The children had gone to play and Thierry and Ian started to talk about them. "I suppose that you haven't told them about who and what you are? Or about the dangers world you live in have you?"
"No we haven't, but we thought we'd tell him when they were older," said Thierry
"And if they discover it before you have a chance to tell them?" Ian asked simply.
"We'll have to cross that bridge when we come to it," said Thierry with a sigh. "Hopefully, they won't find out because if they did and talked about it to the wrong person it could cost them their lives."
"Yes I know they're too young to know to keep their mouths shut," said Ian.
"I've already warned anyone to be careful what they say and do around them," said Thierry. "Hopefully, it will all turn out all right in the end."
~~~Thierry and Hannah~~~
The next day the children squealed with delight when they realized Hannah and their new grandparents were taking them to the zoo. Lupe as usual went along as protection. Thierry was supposed to meet them a bit later.
They entered the zoo after paying the entrance fee and started walking. The children were excited even Andrew and started to run ahead. "Andrew, Paul, Lena stop running ahead of us," Hannah called after them. "You don't want to get lost." The kids either didn't hear or weren't listening for they didn't stop running. Suddenly Lupe caught a glint out of the corner of her eye, but before she could shout a warning someone stuck a needle in her neck. She dropped to the ground without out a sound, unconscious instantly.
"Where do you think we should go next Lupe?"
When Lupe didn't respond Hannah turned around, to see Lupe on the ground unconscious. "Lupe?" asked Hannah. Before she could go over to her friend someone also stuck a needle in her neck. Hannah dropped to the ground without a sound before she had taken another step.
~~~Thierry and Hannah~~~
A few minutes later Thierry found them unconscious on the ground. He had been worried when he hadn't been able to contact Hannah through their link. Now, the worried feeling in the pit of his stomach became a full, blown. He quickly checked Hannah's pulse then Lupe's and finally Ian's, and Diana's. They were all alive. There was no sign of the three children. Thierry clinched his fists in anger. He would find out who had taken their children and they would pay—dearly.
Suddenly Lupe groaned and opened her eyes. The first thing she saw was Thierry leaning over her. The concern was evident in his eyes and his expression. "What happened?" asked Lupe trying to sit up.
"I was hoping you could tell me that, "said Thierry.
"The last thing I remember is seeing some kind of glint out of the corner of my eyes. I tried to yell a warning when somebody stuck something in my neck." Her expression became worried and Thierry thought he knew what she was thinking. In her mind she had failed him and he had the right to do with her as he pleased for that failure not that he would. He tried to ease her fear.
"I'm not blaming you for this is Lupe. There was nothing you could have done. They apparently came well prepared," said Thierry. "They could have been planning this ever since we adopted them."
Suddenly Hannah groaned and Thierry rushed to side. "You okay Hannah?"
"I have a terrific headache," said Hannah. "What happened?"
"We were just trying to figure that out," said Thierry, stroking her cheek tenderly.
"Where are the children?"
"I'm afraid they've been kidnapped," said Thierry, the anger evident in his voice.
"What? No!" Hannah exclaimed in anguish trying to get to her feet.
"It'll be okay we'll find them," said Thierry in reassurance.
"This is all; my fault," said Lupe coming over to them.
"This is not your fault Lupe," said Thierry, quietly. "And you know it. So stop blaming yourself." This; last he said like an order.
Lupe nodded, but Thierry could see she wasn't convinced. He'd worried about her later he told himself. There were more important matters at hand at the moment. He had to find out who had kidnapped the children and then he would have justice.
~~~Thierry and Hannah~~~
They all got back to the house an hour later. All of them except Thierry had terrific headaches. Thierry immediately called a conference. Attendance was mandatory.
A few minutes later everyone was gathered and they all sat down at Thierry command. Everyone could tell that both Thierry and Hannah were furious—especially Thierry. Hannah was mostly just worried.
