One side of Ethan's mouth quirked upwards and Julianna flashed her sweetest smile. "You just can't help but love me." She finished the last of her water and shrugged at Ezio. "Blaire's contacted her. She's trying to get more people on her side. Including Sonya Dayton."
    She gave Ethan a pointed look when she said it, which made Ethan's brow raise slightly. "I wonder if Christian is aware of that fact."

    The gentleman remained where he was, only his eyes moving to follow the other man. Slowly, one hand drifted down to reach inside the open jacket of his black suit. Though it wasn't obvious by any stretch of the imagination that a decision had been made, it had.
    Fingers closed around cold steel and when his hand reappeared, it was with a nine millimeter, which he pointed after the sauntering man. With no warning, no click, no nothing, he began to calmly fire in his direction.

    "You're lucky that I'm a nice enough guy that I'm not going to leave you here to be molested, even though you're being mean to me," Fang said mildly, as he secured the blanket more firmly in place and went to untie Jacob. "Just remember, if you slug me after I untie you, they'll hear it when I scream like a girl."

    "Sonya," Ezio muttered, and the expression on his face tightened. He put the drink down as his mind conjured the image of a woman with the cold beauty of a marble sculpture and a pair of unforgiving gunmetal gray eyes. Galatea, armed and dangerous. "Christian's going to be fucking pissed. Especially if it turns she is backing Blaire." He had never actually seen Christian pissed, but he thought this might do it. It was probably a spectacle to behold.

    The slouching posture disolved as the first shot was fired, and the man in the bandana disolved behind the cover of a line of parked cars so quickly. The car alarms started to wail, and it took him a while longer to pinpoint where the gunfire had come from. He fired a return volley of bullets, but seemed disinclined to stay any longer than that. Instead, he slipped away, his movements hidden by the uncertain light of the parking lot and the still-screaming car alarms.

    "Don't worry, I'll slug you when we get back to the hotel, where I won't possibly feel bad for leaving you unconscious for a lot of hours." He paused as Fang untied him. "Maybe."

    Julianna bobbed her head in agreement as Ethan leaned his hip against the bar. "One can never be too sure where Sonya's loyalties lie," he said quietly. "She's known to be quite...chameleon, when it comes to such things."

    A wild grin flashed across the gentleman's face when fire was returned, and with quick, lithe movements, he hopped onto the seat of the bench, then over the back of it, giving himself cover just in time to avoid a particularly determined bullet. He fired over the top of the bench, hitting any random number of windows and windshields and cars that were stupid enough to be in the way.
    But his quarry was gone, he knew, and he calmly straightened and replaced his gun. The smile had vanished and he leisurely strolled away, smacking his gum.

    "Thanks," Fang said. "I still don't see how this is my fault. The underwear thing, yeah, but this? They did this all on their own. Besides, some of them -are- your fans. Like Tala's archnemesis, or whatever."

    "You mean that she's a stone cold bitch, and almost impossible to read," Ezio grumbled, and finished his drink. Irene Adler was a chameleon; Sonya Dayton just had the same kill-you-as-soon-as-look-at-you attitude for everyone. His head jerked up as sensitive ears brought to him the sound of a car alarms and gunfire.
    "That so cannot be good."

    "I don't care, it's your fault," Jacob replied bluntly, clearly refusing to believe otherwise. "Now untie me and let's go before they get back."

    Ethan shrugged to balance Julianna's dirty look. "To each their own."
    They both instinctively looked towards the hotel doors when they heard the gunshots, followed soon by the wailing of car alarms. Julianna gave the two men a suspicious look. "Leave someone in the car, did we??"

    "Whatever," Fang said, for the moment willing to bow before Jacob's superior stubborness, even if his argument was on about the same level of a five-year-old's. He leaned over to undo the knots. "Hey, did you see what they did with my clothes, by chance?"

    "Maybe Ms. Adler ran into some trouble," Ezio said, and he almost sounded hopeful. Then he sighed, and rubbed a hand acorss his eyes in a tired, defeated geasture. "Let's just hope that the body count isn't too high," he muttered, and he slapped down a few bills on the bar to cover their drinks.

    "I'd be surprised if they aren't wearing them," he muttered, shaking loose the ropes once they were untied enough. Jacob stood with a small groan of satisfaction, then looked around warily. "Think we can make it out of here without drawing attention??" He looked back at the lamia, and did a little grimace. "In your state??"

    Julianna's brows had raised a bit higher by then, and a grin was starting to form. "Oh man, now I've gotta know. You were doing RoA stuff today, and the only person who would produce /that/ reaction is...Kiri??" She looked at Ethan with interest. "Really??"
    Ethan didn't say anything, simply gestured her off her stool.

    Fang grinned, in spite of the circumstances. "Jeez, Jacob, do you honestly believe that this is the first time that I've snuck out of a place wearing nothing but a blanket?"

    "Give it up, Julianna," Ezio said, and walked out the door of the bar and towards the parking lot, his expression resigned.

    Big old sigh. "No, but I do hope it's the first time you've tried to get across town in nothing but a blanket. A town like Las Vegas, at that." Jacob thought about it for a minute. "And if this isn't the first time, don't let me in on that particular secret."

    "Ezio, that's like telling a mouse to give up cheese," Julianna protested gamely as Ethan put his hands on her shoulders and directed her after the other assassin.
    Outside was eerily quiet now. Aside from the wailing of the sirens of course. Lights were popping up in different directions and club doors were starting to open as people came out to investigate, but the instigators were clearly nowhere in sight.

    "I'll spare you the details," Fang said, grinning cheekily and seeming to be in fine spirits. He hiked up the blanket a little, and glanced around. "What do you think? Out a window? I don't particularly want to risk the front door. Not with... them... out there."

    "A mouse?" Ezio muttered, and gave her a sharp-eyed look. "You always struck me as being more like a cat." The curious kind. Really, there were times when he wondered at the fact that she more-or-less managed to stay out of serious trouble.
    Why was it that these people made him feel so -old-? He was, technically, younger than most of them. Perhaps, when your body stopped developing at a certain age, so did your emotional maturity.
    He walked outside, and cringed a little at the widespread destruction. So... inelegant, his sniper's mind complained. However, inelegance had its good points, at least in this case. "No bodies."

    Jacob stared at the lamia with a kind of disbelieving suspicion. The thought ran clearly through his eyes; should he knock him out and leave Fang here, to give himself a head start and forego this kind of fun in the future??
    But alas, he apparently wasn't as heartless as his fellow bandmate, so merely nodded shortly. "Let's try the windows. Even this shack should have a working one somewhere."

    Julianna seemed infinitely pleased at the comparison. "Really?? I like cats. So sleek and sly."
    Giving his head a brief shake at that, Ethan paused behind Ezio when they got outside, expression becoming more grim. No bodies, at least, yeah. "Not for lack of trying," he murmured, gaze having reached his own car.
    "And someone's MIA," Julianna offered helpfully, fighting a grin. She found it amusing. Go figure.

    "Let's try the back," Fang offered. "Less likely that we'll be heard."
    He waddled towards the back, legs encumbered by the bulk of the blanket.

    "Don't take it too far to heart," Ezio told her. "Cats also lick their asses clean."
    He shook his head, and his usual scowl settled onto his face, turning his golden-brown eyes fierce and hard. "Who the hell was he trying to hit?"

    Jacob didn't seem particularly impressed with that idea, but he followed along behind the waddling Fang. Gave him a nice mental image of him waddling because of other reasons.

    "Most animals do," Julianna said gamely. Her eyes sparkled playfully. "And most humans only wish they could."
    Ethan was ignoring that conversation by now, instead watching as club doors started to open and people started coming out, drawn by the wailing cars. Which were quickly in competition with their wailing owners, and Ethan sighed.
    "Someone he missed," he finally murmured, which got a question mark all its own.

    Fang made his way to one of the windows, and gave the lock an experimental shake. "It's painted shut, but I think that we can probably push it open."

    Ezio ignored Julianna in favor of Ethan, his expression, if possible, turning even more grim. "That raises a few questions, doesn't it? Where is Kiriyama now? Not to mention his target. If Kiriyama missed whoever he was shooting at..." he glanced around, and judged that the damage was too severe, and too widespread, for his fellow RoA member to have managed it all on his own in such a short amount of time. "...are we sure that person missed him?"

    Jacob waved an expansive hand. "Push away."

    Ethan looked over the scene one more time as Julianna's brows raised a bit. "You're questioning a fellow RoA member??" she inquired. "Is that allowed??"

    Fang made a rude noise, twisted the lock, and shoved at the wooden window frame. The window shuddered in protest, but lamia strength won out, and it swung open with a groan.

    "I wasn't questioning Kiriyama's skill," Ezio replied. "Just whether or not he's bulletproof."

    Jacob gave him an ironic look. "After you."

    "Ah," Julianna said in understanding. "What, RoA are scared of bulletproof vests??"

    "You just want to use me as a shield," Fang said, wounded. He eased himself carefully out the window, and spent a moment untangling his blanket after it caught on the sill.
    "Shit, George," remarked a droll voice. "Here we were, rushing to the rescue, and it turns out that it's just Miller and Acacia sneaking off to indulge in the love that dare not speak its name."
    Tristan was leaning against a sleek black Viper, his arms crossed across his chest and an unbearably amused expression on his face. "Bet the tabloids would love that," he added.

    Ezio opened his mouth to answer, then stopped. His scowl took on a shade of puzzlement. For the life of him, he could not remember any of the RoA ever wearing protective gear. He shrugged, and looked at Ethan questioningly.

