finally glaring at Stanton.

"I didn't know the Daughters of the Moon had turned traitor, but I know a powerful Follower when I see one." His eyes flickered phosphorescent in the moonlight.

"Renegade," said Stanton thoughtfully. Obie snarled at him and turned into shadow, taking Ryelle with him.

/line/

"Ryelle!" cried Vanessa, horrified. "That Follower kidnapped her! We have to save her!"

"Calm down," Serena told her reassuringly.

"Calm down? Not until we bust a cap in this kid for messing with our friend!" said Jimena threateningly, punching her fist into her palm.

"He's not a Follower," Stanton interrupted her. "He's a Renegade. An escaped slave from Nefandus. Usually your ally, except he obviously thought you had turned, because of me. "

Catty turned wide eyes on the Prince of Night. "A Renegade? Like Kyle?" Her heart beat a little faster, thinking of the boy whose love she had let go when she had learned her father's true identity.

Stanton nodded. "Exactly like Kyle."

"Not only he is exactly like Kyle…" Serena added carefully, watching Catty's face. "He lives with Kyle. The memory of his home matches yours of Kyle's."

The Heir's face fell. "Oh." She bit her lip, eyes flashing in determination. "It doesn't matter. We have to get Ry back."

Serena turned to Stanton. "And you can't come with us," she said quietly. "We don't want to scare them." Stanton nodded, and swept her into a passionate embrace, kissing her gently. Jimena and Catty exchanged a glance—they had never trusted Stanton. Vanessa, however, looked pleased, enjoying the loving display.

Serena broke the kiss and Stanton wordlessly dematerialized and soared away, a dark shadow against the star-studded sky. "Alright, Catty, do you remember where Kyle lives?"

Catty nodded sullenly. "Follow me."

/line/

Obie slipped into the open window of his bedroom, a silent dark shade. He materialized again, cradling the unconscious Ryelle's soft body in his arms. He placed her gently on his bed, tracing over her beautiful face lightly with his fingers. What was she? She wasn't a Renegade, and she didn't seem anything like Kyle's description of the Daughters, except, as he had seen with his own eyes tonight, she was as beautiful as them. Kyle…Gods, he would have Obie's head for this.

"Bringing a strange girl back into our home? Are you crazy? What if this is a trap, and she's a bounty hunter? Or a Regulator? We're supposed to be looking for the Black Diamond, we don't have time to deal with the goddesses!"

He grimaced; he could hear his uptight roommate already. Berto wouldn't care, except he might be interested and want to help Obie solve this mystery. Samuel would be all for it, if he could pull his fishlips away from his girlfriend Maddie's long enough to notice.

"Who's the girl?" Berto's voice asked, amused, from the doorway. "I thought you weren't into the whole taking girls home thing."

Heat flamed in Obie's cheeks. "It isn't like that."

Berto cocked his head and grinned. "Sure it isn't. You're still dressed, aren't you?" The grin slid off his face. "You didn't kiss her, did you?" The curse of the servi dictated that no Renegade could ever kiss a mortal, or anyone on the side of good, lest their hope and spirit be stolen forever.

Obie shook his head and walked quickly out of his room, shutting the door and pulling Berto out onto the balcony. "Let me explain…"

"Damn," Berto said, pulling out a cigarette after Obie had finished. "You're in deep. Why didn't you leave her with the other Daughters? If they've turned, so has she. How do you know you haven't brought a lecta into our home?"

Obie shook his head. "I just know. She's not evil."

Berto sighed, putting out his lighter. "Would you bet our lives on that?"

Obie groaned, looking out over the city. "I just can't believe someone that beautiful could be bad."