"Andrew, Paul and Lena have been kidnapped," Thierry began. Everyone gasped at this. They all knew how much Thierry already cared about the children he had adopted. They also knew he must be mad as hell. Ian and Diana were also at the meeting. They knew that Thierry, as a Lord of the Night World would handle things in his way.
"Tell us what happened Thierry," said Rashel. Rashel was furious Quinn could tell. For one thing she kept handling the hilt of her knife which was a sure sign she was mad and if that didn't give her away her expression would. Subtle signs to be sure, but they were there. He was mad to in fact he was furious as Rashel, but losing his temper wouldn't solve anything.
Thierry told them what had happened or at least as much as he knew which wasn't much. Suddenly there was a knock on the conference room door. "Enter," Thierry ordered.
Nilsson opened the door and walked to where Thierry was sitting. "Sorry to interrupt but this note just came for you. I believe it involves the children," said Nilsson.
Thierry took the note and read over it. It was short and to the point.
If you want to see your children alive again then you will give up your seat on the Night World Council. You have two days to comply.
It was unsigned.
Thierry read the note again and then crumpled in his fist. "So what do they want?" asked Quinn, quietly. The anger was evident in his eyes and in his expression.
"They want me to give up my seat on the Night World Council and I'd do it too if I didn't think he'd still kill them," said Thierry his expression deadly. One only messed with a Lord of the Night World at one's own personal; risk—especially one as powerful as Thierry.
"Only a mad man goes through children to get what he wants," observed Ash quietly. Ash had been silent up to this point. Everybody; at the table nodded agreement at Ash's statement.
"But the big question is why would they want you to give up your seat on the Night World Council?" asked James.
"I've been hearing rumors the last few months of other Night World citizens on the council who have been forced too capitulate their seats as well. I figured they'd get around to me sooner or later."
"And so they kidnapped the children in order to force you to give up your seat. Because they knew you would never do it without some kind of major reason," said Eric his eyes flashing angrily.
"Yes," said Thierry.
"But why ask you to give up your seat? Are they trying to take over the council?" asked Poppy.
"That's a possibility and one I hadn't thought of," said Thierry, his expression thoughtful.
"Don't they know it takes more than one or two people to run the Night World?" said Delos.
"Not to mention with the council gone some of the citizens will go out of control," said Quinn. Everybody looked at him. "I mean think about it without the council there to prevent some of the citizens from killing in broad daylight the humans would find out about us pretty quick. The Council can barely keep them in check now especially some of the more bloodthirsty ones."
"That's true Quinn," said Thierry with a sigh. "All right here's what we'll do," he said finally outlining his plans.
~~~Thierry and Hannah~~~
Twelve hours later Thea, Eric, and Lupe entered a stationery store. Lupe was still in her black mood. She still considered it her fault that the children had gotten kidnapped. "Can I help you; madam's, sir?" asked one of the employees coming forward to greet them.
"I hope you can," said Thea. "Can you tell us if you sell the stationary?" Thea handed over the crumpled piece of paper.
"We're not allowed to give out that information," said the man.
Thea sighed and said, "It is very important. You see we're trying to trace this paper, because three children were kidnapped and this sheet of paper was the ransom note."
"Ah so you are helping the police," said the man.
"Something like that," said Eric, quickly. Thea looked at him and he shrugged. If it made the man help them then it was worth it.
"Well, let me see," said the man going behind the counter to check his files.
"Yes we did sell this type of stationary several years ago, but it was discontinued because it wasn't selling. In all that time only two people bought it. Here are their addresses," said the man writing something on a piece of paper and handing it to Eric.
"Thank you for your assistance," said Thea with a tired smile. All three left the shop and got into Thea car.
Eric started the engine and they were on their way. "What's that first address?" asked Eric as he drove.
Thea read it off the piece of paper the guy had given them and Eric headed in that direction. "Now Lupe I don't want you to do anything stupid," said Thea. Lupe began to protest but Thea silenced her with a glare. "Now listen Lupe what happened wasn't your fault. Maybe no one could have prevented what happened. Thierry doesn't blame you and neither do we."
