Darshan held a glass of wine in his hand, and watched the dance floor through slitted eyes. He had donned a t-shirt with his usual slacks and loafers, and almost managed to fit in with the club crowd. "I'm not sure that 'great' is the word that I would apply to this much humanity in this small a place, but seeing C.J. play is worth it," the dragon said dryly, his gaze shifting towards Koran. "I take it that you are enjoying yourself?"

    Koran beamed, glazed eyes gleaming in the neon lights. "I'm having a /great/ time." He leaned across the table in a show of confidentiality. "Do you /see/ how many teenage groupies are here?? I'm going to have an even better night." A mad giggle flowed from between his lips as he clapped his hands together in excitement.

    Darshan smiled mildly at that. "Just remember to leave a few of those teenage groupies over for the members of the band. C.J. excepted, of course." He took another sip of his wine, raising it in a faint toast when he caught Adrian's eye on the dance floor. The witch waved back, his mouth twisting up into one of those strange, lopsided smiles that he seemed to favor, before he turned back to Kersti.
    "How are you liking Las Vegas?," Darshan asked, slanting a look at Koran. "You only got here recently, didn't you?"

    Koran giggled, wiggling his brows at Darshan. "Did you see that line-up of boys at the stage, yelling for C.J.?? Now that's appreciation." He smiled dreamily, cupping his face in his palms.
    At Darshan's words, he bobbed his head in agreement. "About three days ago. The boyos were being all family stuff and Gift came down here with Zabri, so I decided to tag along and see if anything came up. It's been fun so far; I didn't know C.J. was playing." He smiled brightly. "How long are you gonna be here??"

    Darshan chuckled, low and soft. "Yes, well, I can understand their appreciation." Of course, if any of them made a move on his woman, he would be forced to kill and eat them.
    He angled his body so that he was facing Koran, his side and elbow resting lightly on the bar. "I'll probably be here as long as the band is. It will be a while before we move on; Las Vegas seems to be a very juicy place to play. In all honesty, I'd rather leave quickly. There's too much of a chance that Daybreak will get all up-at-arms when they realize what I am, and that's a confrontation that I'd rather miss." Circle Daybreak was not known for its loving relationship with his kinfolk, and Las Vegas was still their hub.

    Koran giggled again. "So can I," he admitted, casting an appreciative glance himself towards the stage, where C.J. was flipping her sticks and posing dramatically for her lovers. He would happily admit he'd had a few fantasies about the kitten, but dang, he couldn't move in on Darshan's woman. At least he didn't think so. Maybe.
    Turning back to said dragon, Koran bobbed his head in acknowledgement of his words. "They still don't like you??" he asked sympathetically. "Keller would probably speak on your behalf, if you'd talk to her for a few minutes."

    Darshan lifted an eyebrow. "I get to make comments like that," he said mildly. "You don't." Because he'd feel really bad if he ate Koran. He rather liked the other man, even if he was... a few scales short of a full hide, so to speak.
    "Don't like me? Yes, I suppose you could put it that way." He shrugged. "Mostly I try to stay out of their way. I don't think that talking to a woman who gained her renown by almost single-handedly killing one of my kind is the way to resolve things."

    "Awww," Koran pouted, letting his arms flop down to cross on the table top. "The greatest thing about having a woman like that is sharing." He smiled brightly at the other dragon, fingers absently drumming on the table in time with the song's drumming.
    "Oh, that??" he said in clearly dismissive tones. "Keller's a pussycat. And the one she offed was very bad, trying to steal the Witch Child and all that crap. You're much nicer. I think she'd like you." He smiled, another bright affair, as he had an equally bright idea. "You should get Gift to introduce you! Keller and Gift like each other. I don't think anyone understands that."

    Darshan simply shook his head, and let the subject go at that.
    "You're assuming that she's going to speak to me long enough to know that I'm... much nicer." He paused before saying the last two words, as though that part were up for debate. His eyes traveled to where Gift was sitting, and he looked mildly surprised. "Really? I never would have thought that Gift would get along with Daybreak's golden girl."

    Koran smiled serenely at Darshan's head shaking, but didn't comment further either. He'd just...fantasize. Giggle.
    "That's why you need Gift," he said helpfully. "She'll act as a buffer. And I know, who would've thunk it?? I don't think even Ethan gets it, and I've heard Galen really doesn't like it." He giggled again, looking over to Gift, who was actually peering in their direction, one brow tilted slightly upwards in question as she looked at Darshan. Koran grinned and whispered to Darshan, "Think she can hear us??"

    Darshan smiled faintly. "It must be one of those things that you just accept, and try not to think about too hard," he guessed. He shrugged one shoulder at Koran's question. "Probably," he replied, in a perfectly normal voice. The noise of the band and the club should have drowned them out, but he wouldn't have put anything past that woman. He caught her eye, and raised two fingers to his brow in a vague sort of salute.

    "But that doesn't mean you can't take advantage of it," Koran offered helpfully. "It can't be any worse than Daybreak gunning for you, can it?? I mean, even if Keller decides she doesn't like you, she's not the kind of person to do that. So I've heard." He didn't really know Keller on a personal basis, but dude, if she was friends with Gift, surely she wouldn't take up arms and go dragon hunting, would she?? Well...
    He giggled and wiggled his fingers at Gift, whose lips quirked a bit. She raised her glass and tipped it in Darshan's direction in a vague sort of toast, then downed it and returned to her companions. Koran giggled again and grabbed Darshan's arm. "Come on, let's dance! C.J. needs to see you supporting her, and I think Adrian needs help."

    "I don't know," Darshan mused. "Her meeting me might be the difference between them gunning for me, and them actively gunning for me. No one is really comfortable with letting the dragons roam free. We're dangerous, and we make them uncomfortable."
    Darshan dug his heels firmly into the ground. "I am not dancing. Find someone else. It would be a good way to meet one of those groupies you were talking about, I'm sure."

    Koran wagged a finger. "Don't tell me you're /scared/?? You know you have to shake things up to get them the way you like. Otherwise, it's just kind of boring, and you'll always be looking over your shoulder for the Daybreakers with their dirt bed waiting." He nodded his head slowly, all-knowing and all-wise witch that he is.
    That lovely little insane smile came back in the picture at that point. "But I need a buddy! And you're just hot enough to bring the groupies to me, so I don't look all desperate and stuff. Come ooooon, you know C.J. would /love/ to see you out there." He gave Darshan's arm an experimental tug, to see just how much effort it would take to get the dragon off his stool.

    Darshan continued to dig his heels in, as the witch listed the many reasons that he should step onto the dance floor with all of the bouncing, smelly humans. "So stand here and talk to me, and the groupies can come to you here," he said, meanwhile thinking that there were very few people that he would tolerate this sort of treatment from, and how the /hell/ had Koran become one of them?

    Koran grinned knowingly. "It doesn't work that way. I have to go get their attention, 'cause you see how incredibly focused they are on C.J., right??" Maybe jealousy would work?? Koran was willing to use whatever means necessary at this point. He wanted a groupie!

    Darshan looked at Koran for a long moment.
    Then he sighed.
    "Fine," he replied curtly, and led the way onto the dance floor. He wasn't entirely sure about the jealousy thing. The tabloids had caught enough pictures of C.J. with a mysterious man for him not to be completely anonymous. Of course, the last photographer who had tried to make it into their apartment had not made it out again.

    Koran squealed and bounced along beside Darshan. He just caught Gift's amused gaze following them as he pulled the dragon into the thick mix of things right in front of the stage, where most of the hardcore groupies were lined up. Several boys were shouting the names of the band, waving posters and pictures, while many, many, /many/ yummy girls were bouncing around in their skimpy clothes.
    Koran sighed happily, starting to dance and nudging Darshan to do the same. Several people were glancing their way, then whispering, the hardcore fans recognizing Darshan from his pictures with C.J. in the paper. Yes! Koran knew this trick would work.

    Darshan gave Koran an evil look, but let his body relax into the rhythm that C.J. was pounding out on her drums. He was a few thousand years rusty, but when it came right down to it, dancing on a slick wooden floor with a bunch of insane groupies wasn't that different from flinging yourself around a bonfire, while the wind whistled through the trees and shapeshifters sent wild cries up towards the cold and fruitless moon...
    But that had been a long time ago, when even he had been young.
    He shook off the memory, and simply resigned himself to the pulse of the music, ignoring the staring fans as best he could.

    Koran smiled back serenely and started bouncing, one of his top favorite past-times. Several more people were looking over and he bided his time, being sure to stay beside Darshan. C.J. had caught sight of them and she grinned broadly at Darshan, velvety eyes sparkling as she thumped the rhythm on her drums.
    And then it happened. An over-eager adolescent boy, urged on by his friends, stumbled over to Darshan and grabbed his arm, shouting to be heard over the din. "Hey, you're the guy who knows C.J. Tigre, right?? Like, in a friendly kinda way, right??"

