"So where's the girl?" Draven looked over. Discovering the owner of the voice, he resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Mason seemed to enjoy provoking him. He was lounged over one of the sofas, smirking and throwing the small vibrant green orb of energy up in the air and catching it, it was an irritating habit.
"They're walking home." He said coldly, trying to inject neutrality into his tone, they didn't have time for a fight; every moment he wasted arguing she was another step further away.
"Alone? I really didn't think you were that stupid. Looks like I was wrong." He snorted derisively and got to his feet. "You just gonna leave her like a lamb to the slaughter? Decided to come back here and carry on the party thinking none of us would notice? Well, I've got news for you; we know where our priorities lie."
He didn't bother arguing back, he bolted across the room straight towards Mason, who was gradually expanding his orb, transforming it from an amusing play thing to a deadly weapon. He grinned wickedly as Draven approached. Indecision swirled in Draven's mind, part of him wanted to react and attack, to punish Mason for slurring his loyalty, however, he could also feel the soul mate link humming faintly in the background of his mind and it reminded him of Arianne, reminded him she was at risk.
The room had gone deadly silent, no one moved to interfere. They stood opposite each other, a few feet apart, muscles rippling, the tension between them permeating the room. There was a low growling, their eyes were locked, Draven struggled against the urge to shut Mason up for good and tried to hold himself back, the thought of Arianne sobering him and bringing him back from the edge of rage and he relaxed slightly, forcing his body into a less aggressive posture.
"Coward." Mason snickered. The urge won and Draven gave into the rage, he snarled and lunged, in the same moment Mason threw his ball of energy, it fizzed and crackled as it flew toward Draven.
"Enough!" Alyssa stepped forward, hands outwards. Both Draven and Mason flew backwards against the walls on opposite sides of the room and remained suspended there. Draven quieted and didn't try to fight the bonds holding him. While Mason struggled, chuckling under his breath in an almost manic way, Connor sighed and lazily clicked his fingers and Mason's ball of energy disappeared before it could crash through the window.
"This is childish! We are wasting time." She sighed impatiently. "I assume that Arianne and Ethyn have already left?" She looked towards Draven who nodded an affirmative. "Right, if you are both finished with your male posturing, we need to get organised." She let them both down, Draven landed gracefully on his feet but Mason, without the vampyric reflexes landed in a ruffled heap on the floor. He got up glaring at Draven and ran a hand through his dishevelled hair.
"I told you, you shouldn't get her angry." Rose quietly leaned in and whispered to Draven. He couldn't help but smile.
"I suggest we form teams and surround their route, after we find out which way they're going. It would've been much easier if they hadn't had a head start." Sophia glanced over at the two guys, still shooting venomous looks at each other. "You two need to concentrate now, forget about it and sort your personal problems out later."
Rose moved forward, "Ryder and I can discover which way they headed in, we'll be able to find them easy" She smiled nervously and Ryder nodded his agreement.
"Good." She continued in a business like manner. "I'd prefer each team to have at least one person who can relay messages to the other teams." Alyssa surveyed the room thoughtfully. "Rose, Draven and Connor, you can form the first team." She walked over to the table and moved her hand across the surface. Two small lights appeared, and then three more, like small candles in the dark, she pointed at them and looked up at Draven "You stay behind them, stay in the shadows and keep at a distance. The last thing we want is them to see us and blow the cover and our advantage."
Draven almost sighed with relief, things were getting done, and he didn't have to work directly with Mason. He knew he could get too sensitive when Arianne was involved, but that witch went too far. He'd have to have words if this dispute continued to get in the way. He would let nothing stand between Arianne and him.
"Ryder, Hayato and Sophia, you take the left." Three more lights appeared on the table, left of the first. "Bran and Mason, you're with me" Mason opened his mouth, about to protest, "no arguments. I want to keep an eye on you after that outburst. We'll take the right. If anyone sees anything, let the other teams know, but don't move in unless it is absolutely necessary." She looked over at Ryder and Rose, "Are you ready?"
They both nodded and slipped out of their clothes as their skin began moving and changing, hands became paws and eyes turned feral. It only took a moment before the change was complete and they both raced out of the door into the warm night air.
It didn't take long before Rose picked up the scent; she howled to alert Ryder and ran back inside the beach house. She changed as she got in the door and was shortly followed by Ryder. The rest were sitting round the table waiting. Alyssa changed the map on the table once they'd figured out the route the two must be taking by the direction they'd gone. The small lights flickered and moved into place, like chess pieces across the map. It was time to move. Alyssa brushed her hand over the table once more and the map disappeared. "Is everyone ready?" There were general sounds of agreement, and a grunt from the still chagrined Mason.
Draven's team headed out first, Rose threw her bag over to Draven who caught it as she changed and bounded on ahead, picking up the scent. They moved quickly and it didn't take them long before Arianne and Ethyn were in sight. Rose had to change again in the shadows of an alley. They didn't want to be seen. "Something doesn't smell quite right around here." She said quietly as she straightened her dress. She wrinkled her nose and frowned.
"What do you mean?" Connor gave her a concerned look. He was slightly taller than Rose, and was slim but toned. He had strong, almost chiseled features and a gentle smile.
"I can smell Arianne and Ethyn, but there's also something else here, I think it's been masked though. Someone has tried to disguise it or hide it, it's almost like a gap in a group of colours, there's just nothing there. It's hard to explain." She gave an apologetic shrug.
"It doesn't sound like they're very clever then," Connor said thoughtfully. "Masking a scent with another would have been better, but removing it just sort of makes it more obvious that someone is hiding something. It could have been done magically though, but it was very rushed if it was a spell." He gave Rose a reassuring smile. "They can't be far off."
"I can't sense anyone. Then again if they are following her, they might be shielding themselves." Draven sighed; he knew this wasn't going to be easy. He kept his mind shielded, and tried to sense the other teams. There had been no signal from either of them. They would be in place by now, following the couple closely and watching for any signs of trouble.
He managed to pick up on Sophia's mind, 'I think we've found something, Rose said that someone may have tried to hide their tracks, we haven't seen anything yet though. How's it going on your side?'
'Nothing at all here,' Sophia's mental voice was mellow and serious in his mind. 'Is there any news from the others?'
'No, not yet, I'll let you know as soon as there is.' He sighed, no news was good news he thought. Or was it? He surveyed the area, looking over the tops of the buildings, a lot of the roofs were quite flat and would be an easy place to hide, but his vampyric eyesight did not pick anything out. However, his hearing did.
He whirled round as deafening screech filled the air and a giant black bird came hurtling down from the sky, its wing torn and broken. It took Draven a split second to move into place as the falling raven suddenly became a body landing limply in his arms. Rose screamed.