Draven watched her walk over the campus towards some of her friends. He was sitting in his usual place, at the base of a big shady oak tree on the college grounds. His stomach tightened as it always did when he saw her. He was very tempted to call her over, but for now he was keeping his distance, he needed to work out how he was going to explain everything to her. He had no choice now; he had to prepare her for what she was going to face in the near future.
Draven wasn't your average Night Person, and he certainly wasn't a stickler for the rules. He was a Daybreaker, but only because of Arianne. The Night World would have never accepted his relationship with her and her family, who were blissfully unaware of its existence. He didn't want them hurt, so he had accepted their support but kept his distance. She had no idea how much she meant to him, or the lengths he'd go to protect her.
When he'd first met her, they were very young, it was at school, he noticed her immediately, the dark haired, shy little girl who kept to herself and wouldn't talk to anyone. It seemed like a lifetime ago, and in some ways it was. They ended up getting paired for a science project, and they instantly hit it off. It was a few years later when Arianne was sixteen and Draven seventeen, that he figured out there was more to that amazing electric feeling they had sparking between them whenever they were near to each other.
He felt it pulling now as he reminisced. He was pretty sure she was oblivious to it. It was part of the arrangement. It'd only take one touch - the briefest contact – and all the barricades put in place by the witches would crumble, not only the ones dampening the soulmate link, but also those keeping her blissfully unaware of how special she really was, not just to him. It was the main reason he was keeping his distance, the pull of the silver thread still affected him, and if he gave into that he'd have to tell her everything. He would undo all the hard work that had been put into place to protect her. It wasn't time for that yet, because as soon as the wards fell, she wouldn't be the only one to know the truth. They'd know too, and there'd be nothing to stop them coming after her.
He was going to have to plan this carefully. He got up, stretched and headed towards his car.
Arianne watched Draven out of the corner of her eye as he got up and walked towards his car, skipping class again no doubt.
"I don't know why you don't just go and talk to him. You two have been really distant lately," Mollie said observantly, waking Arianne up from her reverie, "have you had an argument or something?"
"No. An argument would be something, he's just been really cold and distant lately, and d'ya know what? I just can't be doing with the moodiness at the moment. When I call he's never there and I just get the distinct feeling he's avoiding me." She sighed wearily.
Arianne had come along way from the quite, shy girl that wanted nothing to do with anyone else. She still liked her privacy and was not open with very many people, but she was certainly not shy. The combination of Draven and her friends had brought her out of her shell. She had started to stick up for herself more, it was an important skill when she was with Draven, they tended to argue a lot lately and his acerbic comments often put on her on edge. Sometimes she wondered if he even wanted her around at all. Then there were the times where she caught him watching her, he had a look in his eye that he never had with anyone else, and when he laughed and smiled, it transformed the tough exterior. It made her even more frustrated that he was distancing himself from her. But she never seemed to get around to asking how he really felt. Part of her didn't dare, she cared about Ethyn after all. He was fun, caring, smart and well, safe. She could rely on him to always be Ethyn. He didn't have the dark moods that Draven did, and he never tried to push her away.
"Hmm, have you tried maybe just asking him what's up?" Katie piped in. Katie was tall and slim, with blonde hair and brown eyes and a very bubbly personality. She exuded confidence, and was the type of person that was great fun to be around but sometimes only in short doses.
"No, and I'm not planning too, I'm fed up of being the one who is always chasing him! I'm always calling to see if he's ok and to see if he wants to talk, but all I get is inarticulate grunts and lame excuses as to why he has to rush off." She shook her head and went to get up as the bell rang. "Come on guys, else we'll be late."
Draven had decided to skip the afternoon, as he got into his car he flipped open his phone and punched in a number.
"Hello?" The voice that answered was rich and languid.
"Hey Rose, its Draven. Is it ok if I come over today? I need to talk to you guys."
"Thank Goddess, you've got in touch. We've been trying to reach you for days! Are you ever at your apartment? And why haven't you been answering you're phone?" The voice did not stay languid for very long, it was now sharp and berating. "No, never mind. Don't tell me over the phone just get your ass over here quick. Something has come up." With that she hung up, leaving Draven slightly shocked and not a little worried. He turned the engine on and sped out of the school.
It didn't take him long to reach the old warehouse that housed the area's Daybreak safe house. It wasn't a big place. In its day it had been a big industrial area, but once that dried up, most people moved into the centre of town, or to somewhere else entirely. Some warehouses had been converted into flats, others offices and some had just been left to fall apart; they tended to attract a breed of people that wasn't exactly pleasant. They were also part of the reason a lot of the business had moved out, and those who had moved in to take their places were either mostly disgruntled students who didn't have much money and wanted to get away from their parents or the type people who wanted somewhere quiet to do their so called 'business'. It was perfect Night World territory.
He parked in an alleyway beside the building, and walked straight in the door carefully concealed around the back.
It's Draven. He sent a mental shout out to occupants of the building, so that his entrance did not cause alarm.
As he walked into the lobby he was greeted by a guy, slightly shorter than himself with dark brown hair and penetrating green eyes. He was throwing up and catching a small orb of green energy. "I was wondering when you'd finally show up." He was leaning against the door frame looking accusingly at Draven. "We've been trying to get hold of you for days now."
"Hi Mason," He replied unemotionally, he would not let Mason's abrupt manner get to him. He could not afford an outburst here. "So where do they want me?"
"They're in the main meeting room, of course." Mason shrugged and walked off. Draven reluctantly followed. They did not bother with small talk on the way to the meeting room. Mason did not trust Draven, and he made no small secret about it. It did not help that the witch had a grudge against vampires, even one like him. Neither were typical daybreakers.
Draven strolled into the meeting room. There were several people already seated. All were unnaturally beautiful and had an air of calm and power about them. A young girl, probably around nineteen or twenty with thick, curly, auburn hair, turned and looked at him with cool grey eyes and nodded a greeting. He knew her, by name and reputation, Jaci. She spoke for the shapeshifters. Next to her sat Rakesh, a heavily built lamia, with dark hair and eyes, and coffee coloured skin, he looked in his twenties, which Draven knew meant nothing; he could be hundreds even thousands of years old. Just like the made vampire who sat opposite. Henry looked about eighteen, forever frozen at the age he was changed; he had russet brown hair and golden eyes. Next to him sat Kalea, she was here representing the witches no doubt. She had silvery, white hair and very pale violet eyes. She always looked dreamy and far away, which she often was, rarely in the present, part of her mind was always focused on what might be, she was the witches' strongest seer. The two other people sat at the table were the leaders of the area's Daybreak teams. On the left was Akantha, who was a dark haired woman of around thirty with sharp features and deep brown eyes. Beside her sat Claudio, a middle aged looking vampire with broad shoulders and a strangely warm expression.
He was surprised that the four were here, they spoke on behalf of the Daybreak Elders. He knew when he saw them something big must be happening. Either that or something had gone wrong. He took a seat at one end of the long mahogany table.
Kalea look towards Draven, her voice was almost a whisper it was so soft. "The council are aware of our arrangement."