    Darshan stopped dancing. His eyes traveled to the hand on his arm, then up to the boy's face. His expression was calm and pleasant as he reached up to unhook the hand from his arm, but there was something dark and deadly lurking underneath the metallic gold of eyes. There were things that he would tolerate from his friends that no one else could get away with. "I am." There was no denying it, and he didn't really want to. He thought of C.J. in a very friendly way.

    Whatever was happening behind Darshan's gaze, this particular boy was blissfully ignorant. He barely noticed his grip being disengaged, almost jumping up and down in sheer excitement in his new found buddy. His best friend, in fact! "Oh my God, that is just so awesome. Oh my God, I love her /so/ much. Do you think it'd be possible to, like, introduce us?? I would so love to get her autograph, like, right on my ass. I'd never wash it again, I swear. It would be, like, C.J.'s ass."
    Koran was cracking up by then, almost bent double with laughter.

    Darshan stared at the boy for a long moment, and wondered if it was still considered unacceptable to cull the human herds. Really, in a few generations they would thank him, when this child didn't reproduce. "You did not just ask me to introduce you to my girlfriend so that she could write on your rear end."

    The boy's eyes widened, but no, not in apprehension or embarrassment or remorse. In just plain ole excitement. "Oh my God, she's your /girlfriend/!? That is /so/ awesome!" He punched Darshan playfully in the arm, grinning broadly. "You lucky dog. Tell me, does she really sleep naked?? I read in a tabloid that she sleeps, like, buck naked on silk sheets. You'd know that, right?? And what about that autograph?? Huh huh huh??"

    Darshan just looked at the boy for another long moment. His eyelids dropped dangerously, but common sense, of which Darshan had a surfeit, told him that it would be very stupid to kill someone here and now, especially since he was trying to convince Daybreak that he was harmless. "You should go away. Now," he said simply, and turned back to Koran, effectively dismissing the groupie. His soulmate's fans really didn't bother him. Except when they tried to /talk/ to him.

    It was hard to tell if the groupie went away because Darshan told him to or because he had such great news to tell his fellow groupies. He looked a bit too excited to be cowed by Darshan's attitude, for that matter.
    Koran was still laughing, and reached up to pat the dragon sympathetically on the shoulder. "Sorry, I didn't know it was going to be that bad," he said, punctuating that with a giggle. As his glazed eyes moved over Darshan's shoulder, and he saw the boy talking excitedly with a bunch of other teenagers, before they all turned and started to swarm towards Darshan, he figured things might be about to get worse.
    "Hey, can we get your autograph??" one yummy blond female called excitedly, waving a poster of C.J. around.
    "Can you get us backstage passes??"
    "Can we come to your place for an after show party!?"
    "Where do you live!?!"
    "Can you get us all autographs??"
    "Can I get a picture of you and C.J.?? Or, better yet, can /you/ take a picture of /me/ and C.J.??"
    Koran slapped a hand over his mouth to prevent more laughter.

    "So you say," Darshan said, and gave Koran a baleful look as a group of teenagers descended upon him. He took a deep breath, pushed back the feral, draconic bloodlust that reminded him that these talking meatsacks were really nothing more than food, and smiled at two of the nearest young women - the yummy blond and a sleek little brunette behind her. If the smile showed a few too many teeth, well, they wouldn't notice. "Why don't you talk to Koran about getting you backstage, or at least getting the band to give you an autograph? He knows them too."
    With that mission accomplished, he cut his way through the crowd, ignoring the other groupies entirely, and head for the door that led backstage. There, he could listen to the end of the show, and security would happily bash in the heads of anyone who tried to come back there and bother him.

    Koran smiled his lovely little insane smile when the two yummy females turned to him with adoring eyes, stepping close and near to keep him to themselves. He wrapped an arm around both pairs of shoulders and barely suppressed a shudder of happiness as he talked to them about backstage passes and after show parties, sending a wink after Darshan.
    A familiar figure was leaning against one of the backstage doors, clothed in darkness and very much out of the limelight. Not that Christian was overly familiar with the band itself, but he wanted to be as far removed from the crowds as possible. What he'd just witnessed Darshan going through was quite enough to harden his resolve.
    "Makes it hard to seem worth it, doesn't it??" he inquired when the dragon drew near, mouth tilting slightly in a half-smile that didn't reach his eyes.

    A faintly amused smile quirked Darshan's lips when he saw Christian, but like the vampire, his eyes remained coolly detached. "You remember when we used to be the scariest things to wander the night?," he asked. He jerked a thumb back towards the groupies, and his voice was absolutely deadpan. "Well, them? They scare me."
    He settled against the door next to the other man, and watched Koran work his magic with mild interest. "How have you been, Christian?"

    "And your girlfriend's trying to bring them home," Christian observed, watching how the groupies lunged and screamed for the band as it played the last few chords of its last song of the night. "Isn't that scary??"
    Velvety blue eyes watched Koran as well for a few minutes, thinking idly how humans fell for anything. The two girls hanging on the Harman's every word had no idea what they were trying to get themselves into, and wouldn't until the next morning. But still they begged for it.
    "I've been fine," he allowed with a short nod of his head at Darshan's question. "Just got back from Europe last week." Eyes slid sideways towards the dragon. "Yourself?? Please tell me you're here merely to support C.J., and you haven't finally succumbed to current pop culture."

    "I told her that if she wanted a pet, she should get a dog," Darshan drawled, "but still she insists upon letting them follow her home."
    "I am well," he replied, with a little half-shrug. "I always come to opening night," seemed like the most diplomatic answer. He wasn't chancing talking about pop culture anywhere where his soulmate might overhear.

    Christian smiled slowly. "You told a tiger shifter she should get a pet dog?? I wouldn't be surprised if she got a yappy Yorkshire Terrier just to annoy you, for that one."
    The diplomatic and completely Darshan answer received another smile from Christian, one that did touch his eyes this time. "How...unopinionated."      His eyes moved past the dragon as the band finally wound down and the foursome hopped to the front of the stage, locking arms and bowing to a rolling thunder of applause. C.J.'s face was flushed, eyes glittering with excitement and happiness, and that was before she caught sight of Darshan.
    "The tabloids are going to love this," Christian murmured as C.J. released her fellow bandmates and ran towards her soulmate, leaping on him with arms and legs and laughing as she hugged him tightly. Christian smiled as cameras went click click click.
    "Did you like it??" C.J. asked Darshan, leaning back enough to grin at him. She didn't even seem to notice the groupies starting to crowd around; all of her attention was focused on one single person.

    "Had she done that, she knows that her darling little Yorkie wouldn't have lasted long before conveniently deciding to leap out of a window," Darshan replied dryly. Yappy dogs. They weren't even good for eating. He simply smiled when Christian mentioned his lack of opinion, and reached out to catch C.J. as she flung herself into his arms.
    He noticed the click of the cameras and the screams of the fans, but they stopped mattering so much. "You were involved. Of course I liked it." He watched over her shoulder as her bandmates left the stage to go their separate ways. The bass player, a lamia with some sort of unfortunate name... Ford? Fury? Fred?... seemed to have no problem flinging himself into the arms of his adoring public. The vocalist, on the other hand, slid off the stage with as little fuss as possible, and slinked along until she had reached them.
    "C.J., girl," she said, her voice wryly amused, "you are such tabloid fodder."

    Christian was still smiling as he watched C.J.'s dramatic approach. It was sometimes hard to tell if she did it unconsciously, or subconsciously yearned for attention. She sure did know how to get it.
    C.J. grinned happily at Darshan and laid a rather polite kiss on his cheekbone, knowing he didn't much care for the publicity. The more knowledgeable press, concerning their relationship, groaned with disappointment at the chaste greeting, and C.J. giggled before wiggling her brows at her bandmate. Without releasing Darshan yet, of course.
    "Honey, if you had a face like this waiting for you," she reached one arm around to cup Darshan's chin, squeezing his cheeks gently and shaking his head slightly from side to side to properly show off what she meant, "you know you would be too."
    Their lead guitarist snorted, vampiric ears picking up that particular comment as he helped the roadies pack up their gear. He was protective of his guitar, that much everyone knew.

    Darshan smiled at her polite kiss, and gave her a tight little squeeze around the waist that promised kisses that were neither polite nor on the cheek in the nearby future.
    The vocalist, a werewolf named Tala, gave a husky chuckle. "Sugar, if I had someone like that waiting for me at home, I don't think that I'd get out of bed long enough to perform." She glanced sideways at Darshan and grinned, a flash of white teeth against dark skin. "Begging your pardon, of course."
    Darshan just raised a brow at her, seeming more amused than offended. A comment that would have made him snarl from one of the fans could be... tolerated... from C.J.'s friends. Besides, he doubted that the werewolf meant it the same way that a fan would. She knew better.

