I don't own the Night World

Quinn

"You got off easy, that's all am 'sayin" Quinn wished that was all he was saying. He and Ash were on the road, driving from Vegas to California. Quinn was driving his sliver Lexus, loving the way the tires made a soft hum against the surface. They were on a 'simple' scope mission; orders were to follow up on reports of a group of Circle Midnight witches that were supposedly causing 'mild damage' those were the words Lord Thierry had used at the weekly meeting, on a small suburban community. Quinn knew Thierry had played the situation down, to avoid Rashel's worry. They all why knew she couldn't be here. Dragging his mind back to the car all he heard was Ash Redfern, the once great lady lover was whining about his Soulmate. As usual.

Quinn thought of Mary-Lynette as nice girl, he'd talked to her on occasion, when she'd finally arrived at Circle Daybreak that is. And he'd also gone out of his way to meet her when she arrived. He thought he owed her this. Although he'd never met her before, Mary-Lynette had heard of him and from what he understood, she also wasn't very fond of him. Ash was now diving head first into a monologue of 'how he had changed for her' and 'how she always wanted more from him'. Quinn simply tuned him out.

Instead he thought of Rashel, and of last night. Although careful not to think to hard about last night, he had to concentrate on driving. Ash was right about one thing, which was rare; he had truly gotten off easy. He'd committed serious offences in his time, and he had a lot of time behind him, 'you're nearly 500 now, John' he thought cynically. Something's he'd done would even make Ash squirm like a child. But Rashel had somehow dismissed them. He knew she wasn't perfect but compared to him she was practically a Saint. 'And' he thought 'she had a better reason'. No matter what she'd done Quinn could - and would - always justify her actions, he'd been in her mind and felt through her what that night was like, and he also knew that at only the tender age of 5 all her childhood innocents and that blissful ignorance humans seemed to carry, was cruelly stolen from her. And by the man - if you can call him that – that he'd once called a Farther. Hunter Redfern.

"Quinn, Hellooooo, are you even listening to me? What the hell's eating you today? Awfully quite, wait no; it's not what's eating you but who you're eating, right? Thinking of Rashel are we?" Ash's taunts brought him back to the car.

"Yeah well, Ash, at least I'm getting some". Smug comment, he knew but didn't care.

"Rashel and You, You and Rashel" Ash mused; toying with the names "I still can't believe that you ended up with a vampire hunter. And not just any vampire hunter, the freaking The Cat! It's strange, no?"

"Hmmm" was his only response.

"If someone had told me two years ago, that the widely feared Quinn" he said the name with a dramatically low voice "would be feet over fangs for a human girl, I'd have laughed. And I mean rolling on the floor, tear pissing out my eyes laughed."

"Well I look at it like this" Quinn added "I maybe 'feet over fangs' as you put it, but we're both in the same boat. Except I'm in the boat sexed up and thirst quenched. And you, well, you bring new meaning to the phrase 'high and dry'. And I'd bet anything that your throat is extremely dry at this moment in time." And with that comment Ash began to realise how thirsty we really was, it came almost out of nowhere and it hit him like a brick wall.

"Dude, pull over."

"What? No you can hold it." He knew Ash wasn't that bad, it was just a off the cuff comment.

"Seriously, am on fire here!" He was staring and Quinn wildly now, eyes truly pleading. 'What's the matter with him?' Quinn thought slightly puzzled, and then reluctantly pulled over. 'That's what you get for being a smart ass' the thought grimly added. "I don't know what you're going to find out here. This place is a waste land."

They'd pulled over on a dead road; the sun was brutally beating down. Although the sun doesn't bother vampires that much, the bright light was extremely harsh on their ultra sensitive eyes. "Be quick, I want to be there by night fall".

They both got out of the car, Quinn was putting on his Ray-Bans and looking toward Ash, suddenly a lot calmer and 'slightly confused looking' Quinn noted. Ash, removing his jacket said "You can't rush the master, it takes time for me to –" but his words were sharply cut off by a throat curdling scream. A scream that rang in Quinn's ears, and would do for a long time after. 'Not Again'