"So when do I get to meet everyone?" He was feeling much calmer after a good meal, the safe house had a brilliant canteen, and he had not eaten properly in ages. He looked expectantly at Rose who sat across the table from him.
"Well, about that, one of the guys thought it might be good to have a little beach party to get everyone acquainted. You know, have a bit of fun, and introduce everyone in a less formal situation." She smiled sweetly back at him.
"Okay and this will be when? You do realize we have a deadline. Literally."
"This Friday, it's the last day of term, so why not? We probably wouldn't be able to get everyone together before then anyway, and we certainly won't be able to make a move if everyone is tied up with end of term stuff. Some of us have parents to please." He often forgot that most of the younger daybreakers that were likely to be on his team would have parents and families that actually cared and, therefore, did not have the kind of freedom he had.
"Fine then. Want me to drive?"
"Of course. Pick me up, and then we can get Arianne and Ethyn." He looked at her disbelievingly, and shook his head, he did not want to argue with Rose, but this was getting ridiculous.
"What do you mean, pick them up? That would be crazy. A party full of vampires, shifters and witches, and you want to bring two humans along as well?"
"Firstly, they're not going to know what they are," she ticked the points off on her fingers "secondly, we're not going to do anything to them, thirdly, if they're with us, at our teams party, which means our team only, anyone sent from the council won't be able to follow them. It'll be the safest party this side of the world for them. They just won't know it."
Draven sighed, defeated, he nodded his agreement. He trusted Rose, and if she said it was safe then he was pretty sure that she would have done everything in her power to make sure that that was the case. Besides, he knew he could really do with letting off some steam.
"Anyway, maybe you'll be able to talk to Arianne again. I know you two haven't been talking lately. It really won't help us any if you two are at each others throats." She shrugged, and put her hand on his arm, suddenly serious, "She's going to need you when this all comes down you know."
Friday afternoon rolled around quicker than Draven would have hoped. Rose had already invited Arianne and Ethyn, and everything was arranged. According to Rose the beach house was heavily packed with wards and protections inside and out. Not only that, the team would have concealed weapons on them at all times. It was always good to be optimistic after all. That reminded him, he may as well take a couple…just in case.
Before he went to pick Rose up, he swung by his apartment. Tucked away in a concealed closet, was his personal cache of weapons. He had collected quite a few over the years, from a beautifully balanced katana to a handcrafted wooden quarterstaff. He decided to go for an ornate dagger with a blade made from oak, and a silver knuckle duster since both could be easily concealed and would deal enough damage, combined with his strength, he'd have no problem bringing any intruders down.
He picked Rose up, who smiled at him as she slid into the front passenger seat. "Is everything okay?"
"Of course, you're going to have to give me directions to this place though after we've got the other two."
"Not a problem, I have a very good sense of direction." She winked at him and he drove off. They picked up Arianne and Ethyn and headed out to the beach house. It was a slightly awkward and quiet drive. Arianne and Draven had said the bare minimum to each other, so Rose and Ethyn ended up doing most of the talking.
They finally arrived and parked up the car. "Hey Rose, can I steal you for a moment before we go in?" He motioned for Arianne and Ethyn to go ahead.
"What's up? Apart from the major tension between you guys." She studied his face, and seeing the look in his eyes, suddenly burst out laughing. "Oh no, don't tell me you, of all people, are nervous about meeting everyone!"
"No," he replied after a slight hesitation "I was just checking one last time that the wards were all in place and back-up and that sort of thing."
Despite his denial she could she tell he wasn't being altogether honest. The slight blush on his cheeks gave it away. She chuckled "Yes, yes, stop worrying. It's all in place and solid. Everyone is on full alert despite the party atmosphere that we're missing right now, because you're worrying." She took in a deep breath. "Can we go in now please?" She looked at him pleadingly with an almost puppy-like look in her eyes.
It was his turn to chuckle, "Right, yes, let's go and have some fun." If that's at all possible, he thought.
They walked through the living room; Rose started to point out people. "There's Hayato, he's the shorter one with the black hair, and he's standing with Mason, you already know him" Draven groaned, he didn't get on well with Mason, and it wasn't for lack of trying. He'd have to keep an eye on him.
"Who's that over there?" He nodded towards a dark haired youth with sharp bird-like features.
"Ah, that's Bran; he's a new recruit from Ireland. They brought him over especially for this. He's standing with Alyssa." She leant closer to him and added under her breath, "That girl is one powerful witch, with quite a temper; I'll warn you now, don't get on her bad side."
He smiled over at the blonde haired young witch, who had looked their way, obviously sensing their scrutiny.
"Right now, let me see, who else is there," she surveyed the room. "Ah yes, coming through the door on the left there is Connor, he's nice, quite a talented witch." He saw her blushing out the corner of his eye and smiled.