    A wicked little smile graced C.J.'s features as Darshan squeezed her, and she gave him a subtle eyebrow wiggle. Subtle, but highly suggestive. Ahh, playing always got her blood up.
    She laughed at Tala's words, releasing Darshan's face to rewrap her arm around his neck. "Well now that you mention it."
    "Oh C.J.," Christian groaned, stepping discreetly to the side just as C.J. laid a kiss on Darshan that really should've been saved for the bedroom. It definitely got the crowd roaring again, and a dozen more flashes went off from top-of-the-line cameras. Hence Christian stepping out of the way, less he be pointed out in the tabloids the next day.
    The guitarist was shaking his head, still way over on stage and rather ignoring his own fan club.
    "You just can't help but love her," Zabri observed a few feet behind Tala, grinning wickedly. "She brings more publicity just by herself than your PR agent ever could."

    "Don't even think of it, girl. We need our drummer here, and not---" She stopped with a sigh as C.J. laid a big one on her boy-toy's mouth. There was just no talking to that woman when she was... otherwise engaged. She watched as Darshan ran his hands down C.J.'s back, the cameras momentarily forgotten. "Day-um. Get a room, folks."
    She looked up at Zabri, and snorted softly. "That's true. Every tabloid in the nation is going to have those two on the cover tomorrow. Extra, extra! Read all about it! Serious tongue action by drummer of popular band!" She shook her head, and grinned faintly, before she realized that the sudden camera flashes had alerted her own fan club as to where she was, and they had rushed over to joined C.J.'s screaming groupies near the live flesh barrier formed by security.
    She sighed, and eyed the backstage door wistfully, but didn't make a break for it. Instead, she took on the resigned look of a martyr going to meet her doom.

    Whatever Tala was saying didn't even make it into one of C.J.'s ears, instead just smoothing over her blissful head among the screams and shouts from press and fans. Her limbs tightened around her soulmate, fingers clenching through his soft hair as she kissed him hungrily.
    Christian was shaking his head in the shadows.
    Zabri smirked back at the singer. "Please, you think "tongue action" is the worst they're going to call it?? You clearly don't keep up with the tabloids."
    "And why would we want to??" Jacob asked dryly as he joined them. The roadies had finished with their gear and the next band was setting up, though one couldn't tell by the swarm of fans still clamoring for the Fays' attention. This club hadn't scheduled well; the headliner should always come last.
    "You should look into personal security," Zabri observed as hands stretched out towards everyone they could get to, holding posters and cards and pictures to sign.

    One of Darshan's hands traveled to the back of C.J.‘s neck, holding her against his mouth for a moment longer before he broke the kiss and set her carefully down. "Love, you're about to give several members of your security staff massive coronaries."
    Tala shrugged, and grinned. "Whenever my cousins do their bi-lunar full moon barbeque, I buy a few off the rack in the grocery store to help light the fire. Otherwise..." She shrugged, and glanced between C.J. and their bass player, the unfortunately named Fang, who was schmoozing his way through the crowd. "Well, it's not like I'm the one they're writing about. Except for that time when someone put forth the theory that I was left here by aliens and am secretly married to Elvis."
    She unhooked a pen, from where it had been previously engaged in holding her hair in place, and signed a few autographs in a half-hearted sort of way. "We /have/ personal security. See what good it does us?" She shrugged. "I don't object to the fans. I mean, it's really tit for tat - we wouldn't have gone platinum if people hadn't liked what we were playing. It's the rabid, stalking fans that scare me... and I know something about rabies, believe-you-me." She grinned, and slanted a sideways look at Jacob. "Remember that chick in Kansas City? If I'd known that someone would pay that much for a set of your dainties, I might have tried it myself..."

    C.J.'s dark eyes were a bit dazed and happy as she smiled up at him. "You kiss me like that some more and I won't even care," she admitted, throwing her arms around his neck for one more hug before reluctantly pulling back. "Now I need to sign a few things, then we'll go to the back and eat the complimentary fruit and toast with the complimentary champagne, then we'll go home, okay??" She smiled brightly at her soulmate.
    Christian chuckled. "Not hard to tell she loves this."
    "Do the aliens know what they're missing when they left you here??" Zabri inquired, golden eyes sparkling mischievously.
    Jacob snorted again, taking a pen of his own to sign a few autographs as well. He clearly wasn't in this game for the fame. "Perhaps it's time to up the security. I found a baby stroller in my hotel room earlier, with a plastic baby doll in it, and a note that promised this could really be mine if I called so and so at so and so number," he observed mildly.
    Zabri laughed.
    Green eyes slid sideways towards Tala. "That was a special occasion. They were my heart boxers, from an old girlfriend." He signed a last autograph and started to make his way backstage. "Jealousy does weird things to people."

    Darshan smiled back at her, and placed a light, almost chaste kiss on her lips. "After being assaulted by your fans earlier, I think that champagne sounds wonderful. By the way, there is a young man who would officially like to sign his... ass... over as your property." He cast a faintly amused look at Christian, and nodded. She loved this, so he wouldn't complain about it... too much.
    "Of course not," Fang cut in, answering Zabri's question, "otherwise they never would have left her. But their loss is our gain, huh?"
    "Down, puppy," Tala said, with a sort of dry amusement. "I'm not one of your bitches." She turned to look at Jacob. "You're kidding me. Now, don't get me wrong, I would certainly call a girl who offered me a plastic baby, but... I wonder who they bribed to leave the stroller. For that matter, I wonder who leaked it to the press that you wore heart-boxers. I can't see you telling that to an interviewer."

    C.J.'s eyes widened and she clutched Darshan's hand apologetically. "Oh D," she said, making a face. She knew her soulmate didn't like the publicity and the wild fandom the Fays' had created, and normally she wouldn't subject him to it, but especially on opening nights, she just loved knowing he was out there watching her.
    Christian was /still/ shaking his head, though his lips were quirking now, as Darshan's actual words seemed to sink into C.J.'s head. And caused her to blink a few times, a grin starting to trip over her lips. "Well, I mean, you never know when you might need an extra ass," she offered, grinning fully now and poking her soulmate playfully.
    "Definitely," Zabri agreed with the lamia, voice solemn, golden eyes dancing. "I bet they're listening on their high tech speakers, banging their big green heads that they ever left her behind."
    Jacob smirked, not noticing a few tweenie girls pretending to faint at the sight. He just...preferred not to notice that stuff, quite honestly. A dark brow lifted at Tala. "Unfortunately, I have a few ideas. On both counts." He shot Fang a sour look, which encompassed C.J. too, since it was currently a tie between his two bandmates as to who was the leaker, before he gestured. "Can we move on, please?? The next band is about to start and they're going to hate us for hogging the crowds if we don't get out of sight."

    "I don't know," Darshan said musingly, a rare spark of humor in his eyes. "I'm rather fond of the one that you have." He took her hand, brushing a gentle kiss across the knuckles before motioning for her to sign her autographs so they could get a move on.
    Silvery eyes glinted with amusement as Fang flashed Zabri a grin. "Big green heads? I like that, although I'm sure that Tala would object to the thought of being descended from people with big green... anythings."
    Tala's lips twisted into a wry smile, a silent acknowledgment of the truth of what Jacob said. It was damn near impossible to get either of their two bandmates to keep their mouths shut, even about intimate matters. "Well, tell me if it's Fang, since I think he's the one who let slip my penchant for Harlequin novels. That boy needs a good old-fashioned ass-kicking." She looked towards the stage, where the next band was almost done setting up. "I couldn't agree with that sentiment more, sugar. Let's get moving." She turned and made her way over to the stage door, casting the lurking Christian a curious glance as she tried to figure out if he was security, friend of one of the band members, or foaming-mouthed fan laying in wait.

    A delicious shiver went down C.J.'s spine and she winked at Darshan, giving Christian a finger wave as well, before turning to her rabid fans. She was good with the crowd, at least; she signed plenty of autographs, took several pictures with the more insistent fans, and very graciously rejected numerous offers she hoped Darshan wasn't in range of hearing. Her PR person couldn't have done a better job.
    Zabri returned the grin full out. "Wouldn't stop the tabloids from running it, would it??" The amazing thing about most humans - their willingness to believe anything about celebrities, especially if it was juicy.
    "Let me know when he finally gets one," Jacob requested with a wry grin. "I'd like to be there. I'd even suggest lining C.J. up for one after him, but I'm a gentleman and," he shrugged, still grinning, "her boyfriend's scary."
    He followed Tala towards the door, gesturing at Fang to make sure he was going to follow as well. Christian merely smiled as the band members filed past him, inclining his head in silent congratulations. Silently, he sent quietly to Darshan, *When you've got a minute, come find me. We need to talk.* With that, he bled back into the crowd and disappeared.

