Ultimatum

Emerald would later find out from Storm how she'd been saved. It was a tense meeting, the air so thick you could slice it with a knife, but Emerald wanted to know what had happened to her after her father had taken what he wanted. She wanted to know why Storm had faked his death and what he did after to save her. Though it seemed like the dreamless, painless, nothingness world she'd been in, in her slumber had been a hundred times better than a world being destroyed by dragons and around every corner were enemies.

Even worse, enemies who posed as friends.

Valerie had worked with another witch named Blaise to create all these potions that turned Storm human, cut off their soulmate bond, helped Storm and Valerie love each other, helped Emerald fall for Lucas a little easier, killed Storm, and then brought him back as a lamia vampire. It took a lot of power and energy, especially the first one and the last two, but the wonders of dark magic were endless if you were brave enough to toy with them. Apparently, Thierry was, which admittedly scared Emerald. He was staring to get desperate, she could almost feel his personal desperation from just being in this sanctuary.

Anyway, it had been a potion injected by a needle that had killed Storm and brought him back as a vampire. It had also been risky, but worked. Storm explained to Emerald that her father had said she was stable in his arms, but he could feel through the bond that she was fading fast. He had only been delaying the inevitable.

Thierry's workers then found Storm and took him back to the safe haven, sending out more of his workers to track down Jonathan. Storm communicated to them via comms unit because finding Jonathan in the Big Apple was going to be a challenge. While Emerald would've been better at tracking him down, Storm was the second best. Still, as the hours passed, Storm had begun to lose hope of ever finding Jonathan until Jonathan's witch friend, Nehalenia, ratted him out after he'd attempted to kill her.

She wasn't stupid, she'd been alive long enough to know not to trust anyone in the Night World, so as a just in case, she'd prepared various potions to protect herself it he were to turn on her. If it hadn't been for that caution, Johnathan would've surely accomplished in killing her. He was a vampire after all.

So, Nehalenia ratted out Jonathan, who Thierry's people ambushed and caught just in time. It was surprisingly easy which made Storm doubt about Jonathan's intentions, and think about what the sociopath could be planning, but as soon as they'd brought the white plumaria flower to him, his suspicions were put on the back-burner.

Neither Thierry nor Jonathan had told Storm what exactly he'd been keeping in the flower, but as soon as Storm had grabbed hold of it, the color seemed to drain from the flower and return to Emerald. And currently, Thierry had thrown both Nehalenia and Jonathan in some make-shift-like prison, separately, of course.

"And Jonathan hasn't escaped?" Emerald asked, crossing her arms, finding it hard to believe that Jonathan went in as easy as Storm described it.

"No, if he had, you would know. And it wasn't like he didn't fight back or anything, two of Thierry's workers died, it just seemed a little easy, was all I said. Knowing Jonathan, it should've been harder." Storm answered carefully.

"I find that very hard to believe," Emerald shot back. "My father always has some kind of ace up his sleeve. Thierry should've killed him the moment they found him. I'm surprised I haven't heard that he's escaped yet."

"I'm just telling you what I saw, Emerald," Storm reminded her softly, looking down. Emerald sighed and uncrossed her arms, looking to the side.

"You're right, I'm sorry," she muttered. "…and thanks." Storm's head snapped back up to look at her and she met his eyes with a softness he hadn't seen in so long, it made his heart ache. "I still love you, Storm." She began in a quiet voice. "And I want so badly to trust you, but I… I just can't. And I'm sorry, but with everything going on right now… everything's that happened… I'm just really confused right now and I need time to work through my emotions and figure out what my next step is." With that, she stood and started for the door.

"You'll tell me, won't you?" Storm called just as she was grabbing the door knob. "You'll tell me when you've made your decision." He repeated a little quieter.

Without looking back at him she replied, "You'll be the first to know." before opening the door and exiting.

Something was up, Emerald decided. Why was Thierry keeping her here? Why was he keeping Storm and Carter and Sky here and safe? (Carter and Sky had arrived a few days after Emerald had woken up, Sky looked a little worse for wear, but other than that they looked all right.) It couldn't be just because he was a nice person—and based on what Emerald had seen of him, he wasn't as pure as everyone wanted to believe or saw—and all of sudden changed his mind about Emerald. She had kidnapped his soulmate with her father who, earlier, killed a bunch of Thierry's workers. And it was obvious that Thierry was holding a grudge earlier, why suddenly put that behind him now? Especially with the end of the world and all. It seemed liked if it was the end of the world, you'd want to be surrounded by people you could trust indefinitely, not someone who was shady.