"But I was supposed to be protecting them," Lupe protested finally able to get a word in edgewise.
"You blame yourself I know but you shouldn't. You can't keep your guard up all the time. You've got to let it down sometime," said Eric.
Finally, Lupe sighed and nodded. All three were silent for the rest of the drive.
~~~Thierry and Hannah~~~
A few minutes later they arrived at the first address. They parked on the side of the road and observed the house. Thea checked for wards and found none. So this house probably wasn't it. They observed the people coming and going just to be sure. All the people leaving the house were normal humans you could tell just from the way they moved. Vampire, muscles tended to . . . ripple; was the only way she could describe it. Humans moved differently. Not to mention; none of them were more then humanly handsome.
Eric drove to the second address without, comment and parked out of sight of the house. Thea checked for wards and found them all over the place. So this was probably the place.
~~~Thierry and Hannah~~~
Meanwhile, inside the house, Lena was just regaining consciousness. She struggled against her bonds for a moment then gave up. The bonds were so tight they were cutting off her circulation and chaffing her wrists. The more she struggled the more she rubbed her wrists raw. Finally she managed to spit the gag out. "Andrew, Paul you awake?" Only silence greeted her question. Finally, she stayed still and considered her options. As she was thinking she heard voices in the other room. She strained her hearing trying to hear every word of the conversation in the next room. She was unaware that help was coming.
"So do you think Thierry Descouedres will give us what we want?"
"He will if he ever want's to see those three children alive again. And when he gives us what we want then we'll kill them. Well I guess either way he will never see those children alive again."
"But boss . . ." the first voice began. "I thought we were going to let them go after Thierry gave us what we wanted."
"Why?" asked the second voice. "They're only vermin and food after all. It's not like they're one of us."
"But boss—" said the first voice again uncertainly.
"Enough! Go check on the prisoners," said the second voice in a rage.
"Yes boss," said the first voice. Lena heard footsteps coming towards her so she pretended to still be unconscious. The door opened and she could see a man standing there looking at them out of her mostly closed eyelids.
"They're still not awake boss."
"Good hopefully, they'll stay unconscious until it's over." Then the man laughed evilly his voice echoing all around the room. Lena tried not to shudder until she heard the other man leave.
"They're going to kill us?" said the voice of her brother Andrew.
"That's why we have to get out of here," said Lena.
"But how?" asked the voice of her other brother; Paul.
"I don't know, but we've got to figure out something and we've got to do it fast or we're dead," said Lena.
Both of her brothers gulped in fear and then all three fell silent trying to think of a plan.
~~~Thierry and Hannah~~~
Thea, Eric, and Lupe observed that house for a few more minutes before they headed back to Thierry's mansion. When they got there they unlocked the door and entered. Thea headed immediately for the phone. Thea dialed Hannah's cell phone knowing that both Thierry and Hannah would be searching together.
The phone rang twice before it was answered. "Thierry, Descouedres speaking what's the word?"
As Thea was on the telephone Diana and Ian entered the foyer. They had both decided to stay behind to take phone calls and so forth. "So what did you find?" asked Diana, anxiously.
"We think we may have found something," Eric whispered. "Thea is checking it with Thierry now." Diana and Ian nodded and fell silent waiting for Thea to finish her conversation with Thierry.
"So you think we should check it out?" asked Thea into the phone.
"Yes, I've heard that man's name somewhere before. If I could just remember where—" Thierry paused deep in thought. "Well it doesn't matter anyway if this is the guy who kidnapped Andrew, Paul and Lena he's going down."
"Ah did I mention he has wards all over his property?" asked Thea.
"No you didn't. Thanks a lot Thea. You, Eric and Lupe did a good job on this one," said Thierry.
Thea thanked him and hung up.
"So what did Thierry say?" asked Ian.
"He thinks we should check it out," said Thea, "Personally, I think our hunch is dead on and that is the house where the children are being held. After all, you don't have wards all over your property unless you are a member of the Night World."
~~~Thierry and Hannah~~~