    "Probably not," Fang agreed, with another grin. "Some days, I don't think that tabloid reporters believe half of what they print... They just know that the American public will."
    "Ah, but I'd have to be real careful around his hands, so that he could still play, and that would just ruin all the fun of the moment." Tala smiled; whatever else he was, Fang was also an exceptionally good musician. It was the only reason she put up with him, most of the time. "Maybe I should just start carrying around a rolled up newspaper, and whap him over the nose whenever he's naughty." She shrugged off Darshan's scariness, as if this were a statement of fact.
    The dragon in question had been busy watching his soulmate finish her rounds when he felt the touch of Christian's mind against his own. He didn't even blink, but sent back quickly. *As you like.*

    "Or at least their editors know what the public will believe, and what they /want/ to read," Zabri said dryly. That was the major problem; the American public /wanted/ to read scandal and trash in the celebrity ranks. It was quite disgusting.
    "I'd be careful though, or soon enough you're going to find yourself on the front page," she added, winking at Fang. "Courtesy of some vengeful bandmates."
    Jacob grinned again. "Point. Yes, I imagine the rolled up newspaper would likely work. At least until the press caught a picture of you doing it, and transformed it into some kind of dominatrix kinky sex thing between you two."
    C.J. finished with her fans, reaching Zabri and Fang by that time. Winking at her bandmate, she flung an arm around the human's shoulders, voice matter-of-fact as she told Fang, "You want to watch out for this one, buddy. She might could drink /you/ under the table, and she'll steal all your money while she's at it."
    Christian sent a silent acknowledgement of the words back, going over to join Gift and her companions at their table.

    Fang smiled a slow lazy smile at that. "Hey, I can make front page news all on my lonesome. It wouldn't be the first time." Embarrassing scandals were just a part of the biz, in his mind, to be ignored or laughed off. He wasn't entirely sure what the others were so up-in-arms about.
    He looked up when C.J. approached, and grinned at her warning about Zabri. "It wouldn't be the first time," he repeated. If Fang didn't have more fun that anyone else in the band, it wouldn't be for lack of trying.
    Darshan rolled his eyes behind the bass player’s back, and made another directing motion towards the backstage door. Forget the other band, -he- was going to throw a fit if he had to hear the screeching of the fans much longer. Besides, he needed a chance to slip away and speak to Christian. He knew the other man well enough to know that he wouldn't have asked if it wasn't important.
    "It would almost be worth it," Tala informed him, one corner of her mouth jerking upwards. "Maybe we can just hang him out the hotel window by his ankles the next time he's bad. Then he'll be the only one they're taking pictures of, and he'll... probably... learn not to do it again."

    A smirk tilted Zabri's lips. "There's a difference between you putting yourself on the front page, and a pissed off bandmate putting you on the front page, sweetheart." Golden eye closing in another wink, she didn't twitch when C.J. appeared at her side, merely giving the tiger shifter a wiggle of her brows. "What's this I hear about you getting another ass??"
    C.J. giggled, then winked at Fang. "You should come out partying with us one night, buddy. We'll give you an experience you'll /never/ forget."
    "Oh gods, get on with yourself," Zabri groaned playfully, pushing the cat away from her.
    C.J. laughed, then hopped over and tossed her arms around Kersti and Adrian when they appeared. "Hey guys! Thanks for coming."
    "It was great, C.J.," Kersti gushed, grinning back as she returned the drummer's hug. "So easy to see why you hit platinum."
    "And don't think I didn't see you shaking your thangs out there," C.J. teased, reaching up to pinch Adrian's cheek. "Who would've thought healers could move like that??" She saw Darshan making motions and held up a finger in a "one minute" gesture, giving him big kitten eyes.
    Besides, the ass groupie was jumping up and down, waving wildly in Darshan's direction, clearly trying to call in the marker. What were best friends for!?
    "I don't even want to know what some lurking photographers would make of /that/," Jacob commented, shaking his head as he pulled the backstage door open. Let C.J. and Fang linger all they wanted; he was ready to get out of the masses. He flashed a sympathetic half-grin towards Darshan as he passed the dragon, unable to fathom having a girlfriend like C.J.

    Fang grinned at C.J.'s invitation, and bent in a little half-bow. "I don't know, Ceej. From what I've heard about you and your partying, I might not /survive/ the experience." Which was questionable, since he was quite the partier himself, but C.J. did have something of a reputation.
    "Oh, sure, mock the witch," Adrian teased back, in his usual gentle way. "Watch it, or the next time you need a healing something just might get put back on the wrong way." A completely empty threat, since Adrian would probably heal his worst enemy with a smile on his face. He smiled at her, blue-gray eyes glowing. "You were fabulous, though. I was glad to finally get a chance to see you guys play live."
    Tala gave a low and slightly evil chuckle as she slipped past Jacob and through the backstage door. "I don't know, but I'm sure they'd think of something. 'Popular musician Fang Acacia takes up Eastern upside-down meditation technique'?"
    Darshan was studiously ignoring the ass-fan, his head turned towards the backstage door with what was probably a longing look. He caught Jacob's grin, and shrugged a shoulder, as if to say 'what can you do?'

    "Never know until you try," C.J. told Fang sweetly, before winking and going over to Kersti and Adrian.
    Zabri shook her head after the tiger. "You'd better be prepared for a serious hangover if you take her up on it," she warned the vampire. "Vampire or not."
    C.J. laughed and looped an arm around Adrian, giving him a hug. "Awww, poor witch boy. I really was quite impressed with your moving." She winked, then smiled brightly at his compliment. "Oh good, I'm really glad you enjoyed it. Friends always mean more than fans, you know." She grinned, squeezing both his and Kersti's hands. "The band was looking to have maybe a little party later, with just friends of the band; no fans or groupies or whatever. You're both more than welcome to come; it's in that hotel on the Strip, oh man, I can never remember. The Luxor, maybe?? Anyway, one of those."
    Kersti grinned. "One of those?? C.J., if you send us to the wrong hotel for a band party, I'm going to have to pinch you or something."
    Jacob smirked at Tala. "You think the tabloids would come up with something /that/ nice and polite?? I'm shocked." He chuckled at Darshan and let the door close behind him, immediately appreciating the much quieter hush afforded to the backstage area. The fans were now more of a muted roar than a shrill shrieking.

    "I believe it. I think it would be worth it, though," Fang replied, with a grin. He reluctantly started towards the stage door, waving cheerily at fans along the way and flashing his trademark razor-sharp grin at the crowd. He paused briefly near C.J. and her friends. "It's not the Luxor, it's the Paris," he said helpfully, and rattled off a suite number.
    Adrian smiled, and glanced at Kersti. "I'm alright with going, if you want to." It wasn't often that he got to go this long without someone ringing him up for a healing, and he was kind of relishing it.
    "I can dream, can't I?" Tala asked wistfully. She sagged against a wall as soon as the door closed, and let out a long breath. "Jeez. I don't mind the screaming crowds when I'm up on the stage... how come they're so much worse once I'm /off/ the stage?"

    Zabri chuckled and headed back to Gift's table as the band departed.
    "The Paris, that's it!" C.J. said, grinning at Fang and giving him a little wave. "Thanks Fangster."
    Kersti bit her lip to hide a smile, just imagining the number of nicknames this band had for each other, then nodded agreeably. "Sure," she said, lacing her fingers with Adrian. "It'll probably be fun, if it's just friends and stuff."
    "Great!" C.J. squealed, giving them another hug, before backing away with a grin. "It'll probably start in an hour or so, and go on until whenever. Just show up whenever you want. I've gotta go give D a break now, before he starts throwing people around." She winked at the couple, then turned and sauntered back to Darshan, waving at a few shouting fans along the way.
    Reaching her soulmate, she linked her arm through his and smiled winningly up at him. "Ready for fruit and champagne, my most gracious love??"
    Jacob chuckled, then nodded his agreement. "They give you a righteous high when on stage, but off...they're just animals."

    "Glad to have been of service," Fang drawled, before heading past the door that led to the backstage area, over to a nearly identical one with the word EXIT over it in glowing letters. Undoubtedly, he was going to sneak a cigarette... it wasn't like they would do his lungs any damage, anyway.
    Adrian gave Kersti's fingers a gentle squeeze, and glanced back at Darshan. "I think that may be a good idea," he told C.J., with a smile.
    "More than ready," Darshan agreed, casting a look at the surrounding crowd. "I may have to slip out in a couple minutes. Christian wanted to have a word." He resolutely decided to shift before he left the backstage area again. It would seem that his usual form drew... undue attention, in this crowd.
    "Hey," Tala protested, casting him a withering look. "Watch it. Some of us /are/ animals."

    C.J. giggled and waved at them, causing Kersti to smile. "This was fun, we should do it more often," she told Adrian, turning her smile to him as the other band started to play.
    "Awww," C.J. said at Darshan's news, unable to help a little pout as she squeezed his arm. "Already?? Are you going to come to the party later?? It's just going to be friends. You can bring Christian, if you want."
    Jacob held up his hands. "No disrespect to you and your brethren. You should go teach them some manners, for that matter."