Then it hit Emerald, what'd been nagging at her throughout this whole thought process. Of course! Why hadn't she seen it earlier? It was the end of the world and if Jonathan knew about the thing she had then so would Thierry. At the very least, the only reason Jonathan was still alive was because he knew how to get it. It made sense. And it only made sense for Thierry to keep her here and her friends here relatively safe to get on her good side so maybe she'd be willing to give Thierry what he wanted. They hadn't yet found the fourth Wild Power and Thierry was getting frantic. He would do anything to try and integrate humans and Night People in the new millennium.

But how exactly did he plan to do that? Not only would he have to fight Storm and her friends but he also had to get a go from Emerald. And that wasn't going to happen anytime soon. She'd been through it once and it had been painful. Not only that but it would kill her which Storm, Sky, and Carter would not appreciate at all. Not even for a new peaceful millennium, she was sure. At the very least, Emerald knew if any of them were in the position she was being put in she wouldn't stand for it unless it was their wish. And dying a painful death was most definitely not top priority right now.

That raised more suspicion on Emerald's part and that itch to know more became almost painful. She wanted to know what was going on for once. She was tired of being used as a pawn, the repercussions to this being pain and anger and betrayal. It was time she took things into her own hands.

There was a mansion in the safe haven and it belonged to Thierry and the Daybreakers that were closer to him, specifically. Being observant—and having nothing to do during the day but to explore—she knew that he had an office or study on the second floor of his mansion. Sure she'd never actually been in the mansion, because it was basically his house while he stayed there, but from the top of another building she had a clear view into his office through huge French doors that led to a small, private balcony.

So, that afternoon she went up to the top of the building with a small monocular "telescope" to get a better view into Thierry's office. (Her eyesight was still super human, but the building was far enough away she needed the monocular.) His desk faced the back of the French doors and was slightly off to the left of those doors. Still, it gave Emerald a pretty good view of him and what he was doing at the present time. Currently he was going through some very important papers. Very important because when he was done with them, he opened a small hidden compartment on the right side of his desk that held a safe. From what Emerald could see it needed voice recognition as well as fingerprint recognition. Those must've been pretty important papers then. Papers that Emerald definitely wanted to look at.

Now all she needed was a way to get into that safe. (Getting into his office would be the easy part.)

Okay, so maybe getting into his office wasn't going to be as easy as Emerald had originally assumed. She needed him out of his office long enough that she could get into his safe and get those papers; however, she didn't really have the time or patience to watch him throughout the week and determine his routine. She needed a faster way.

It was like fate was finally on her side, though, because the very next day she was just aimlessly wandering around the little safe haven trying to think of a way to get Thierry out of his office when one of his workers, who Emerald recognized as Channon, she was a werewolf, came up to her and tapped her shoulder to get her attention. Emerald turned and looked at Channon expectantly.

"Lord Thierry would like to talk to you." she informed Emerald.

"Why?" Emerald had been here for several days now, almost two weeks, why was he wanting to talk to her now? Did he think that he'd softened her up since then, having invited her friends and keeping them safe here?

Probably.

"He didn't say, just said he wanted to see you." Channon spoke interrupting Emerald's musings.

Emerald was about to say okay and follow her wherever Thierry was waiting, but then an idea struck her.

"I can't, sorry. I'm busy," she answered instead.

"Doing what?" Channon deadpanned skeptically.

"That's on a need-to-know basis," Emerald replied cheekily, giving Channon a small glare. "But, listen, I'll talk to Thierry—excuse me—Lord Thierry, just not right now. Tell him to meet me in the courtyard at one this afternoon." The courtyard was a good distance away from his mansion.

Channon looked absolutely done with Emerald, her face very unamused, but when Emerald just stood there and smiled at her, not saying anything she started to reluctantly turn in the direction she'd come.

"Oh, and one more thing," Emerald called, another idea striking her. "Think you could deliver a message to Thierry—Lord Thierry, please?"

Channon sighed and rolled her eyes. "I might as well," she muttered.

"That's the spirit," Emerald exclaimed sarcastically before leaning forward and whispering her message in Channon's ear. "Thanks for doing this for me, by the way, I appreciate it." Emerald told Channon as she pulled away.

"Whatever," Channon mumbled turning and jogging off.

Now Emerald didn't need a distraction. She just needed to wait until 1pm. But until then, she'd need to gather a few thing to be able to get into the safe. Her phone didn't have voice recording because it was a simple phone, none of that smart phone stuff. And she obviously didn't have anything to pick up a fingerprint. Thankfully, she knew a good friend who had exactly the things she would need.

