"Should we follow him?" Ryder was finishing tying up the remaining witch and shape shifter. He was still having trouble putting weight on his ankle. It was starting to irritate him.
"We can't. They need our attention, and we still have Bran and Rose to think about. I really hope they're ok. Are they secure?" Sophia gestured to their three hostages.
"Yup, they won't be going anywhere anytime soon. Draven really did a number on the witch, she seems almost comatose. The others woke up, briefly." He shrugged. "What about you?"
"Me?" She replied absently as she gently turned Connor on his side so she could inspect his head wound. "I'm fine. I'm more worried about them. Could you have a look and see if Alyssa's bag is around anywhere? It should have some restorative potions in it."
Ryder combed the immediate area and quickly located Alyssa's bag. Glass tinkled as he picked it up and his heart sank, some of the vials had been broken when the bag had been flung aside. He hoped they weren't the ones they needed. He walked back to Sophia, and gently tipped the contents out on the floor.
"There's two left. We will have to use them on Alyssa and Mason, I think Connor's injury will be too severe." She threw one of the vials to Ryder and he caught it as he walked over to Mason's side. It was an unspoken feeling but both of them would rather have Connor awake, he was much better dealing under pressure, not to mention a much stronger witch.
Alyssa came round first, sitting up dazedly and coughing. "Where's Bran?" Sophia placed a supporting arm round her shoulders.
"With Rose, he needs your help. Connor did all he could to help ease the pain." She looked around sadly, "But so do we." Alyssa nodded and got shakily to her feet, using the wall for support she walked over to Connor and kneeled down beside him. She examined him carefully.
"It's not as bad as it looks," She smiled reassuringly at Sophia. "But it's going to take a few minutes, and I'll need Mason's help."
"Did someone say my name?" Mason said groggily, running a hand through his tousled hair. He knelt opposite Alyssa and winced as he saw Connor's wounds. "Ouch. Now that's gotta hurt." Alyssa raised an eyebrow and held out her hand to Mason, who took it.
They sat quietly for a few moments, one hand resting on Connor, the other locked with each other.
It was dark, too dark. Arianne rewound trying to figure out how she'd ended up tied up and sore. Her mind came up blank. It took a few minutes for her eyes to adjust to the light, or lack thereof. A soft moan alerted her to the fact she was not alone. She couldn't make out who the occupied the room with her, she hoped it wasn't Ethyn. The room smelt damp and musty, unused. It smelt familiar. She tried to figure out why, she was pretty sure this wasn't a regular occurrence. Now her eyes had adjusted to the gloom, she could see a figure lying prone on the floor; unfortunately it was not light enough to make out any distinguishing features. She tried to call out to see if it was Ethyn, but when she opened her mouth no sound came out. Arianne began to panic.
Draven stalked along the rooftops, attempting to catch the scent which always made his heart beat twice as fast. Thoughts of regret rushed through his head, he should have told her sooner, should have stayed with her, in the shadows as she walked home. If he'd done that she might've been safer. He shouldn't have left it to someone else. The pain of being apart from her was almost unbearable, but he knew that his presence might also accelerate the process he was trying desperately to avoid, and in doing so may have lost her just as quickly as he had now.
"Damn wards," he muttered under his breath. Obviously the extra protections had not done enough to protect Arianne from their preternatural radars. "Get a hold of yourself; this is no time for self pity. More action". At that moment, he caught that beautiful scent. Draven leapt of the rooftop and ran.
A/N Sorry for long wait, uber lots of work for uni! Why oh why did I chose a science degree! This is a very short chapter, but it's just to tide you over until I get a real chance to write a proper chapter!