    Adrian chuckled, and looped an arm around Kersti's shoulders. "Come on, let me buy you a drink." Of course, Adrian didn't imbibe, so his own drink would most likely be 7-Up. It was rather hard to focus on a healing when you were buzzed, and you could so something like... well, put something back on the wrong way.
    "I'll be there," Darshan promised her as he held open the backstage door with his free arm, and closed it behind them. "I can't promise anything when it comes to Christian, though. Parties really aren't his thing." They really weren't Darshan's thing, either, but he could tolerate a few people for a while, at least.
    He placed a gentle kiss on her forehead, and glanced around to make sure that Tala and Jacob were the only ones present before his skin seemed to shiver and reform, leaving him with pale skin, straight black hair, and narrow, slanted eyes. His clothing bagged a little on this slimmer form, but not enough to matter.
    "Uh-huh," Tala said, seemingly more amused that offended. "Beware of dog. We bite." She glanced sideways at Darshan, and shook her head. "You're right. C.J.'s boyfriend is creepy."

    Kersti cuddled into his side with a smile, walking with him towards the bar. "Just a strawberry daiquiri, please." She waved towards her mom and her friends, receiving a brief smile from Gift in return.
    "Well I was wanting him there for you more than anything," C.J. pointed out to her soulmate. "I know you don't have a lot of real friends, so it's only fair you get one too."
    She stifled a sigh when he changed, clearly preparing to go, and went over to snag a muffin from the complimentary basket. He wouldn't go unless it was important, she knew, especially if it concerned Christian, so she wouldn't say anything. At least he'd come to the actual opening, and he deserved to leave early after his ass-groupie ordeal. And he was coming to the party, and hopefully wouldn't be too bored.
    Jazzing herself back up, she picked up the bottle of chilled champagne and waved it at her bandmates. "C'mon guys, let's celebrate! We did an awesome job out there!"
    Jacob smirked at the dog comment, then shook his head. "I said he was scary; I didn't mention anything about creepy." He gave C.J. an amused glance. "An awesome job, and all you want to celebrate with is champagne?? Are you running a fever??"

    Adrian gave her shoulders a squeeze, then released her so that he could lean over the bar and order.
    "Thank you, dear," Darshan said, looking faintly amused by her summary of his social life, accurate though it was. He just didn't particularly like... people. He finished shifting, and with a final glance at his hands to make sure that they had gone from tawny gold to the same milky color as the inside of an almond, he pushed open the backstage door and stepped back into the club. Rather than hunt through the masses of people for one particular vampire, he sent his mind casting out for Christian. *You wished to speak with me?*
    Tala simply snorted, and pushed away from the wall she was leaning against to saunter over and grab a set of champagne flutes. "Don't encourage her, hun. Don't you know that our C.J. is going to be celebrating a job well done all through the night? She needs to pace herself."

    Kersti smiled warmly at her healer boy, staying close to his side as their drinks were mixed and poured and passed over. She smiled at the bartender, wrapping her fingers around her glass before dipping her finger in the whipped cream and licking it off. "My favorite part," she admitted to Adrian with a wink.
    C.J. sent a longing look after the departing Darshan, but didn't comment. Instead, she sent a wickedly charming smile at Tala. "Honey, you are so right. It's time to start the /real/ celebrating." Flouncing over to the backstage door herself, she opened it on inch, enough to reach out an arm and poke one of the security men. "Hey, can you go to the bar for us and get..."
    Her voice was lost in an upsurge from the crowd, and Jacob shook his head. "I don't even want to think about the multitude of liquor she's ordering. We'll have to give our check back to the club just to cover it."
    Fans held their breaths when the door opened, then released it in disappointment as Darshan emerged, as he looked nothing like anyone they knew. Too bad. Ass-groupie was looking particularly crest-fallen, hanging out as close to the door as he could by that point. He was /going/ to sign his ass over to C.J. Tigre, if it was the last thing he did.
    Christian was still talking quietly with Gift at that point, but lifted his head when he heard Darshan. *I'll meet you outside by the sidewalk.* He spoke a last word to Gift, nodded to her companions, and headed that way himself.

    Adrian chuckled, and watched Kersti lick the whipped cream off her fingers with a distinctly contemplative look. He accepted his own drink from the bartender, which looked remarkably like a Shirley Temple.
    Tala chuckled softly at Jacob's remark, watching mildly as their drummer ordered what had to be a truly impressive amount of liquor. "Honey, I just count myself lucky that none of us can die from alcohol poisoning. Otherwise, C.J. would have managed to kill us all years ago."
    *Alright,* Darshan agreed, and shoved his way, none too gently, through the gathered fans. He made his way along the edges of the room until he reached the door, and pushed it open, greedily taking a breath of the fresh air that rushed to greet him.

    Kersti grinned at Adrian's look, an impish look in her eye as she repeated the process. This time a bit more slowly. Mmm, whipped cream.
    Jacob's lips quirked as he went to sink into one of the plush couches set up in the room. "Makes me wonder what her liver looks like. Even if she is a shifter, surely the amount she puts away has to have an effect, right??"
    "I will have you know," C.J. started as she finally reentered the room, "my liver is just fine." She stuck her tongue out at Jacob. "I've never felt any side effects from my drinking, and me and alcohol get along fabulously, so why break up a good pair??"
    Christian was at the sidewalk by then, hands in the pockets of his leather jacket as he looked around. The air outside was infinitely cooler than in the club, and so much cleaner. It was quite nice.

    "Tease," Adrian said lightly, and leaned over to kiss her on the cheek. He offered her the bright red candied cherry that was floating merrily on the surface of his drink.
    "It doesn't have an effect," Tala said, with a sigh. "Not unless she decides to lace it with silver mercury or something. Although I once had an Uncle with the worst beer belly in the world, and the disturbing tendency to slur when he howled. Not pretty, I assure you."
    "Christian," Darshan said, as he spotted the other man. The curt tone and the slightly raised brows that went with it were so entirely like Darshan that it was hard to mistake him for anyone else, even if the face and voice were different. "You wished to see me?"

    Kersti grinned again. "Not often," she defended herself with a wink. "I think it's the atmosphere." Catching her hair, impish light still in her eye, she leaned over and caught the floating cherry with her teeth instead of fingers. Getting red sludge on her nose in the process. No one had ever accused her of being /overly/ graceful for a vampire.
    "Ah, the fun in puppy land," Jacob said with a bit of a teasing grin, even as C.J. set one hand on her slender hip and gave Tala a suspicious look.
    "Are you implying I have a beer belly?? Ha!" With one agile gesture, she whipped her shirt up and over her head, displaying an appropriately flat tummy with its diamond-pierced belly-button, and a black lace bra that was just almost sheer. "Now what've you got to say??"
    "I really hope scary boyfriend doesn't come back," Jacob muttered, more for himself than the others as he cast a speculative look towards the door.
    Christian spared Darshan's new look a slightly arched brow, but that was it. "As I mentioned, I recently came back from Europe," he began without preamble, turning to face the dragon fully. "Paris, to be more exact. Where a certain individual is looking to try to resurrect a more knowledgeable Council, and put Daybreak back in their place. She knows your name, and the trouble you might be going through with Daybreak, and asked for you to call her if you'd like more information." His voice was entirely toneless through the entire spiel, and the sleight-of-hand he managed so that a card appeared in front of Darshan was worthy of any magician. The card was a plain white affair, with a simple name and number on it.

    "That must be it," Adrian agreed with a laugh, and kissed her nose.
    Tala grinned back at Jacob. "Baby, remind me to bring you to the next family barbeque. There's nothing quite like a pack of drunken, reveling werewolves, let me tell you. You'll never look at things quite the same again." She looked up just in time to see C.J. whip off her shirt, and sighed, thinking that this was before the tiger had even had her first drink.
    She reached out to pat C.J.'s belly. "Yes, you have a very nice belly." She looked up at the other musician, and one dark brow rose. "Now put your shirt back on, sweetheart, before your boy-toy or, god forbid, Fang comes back here." She didn't think that Fang needed anything in the way of encouragement, and she didn't want Darshan to get the wrong idea and, like, eat her lead guitarist, or something.
    Darshan looked at the card for a moment, his face as coolly unreadable as always, even though it wasn't technically his face. "You know how I feel about politics, Christian." He looked up at the other man without so much as touching the card. "What have you gotten yourself into?" Last he had known, there had been no love lost between the vampire and the Night World's Council.

    Kersti grinned as he kissed her nose, then reached up to pull the stem from the cherry so she could eat it properly. Lifting her glass, she offered it to Adrian. "Want a sip?? You can have some of my whipped cream."
    "In a good or bad way??" Jacob asked Tala dryly, stretching one arm out along the couch as he watched the two females. He'd never even pretended to understand the working of the female mind before.
    C.J. wiggled her brows with a wicked grin. She was leaning it from Zabri. "D's busy for a while, and I just want to see Fang's expression. Plus it's not like---" Whatever words were about to come out were thoroughly lost as the door opened behind her, emitting the security man with an armload of liquor. And, incidentally, a few of the more hardcore persistent fans. Which would include the ass-groupie, of course.
    Jacob instinctively recoiled as six teenagers leapt into the room, bypassing any reaching security personnel. Two girls, no doubt twins who barely looked fourteen, ran over to him, screaming in sheer excitement as they waved posters to be signed. Two guys and a girl charged towards Tala, and there was a brief fear that they would actually tackle her.
    And ass-groupie took one look at C.J.'s bared torso and hollered his excitement, before yanking off his shorts. Boxers and all. Then he turned and bent double, frantically waving a permanent marker at C.J. "Sign my ass, sign my ass!"
    C.J. blinked huge dark eyes at the boy.
    Christian smiled, and this time it made his eyes colder, harder. He leisurely flicked the card between his fingers, the movement agile while seeming casual. "The girl trying to restart this Council. She's Terra Drago and Jayden Sadi's daughter."