"Hey, Carter," Emerald greeted brightly. Carter was currently in her room on her mac working on a video.

Carter gave her an odd look. "Hi, Emerald…" She replied slowly, still eyeing her friend suspiciously.

"What?" Emerald took a seat next to her and looked at the screen. "Which video are you working on?"

After a moment of Carter staring at her with the same odd look, Emerald ignoring this, Carter turned back to her laptop and grabbed the wireless mouse.

"Just another vlog. Today's topic is about saying 'just deserts,' but that's not really important right now"—she minimized the screen and turned toward her friend—"Emerald what, do you want?"

"What makes you think I want anything?" Emerald asked innocently, finally looking back at Carter.

Carter rolled her eyes. "You're lips are moving," she answered dryly.

"Now that's not fair—"

"Also, you're acting too… sunshine-y and bright. I thought you were still getting over all that… stuff with Lucas and… Storm."

Emerald sighed. "I am. Trust me," she muttered a dull ache starting in her chest again. But this whole thing with Storm and Lucas was also the reason she wanted to get to those papers.

"So… what do you need?" Carter prodded.

"I promise I'll tell you later what this is all for and what this is all about, but"—she looked at the clock on Carter's laptop, ten minutes until one—"I'm running out of time."

"I trust you, Emerald. Just don't do anything stupid. What is it you need?" Carter told her solemnly.

"Thank you so much," Emerald sagged with relief at this. Carter was too good a person, Emerald really didn't deserve her friendship. "I'm going to need to borrow your phone, blush, and some tape."

Carter shook her head as she got up to get those three things. "I don't even think I want to know," she sighed handing Emerald the blush and the tape. "Be careful with my phone. You'd better return it better than the way it is now." Carter warned hesitantly handing over her phone.

"I promise. You know I'll take good care of it. Thanks again." Emerald hugged Carter and this time Carter was the one who froze up because of the shock that Emerald was the one initiating the hug. "Oh, how is Sky?" She asked as she pulled away and stood up.

"He's doing much better. Now that he isn't up and moving so much, he's healing much faster and feeling much better. He's also got an amazing wife who's taking amazing care of him." Carter answered.

Long story short, he'd been stabbed with a sword—of all things—protecting Carter.

"That's great to hear. Tell him I said hi for me." Emerald said as she headed for the door.

Carter nodded and waved goodbye, rolling her eyes when Emerald had closed the door and headed off to go do whatever she was planning to do. Sometimes she just didn't understand her friend and her antics.

Emerald checked the time on Carter's phone. One minute until one. Slipping the phone back into her pocket she ran to the courtyard just to make sure that Thierry was there. And sure enough, he was, looking a little peeved but all Emerald cared about was that he wasn't in his mansion.

Turning into a shadow, her long dark overcoat helping some, Emerald sneaked off to the big mansion which was about as big as the one in Vegas. Walking up to the second floor was cake and there were no guards outside his door so slipping in—because it wasn't locked either; how convenient and arrogant—was just as easy.

Now for the harder part (but not too much harder).

Emerald headed straight for his desk, sat down, and opened up the small, secret compartment before pulling out Carter's phone and opening up the voice-memo app. Holding Carter's cell in one hand she pulled out her own cell, put it on speaker and dialed Thierry's number (she'd acquired it ages ago from Storm, when she'd been brainwashed and taken to Thierry's mansion in Vegas; Storm had been working for Thierry at the time).

It rang a few times before he finally picked up and as soon as it stopped ringing, Emerald pressed the record button just in time.

"This is Thierry," he hissed. Emerald smiled at how annoyed he sounded.

She hit the stop button on the phone and set it down on the desk.

"Hey, Thierry, it's Emerald," she said, pulling the blush and tape out of her pockets, opening the blush and starting to dust around for a good fingerprint on Thierry's desk. "I know I told you that I'd meet you at the courtyard at one. I just wanted to call and say that I'm going to have to reschedule, something came up." Thierry growled slightly into the phone. "Something wrong?" Emerald asked lightly.

"What are playing at?" he spat quietly through the phone.

"I sense hostility, Thierry. Why's that?" Emerald asked leaning over the desk and examining the print she'd just dusted trying to determine if it was decent enough for the safe.

"You know exactly why. You had Channon deliver your little… message."