    Jacob shrugged; it was more like, if the fangirls were lying in wait, they'd be so entranced seeing Fang in a blanket, he'd be able to sneak away. Did that qualify as a shield, exactly??
    Hopping up and out after his bandmate, he sent the watching "bodyguards" an icy look. "So good of you to join the party."
    George was in the driver's seat, twisted sideways so he could prop his chin on his hand where it rested on the door. "We should've brought a camera," he commented to Tristan. "Tabloids would've paid a /lot/ for pictures."
    Jacob was, undeniably, tempted to snarl.

    Julianna laughed at Ezio's expression, followed by Ethan's shrug. "Only when necessary," he commented. Which wasn't often enough to keep count of. The RoA were...assured in their abilities to stay bullet-free, anyway.
    The wail of police sirens brought his head up, and he gave his car another look. And the shouting humans who were demanding to know what happened to /their/ car. "I think we'll bypass the police tonight. Juli, where's your car??"

    Tristan gave Jacob a coolly infuriating smile. "Hey, we were going to come in and rescue you. It's just, George is so paranoid about his car, and he was afraid he had dinged it on that fangirl that he hit on the way in, so we had to check it out. Right, George?" Impossible to tell if he was joking or not, but Fang rather hoped that he wasn't.

    "I have one," Ezio said contemplatively. "Somewhere."
    He grimaced a little at the sound of sirens, and glanced around. "I think I'm actually going to head home," he said, with a glance skywards. He had his own mode of transportation.

    "Right," George said agreeably. "No ding, I'm glad to say. But she was pretty much a stick anyway. Probably anorexic. Isn't that like the cool human thing to do these days??"
    Jacob walked stiffly towards the car. "Get us back to the hotel."

    "Probably still in its original plastic wrap," Julianna surmised with a little grin.
    Ethan nodded towards him. "If, for some unknown reason, Kiriyama calls you or you hear from him, tell him to call Gift."

    "Personally, I like women with a little more meat on their bones than that," Tristan commented.
    "The Olsen twins scare me," Fang said agreeably, and looked doubtfully at the car, which was quite nice but possessed no back seat.

    Ezio shrugged a shoulder, but couldn't deny what Julianna said. He nodded curtly to Ethan. "I'll keep an eye out for him on the way home." He looked at the carnage around them and shook his head, before stepping behind the protective cover offered by two bullet-ridden SUVs. A moment later, a large raptor launched himself through the space between the two vehicles, almost too close for him to fit, and started beating his wings violently to gain altitude. Most people didn't notice, too absorbed in the destruction in the parking lot.

    Jacob gritted his teeth, and gave George an icy look when he caught Fang's expression. "I thought you guys were supposed to plan ahead."
    George flashed a winning grin. "Tris's got a huge lap and no balls. You can both fit there."
    Jacob's teeth were clenched so tight, his face hurt.

    Ethan nodded after Ezio and Julianna waved before they started for her car, talking softly to themselves as the cops finally coasted into sight.

    "George, on the other hand, has huge balls," Tristan said calmly. "He's just incapable of using them."
    He looked at Jacob. "You could always ride in the trunk, if you like."

    Ezio flew low on his way towards 'home,' a small apartment that he was subletting while they were in L.A. Part of it was that he wanted to look for Kiriyama, but mostly, it was in order to stay close to the city lights - at night, his eyesight was almost as bad as a human's. Eagles were day creatures, not meant to hunt in the dark.

    "At least I look good in my boxers," George said cheerfully.
    Jacob's eye twitched and he shook his head. "Forget it. I'll walk." And he summarily turned and started walking. Jacob was having a really bad night. He hoped they tied Fang to the roof.

    "Or you could wait for Ms. Wolf to show up with the limo," Tristan said offhandedly. "We called her when we realized that there were going to be some transportation issues." Well, actually, no. They had actually called her because the thought of releasing the she-wolf on the kidnapper fans would be fun to watch.

    "Yeah, and having a big black limo pull up out front isn't going to alert all of the groupies that their prizes are getting away," Jacob muttered, not ceasing his progress on the walking thing. Let Tala be mobbed by the fangirls, either in anger or mistaken identity. He'd had enough for the night.

    "Jake's feeling a little bitchy," Fang explained. In fact, the front of the building was eerily quiet, and he wondered if George and Tristan had been telling the truth about running down the fangirls.

    Jacob muttered something possibly quite rude under his breath and crossed the street, thinking staying away from Fang for a long, long time sounded really good about now.

    The first thing that Darshan noticed upon emerging from the bedroom was the humming.
    Now, in point of fact, humming was not an unusual thing when one was cohabitating with a band. Tala did it almost constantly when she was working on a new song. Unfortunately, Tala was still tumbled out on the floor, unmoving under a pile of pillows and blankets, and the woman who was sitting in the suite's kitchenette, dark haired though she was, was most definitely not Tala.
    He heaved a sigh. "Sahar, what are you doing here?" He might have wondered how she had gotten in, but Sahar had her ways, and they probably involved doing things that he was Better Off Not Knowing About with one of the hotel employees.
    The 'shifter pushed out her lower lip in a pretty pout, but couldn't maintain it for long before the pout disolved into a wide, gamine grin. "Visiting you, of course. It's been almost six months since we saw each other..."
    "I know," Darshan said flatly.
    If Sahar noticed his tone, she did a good job of ignoring it. "...so I figured, since we're both in Vegas, I'd come by and take you out to breakfast. By the time we get back, C.J. will be awake, and I can play with her."
    "I have plans," Darshan told her, and silently blessed Christian.
    However, it was to no avail, as Sahar smiled brightly. "Excellent!" she said, as loudly as possible without waking the two people sleeping in the livingroom. "I'll come with you."

    There was a subtle shift in the living room, where vampiric ears were all too capable of picking up even the smallest sounds. A pillow was pulled over a head. Sometimes even the littlest bit helped.

    "C.J.'s guitarist is cute," Sahar added in a slightly louder voice, catching the movement as she and Darshan walked towards the door. "He has a fabulous ass. Even in those hideous boxers."
    Darshan sighed again, took her by the shoulders, and steered her out the door. "Where are we going?" Sahar asked as they reached the parking lot.
    "IHOP."
    She stared at him for a moment, then sniggered.

    Already seated in a back booth of the snigger-worthy IHOP, Christian was leisurely perusing a menu. Not that he had any intention of actually ordering food, but it was still sometimes nice to see the variety people had come up with.

    Darshan entered IHOP with a long-suffering look already affixed to his face and a lioness-shifter in a scandalously short skirt behind him. She immediately started flirting with the college-age host, leaving the young man with a somewhat dumbfounded look on his face, and Darshan used it as an opportunity to cross the room and seat himself across from Christian.
    "I'm a ruthless, cold-blooded lizard," he said, his voice dry, "and yet, some days, I wonder what I did to deserve... that." He made a vague gesture towards his companion, who had abandoned the host in favor of the dragon and the vampire.
    "Don't worry," Sahar remarked, nudging Darshan until he scooted over to make room for her. "I'll plug my ears when the grown-ups start to talk business." She gave him one more nudge, and finally took a seat. "Hi, Christian. IHOP?"

    Christian's expression appeared bemused, though it was hard to tell what was going on behind his eyes as he watched the shifter approach. "You think they'd find some kind of repellent for her by now," he observed to the dragon before she arrived.
    "Sahar, always an entertainment," he told the girl, a little smile forming on his face. "And this place seems as good as any. More inconspicuous than a dark alleyway at midnight."
    Eyes returned to Darshan as he set his menu aside. "How was the party??"

    "There is only one thing which strikes terror into her heart," Darshan commented. "Theater critics."
    "I do try to entertain," Sahar replied, with open amusement on her face. "I see your point about IHOP, but I think that you should know that you're ruining a perfectly good cliche."
    Darshan merely grimaced and shook his head.

    "And even those she has the option of biting," Christian agreed with a wry smile.
    He nodded in agreement to the lioness. "Sometimes without even trying. And it's oftentimes necessary to step away from the cliche, or life becomes redundant."
    A dazzling smile was sent in Darshan's direction. Not because he liked to rub in the fact that Darshan had to attend those parties because they were his soulmate's purpose in life, but...well, maybe it was that. A little. "Been to worse though, I'm sure."

    Darshan made a muted sound of agreement, but he could think of a few other things that he had seen terrify the lioness. The fact was, in spite of the ferocity of her other form, she simply wasn't made for the violence of the world that so many of her friends lived in. Usually, she managed to deal with her terror with the sort of bravado that only a talented actress could pull off; the only thing that he had seen completely wither her courage was, not surprisingly, Jayden Sadi.
    Right now, however, she was all smiles. "Well, we wouldn't want your life to get boring, would we Christian? Although I don't think that there's much of a risk of that, not with this group."
    "It can always get worse," Darshan said ominously.
    "Poor man," Sahar said, without any sympathy whatsoever.

    Christian smiled blandly. "Boredom will kill you," he observed, taking a sip from his coffee cup. He didn't mention this group, because, well, what was there to say??
    Slanting another amused glance at Darshan, Christian finished off his coffee. "Now there's a good way to start this conversation." Before he could say anymore though, the waitress came over, refilling his coffee and asking Darshan and Sahar if they wanted anything.

    Sahar laughed outright. "I'm not sure that's actually true," she mused, "although I tend to agree."
    Darshan requested a cup off coffee, and looked expectantly at the 'shifter beside him. Her dark eyes soft and shiney, Sahar proceeded to order half the breakfast menu. Darshan shook his head. He had heard somewhere that performers were very conscious about what they ate, but so far he was yet to see any evidence of it.
    Once the waitress had gone, Sahar turned her attention back to the two men. "Is this something that I'm not supposed to hear? Should I excuse myself until the food comes?"