    Adrian smiled and leaned forward to take a sip, and only a sip from her glass. He rubbed a bit of whipped cream from his mouth. "Sharing your whipped cream? I must say, Ms. Parker, I feel very privileged."
    "I don't know," Tala said, and pretended to think that over. "It really depends on whether or not Rolf decides to keep his pants on this time. That's a view that could permanently scar a person, let me tell you." She might have said more, but the door burst open, and the fans came pouring in. She grunted as one of the guys actually lifted her off the ground, hugging her and crying and saying that he wanted to be just like her when he grew up. Which was not something that she really wanted to think about.
    She did note, however, that there was a man bent over into the perfect kicking position with his pants down in front of C.J. And a part of her mind went, 'Ew, skinny white-boy ass.' But then, someone was yelling into her ear sweet nothings about acting out a scene from one of those books that she liked so much, and she became distracted.
    As he watched Christian's eyes turn cold and hard, a sudden chill seemed to sweep across Darshan's features as well, turning flesh into stone and borrowed black eyes into chips of onyx, frozen and unforgiving. He knew that Christian could be deadly, and respected that, but something had changed here without his being aware of it, and it was enough to make him wary. "The last time I checked, your love for Terra and Jayden almost rivaled your love for the Night World Council."

    "You should," Kersti said, all prissy like as she haughtily tossed her hair. "Only special individuals are allowed a taste of my whipped cream."
    "And that's supposed to tempt me to join you...how??" Jacob asked mildly, before the attack of the geekish tweenies descended. It really wasn't fair; what the hell were they paying extra bucks for security for?? They couldn't even keep out half-pints.
    He tried to extricate himself from the vise-like grips of the twins, who were begging very uncool things for almost pre-teens. Humans these days scared him. "That's very nice, but no," he told them, having to yank his arm free at one point. "I'll sign the poster for you, but then you have to go."
    Instant shrieks of denial came ringing into his head and he winced. It was time to retire to the Paris; there would be no encore tonight.
    C.J. was still staring at the white ass in front of her. It was amazing, what some people would go through for their idols. Just---
    The thought ended on a yelp as the boy suddenly turned and launched at her, unable to contain his excitement anymore. Caught unawares, she stumbled and went down on her back, with the boy atop her shouting in exaltation, "Oh my GOD, I just touched C.J. Tigre's boob! I touched her BOOB!"
    Well that, if nothing else, got the security team to work. Sexual harassment was frowned upon in most clubs, and this one was going to be lucky to get Death Fays back anyway. Working their way through the splay of adolescent limbs, the beefy security men started yanking on shirts and shorts to free the band members before showing the rabid fans to the door.
    Eyes still hard and cold, one light brow rose at the dragon. "You are correct, my friend. Which makes one wonder, what exactly would an offspring of those two do with the kind of power she's hoping to amass with this venture??" Raising his other hand, his movements graceful, he tore the card in half. "You're not the only one she's trying to recruit, if you care for the word. She's sent word to Koran, as a fellow dragon, and though she knows how she feels about her parents, she gave Gift a proposition, along with most of the RoA and some of the Hunters. Several other unsavory characters have been linked to this project as well."

    Adrian smiled and gave her a quick hug, careful not to spill either of their drinks.
    Two muscle-bound security personnel removed the hugger from Tala, and she promptly fell to the ground in a less-than-supernatural show of grace. She sat there blinking for a couple seconds, before a cry of "boob!" roused her. She watched as Skinny Ass was dragged from the room. "Ooo, boy. Darshan is going to kill that kid."
    She blinked again, then frowned and got up from the floor, brushing the dust off the butt of her black dress. "What the fuck are we paying security for, I ask you?," she demanded, just loudly and indignantly enough for the retreating security to hear every word. She figured she was entitled to her occasional prima-donna-bitch moments, when it came to having the pulp squeezed out of her and receiving suggestions that would probably give her nightmares for the rest of her life.
    "Unsavory," Darshan said, the word rolling off his tongue in a soft, caressing hiss. His face was still as stiff and cold as marble. "More unsavory that this woman's parents?"

    Kersti smiled back, returning the hug, before taking another drink of her daiquiri. "Do you want to dance some more before we head out??"
    "There will be nothing left of him," Jacob agreed, meticulously brushing at his mussed shirt as the twins were pulled screaming and crying from the room. They didn't even get their autographs, the grabby wretches. "Anyone else up for a discreet and hasty exit??"
    C.J.'s breath whooshed out before she leapt to her feet. Ass-groupie was struggling wildly against the man showing him out, shouting at the top of his lungs, "C.J., C.J., wait! You didn't sign my ass! You didn't sign my ass! Wait! What about just the left cheek!?"
    "Oh gods, I'm going to need a lot more liquor than this," C.J. mumbled, rummaging through the bottles left behind by security until she uncorked some tasty tequila and tilted it to her lips.
    "And a shirt," Jacob offered helpfully. "So you won't get positively mobbed when we try to get out of here." He could hear ass-groupie shouting just outside the newly closed door, something along the lines of, "I copped a feel on C.J. Tigre! She's mine! We're going to get married at the Elvis Chapel in an hour, for whoever wants to be there!"
    C.J. drained the bottle in one go.
    "It would be hard to go past their level," Christian allowed, sliding the ripped card in his pocket. "But they're reaching for it." He studied the dragon for a moment. "Darshan, I didn't tell you this to drag you into it. I'm aware of your preference for staying clear of drama, but I also wanted you to be aware of a blooming situation that you might unwittingly find yourself in the middle of. Your name isn't exactly unknown, no matter how much you'd like it to be, and several people are likely going to be paying you a visit."

    "Anything you like," Adrian said, waving an expansive hand. He was feeling relaxed and happy... Not that this was an entirely foreign state for him. Not anymore, not since he had been liberated from Terra.
    "He keeps that up, and /I/ might kill him," Tala said, narrowing her eyes at the screaming adolescent. "I so did not need to see that kid's caboose. Worse than cousin Rolf, I swear." She shuddered, and rubbed at her arms to get rid off the goose bumps. She watched with mild interest and not a hint of reproach as C.J. somehow managed to finish the tequila in one swallow.
    Darshan raised one elegantly arched black brow. "If that is indeed the case, it would seem that I have little choice on whether or not I am going to be dragged into it." Cold, cold eyes flicked towards Christian. "Through no fault of yours, of course, and I do appreciate the warning." One mustn't be so rude as to forget to say thank you, after all.
    He leaned one slim hip against the wall of the bar, and crossed his arms across his chest. They were long, pale, slender arms, and they looked very strange against the blackness of his t-shirt. "Where do you stand on all this, Christian?" It seemed necessary to ask, after the previous conversation.

    Kersti smiled indulgently at him, reaching over to smooth her fingers lovingly through his hair. "Maybe a few more then. But after we finish our drinks. I need a breather anyway."
    "Bad image," Jacob muttered, shaking his head while keeping one eye on C.J. The tiger did in fact drain a full bottle of tequila in one gulp. Did she even breathe??
    Releasing a soggy breath, C.J. finally let the empty bottle drop from her lips, setting it with a shaky hand on the table. She took one step closer to it, then stumbled, and only Jacob's lightning reflexes stopped her from tumbling face first into the table and its mass of liquor.
    "Whoa girl," he muttered, keeping one arm firmly about her waist as she sagged against him.
    The tiger actually giggled. "Dude, I don't think I've ever done that before," she observed, with another giggle. Jacob observed with some disgust that her words weren't even slurred though. It was kind of disturbing, how much alcohol she could put away.
    Dark eyes lifted to Tala. "/Now/ how to you propose we get out of here?? Without bare-ass boy tagging along??"
    Christian inclined his head silently; he'd suspected Darshan, and quite a few others, were going to be drawn into it anyway. But no one could say he'd forced the decision on anyone.
    Light brow lifting a bit high, the slightest hint of amusement could've passed somewhere over Christian's face. Maybe in the very corner of his mouth, or the flicker of an eyelash. "Do you mean to inquire if I have a vested interest in this new "council" coming out on top of whatever transpires from here?? If so, then the answer is no. I simply don't want to see Terra or Jayden or any offspring of theirs in any position of power."  One shoulder lifted in something almost too subtle to be called a shrug. "I can't say I /like/ Daybreak being in charge at this point, but if they don't bother me, I won't bother them. That's as far as it goes on that point."