"Calm down, calm down, I'll cancel my plans then. Easy fix." She paused and let that sink in, hearing Thierry let out a sharp breath of air. "Were you at the courtyard waiting for me very long?" she finally asked, picking up the print with the tape and folding it over on itself, to preserve the print. She then held it up to the light to inspect it again.

"No, actually," Thierry started, his voice much lighter than before. "I haven't even left my office. I was going to head down there in just a moment." He lied smoothly. Emerald would've believed it had she not been sitting in his office at that very moment.

Good the fingerprint was whole.

Emerald smiled, gathered up her things and threw them into the pocket of her jacket before picking up her own phone and turning it off speaker.

"I highly doubt that," she said into the receiver.

Small pause. "And why's that?" Thierry asked carefully.

"Because if you were still in your office, we'd be having this conversation face-to-face." With that she hung up, slipping her phone into her pocket, and quickly going over to the safe. She knew she'd only have a few minutes before Thierry's workers were swarming, but that was all she needed.

She held Carter's phone up to the speaker and replayed "This is Thierry" before pressing the taped fingerprint to the small scanner. The safe opened without a hitch and Emerald grabbed all the papers inside, folded them up hastily and shoved them into the inside pocket of her coat. Then, she swiftly made her way out of Thierry's office, leaving the safe open.

Getting out before Thierry's workers could get to her was easier than Emerald imagined, but that was good for her, so she wasn't complaining. Now she just had to find a hiding spot to read those papers. But first, just for her own amusement, she went up to the roof of the adjacent building, got out her monocular and zoomed in on Thierry's French doors just as he came storming in, going straight to his safe. Emerald smiled and chuckled as he had a moment, slamming the door to the safe shut, running his hands through his hair and then slamming them down on his desk.

There was a moment where Thierry simply stood there motionless, probably gaining control over his emotions. Then quick as lightning his desk phone was at his ear and he was dialing someone.

Emerald's phone buzzed. She shook her head, wondering how he'd gotten her phone number (though she had a pretty good guess), slipped the monocular into her pocket, grabbing her phone from the same pocket and answering it.

"Hi, Thierry, how's it going?" she asked breezily.

"I think you know exactly how it's going, Emerald," Thierry growled sharply through gritted teeth, trying to keep his anger in check.

Emerald chuckled. "You seem… angry, Thierry." She tried to make her tone sound as if she was surprised at his anger.

"What are you trying to do? Purposefully get on my bad side? You're lucky I'm letting you and your friends stay here. I didn't have to invite you here."

Emerald laughed fully this time. "Yes, but, Thierry, you and I both know that you need me for something." She let that sink in. "And these papers are going to tell me exactly what you're up to. I'm tired of being used, and in the dark."

Emerald quickly grabbed her monocular, lifting it back up to her eye just in time to see one his hands, the one that was resting on the table fist, his knuckles turning white. Over the phone he let out a frustrated hiss.

"Still want to talk with me?" Emerald asked after a moment of silence, slipping the monocular back into her pocket.

Thierry made a noise that sounded like a half-sigh, half-chuckle. "You would ask that, wouldn't you?" In his office, Thierry straightened up. "Are you going to return the papers to me?"

"Only after I've read every single one of them," Emerald replied, not missing a beat.

"I was afraid you'd say that. I hope you realize that I'm going to be looking for you now and you'll just end up like your father."

Emerald smiled and chuckled but didn't respond to that particular comment. Instead she said, "You should really relax and get some rest, Thierry. You look tired." Emerald then turned and disappeared quickly out of Thierry's sight just as he spun around, phone still pressed to his ear, and looked through the glass of the French doors for any sign of Emerald, only to find she was already gone, nowhere to be seen.

"How about this, Thierry," Emerald spoke, not having hung up yet, making her way down the stairwell from the rooftop. "I'll read the papers"—she paused for a millisecond—"and then we'll talk."

The line went dead.

Okay, so a bit longer of a wait, but here I am. I feel kind of bad copping out on the adventure of catching Jonathan, but I honestly didn't think it would be that exciting. Probably more exciting if this were a movie or television show, but it's not, so I summarized it and I hope it came across well.

I'd like to give all the credit to the movie Bourne Ultimatum for giving me this whole, "sneak into Thierry's office, break into his safe, and steal important documents" idea. Also some of the dialogue (especially the "if you were still in your office, we'd be having this conversation face to face" bit; one of my favourite parts), and the "you look tired" scene. This is also why the chapter is titled what it is.

I'll update as soon as I can.

Thank you for reading,
TheBrightestNight