    Christian smiled at the shifter again, something dark moving behind his eyes, but he didn't say anything. He took another drink of his coffee as the waitress jotted everything down, not seeming surprised by what the girl was ordering. Maybe she thought she was ordering for everyone. Who could tell.
    Shoulders lifted in a shrug at her question. "You're welcome to stay, but if you don't understand something, I don't want you interrupting to ask questions. If you need to clarify something, I'm sure Darshan will be delighted to fill you in later." Another dazzling smile, just for the dragon. Weren't friends great??

    The look on Darshan's face at that exact moment was not a friendly one.
    Sahar raised a brow, but didn't protest and sketched a vague salute in Christian's direction to show that she understood.
    "What were you going to say, Christian?" Darshan asked politely, cradling his cup of slightly stale coffee between his hands.

    Christian merely smiled at both the people sitting opposite him, taking another sip of his coffee before setting it aside. "Blaire has several formidable people working for her, and she's in contact with lots more. So far the reactions to her from the latter category haven't all been positive, and while she seems easy-going enough about it, the grapevine has it her parents are getting pissed. On her behalf, if you so wish."

    "You said that you would speak to Ms. Blackblood and Ms. Adler," Darshan said. "Did either of them know who Blaire has successfully recruited?"
    His expressioned turned grim. "She can't be positive of everyone's responses yet - as I understand it, some of the invitations have only recently been dispatched. Perhaps that is why she is keeping her cool? Attacking some of us is not the way to win over others. Her parents, however, that might be something to be concerned about. Whatever the cause for their daughter's restraint, Terra Drago and Jayden Sadi are, as you said, not likely to share it."
    Beside him, he saw Sahar's eyes widen. True to her word, she bit her lip and didn't speak.

    Christian inclined his head, resting his hands loosely clasped on the table. A little smile was playing over his mouth, something not amused that again left his eyes cold and empty. "They didn't have a list of names yet, but they were aware of a few, yes. Sonya has taken a stand behind Blaire."
    He shrugged at Darshan's words. "I can't pretend to be familiar enough with Blaire to know if her cool is real or fake. But you're right, her parents aren't sharing it. In fact, it was recently found out that they both chartered a private flight back to the States this morning." Christian picked up his cup to take another drink.

    "Your Sonya?" Darshan asked, his eyebrows jerking up in mild surprise. "That's..." He stopped, considered carefully, then sighed. "Not as unexpected as it ought to be, I'm afraid. How long has she been with Blaire?"
    "Fabulous," he said in response to the news about Terra and Jayden. He almost seemed to mean it, and his eyes had taken on a dark glint, as if a deeply buried part of him was looking forward to the oncoming violence.

    Christian smiled again, one finger lightly running around the rim of his empty coffee cup. "For a few months, I'm led to believe. Since close to the beginning. She might've even had a hand in helping Blaire start her campaign."
    He waved off the waitress when she started to approach with coffee refills, eyes not leaving Darshan. "They should arrive late tonight, and I'm sure we'll be aware of their exact arrival. That pair isn't known for keeping their wishes and wants silent."

    "That's worrisome primarily because your lady does tend to pick the winning side," Darshan murmured thoughtfully. "It makes me wonder if Blaire has more up her sleeve than we've guessed." Sahar was looking thoughtful too, but that was probably because she was wondering who they were talking about. Or she was trying to figure out when her food would be coming.
    "I'll be sure to alert the men who are doing security for the band. They're some of Gift's people, so I don't doubt that they're good, even if they've been playing at being incompetent so far. I'm sure that Gift will have someone looking after her daughter and Mr. Prieten. I'll find someone to babysit Ms. Gulab here, and our non-combatants will at least be taken care of." He ran a weary hand through his hair, thinking that things had been much easier when he hadn't actually liked people. Now he had to actually worry about them becoming cannon fodder.
    Of course, if it came down to a fight between himself and Terra, the whole city would likely become cannon fodder. It was one of the many reasons he had avoided coming up against her for so long.

    Christian's head rose and fell once in agreement. "Sonya does have a habit of changing sides as quick as water, depending on who she thinks will win. At this point, I'm still willing to believe she's staying with Blaire out of morbid curiosity. She's next on my list of people to talk to."
    He listened to the rest of Darshan's words, nodding occasionally in agreement. It was harder, when one had baggage to take care of. "It might be best to keep C.J. in the dark about Terra's arrival until absolutely necessary," he murmured. "I don't know why, but your tiger has apparently made it her mission to annoy Terra until she kills her." No need to mention Jayden in there. Jayden would kill any female in his path just to hear her whimper.
    Eyes moved to Sahar at that thought, giving her a long look, but he didn't say anything before the waitress arrived with the long-awaited food. He again declined a refill of his coffee and sat back as he watched the plates begin to multiply on the table. Where did she put it all??

    A muscle above Darshan’s eye twitched, the slightest rising of the brow. “You should do that. If anyone can convince Ms. Dayton, it’s you.” What little loyalty Sonya was capable seemed to be commanded by Christian.
    He blew out a long breath. “Not to mention Jayden. I have to tell her something, though. It’s not wise for anyone to remain unwarned about the danger. Especially C.J. who has, as you pointed out, incurred Terra’s wrath in the past.”
    “Send her to Bora Bora,” Sahar suggested.
    Darshan looked like he was considering it, but Sahar shook her head. “I was kidding.” She smiled beatifically at him. “I bit Jayden once. On the nose.”
    “You’re getting tied to a chair in a locked room for the duration,” Darshan said, with gritted teeth and closed eyes. Sahar continued to smile, but her eyes were shadowed, as though she wouldn’t really mind staying in a locked room.
    The shadows faded and the smile widened a notch when she caught Christian’s look. “Hollow leg,” she explained, and began to shovel food into her mouth, quickly but with the fastidiousness of any cat.

    A little smile tilted Christian’s mouth. “I’m hoping actual convincing won’t be necessary.” He knew Sonya had a tendency to wish and wash, but she’d always been his girl. Once he laid down the situation, he was pretty sure she’d see his reasoning. And in the end, it might be helpful to have her in Blaire’s good graces. If it came down to that.
    Unfortunately, there wasn’t a lot he could disagree with about Darshan’s words. C.J. seemed disturbingly capable of pissing off Terra and Jayden with ease. He knew Darshan had some “agreement” with Terra about C.J., or maybe something more like “mess with me and mine and I’ll kill you” threat hanging over each other, but he didn’t know if even that would save C.J. this time. Bottom line, he needed to know how serious Blaire was feeling towards recruiting certain people.
    Another smile tilted his mouth as he listened to Sahar and Darshan. While it was fully understandable why the dragon would like to tie up the little lioness in a room, it wasn’t likely she’d agree to it in the end. Or, maybe she’d agree to it, but she’d sneak out after an hour due to extreme boredom. That actually pretty much summed it up for all of the females in Darshan’s life. Boredom really /was/ a killer.
    “Or maybe another idea, she could hang out with Drache’s gang,” he commented then, eyes shifting to Darshan. “Blending into the crowd might be her best bet.” Jayden knew her face and if he saw her on the street, he’d put a lot of hurt on her specifically. At least with Mace’s gang, she’d have a lot of people backing her. And annoying Mace would be fun all its own.
    He tapped the side of his cup thoughtfully, then nodded to the waitress, who came over and refilled it for him. Dark eyes watched Sahar eat. “Surprised you don’t eat with your fingers.”

    "Isn't it a woman's prerogative to change her mind?" Darshan drawled. One thing was reassuring; once she was on their side, it was unlikely, if not entirely out of the question, that Sonya would stab Christian in the back.
    Sahar perked up at the mention of Mace's gang. "They're in town? I haven't seen Mace in years." The wicked tilt of her smile implied that there was a reason why she and Mace had not been in contact, probably having to do with Mace's health and peace of mind. "I'd like that."
    "He's hardly the one to keep her out of trouble," Darshan mused, "but if she's safe anywhere, it will be with them." If there was ever a group of shape-shifters unwilling to bow to a dragon's will, it was them. Which reminded him... he disliked the thought of it, but he was a practical man, and perhaps it was time to start army building.
    He sighed.
    "Who says I don't?" Sahar quipped. "I do try to behave in company."
    She tilted her head, listening for a minute to the music piping faintly through the restaurant speakers and identifying "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas." She hummed a few bars under her breath; she hadn't even remembered that the holiday was coming up, although she dimly remembered seeing the decorations up in a few stores. It was easy to forget in Las Vegas, where snow was very nearly a myth.

    Sonya Dayton pushed open one of the stained glass French doors, and stepped into the room. She reached up to run a hand over the perfectly sculpted marble breast of the Greek statue beside the door, a faint smile on her face, then continued further into the room. Her stocking-clad feet skimmed silently across the thick Oriental rug on the floor. Whatever other flaws one might find in Blaire, one could not fault her taste.
    Through another set of glass doors which led out onto a balcony, she could see the sun sinking rapidly towards the horizon. It was only four o'clock, but night came early at this time of year. Next to the door there was a chair, and in the chair there sat a woman.
    "Mail for you," she informed Blaire, and held up one letter in particular. "One of them is postmarked from Las Vegas." She looked at it, and the coolly amused smile on her face became a touch wider. "It's addressed in crayon.”