    Adrian reached up to cover her fingers with his own, and chuckled. "I think that sounds like a marvelous idea. I know I was winded after all that dancing... I can't imagine how you did it in heels."
    "I still wake up screaming," Tala agreed.
    She leaned over to scoop up C.J.'s discarded shirt, lest someone walk in to see her half-dressed and in Jacob's arms, and get the wrong impression. "Arms up, girl," she ordered, untangling the shirt so that it could be slid over the tiger's head. She shrugged at Jacob's question. "I don't know. Aren't you a macho vampire man? You could always carry her out to the limo." She wrinkled her nose. "The rental company is going to be really pissed if she pukes on the leather seats, but it's probably the only way to get her out of here."
    Which was the exact moment when Fang walked in the door that led in from the alley. He stared at them for a long moment.
    "Not a word," Tala snapped, knowing that if anyone was likely to jump to conclusions, it was Fang.
    He shrugged. "I was just going to ask how much booze she'd had," he said. "Nice bra, Ceej," he added, in an offhanded sort of way. "Victoria's Secret?"
    A modicum of warmth crept back into Darshan's expression, the smallest hint of humor. At times, when Christian spoke, it felt eerily like his own thoughts were coming out of someone else's mouth. "I wonder at her recruitment choices. I, at least, have a reputation for neutrality, and it wouldn't be the first time someone has thought to sway me to their cause. But why Gift? Not that Ms. Redfern wouldn't be an asset to any cause, but her hatred for Terra is well-known. And you? You lost your fondness for the Council a long time ago, as I recall."

    Kersti laughed, lacing their fingers to give his a squeeze. "It's a very complex talent," she assured him with a wink. "And another privilege; you're the only one I wear heels for, sweetheart."
    Jacob gave a little shudder at Tala's words, before C.J.'s abrupt appearance in his arms. Ah, wasn't this band just too fun for words??
    "Aren't they already up??" C.J. asked with all the innocent curiosity of a particularly sloshed kitten.
    Jacob's lips twitched, then he shrugged at Tala. "Yeah, I can carry her out. Not sure how well that's going to go over with the media though. Or ass boy." Who was still shouting about his impending nuptials what sounded like right outside the door.
    "I don't puke," C.J. said then, rather indignantly. "Well, at least until the next morning. Yeah, tomorrow morning isn't going to be pretty. At all."
    "Thanks for that reminder," Jacob muttered, eyes lifting when the door opened. Gaze narrowed just slightly before Tala handled that potential disaster. Jacob could still imagine the next day's headlines if Fang had anything to say about them.
    C.J. hiccupped, then grinned at Fang. "The angel series, I think it was. Darshan was /really/ impressed."
    "Which he won't be if he comes back now," Jacob cut in, gently shifting the tiger shifter around. "Come on C.J., get your arms up so Tala can put your shirt back on. Then we can go to the hotel and you can get even drunker."
    "Oh boy," C.J. said with enthusiasm, lifting her arms up. Jacob couldn't help but let his eyes glance over her lifted bosom at the same time, and decided Darshan had reason to be impressed. Bra or no bra.
    Christian shrugged again, voice a bit ironic as he said, "You can't blame a child for her mother's failings, right?? I'm not really entirely sure how she approached Gift, or what their interactions have been." Another shrug. "All she promised me was her vow that nothing like what happened before would occur again, and all of mine would be protected and cared for in case of danger." The corner of his mouth might've twitched. "Because I'm so sure Daybreak is going to come a-running."

    "I appreciate it," Adrian said. Then the healer in him prompted him to add: "Although, those are killer on your back and knees. I don't want to you to hurt yourself on my account." He thought he heard someone yelling about C.J. Tigre's boobs and how he planned to marry her, but as he understood it, that was pretty much par for the course at this sort of event, so he ignored it.
    "Oh, I'm sure it will go over -very- well with the media. Considering the fact that she just about crawled down her boyfriend's throat earlier, and then was found in your arms. They'll be running the story for weeks. Maybe we can kind of... prop her up between us."
    Fang grinned and shot C.J. a thumbs-up. "From a purely objective standpoint, may I just say... good choice." Tala gave him a dirty look, and was thankfully so busy doing so that she didn't notice when Jacob's eyes descended to lower than eye level.
    Fang swept a glance over the werewolf in her tight little black dress, and grinned at her. "I like the dress too, Tala."
    "Oh, jeez," she muttered, and turned back to Jacob and C.J. so that she could hook the shirt over C.J.'s arms and tug it down. Then she eyed the drummer speculatively, and shrugged. "How's the support?"
    "Yes, I can't really see Daybreak going after friends and loved ones to get at their enemies," Darshan mused, and looked faintly amused at the thought. Oh, yes, Daybreak, bloodthirsty killers all. Not that he was particularly pleased with them right now, but they were just above doing some things.
    Stupid of them, really.

    Kersti grinned, eyes sliding over Adrian's face affectionately. "Not to worry; I don't think vampires have to worry about perfect posture. And face it, women have been using heels for many, many years, and the vast majority of them seem alright." At least to her unknowing non-healer eyes, at any rate.
    "And that's the exact kind of thing we want to avoid," Jacob said dryly. "Preferably, anyway. All I need is Darshan to see us in this compromising position, again and again on the front of several tabloids. I'd think to keep my heart where it is, thank you."
    "Awwww, he's not that bad," C.J. giggled. "He's really sweet, in fact. He just has to, yanno, keep up appearances."
    "So says you," Jacob observed, before looking back up at Tala. "You take an arm, I take an arm??"
    C.J. beamed widely at Fang. "Why thank you. I quite like it myself. It's very soft."
    "Comparatively??" Jacob murmured, again more to himself than anyone, before lifting a brow at Fang. "You want to hit on anyone else, or rather help us so we can get out of here?? We need to make sure a mob isn't hanging out outside the door, so how about getting security to do something with themselves??"
    C.J. was humming by then, waiting patiently as Tala pulled her shirt on. Wasn't that nice, someone to dress her. Maybe she should look into that.
    Large eyes blinked slowly at the werewolf's question, before C.J.'s face lit up again. "Oh, it's great. No strain whatsoever, and it gives excellent bounce. See." She bounced a few times on the balls of her feet, eliciting quite a nice jiggle from her chest, which Jacob just barely managed not to stare at.
    "It's seriously time to get out of here," he said instead.
    Christian inclined his head in agreement. "No one's been able to argue with Daybreak's intentions, which is both a blessing and a flaw. If our favorite trio manages to amass enough power behind themselves, they will have no problem wiping Daybreak out."

    "Remind me to tell you what the ligaments in their knees look like, sometime," Adrian said dryly, but he softened it with a smile. "You're probably right, though. A vampire's healing capacity is really quite incredible."
    "Frankly, I don't much care if he's only keeping up appearances, if the appearance that he's keeping up is that of liquefying our lead guitarist's brains," Tala muttered. She simply nodded at Jacob's suggestion; any one of them could probably sling C.J. over their shoulder and be done with it, but there was no way to do that without giving the media fodder.
    "I bet," Fang said agreeably to C.J. He seemed to consider Jacob's question with all due seriousness, then shrugged. "No, I think I'm done. It was clear when I was out there taking a smoke, but I can have security check it, if you want."
    "That's great. Maybe I'll pick up a couple," Tala said weakly, and looked like she was trying very hard not to laugh when C.J. jiggled her chest. She couldn't even really blame the boys for gawking at that. Instead, she looped an arm around the tiger's waist. "Come on, sugar, lean on me. It's time to get you out of here."
    Darshan made a vague sound of agreement. "I agree with you on that much, at least. Having those three in power would not be good for anyone. Daybreak held their own a decade ago, but they can't fight this."

    Kersti chuckled, reaching over to catch his chin and lay a light kiss on his mouth. "Plus I don't wear them enough to really warrant torn ligaments," she said with a smile. "Once a month or something doesn't seem like it'll do too much damage."
    C.J. blinked slowly at Tala. "You know, he can do that," she said after a minute, a thoughtful comment if nothing else. "I saw him liquefy someone's brains before. It wasn't really pretty."
    Jacob gave Tala suffering look, mixed with the silent signal "do /not/ give her anything else to think about right now," and pulled one of C.J.'s arms around his shoulders.
    He gave Fang a bit of a nastier look, then grimaced. "Even if we go out the alley, we're going to have to circle around front to get to the limo. Unless you can get the driver to pull in the back. But even that will get some attention." Jacob shrugged. "It seems to be pick the better of bad situations."
    C.J. giggled, shamelessly studying Tala's chest. "Dude, we're like, about the same size. You can try one of mine and see if you like it before buying one," she offered oh-so graciously.
    "Okay, now /that/ is really hard for a red-blooded guy not to comment on," Jacob said with a deep sigh. "Can we please go now??"
    C.J. giggled again, obediently leaning into Tala. She felt weightless now, with Jacob on one side and Tala on the other. She felt like...swinging!
    O"What about the rest of the alcohol??" she asked suddenly, looking at her bandmates. "Aren't we bringing that too??"
    Christian nodded slightly. "So my main objective right now is just to stomp those three out. I don't care about the attempted Council, or Daybreak. Just those three."

