Disclaimer: Nothing is what I own. Nothing!
Quinn opened his mouth to respond, but just as he did, the group rounded the corner—and stopped flat in their tracks.
Collapsed in the middle of the hallway was a brownheaded girl, sobbing wildly, and wiping her eyes on the sleeves of her sporty tee-shirt.
Quinn was silent with confusion for a moment, and then both he and Rashel spoke at the same time.
"Mary Lynnette!"
James POV:
"Okay, Thierry. Of course. We're on our way. Yes. Yes. Alright. Don't worry—she'll be fine. Hannah's a fighter. Okay, take care. We'll be there in a few minutes."
James waited for the other line to go dead, and then he flipped his own cell phone shut. He and Poppy were on their way to meet up with Theirry, Delos, and a few other people willing to help out. As he ajusted his mirror and pressed the gas pedal down harder, he noticed the distinct lack of people in the back—their little expedition had lost an abundance of people in a matter of hours. And although he wouldn't say it aloud, he was worried that Poppy was going to be the next one gone.
Just to remind himself, he snuck a quick look over at her. She was perfectly fine, if a little tired looking. Her small, pale head was tilted to the side, and her cascade of tiny curls sheletered her delicate face. As she adjusted her self, she saw him watching her.
"What's the matter?" She asked, raising her auburn colored eyebrows at him, half confused-half playful.
He shook his head. "Nothing. Just glad that you're here."
"Where else would I rather be?" She countered.
"You mean you like being cramped up into the front seat of a limo?"
"Actually, I'm not cramped at all. And neither are you." She pointed out. "We are in a limo…but I really meant that I was glad to be with you."
Oh. He could never help the smile that rose to his face, whenever she said things like that. It had only been a few months since he had transformed her, but now, he couldn't even imagine how he had gotten through the countless years he had spent being 'just friends' with her. Poppy had always, in some part of his heart, been so much more than that.
"Well, this looks like the place." Poppy said, and it took him a minute to realize that they had reached Thierry's meeting place.
"Oh." He said. "Right."
He swung into the driveway of the medium sized house, parking next to a near identical car. Thierry had at least a couple dozen different safe houses all over the world, and it just so happened that there was one located only a few miles from the adress Sarah Strange had seen in one of her complicated, slightly weird visions . He and Poppy were meeting up with the others at the house, going over the plan, and then heading out…heading out to a dangerous place where it was possible that someone—in fact, many someones—could get hurt.
He looked at Poppy again, this time with dread behind his steel hard eyes. It was funny how nothing scares you until you having something to lose, he thought, as Poppy reached up and tapped the intercom buton.
"Hello?" A slightly femine voice that sounded familiar—maybe Lupe?—came sailing out.
"It's James and Poppy," she said.
"Of course. I'll be right there."
A moment later, the door opened and his guess was proved right—the tough, scrappy, half-werewolf herself stood at the door.
"Good to see you both again," she greeted. "Come right in. We're all in the kitchen, planning."
He nodded, and, taking Poppy's hand, stepped into the safehouse. Outside, the house was plain and unassumming, but inside it was as opulent as any one of Thierry's other mansions, with gold plated mirrors, expensive paintings, and luxurious furniture dotting all over the place.
"Oh, hi James! And, Poppy, too!" A bright, cheerful voice made him look up.
He recognized one of his distant cousins—Jade—that he had only met once or twice before. Next to her was a boy that he didn't think he had ever seen, but he waved to the two of them anyways.
"Hi." The boy next to Jade said cheerfully. "My name's Mark. I'm Jade's soulmate, and—I don't know if you know her—but a girl named Mary Lynnette's sister."
James raised his eyebrows. Although he had never met Mary Lynnette, he had heard of her often from the lips of his cousin, Ash. She had totally transformed his resentful, aggrivating cousin into something that almost resembled a decent person; for that, he owed her big time.
"Hi, Mark." He waved. "I'm James, and this is my soulmate, Poppy. And by the way, any relation to Mary Lynnette is in a good book with me; Ash needed someone to tame him, just a bit."
"I think Mary Lynette's taming him more than just a bit," Mark laughed. "But nice to meet you too."
"If we're done with all the small talk, then can we please get started?" Someone demanded, walking into the kitchen from the side door.
It was Delos, but in a way that James had never seen him before. His face was heavy with regret and fear, and his eyes were shaded with menance. James didn't blame him, though…what must it feel like to lose the only person that mattered?
"Of course." Poppy said, and James suspected that they were both on the same page. "What's the plan?"
They all gathered around the counter. Him, Poppy, Jade, and a whole other gaggle of people. He recognized most of them, including the dark haired beauty in the corner, another distant cousin, and one that had—somewhat reluctantly—given him the information that Ash had taken Poppy to Thierry's Summer Solstice Party, so long ago. It was strange to think about how things changed. Back then, if Theirry had met Poppy, would he really have ordered her executed? Or, even then, without Hannah, was he akin to breaking the Night World laws?
"The plan," Delos began in a hard voice. "Is to infiltrate the house in which Maggie—and the others—are being held in, bust them out, and then let me blast everyone else inside to Hell and back with a dose of my power."
"Wait, wait, wait." Lupe protested. "You can't use your power. Right, Thierry?"
Lord Thierry joined the group, Nelson right after him. Lupe looked up at him for a quick answer, but he remained quiet, indesicive. James sympathized. It was a tough desiciscion—do you do what's right and risk something more important than life itself? Or do you ignore the rules and find your own salvation?
"Boss!" Lupe protested, after a strong stretch of silence. "It's not supposed to be called out into the absolute moment when he needs it."
"And I need it now." Delos said.
"No, I agree with Lupe." A tallish, very Maggie-ish looking guy spoke up. "You already said that we'll have to use stealth to get them out anyways—,"
"Well, I can't very well blast the house to pieces while they're in it, can I?"
"—so whether we save them has nothing to do with the blue power. That means, you don't have to use it."
"Yes," Delos started in a cool, deathly iced voice. "But that doesn't mean I don't want to use it."
"Well, tough." The guy said, with a shrug. "There are other ways to kill a creature than with magic voodoo alone. We'll have to rely on that."
Delos stood up straighter, and James automatically pulled Poppy back just a little further. He had seen Delos get into his moods before, and they weren't usually pretty; usually Maggie was the only one who could comfort him. Now, with her gone, James didn't want to guess the outcome of this argument. However, he was surprised.
Delos had stepped closer to the guy, and looked just about ready to use the bluepower right there, in the kitchen….but then he fell back, his face drooping. There was a moment of confused silence.
"You remind me of her." Delos admitted, running a hand through his hair. "Maggie. You both have that same spark. Fine, then. We'll do it your way. But it doesn't matter if I use the bluepower or not; either way, the people who took her are going to die."
"Well, and I'll help you with that."
Delos contemplated this for a moment, and then nodded. "Sounds like a plan."
Thank you for reading!
Please review, comment, question me! Send in your ideas!
And I hope to update soon! Final battle is fast approaching! Thank you for reviewing!