    Mornings in the desert were cold during this time of year, but Edan was sweating as she swung in the door of the antebellum mansion that her family had built on the outskirts of Las Vegas years ago, and which had become hers when she had come of age. There was a large bag of coal balanced on her shoulder, grocery bag hanging from her elbow. She kicked the door shut with her foot, dropped her keys on the table, and made her way into the kitchen, where she found her mother sitting at the table.
    "I got the supplies," she informed the older woman, dropping both charcoal and groceries unceremoniously on the floor. "I'll go out and start the barbeque in a minute. People will be arriving soon." She glanced meaningfully at the thick, cream-colored envelope sitting innocuously on the edge of the table. "We have things to discuss."

    "Some more than others," Christian murmured dryly, shaking his head with some kind of amusement. Who he was directing that at specifically was up for grabs.
    An actual grin appeared as he looked back at Sahar, however wry it may be. "Yeah, Mace decided they all needed a break and transferred them here for a spill. And you know he'd be delighted to have you along." About as much as Darshan was looking forward to filling her in on what was going on later, for that matter. Heh heh, Christian knew how to have his own kind of fun.
    Gaze transferring to Darshan, he nodded once. "That is true. I wonder if Terra still has her...fascination for him." He shrugged and added, "Even if she does, the rest of the gang will protect her. She's young and pretty, they'll treat her like their own."
    His brow twitched at the dragon's sigh, before he sent another little smile to Sahar. "Should we feel special that we're not being submitted to the finger-licking??" The music was being ignored by this time. Christian wasn't much into the spirit of the holidays.

    Obsidian eyes shifted from a book held carelessly between slender fingers, moving up to observe Sonya's approach. A cold smile tilted red-painted lips, not even coming close to touching Blaire Fluores's gaze. "I can only imagine who it could be from."
    She took the letter from Sonya, setting her book aside to slice the flap. Removing the crookedly folded paper, a smile still on her face, she flipped it open and let her eyes run over it.
Blaire,
Fuck You Very Much!!
(insert a hand-drawn picture of a hand flipping the bird, in pink crayon)
Love, FF
p.s. i love this crayon! it's so shiny! and it matches my hair now!! xoxo, koran
    Well, she could never accuse the boyos of not being succinct. Though the little hearts and...daisies, she guessed, floating around the paper kind of clinched it. And Koran dotted his i's with smilie faces. It made her smile.

    Not taking her eyes from the yellow steno pad she was writing on, Meloday simply nodded. "Good. Make sure the back gate is unlocked so the children can go right back to the yard." The last time all of the families had gotten together, the children had descended on the house in a frenzy, and several things had gotten...broken. She was quite determined to prevent that this time.

    "I'm sure that Mace will simply cry with happiness," Darshan said dryly, with an ironic tilt of the head in Christian's direction. He thought that it was possible that Mace would cry when he had the lioness foisted off on him, but it probably wouldn't be with happiness.
    He grimaced a little when the other man mentioned Terra's little obsession with Mace. Honestly, he was ashamed to be associated with her, much of the time.
    Sahar looked up long enough to flutter her eyelashes at Christian when he called her young and pretty, but she seemed more interested in her food. She was obviously still listening, however, because when he said the words 'finger-licking', she ran her pointer finger through the pool of syrup in her plate and lifted her hand to her mouth. She licked the syrup off in a long line, and sucked the last of it off the tip of her finger.
    A passing waiter dropped the plate he was carrying.

    Sonya moved close enough to glance at the letter over Blaire's shoulder, and snorted deep in her throat when she saw what it said.
    "Well, Koran always was a creative boy," she murmured, because really, who else could have written it?

    "Yes, Mother," Edan said, and even though it sounded like she was sorely tempted to add another word after 'mother' her voice was not without affection. She didn't bother to point out that most of her furniture was solid and there were fewer breakable items in her home than there were in her mother's; most of it was still flammable. "Why don't you stop thinking about business for a few minutes? We'll have to deal with that soon enough, in any case."
    She started to unpack the groceries, storing them in her industrial-sized refrigerator for later. Hamburger patties and bottles of soda were put away in silence for a few moments before she spoke again. "What do you think we should do, mother? About the offer?" They hadn't spoke of this yet, but Edan wanted to know what her mother thought before the Sisters convened in formal council. The women who led the Twelve Families would come together to decide later that day, and her vote would carry as much weight as her mother's, but it would be best is each knew how the other stood before that.

    "As long as I'm there to see it," Christian said blandly, something sparkling in his eyes. Not exactly malicious amusement, but some kind of amusement anyway. Mace deserved Sahar. It was only fair.
    Sympathy flickered across the corner of Christian's eye when he saw Darshan's look. Being even slightly linked to Terra could be...tough. He could only be glad he had no link to the dragon at all. Though, honestly, her obsession with Mace was just funny. What the hell was that woman thinking??
    His amusement deepened as he watched Sahar. She was disturbingly similar to C.J., actually, even when she /wasn't/ drunk. No one could handle her better than Darshan then, right??
    "Anything else you want to make them drop, while you're at it??" he inquired, taking a sip from his coffee.

    Blaire smiled again, neatly refolding the note and sliding it back into the envelope. She'd keep it for a while. "Such...personality. Maybe I need to talk to him personally." She had the feeling when the other boyos weren't around, Koran could be...persuaded. And having a powerful witchy dragon, insane though he was, on her side wouldn't hurt.
    Setting the letter inside her book, she turned slightly to face Sonya, resting her elbow on the arm of the chair and her chin in her palm. "I assume you've heard my illustrious parents have decided to go back to the States. Are, in fact, likely already there."

    Meloday smiled at her notes and continued jotting things down. She was preparing for the decision she was going to make later at the meeting, marking down thoughts to bring up to her fellow leaders. Of course she'd already made her own decision, but it might be necessary to convince the others. Some of them were more...ambitious.
    "It's never too soon to start preparing," she murmured absently to her daughter, marking down one more thing. She hadn't looked up yet, but Edan's last question finally made her raise her head.
    Mahogany eyes lifted and Melody set her pencil down. "I don't think we should accept," she said simply, eyes straying briefly to the thick envelope waiting for its answer. "I haven't met her personally, but just the feel of it, I don't think I'm going to like Ms. Fluores." Gaze returning to Edan again, she waited a moment before inquiring, "Yourself??"

    "I'll be sure to tell him it was your idea," Darshan promised. "Then I'm sure that you'll hear all about it."
    Sahar tossed her hair over her shoulder, and grinned widely at Christian. "Not in public. Besides, how can I even contemplate other men with two such lovely specimens sitting right in the booth with me?" She fluttered her lashes good-naturedly at him again, before polishing off the last of a plate of pancakes.

    "Personality is something that Koran has in spades," Sonya agreed, "but I wouldn't be alone in a room with him."
    "Mmm, so I had heard," she agreed, eyelids drooping over dark gray eyes. "They rushed off early this morning, didn't they? That's going to get... messy."

    Edan put up the last of the groceries, and went to peer over her mother's shoulder, her own cheek nearly brushing the other woman's. Meloday's skin was almost unnaturally hot, like her own, as if they were running a constant high fever. "You're always prepared," she replied, giving Meloday a vague peck on the cheek before stepping away. "Tell me, do you make lists in your sleep?"
    "Of course I don't want to accept," she said matter-of-factly, meeting Meloday's dark eyes with her own pale ones. "The Sisters haven't come this far in order to lick the bootheels and kiss the ass of some vampire upstart."

    Christian smiled, and this one bled through his eyes with real mirth as he looked at Darshan. "I'm sure all of Vegas will hear about it. In the form of lots and lots of howls."
    His smile widened when he looked at Sahar. "That's a good point. Do I want to know what you're doing with the hand you're not eating with??" Eyes dropped semi-suggestively to the table hiding said hand, since she was sitting beside Darshan. Maybe lionesses and tigresses liked to...share.

    "So I've heard," Blaire murmured, unable to help the slight fascination in her voice. Koran was an interesting specimen. So powerful, so self-destructive, so deliciously sadistic. It all worked surprisingly well in that particular package.
    Focusing her attention, she nodded slowly. "That's what I thought myself." Eyes studied the other woman. "How would you feel about tagging along and making sure the mess is somewhat contained??"

    Meloday gave a faint smile, marking down one more thing absently. "I do. Then they all come pouring out as soon as I wake up. Most people do dream journals; I do dream lists."
    Meeting her daughter's eyes, seeing the emotion behind her words, the older fire witch nodded. "Good. That's a point I plan to make. Witches have enough trouble holding their own in the Night World without giving into some ego-blasted vampire, and the Sisters at least don't have to deal with that."

    "Watch it, Christian," Darshan said, and his voice was mild but his eyes had gone cool and flat. There were some things that he wouldn't tolerate, even from a friend.
    Sahar gave him a nervous sideways glance, and decided that maybe she didn't want to make any more comments about the possibility that she was giving the dragon a hand job. Instead, she leaned across the table and gave Christian a blatantly flirtatious smile. "I don't know, is there something that you want me to do with it?" she purred, her voice low, suggestive, and not at all serious.

    A soft laugh came bubbling up out of Sonya throat. "You want me to baby-sit your parents?" She considered a moment, then shrugged. "I don't see why not, although I don't see what I'm supposed to do to contain those two, unless you plan on having me shoot them if they misbehave. I can probably manage damage control, though. Where am I going?"