"Who are those two by the window?" The last two unnamed people in the room were sitting on a very comfy looking sofa by a huge bay window. One was lounging with an almost feline grace, he immediately thought shape shifter. The other radiated confidence, she sat with he legs crossed politely listening to her companion.
"Well, that's Sophia and the guy she's talking to is Ryder. Sophia is alright, she's normally the one taking control of everyone, she's probably the oldest one here, and Ryder is a good guy, bit of a party animal though. This is his house."
Arianne looked around the room; it was decorated with warm colours, and very comfy furniture. The problem was she couldn't take her eyes off the other guests. They were stunning, she had been talking to some guy named Bran, since Ethyn had wandered off for more drinks, he'd been gone a while now though. She spotted Draven and Rose in a secluded corner talking closely; she felt a pang of jealousy. She used to be able to talk to him like that. He caught her looking and gave her a small smile. She felt a pull towards him as she always did when he looked at her, a feeling that she needed to be near him, she felt herself blush and looked away. At least he smiled though, that was an improvement, he wasn't completely ignoring her. She reached out for her drink as Ethyn came back to her side.
"Strange party eh?" He asked her, holding her free hand in his and smiling at her. "You having fun or do you wanna go home now?"
"We should stay for a bit longer, I'd like to see if I can drag Draven away for a chat in a minute." She gave his hand a small squeeze. "You wanna go back then?"
"No, it's interesting; there are some quite cool people here." He looked over to where Rose and Draven were sitting, "Now is your chance hun, his lady friend seems to be getting up."
Something made her want to protest this, how could he have someone else? But she bit it back; after all, he was only her best friend, not boyfriend. He may have found someone whilst they hadn't been talking. Panicked whispers raced through her mind. What if she was the reason that they weren't talking? He'd had girlfriends before, with his looks how could he not? But maybe this was the one, and he wouldn't want to spend any time with her any more, just this new person, what if they were growing apart and they'd never talk again?
She was so immersed in her thoughts that she didn't notice that Draven was standing right in front of her trying to get her attention, Ethyn had also released her hand but she hadn't felt it. She shook her head to try to drive the thoughts away. I am being completely irrational, she told herself and looked up at him questioningly.
"I think we need to have a talk." She followed him out and the walked along the beach for a while saying nothing but enjoying the cool night air and the sounds of the waves crashing against the shore.
"I'm sorry I've been so distant lately, there's been a lot on my mind." Mainly you, he added to himself. He stopped and looked out over the sea.
"You could have talked to me about it. We used to talk about everything." She stood beside him and went to put her hand on his arm. He moved before her hand connected and went to sit down.
That was too close, he warned himself, his hair rose on his arms and he could feel the crackle of sparks where she had almost touched him. It was hard to resist, but he had to, he couldn't give in. She came to sit down next to him, but fortunately didn't try to sit too close. She must've got the hint.
"I saw you with Rose, she's nice." She was staring at floor, blinking back tears at the obvious rejection she had just received, she hoped he hadn't noticed. The unspoken question lingered between them. She didn't want to know, but she had to.
"Yeah." He hadn't thought of using Rose as a cover story, but he considered it now. It was temptingly viable. It'd hurt her, but it'd make her keep some distance, without having to stop their friendship. He wasn't sure if he could manage without her completely. It had been hard enough not talking to her. "She's nice, we get on pretty well." At the same time he brushed Rose's mind and informed her of the plan.
"Oh," She started to draw little patterns in the sand; she was trying to distract herself. "I'm happy for you."
He hated lying to her, but he couldn't see any other way right now. Every part of him screamed to tell her the truth, to tell her everything, but at the same time he was scared, he didn't want to see her face or feel her pain when she found out that the last year had been a complete lie.
"I'm sorry." He didn't know quite what to say, he couldn't comfort her, and if he said anymore, it'd just be more lies. "I'll be around more, I promise." At least that wasn't a lie.
"Really, no more avoiding me or not returning my calls?" She looked up at him, at least there was still some hope left in her eyes.
He smiled at her. "Not if I can help it," He paused and looked away, "So are we okay?"
"I think so." She looked round to where he was supposed to be sitting, but he was standing, his body tense. "Whats wrong?" she whispered. Suddenly afraid, she hadn't realized how far they were from the house. She heard footsteps.
"Get behind me now," it was almost a growl and Arianne got up and obeyed. She didn't question him; something in his voice dared her not to.
There was a soft thump, and a surprised yell.
Draven relaxed and looked over at her, "its Ethyn." She didn't ask how he knew, but let out a breath she didn't realize she was holding.
She rolled her eyes and went to investigate the lumpy shadow on the floor, barely holding back her laughter as Ethyn got up and brushed sand off his clothes and out of his hair. She could hear him mumble under his breath. "Stupid piece of driftwood."