    "We've never been followers," Edan said, with a small smile on her lips and a wealth of pride and passion in her eyes. "We don't even listen to the Witches' Council, most of the time, much less the vampires." When the witches had succeeded from the Night World, the Sisters had as well, but for the most part, they had not joined Daybreak. Instead, they had taken a stance of firm neutrality, taking care of their own interests and allowing others to squabble over the fate of the humans.
    Thinking of the Council reminded her of something else. "Aradia contacted me," she informed her mother. "I don't know what she wants; she wouldn't say over the phone. I don't think that she was calling just to catch up." She and the Maiden had been members of Circle Twilight at the same time, and they had been friendly then, but these days... Well, it was unlikely that Aradia was calling because they were old acquaintances, and much more likely that she was calling because she was the heir to the Pyrrhus line, and would someday become leader to the Sisters of the Flame.

    Christian glanced at Darshan, one side of his mouth lifting in a smile that had lost its mirth, and inclined his head in the dragon's direction. Eyes sliding to Sahar again, he flashed a dazzling and totally meaningless smile. "Sweetheart, I don't think you'll want to take it there. Stick with your bus boys."
    He finished off his coffee and pulled out his wallet, laying some bills on the table. "I've got some people to talk to. Drache is at a house on Lucast Street, if you want to give him a ring." The last was directed at Sahar, and he nodded towards Darshan again as he slid from the booth. "I'll talk to you later, I'm sure." Rising to his feet, he replaced his wallet as he ambled from the restaurant.

    Blaire resisted the urge to sigh, as it was somehow beneath her. The thought of someone actually "babysitting" her parents put an all new sense of low on the situation. "I would not presume for you to lower yourself to a babysitter," she said, somewhat dryly. "And they shouldn't be shot yet, so if you can just subtly control exactly how much damage they do, maybe try to steer them away from messing up some delicate negotiations, that would be most appreciated."
    She glanced at her watch. "They flew straight to Las Vegas, but likely they were fighting the entire time, so maybe they'll collapse upon getting there and not be ready for damage until after you arrive."

    A real grin came to Meloday's face then, as she looked with some manner of pride on her daughter. She'd always known Edan would make a fine leader for the Sisters. "Never have and never will, always remember that." Now just to make sure the rest of the leaders remembered it.
    A pale brow rose at that news. "Aradia, hmmm?? Did she mention any particular reason why??"

    Darshan simply inclined his head in response.
    "If you're allowed to imply that I'm jerking someone off under the table," Sahar said, quite reasonably, "then I'm allowed to make graphically inappropriate comments as well." She nodded quickly in response to the information that he gave her, fishing a pen out of her purse and jotting the street name down on a napkin.
    "I'm sure that we'll be seeing a lot of each other while this is going on," Darshan remarked. "I'll contact you if I hear anything further." He fished out his own wallet to pay the remaining portion of the bill, but Sahar slapped his hand away.
    "I told you I would treat," she informed him jovially, and fished a few bills out of her purse before climbing to her feet and sauntering out of the restaurant after Christian, presumably with the intention of seeking out Mace and provoking him to cardiac arrest.

    "I'll do what I can," Sonya promised, and climbed to her feet. "Give me an hour to pack and arrange a flight out of Paris." She was nothing if not efficient.

    "Of course I'll remember," Edan said pertly. "I'll also make certain that the rest of our sisters remember that too." She drummed her fingers restlessly against her jean-clad thigh. "It's one thing to form a mutually beneficial alliance, but I don't think that's what Blaire wants. I think that in the end, she would settle for nothing but absolute submission." She picked up the letter, then tossed it down on the table again. "It's all there, between the lines. She's not the sort of woman to share power." She looked her mother, silently asking if this was the same impression that Meloday had. Perhaps it was simply her own paranoia - after all, this wasn't the first time in history that someone had made such a proposition to the Sisters.
    "She wouldn't say." Edan rubbed a hand over her forehead, and made a very rude sound. "Maybe Daybreak is gunning to be best friends with us, as well. We're very popular, all of a sudden."

    Lips quirked as he left the other pair, but Christian kept that particular smile to himself.
    It seemed he was just in time to make a getaway too, for as soon as Sahar stepped out of the restaurant, a pink-topped whirlwind pounced on her.
    "Sahar!" Koran shrieked happily, catching her up and whirling her around with a reckless abandonment that could only be contested by children. He giggled madly, ignoring the rude looks and muttered curses he got for blocking the way, and finally settled the little cat back on the ground. He knocked on the window at Darshan, wiggling his fingers in a wave that could also double as a "come hither" gesture.
    That message delivered, he sent his lovely little insane smile showering down on Sahar. "Girl, you are looking fabulous," he cooed, glazed eyes sizing her over. Ahhh, someday he'd love to just eat her up. "When did /you/ get here??" Eyes brightened. "Does Mace know you're here yet??"

    Blaire nodded her agreement and picked her book up again.

    Meloday listened silently to Edan's insights, privately agreeing with them while giving nothing away by expression. When her daughter had finished, she finally gave another single nod. "Blaire Fluores seems like the kind of woman who simply wants to amass power, and keep it tightly under her own control. She's not interested in sharing it, and she never intends for any kind of team leadership." Her eyes dropped to the envelope briefly. "She wants an army. I am a little curious as to why exactly she wants it though."
    The news of Daybreak's attempted contact was surprising, but not overly so since this /was/ Las Vegas. "Maybe they've finally gotten wind of Ms. Fluores and are looking to combat. Though I doubt Thierry would be up to that." Her voice let it known that she wasn't all that impressed with how the Lord of Daybreak was behaving these days.

    "Koran!" Sahar replied, sounding quite delighted to see him and shrieking obligingly as she was picked up and whirled around. She grinned up at him once she had been set on the ground. Through the window, Darshan waved vaguely in response, ignoring the other possible meanings of the gesture.
    "You're not looking too bad, yourself," Sahar informed the witch-dragon. She reached up to tug lightly on one of his pink-dyed locks. "I love the hair, babe."
    She shrugged, and linked an arm through his as she started walking. "Oh, I've been here for months. I'm in a production that has already run two weeks over, and shows no sign of stopping or dying a graceful death any time in the near future. I've started to despair of ever getting to leave Vegas. What about you? How long have you been here? Did you come with Darshan and the band?"
    The last question was more or less answered when he asked about Mace. "Not yet. I'm actually on my way to see him, if you would like to escort me."

    "I'm not interested in being anyone's soldier," Edan said. "And, if you put it that way, I'm sure that no one else will be interested either."
    The fire in Edan's eyes dimmed to a sort of glowing thoughtfulness at the mention of Thierry. "It's true that Thierry has become lax as of late. He has good cause; in ten years, there have only been minor rebellions, nothing that Daybreak's agents couldn't deal with quickly and efficiently. But still, I wouldn't discount him quite yet. He hasn't survived this long by being stupid."
    She shuddered elaborately. "Not that I'm going to run off and join Daybreak, mind you. I think I will meet with Aradia, though, and see what it is that she wants."

    Koran beamed happily, hands going to rest on his slim hips as he studied the girl. "I thought so," he agreed modestly, rolling his glazed eyes up as if he could see his hair through the top of his head. "Pink just works for me, I think. Though Mace thought I was being dumb. Apparently pink isn't," he lifted his hands to make quotation marks with his fingers, "'manly,' yanno?? Though I guess he would know." He flashed a cheeky grin, dropping his hands to his hips again.
    Once her arm was through his, he moved all too willingly along with her. If he'd had a reason for motioning Darshan aside, apparently it had been forgotten. The world as a whole could only hope it hadn't been too important. "For months??" he repeated in some disbelief. "But, well, where have you /been/??" The whole production angle made it a little obvious, but surely she hadn't been spending every minute of every day on stage. That would...be sad, and suck. Yep, both. At the same time. Vegas was made for fun livin'.
    His head bobbled at her questions. "I've been here for a few months, 'cause Mace moved down here and Cale has gone on one of his "soul searching" missions, and I managed to talk On into coming too. And Gift and Zabri and them are here, and now C.J. and Darshan and everyone is here!" He beamed happily at the little lioness again, giving her arm an excited shake. "We're going to have so much fun! Especially when Terra gets here. And sure, let's go see Mace!"

    "I plan on putting it in such a way that no one will be interested," Meloday admitted. She didn't really believe that the Sisters would need to be convinced, because they all really thought alike and would all be against it in general. But some might need some...persuading.
    She had to agree with her daughter's words. "He has been keeping his agents in good shape," she allowed of the Lord of Daybreak. "But he's on top now, and he hasn't been really digging in to keep his place, I think. If Ms. Fluores gets the right people on her side, I think another mini-war might break out soon enough." Meloday didn't think Thierry would be /easily/ displaced, but she did think it could be done at this point.
    She smiled at her daughter again, fingers absently picking up the pencil and tapping it leisurely against her pad. It looked like a thoughtful gesture, something she did out of habit more than anything. "Yes, it won't hurt to see what she wants. Or maybe what the Witch Council wants, or Daybreak through them. If we have some idea of where everyone is right now, all the better for us."

    Sahar tched softly. "What Mace can't see is that it takes a real man to dye his hair pink and still maintain his masculinity."
    She rolled her eyes skyward. "Rehearsal, rehearsal, rehearsal. A performance every day, and two on Saturday." She smiled, a swift impish smile. "Not that I don't find time to have fun, mind you." She poked him in the chest. "What about you, mister? I might have been cooped up in my sad little theatre, but you usually make a splash when you arrive in a place."
    The smile that she offered him at the mention of Terra's name was a little shakey. "Somehow, I usually don't equate Terra with fun." She gave him a puzzled look. "Does Mace already know that she's coming?" If he did, she was a little bit surprised that the Drache was still in Vegas, if Terra was as obsessed with him as Darshan and Christian said.

    "If worst comes to worst," Edan said, scrubbing a hand over her eyes. "You and I can invoke veto privileges." That was the right of the Pyrrhus women, although they didn't use it often. Lording authority over people was the fastest way to loose whatever authority one might have. "I'll talk to the younger women, if need be. I think I can put it in such terms that none of them will be interested." After all, who really wanted to bow and scrape when they were in their twenties? That was the time when most people were most convinced of their own power - and the Sisters of the Flame had never had any reason to doubt their own power.
    She fell silent after that, her green eyes going hazy with thought. "I think," she said, very carefully, "that it would be a bad thing if she gained power. I'm still not willing to ally myself with Daybreak, but what do we do if Floures does bring war to Thierry's doorstep? I'd rather have a soft touch like him in power than someone like her."
    Her slender shoulders rose in a shrug beneath the white material of her tank top. "I suppose that it's a bit early to be worrying about that. I'll talk to Aradia, and see what's going on. They might not even know about Floures yet; for all we know, the Witches' Council wants to tell us off for corrupting their youth or something."

    Koran giggled madly. "I like that," he said proudly, smiling broadly. "You should tell Mace that. He'd believe it coming from you." Because if anyone knew masculine, it was Sahar.
    He giggled again when she poked him, reaching up to tap her nose in return. "Oh, I've been having fun. I went to C.J.'s opening night last night, and I got...groupies!" His hands were thrown into the air dramatically and he blew out a deep breath of satisfaction. Those groupies had been as yummy as he'd suspected.
    He cooed gently when seeing her shakey smile, sliding his arm around her shoulders to gave her a friendly squeeze. On some basic level, he knew most people were afraid of Terra. He just thought she was...funny. In a weird lil way. "I don't think so," he admitted about Mace. "I was actually gonna hop on over there to tell him after I told Darshan."

    Meloday nodded in grim agreement. She didn't want to invoke those privileges, because no one ever reacted in a /good/ way to them. It was a good idea to keep everyone on an equal basis, and Meloday firmly believed the Sisters would see reason in this situation. They were all reasonable women, after all.
    Eyes locked in on her daughter as she spoke, and silently, she agreed. Thierry wasn't the first person she would've chosen to run the world, but he definitely wasn't the last either. "In that case, I think we should make sure the war doesn't touch us. That's the important thing." The Sisters were a self-serving bunch, it had never been denied. But they were a devotedly loyal self-serving bunch.
    Her lips tilted into a smile as she looked back at her notes. "Wouldn't be the first time, likely won't be the last." The Witches' Council had issues, but no one seemed willing to admit that fact to their faces.

    "I'll be sure to do that," Sahar promised, and gave his pink-dyed hair another playful tug.
    "I'm hoping to see them play sometime while they're here," Sahar said wistfully. "The problem is, they're always performing when I'm performing." Her lips twitched at the mention of the groupies. "Really? I just might have to slip away to hear C.J. play, if there are groupies involved."
    "Darshan knows," she informed him, looping an arm around his waste to return the squeeze, "but someone should probably tell Mace."

    "That is the important thing," Edan agreed,. They had looked after their own interests in the last war, and if it came to it, that was what they'd do now as well.
    She smiled thinly as her mother summed up their relationship with the Witches' Council, and glanced at the antique clock on the kitchen wall. "I'm going to go change quickly. Then I'll start the barbeque and begin laying out food." She gave a swift wink. "You just keep on making up your list."

    Koran winked a glazed eye at her. Fingers reached up to tug her curls this time. "Though I still don't think my pinkness can compete with yours," he said morosely, only ruining it with a little giggle. "Your hair's fabulous without even needing to be pink!"
    The pinkness got to bob some at her words. "You should make an exception," he suggested helpfully. "It's worth it, just to see the bouncing groupies." He sighed deeply and his eyes rolled down to check for drool. "Especially this one groupie! He kept trying to give C.J. his ass. It didn't seem to go over so well." Koran perked up then. "Though I heard they were getting married last night, actually. Maybe that's why Darshan was feeling grumpy this morning??" Well, more than usual for the dragon, anyway.
    "Well we shall go and tell Mace then," Koran said decisively, switching their direction one more time to go striding off towards Mace's house. Heh heh, "house."

    Meloday nodded again, eyes drooping to her list. "Holler if you need help," she commented idly, marking down something else. Too much to think about in a very short amount of time.

    “Why, thank you, sweetheart,” Sahar chirped, even though her hair was more or less a mess, the tangled and crushed remains of the previous night’s style. “I think that you look very nice in your pinkness. The color of your hair makes me feel happy.”
    “Groupies sound very nice,” she said wistfully. “You’d think that the star of a reasonably successful stage production would get laid… well, a hell of a lot more than I have the past few months.” She paused, and gave him a curious look. “He tried to give her his -ass-?” She didn’t think that C.J would marry anyone, much less some crazed butt-boy, but there really was no telling, especially if the drummer had been smashed at the time.
    She nodded, and kept her arm looped around his waist as they went to find Mace.

    “I think I can manage,” Edan teased, as she headed towards the stairs.
    “I can always do the heavy lifting,” came the dry remark from the front entryway.
    Edan turned, her foot already on the first step, and smiled broadly at the dark-haired man who had come to stand propped up against the kitchen door. “Are you offering yourself up as slave labor? Well, far be it from me to refuse.” She looked at him carefully. “I thought you were going to be out for a day or two. Change of plans?”

    Koran beamed again, glazed eyes nearly glowing. “Thank you! It makes me happy too. My hair is very happy! And I gets lots of nice looks.” And some not so nice ones, but Sahar didn’t need to know about those.
    He gasped in shock at her un-laid status, giving her another squeeze. “That’s sad,” he confided. “Anytime you’re feeling the need to get laid, you call me up. I’ll find someone for you.” Another beaming smile. “Or I might take one for the team. Who knows.”
    Giggling wildly, his head bobbed excitedly. “He did! Right in front of Darshan too. He wasn’t all that impressed, I tell ya again. He was quite insistent about signing it over. It was kinda…cute. In one of those creepy, stalkerish ways.” Of which Koran would know, naturally. Not that /he/ needed to stalk someone exactly.
    Bouncing now, all excited and happy now that he’d found Sahar, he tugged her down the street towards Mace’s. He saw several figures sprawled across an immaculate lawn, and figured someone was getting landscaping service these days. The old bugger.
    “Hey guys!” he called excitedly, waving when he got close to gang headquarters. Languid hands rose leisurely as the shape shifters soaked up some of the morning sun. Though a few curious eyes did turn in Sahar’s direction.

    Even the sound of an unknown male voice didn’t pull Meloday from her list-making procedure. At least immediately. It took a second before it apparently sunk in, and her head lifted. Eyes narrowed a bit in question as she observed the sleek man talking to her daughter. “Edan??”

    “I’ve gotten laid,” Sahar said, with a pretty pout. “Just not nearly as much as is my wont.” All the same, she gave him a friendly kiss on the cheek because he had offered to get her laid. It was kind of sweet.
    A small cringe crossed her features. “I’m surprised that Darshan didn’t BBQ him.” She waved a cheerful hand at the curious onlookers, and allowed Koran to walk her into gang headquarters.

    The tone of Meloday’s voice pulled Edan’s attention away from the man and back to her mother. “Mom, this is Kawada. He’s staying with me while he’s in town. Kawada, this is my mother, Meloday.”

    Koran gave her hand a reassuring pat. “Not to worry, I won’t tell anyone that you’re not hot stuff. ‘Cause, yanno, hot stuff would get laid every night. It’ll be our secret.” Though he still thought she was pretty hot stuff. He was in love with her hair. Why couldn’t /his/ hair do stuff like that??
    “He almost did,” Koran assured her cheerfully. “Darshan was looking in that direction, but C.J….distracted him.” He wiggled his brows at her, pushing into the sprawling house without bothering to knock. A head tilted back down a hallway to the kitchen, and a snort traveled the hallway that had Koran’s name tacked onto the end.
    “Mace!” the witch called joyfully, bouncing to the stairs. “Come out, come out, wherever you are!”
    “Koran, you’re like forty years old,” came a grunting voice from up the stairs. “Act like it.” A second later, the body belonging to that voice ambled into view, tromping down the stairs in no clear rush. Lean, hard, seeming tougher with age, with a day’s growth of beard and laugh lines at the corner of his wary eyes.
    Mace Drache froze a few steps up when his gaze landed on Sahar. “Holy fucking hell, what is /she/ doing here??” His eyes strayed unconsciously towards his kitchen.

    Meloday’s brows inched up slightly as she looked over Kawada. “’Staying with you’?? Is that a euphemism for something I’d rather not know??”

    “Hi, Mace,” Sahar said, with her best dazzling smile. “Don’t you look handsome?” Because you could never go wrong with excessive flattery. Not that it would do much good. Not after the toaster incident.
    “Terra is here,” she added, with careful nonchalance.

    “He has his own room,” Edan said mildly. Which he hadn’t ever used. But he kept his luggage there.
    Kawada remained wisely silent, a faint smirk twisting up on corner of his mouth.

    Eyes narrowed suspiciously, his face hardening just slightly at the flowery words spewing from Sahar’s lips. Okay, so Mace was a suspicious old bastard. He’d damned well deserved that right a long time ago. And he /knew/ any kind of flattery from Sahar was leading up to something tragedy-worthy.
    And nope, he wasn’t disappointed.
    Koran cooed when he saw all of the blood literally drain from Mace’s face at Sahar’s rather blunt announcement. He squeezed the lioness again, then hopped up the stairs to grab Mace’s arm, hauling him down before the hyena like, fell down.
    “Jesus Christ, tell me you’re kidding,” Mace muttered once he was beside the little chit, and could appropriately look down at her. He loved being a man.
    “She isn‘t, Mace.” The voice came from the still open door, and when the two boyos looked over, their expressions had already lightened some. Well, Mace’s was still grim, maybe a little grimmer now, but Koran was out-and-out beaming again.
    “On!”
    The vampire stepped into the foyer, his empty gray eyes sweeping over Koran with his own form of affection, then over Sahar with an almost imperceptible nod, then landed on Mace. “It’s serious.”

    Meloday looked from her daughter’s mild face to Kawada’s pretty smirk, and went back to her lists without a word. What else could she do, in the face of that smirk??

    “Sorry,” Sahar said, and actually sounded sincerely apologetic. After all, she could understand that sort of reaction to Terra.
    “Darshan and Christian told me about it,” she added, with a brief smile at Oblivion. “Jayden is supposed to be here too.” Her voice broke a little on Jayden’s name, and she tilted her chin up in a truly stunning show of false courage.
    “They’re pissy because the other kids won’t play nice with their darling girl, or something,” she finished finally.

    “Let me change, and then you can help me set up the grill,” Edan said, apparently pleased with her small victory.

    Mace grunted at Sahar’s apology, unable to stop his eyes from straying towards his kitchen again. He knew some of the gang were in there; surely they would’ve stopped her before she got near the toaster, right?? /Everyone/ knew the toaster story, and how much he didn’t want a repeat of it.
    Oblivion inclined his head in Sahar’s direction. “If Darshan and Christian are sure, all the more reason to believe it.” He didn’t react to the break in Sahar’s voice, but Koran cooed again, wrapping his arm around her once more.
    All of the boyos’ eyes went to Sahar at her pronouncement. Mace’s jaw had gone slack at the sheer absurdity yet strange rightness of it. Koran was cooing at the sadness of the thought, because someone not wanting to play with your child reflected badly on your skills as a parent, right?? Oblivion’s face remained a smooth blank, no thoughts reflecting through his gaze.
    “I’m willing to believe,” he was the first to break the small silence. “Plus with what I’ve heard of their daughter, I’m willing to believe they’d want to back her up.”
    “What is she doing??” Mace asked, his voice strained as he ran a hand through his hair.
    Koran giggled. “She wants to take over the world!” he announced in a sing-song voice.
    Mace looked dangerously tempted to clock the witch right over the head. Ahh, the mental picture brought a little color back to his face.
    “Seriously??” he asked, eyes shifting from Oblivion to Sahar.

    “Was that directed at me or him??” Meloday inquired without lifting her eyes from her lists. She marked a couple of more things down on the page in front of her, then flipped through the pile and wrote something on another page.

    Sahar caught Mace’s second nervous glance towards the kitchen, and gave him a mildly indignant look. “Stop it. I haven’t blown up a household appliance in years.” Well, not intentionally, at least.
    “They seemed worried about it,” she said, with uncharacteristic softness, and she cuddled into Koran’s side because if Christian and Darshan were worried then something really scary was probably going to happen.
    Of course, she wasn’t so afraid that she couldn’t enjoy having three attractive men staring at her when she broke the news of Terra and Jayden’s lovechild. Sahar always had loved to be the center of attention.
    She cast a sideways glance at Koran when he pronounced Blaire’s intentions, and bobbed her head in agreement. “Um, yes. That does seem to be the case. At least, she‘s trying to recruit a bunch of people.” She paused. “Christian said that a friend of his is working for this woman. Sonya Dayton?” She couldn’t place the woman, with all the people who floated in and out of the group at various points in time, but maybe the boys could.

    “Me, I think,” Kawada said, with another lopsided smile. “It looks like I’m supposed to work for my food and board.” Edan didn’t respond, since she had already disappeared upstairs.

    The look on Mace’s face was definitely less than impressed. “That’s only because I haven’t let you in my house in several years. I’ve got guard dogs now; step foot near my kitchen, and you’re getting put in the backyard with a chew toy.”
    Koran giggled, glazed eyes lighting up. Apparently he’d taken that idea a step further, and he was quite liking it. He kept his arm firmly around Sahar’s shoulders, snuggling her closer and cooing against her soft hair. Mace eyed Koran’s hand but didn’t comment.
    A short nod from Oblivion made them look to the vampire again. “They have reason to be,” he said, his voice as blank and toneless as his eyes and face. “With Terra and Jayden in town, lots of hackles are going to raise.” And the last time that had happened, well, buildings had to be replaced.
    The idea of the lovechild trying to recruit people made the boyos exchange glances. Mace’s lip curled slightly and Koran blinked in surprise, but Oblivion merely shook his head. “What are the chances??” he asked his boys, and Mace didn’t quite manage to stifle a snarl.
    “She’s the one who tried to recruit us?? Blaire Fluores??” His eyes moved to Sahar when he said the name, seeking confirmation. The idea of Sonya working for her caused more glances to be exchanged, but they didn’t say anything to that. That would be a boy talk with Christian at a later date.

    “As long as she’s not making you work for other things,” Meloday murmured, more to herself than him. She marked one more thing down and sighed, straightening the papers and forcing herself to set them aside.
    Clear eyes lifted again and settled on Kawada. “So how long have you lived here??” She was pacing herself with the listing, so now it was time for the interrogation. Why not.

    “I like chew toys,” Sahar said serenely. “Do you have the squeaky kind?” She gave Koran a smacking kiss on the cheek, and stepped away, because even Sahar had been warned about getting too cozy with Koran and the cooing was making her a little nervous.
    It was sort of strange that one of her favorite people was someone she had been told not to be alone in a room with.
    “Hackles, guns, knives…” she muttered.
    Her eyes flicked towards Mace, and she mouthed the name that he had given her. “Yeah, that sounds right. She tried to recruit you guys?” The implicit ‘is she stupid?’ remained silent, but the expression on her face said it for her.

    Another enigmatic little smirk crossed Kawada’s face, but he didn’t comment.
    “I’m just visiting,” he explained. “I’ve been here a couple of weeks, but Edan and I met the last time she was in Lyon.”

    Mace was silent for a second, then sighed. “Probably,” he conceded, thinking about his gang. Randi had probably thrown some in there for a laugh, and Wes and Queenie were always up for a good time.
    Koran giggled and smiled brightly at Sahar. His arm felt empty when the lioness went away, but for some reason he didn’t follow her or try to get her back. He just put his hands in his back pockets and hummed a tuneless little jingle under his breath.
    Mace eyed him some more, but again didn’t comment. A little smirk did appear at Sahar’s comment. “Lots of guns, I imagine. Most of the people Jayden would want to bug won’t be interested in knives.”
    They all watched her mouth the name, Mace’s brows lifted, Koran’s head tilted, Oblivion just studying her. When she agreed, they shared another glance, and Oblivion lifted one shoulder in a slight shrug. “She did. It didn’t work.”
    “It gets better,” Koran chirped. “I heard she tried to recruit Gift, and the RoA, and The Hunters!”
    Mace guffawed. “Terra and Jayden’s child tried to recruit /Gift/??”
    “You shouldn’t blame a child for its parents’ failings,” Koran replied primly, rocking back and forth on the heels of his feet.

    Meloday studied him a bit curiously. “Lyon??” There were several questions behind the query, like why were you there, why did you come back /here/, how long were you there, but she’d let him take it where he would.

    A slow smile spread over Sahar’s face. “Should I ask how you guys chose to respond?” She could see Oblivion ignoring it or sending a polite ‘no, thank you,’ but not the other two.
    “Didn’t Terra try to, like, kill Gift’s daughter?” she asked, with a slow blink. Frankly, if this woman was that stupid, she wondered why people were worried. She had asked Gift Redfern, who hated Blaire’s parents, the Freaky Four, who were not know for their cooperative nature, and Sonya Dayton, who was, if Darshan was to be believed, easy to convince for as long as she thought your side was winning.
    Which reminded her… “She tried to get Darshan and Christian too.”

    “Lyon,” Kawada confirmed. For a moment, it seemed like he wouldn’t elaborate on the simple statement, but what did it hurt, really? She was worried about her daughter, and he had nothing against either her or Edan. “I was visiting a friend who lives near there, and she was vacationing. I had to come to Las Vegas to conduct some business, and Edan had said that she owned a home here, so I thought that I would look her up as long as I was in town.”

    “We let Koran answer,” Mace replied with a smirk, and Oblivion just shook his head.
    Koran did the beaming thing again. “I got to use my new pink crayon. It was fuuun.”
    Doing his shrug again, Oblivion observed, “Terra has tried to kill Gift’s daughter a number of times, and Gift herself even more times than that. I imagine there’s nothing more she’d like than to see Gift dead, buried, and forgotten.” Not that that was likely to happen anytime soon. Gift was like a cockroach; she always managed to survive. With about as many morals as one too.
    Mace’s face became grim again when he heard about Darshan and Christian. “I’m assuming they declined??” Though with Sonya on Blaire’s side, it was possible Christian would wind up joining them. The boyos knew that particular vampire didn’t have any love lost for the old Council, but a new one might be a different story.

    Leaning back in her chair, pencil tapping absently on the table, Meloday continued her leisurely appraisal of the vampire in front of her. His words made enough sense, and she could imagine her daughter acting on such an impulse. Nothing about him really struck her red alerts, and she was generally good about instincts. “’Look her up,’ as opposed to moving in??”

    Pink crayon? Sahar decided after a long, thoughtful pause that she didn’t want to know. “Which makes it seem a bit… strange that Terra’s daughter invited Gift and her people in. I mean, how did mommy react to that? How would she have reacted if Gift had said yes, for that matter?”
    “They declined,” Sahar said, with a slightly defensive note to her voice. “Christian said something about trying to talk Sonya around.”

    Kawada held up hands in a silent disclaimer. “Edan’s idea. She said that I shouldn’t waste my money on a hotel room, especially since I’m not sure how long it will take to conclude my business.”

    Koran giggled, seemingly randomly and all to himself. The boyos didn’t flinch at the sudden sound. Apparently, after so many years together, they’d gotten used to the randomness.
    Mace shrugged. “Well hell, Gift doesn’t like us much and she’s always helping us out. Maybe Blaire heard about it and thought it was a safe idea to at least try.”
    Another beaming smile from the witch. “Gift is so nice.”
    That got a snort from Mace and a silent sigh from Oblivion, who then looked at Sahar again. “Christian said he wants to talk Sonya over??” Which was an interesting idea; it fully planted Christian on their side, and if he could take away some of Blaire’s people, it furthered their side along as well. Maybe Sonya could then talk some /more/ people over, and it would escalate.
    His thoughts cut off as he heard a shout from down the hallway, originating from the kitchen. “Hey Mace! Your toaster’s, like, smoking.”
    Mace blinked, then his eyes narrowed accusingly at Sahar. Koran giggled again.

    Meloday smiled faintly at that. Yeah, that sounded like Edan. She was surprisingly open and friendly towards her friends. “In that case, how is business going?? Any idea yet how long it will take??”

    Having had enough failing efforts to get back to sleep, and having grown tired of just lying there, Jacob found his way to the mini-kitchen where he was currently brewing some coffee. No, it didn’t do him any good; no, it definitely wasn’t the taste; and no, it did nothing to improve his mood. But it was a little relaxing, just a normal every-day function everyone did. Well, most people.
    Not that it worked for very long, because just as the last few drops were falling into the pot, there came a soft knock on the door. Eyes lifted and narrowed a little, and he waited long enough to pour himself a cup and doctor it before he ambled towards it.
    A brief looksey through the peephole revealed no one he’d ever known. A rather petite woman, with a wealth of rich red-gold hair and eyes that made him tense a little more. On a basic level, because she had a friendly smile in place that warmed that gaze considerably.
    Thinking about it for a moment, his decision was pretty much made when she knocked again. It wouldn’t do to wake Tala, who was still sprawled out, and he’d rather keep Fang unconscious in his room for a few more hours. If he saw the lamia before then, he’d likely knock him out again.
    Sipping from his cup, he pulled the door open. No greeting, no warm welcome; he merely lifted his brows in a questioning kind of way.
    The woman’s smile widened. “Hello darling, I’m looking for C.J.??” Her voice held the liquid accent of a French woman and Jacob considered her again.
    “You a fan??”
    The smile widened some more, just bordering on a grin that made her eyes twinkle savagely. “Not quite. This has to do with her boyfriend.”
    Well that sounded serious enough. And Jacob knew C.J. was all about her boyfriend, so he shrugged and turned, walking towards C.J.’s room. Since Darshan was no longer in residence, he knocked three times and poked his head in, relaying the message.

    Sahar shrugged. “Both he and Darshan seem to think that he has a pretty good chance of succeeding with her. That she’s more loyal to him than she is to Blaire.”
    Then the smell of smoke came wafting out into the hall and a voice called out from the kitchen.
    “I wasn’t even near the kitchen!” she protested, before she even saw the accusatory look that Mace was giving her.

    Another one of Kawada’s funny little smirks. “It’s taking longer than I had expected. My partner is the fussy sort. He likes to agonize over the details.”
    Kawada just wanted it over and done with, himself. It was safer that way.

    The door swung open and then closed, and there were voices, made indistinct by the haze of sleep. Tala stirred a little, half wakening, as she felt the familiar presence, a sort of dark buzzing at the back of her mind: a little scary, but not altogether unpleasant. Darshan was obviously back.
    There was something wrong with that sweet dark presence, but she couldn’t quite pinpoint what it was, and it didn’t seem worth opening her eyes for just then.

    Darshan had refused to choose IHOP as a meeting place for the second time in one day, so instead he sat in the Starbucks down the street, nursing yet another cup of coffee that tasted like it had been brewed with diesel fuel instead of water and which did absolutely nothing for him. The coffee shop was disgustingly cheerful, with a red plastic Christmas tree in one corner and some pop-rock cover of ‘We Three Kings’ playing on the speakers.
    He cringed, just a little.
    He glanced up when a shadow darkened his table, and inclined his head very slightly. “Thank you for meeting me on such short notice.”

    Oblivion considered that privately as Koran and Mace shared another look. Well, if anyone had a chance at it, it was Christian. It would surely test the thread of friendship between the two.
    He had no comment for the thought of another burning toaster, other than the silent thought that it seemed to always happen only to Mace, and watched as the hyena sent a stiff glare in Sahar’s direction before going to the kitchen. And yes, the toaster was on fire. But Randi and Queenie were snickering at the table over a plate of bacon and sausage, and Wes was looking altogether too innocent as he poured some coffee.
    Mace heaved a sigh. “You people are a bunch of pains. Why don’t you put out the fire before it expands and destroys our house, huh??”
    “We thought we’d let you pitch it outside,” Wes suggested. “Like old times.”
    That got a big fat eye roll.

    “And you’re not??” Meloday inquired, looking him over again. He didn’t seem exactly the “fussy” sort, but she didn’t imagine he was…sloppy, at his job either. She idly wondered what he did, and if Edan knew.

    It took a few minutes to coax C.J. from her mound of comforters and pillows, but Jacob knew if he said Darshan’s name often enough, he’d finally get her attention. And so he did. C.J. grumbled something into the pillow, then rolled from the bed, forcing herself to get out. She was only wearing panties, so Jacob politely excused himself to let her get dressed and returned to the door.
    The woman was still there, just kind of hovering in the doorway. She didn’t seem inclined to step in, and for some reason, Jacob didn’t feel inclined to invite her in. Clearly she was a beautiful specimen for womanhood, but…okay, bottom line, something about her was downright creepy.
    That feeling was not lessened when C.J. ambled from the bedroom, dressed in what looked like boxer shorts and what had to be one of Darshan’s shirts. Her eyes were still half-closed, her hair mussed and falling in tangled waves across her face. But apparently she could still make out some things, because when she saw the woman standing in the doorway, she froze.
    Jacob stepped a bit to the side, watching the pair over the rim of his coffee cup. The woman smiled in an almost dazzling way at C.J., whose eyes had widened to the size of his coffee cup with that kind of trapped rabbit way. Her hand had lifted to push some hair from her face, but it was froze in mid-movement.
    “What…what are you doing here??” she asked huskily, not looking inclined to step closer to the woman.
    Who merely smiled, and lifted her hand to crook a finger at her. “Come here, C.J.”
    Jacob tensed all over as C.J. swallowed, hesitated another second, then slowly walked towards her. He was tempted to call security, tempted to get this woman out of here. His alarms were starting to wail, louder and louder with every step closer C.J. took to her. Something…wasn’t right. Something…
    Well, whatever he thought didn’t matter, because suddenly C.J. was right there in front of her. Looking a bit more relaxed, not quite so panicked. Jacob couldn’t decide if that was bottle or joint induced, or if the grin she suddenly flashed was anything other than pure C.J.
    “Hi Terra,” she offered then, finishing the gesture of shoving some hair behind her ear. “What’s going on??”
    The woman, Terra, just kept smiling. Her hand moved, reaching out to catch the wrist C.J. was in the process of lowering. Jacob could just see the side of C.J.’s face, but it was enough to see the color drain from it as Terra’s fingers tightened on her wrist.
    “I’m afraid something is going on, little tiger,” she said softly, her fingers slowly moving up to grip C.J.’s forearm. “And I need you to give Darshan a message for me.”
    C.J. licked her lips, a bit of a nervous gesture, and half-heartedly tried to pull her arm free. “Um, okay. But, like, why don’t you tell him, uh, yourself??”
    “It won’t have quite the same effect,” she said, her voice so gentle, and with an almost graceful flick of her wrist, she broke C.J.’s forearm.
    The shriek that tore from C.J.’s throat didn’t quite manage to cover the sound of her bone breaking, but it was enough to shake Jacob from his shocked paralysis. His cup slipped from his fingers, smashing into the carpet and spilling black coffee everywhere as he instantly took a step forward. “Let go of her!”
    Terra’s head swiveled, and he froze. The smile had vanished and the savagery was in full effect, twisting her carefully sculpted features into something dark and hard. Her obsidian eyes were flashing with unholy lights and a kind of primal fear tightened Jacob’s throat as he felt the darkness emanating from her.
    Dismissing the vampire as clearly unimportant, Terra returned her attention to the softly whimpering C.J., whose broken arm was still being held in an iron grip. “Tell Darshan he needs to accept the invitation he was sent,” she said, her voice still gentle. “Or next time, I’ll send Jayden to see you.”
    C.J.’s face went parchment pale at that particular threat and Terra smiled a gentle, terrible smile. Her fingers tightened, causing another strangled scream, and when Terra released her, she dropped to her knees, shaking badly as she cradled her arm to her chest. Terra looked up and smiled that terrible smile at Jacob, then turned on her high heeled foot and left.