    Adrian ran a gentle hand over her hair, and chuckled. "Alright, then. I'll stop fussing, I promise."
    "No, I don't imagine it was," Tala said, in the contemplative tone of someone who had to eat the innards of animals on a regular basis in order to survive. She shrugged at the look that Jacob gave her; it wasn't like C.J. wouldn't come up with something equally disturbing all on her own.
    "I'll ask the limo to pull around," Fang said negligently. "We might attract attention, but at least you two will have a shorter distance to move her, and it will only be the really determined fans and paparazzi that follow."
    A moment later, all rational thought fled from his brain as he glanced between Tala and C.J., comparing relative mass. "You might be right about cup size, Ceej, but I think that Tala's rib cage might be wider. What are you, Tal? A 36, 38?"
    "Fang, shut up," Tala said, reaching up to hook C.J.'s free arm over her shoulders. She eyed the bottles on the ground as though they were poisonous, although at this point, she rather thought that she could use a drink as well. "There will be more booze at the hotel, sweetie. Why don't we wait for there?"
    Darshan seemed to consider this a moment, his head tilted to the side. "The idea isn't without merit. If you need my aid in the matter, you have it."

    Kersti gave him a smile clearly meant just for him, then finished her drink and tugged his hand gently. "Come on, finish up so we can go dancing some more."
    C.J. hmmmed thoughtfully, eyes going vague with remembrance. Bloodsucker though he is, Jacob decided he didn't want to know exactly what she was remembering. In some instances, secrets about one's bandmates could only be a good thing.
    He nodded at Fang, wondering if C.J.'s intended was going to get the drift of things to happen before they were safely away. And how disappointed were /his/ fans going to be when they showed up at the Elvis Chapel, and there was no bride?? How...sad.
    C.J. blinked at Fang, then looked down at her chest. "What, are you saying I'm small??" she asked in a voice that could almost be termed indignant. "I'll have you know, a lot of people like these suckers. I've seen pictures of them on the internet." Her head tilted. "Well, actually I like they were like Pamela Anderson's with my face plastered on 'em. Which doesn't really count, does it?? Hmmm." She looked back down at herself thoughtfully and Jacob could only stare for a minute.
    "Okay," C.J. told Tala agreeably. "Honestly, I've had better anyway. They're rather cheap at this place, aren't they??"
    "Considerably," Jacob agreed, motioning with his free hand for Fang to go get the limo. Time was of the essence here, or however they saying went.
    Christian inclined his head. "Appreciative, as always. I'm not entirely sure what they're planning to do at this point, as Terra and Jayden are currently playing least-in-sight. So far all of it's gone through the daughter, and I regret to say she's inherited all of her parents' most ghastly traits. With a good deal of foresight, which I think she developed on her own."

    "Yes ma'am," Adrian replied with mock-meekness. He finished the last of his drink, then wrapped his hand around hers and allowed himself to be pulled back towards the dance floor.
    "I think he's saying that I'm fat, not that you're small," Tala said dryly. Facing danger on all fronts, Fang chose the better part of valor, and backed slowly out the side door leading outside.
    Tala was smirking. "I think we've traumatized our little Don Juan for life. He'll never be able to speak of lady's undergarments again." She glanced sideways at C.J. "Their booze may be cheap, but it would seem they get the job done," she muttered.
    Darshan made a rude sound in the back of his throat. "Wonderful. What is she? With parentage like that, I can't even begin to fathom."

    Kersti smiled sweetly at him, then pulled him back into the bumping rhythm of the dance floor.
    C.J.'s head tilted as she studied Tala. "You're not fat," she finally decided. "You're voluptuous. I like it. Curvy. I don't have a lot of curves. And I have /no/ hips." She sighed deeply and Jacob felt a brief stab of envy as Fang make a discreet departure.
    "We can only hope," he said dryly to Tala. "Maybe he'll leave mine alone in the bargain." He shifted C.J., tightening his hold on her when she made a move like she'd reach out for another bottle. "No my dear C.J., you're going to have to wait for that. Just a little while."
    "Not enough," C.J. told Tala, a bit of a whine coming into her voice. "I'm so not even /close/ to being drunk. This is really disappointing. But oh!!" Excitement flashed through her eyes and she bounced a bit between them. "Where's my jacket?? I have a joint in the inner pocket I was saving for just this occasion. /How/ could I have forgotten about it??"
    Christian smiled a bit ruefully. "They're marking her off as lamia, but she's a full-fledged dragon to boot."

    "Hrm," Tala said, and tilted her head to look C.J. over. "I don't know. You're not too skinny, and you're tall. You're... what do they call it?... willowy." She grinned wolfishly at her friend. "I, on the other hand, cannot find a decent pair of off-the-rack jeans, because apparently if you're anything over a size six, you're also supposed to be five-foot-eight."
    She patted C.J.'s head vaguely, and edged towards the door. C.J. drunk and stoned was probably more than they could handle right now - better to wait for the hotel. "I bet you there's a mini-bar in the limo," she offered. "With all those cute little bottles?"
    "I'm afraid to say that our bloodlines are rather resilient," Darshan said. "Just look at the shapeshifters' royal house. So many generations have passed, and they still retain much of the ability of their one-horned ancestress." He looked at Christian. "Terra was an eight-horned dragon."

    "Willowy," C.J. echoed, rolling the word off her tongue like a musical note. Then she giggled. "I like that. Makes me sound all dainty and feminine." Again her head dropped, eyes running over the leather pants encasing her long legs and the form-fitting black shirt on her torso. "Which I'm not, I don't think. I've always been a tomboy, I think."
    Head lifting again, she observed her bandmate. "Jeans are hard," she agreed after a moment. "Better to get leather. It forms to you better."
    Jacob sighed to himself, trying to wait this out until Fang reappeared. It wouldn't surprise him if the vampire was taking this long just to punish him.
    "Little bottles, pah," C.J. said in disgust, going along with her friends. "What good are those?? Not even a mouthful, I bet."
    Christian inclined his head in acknowledgement, then gave a very slight grimace. "It hasn't been determined how many horns the girl possesses, or how powerful she really is. She's quite enjoying her facade of just being a vampire."

    Tala gave a low chuckle. "Sugar, I don't think it's legal to look as good as you do in a miniskirt and call yourself a tomboy." She caught Jacob’s sigh, and grinned at him over C.J.'s shoulders. "Sorry, sweetheart. Being friends with girls is a trade-off. You get to see us topless, but you also have to listen to us bitch and moan."
    "Variety," she told C.J. immediately. "A mouthful of gin, a mouthful of vodka... like doing shots. Come on, it'll be fun."
    "I'm sure she is," Darshan murmured. "Does she keep shapeshifters away from her, or are they unable to sense what she really is?" His moved as the bass player from C.J.'s band stepped out of the alley, whistling cheerfully and sauntering towards the limo parked in front of the club.

    C.J. couldn't help but preen a little under the praise. "Really?? I'm partial to pants myself, but I know guys just wanna see a little naked leg sometimes. And I don't think the fans would like it if I was a real tomboy."
    She fell into silent contemplation and Jacob gave Tala a look. "I don't think even seeing you topless is worth this. You women take your obsession with body type way too far."
    "Well, maybe," C.J. allowed after a minute, slowly getting jazzed by the idea of multi-laced shots. "Maybe we can play quarters on the way to the hotel!"
    Jacob's lips quirked. "I think that would be incredibly unfair to you, C.J. I wonder if you could even pick up a quarter at this point."
    Christian shrugged. "When I was there, all she surrounded herself with was vampires. I don't know if that means no shapeshifters abound there, but it seems likely, if she's trying to keep herself a secret." His own gaze rose, following the bass player's path.

    Tala gave Jacob a dirty look. "Watch it, or the next time we order room service, I'll start whining about how it's all going straight to my hips." She eyed C.J., and silently agreed with Jacob's assessment. "How about you and I just go shot-for-shot?" she asked. She was even pretty sure that she could outpace C.J. this one time, being as the tiger-shifter had already downed a bottle of tequila.
    "It seems likely," Darshan agreed. He turned his gaze from Fang back to Christian, and a very small smile quirked his lips. "C.J. wanted to know if you'd be interested in coming to the after-show party."

    Jacob couldn't resist the grin tugging at his lips as he looked at Tala. "You got it; from now on, all we order from room service is salads and bottled water. That way there will be no whining ever again."
    "Groooss," C.J. complained. "I was so not made to eat salads." Her red-orange head bobbed in agreement with the werewolf. "That will work too. And I've got a head start, so that'll make it about even this time." She smiled sweetly at Tala, causing Jacob to chuckle.
    Christian hmmed thoughtfully, considering his options with this new council business, before a brow rose slowly in Darshan's direction. "Attend the after show party of a fairly popular band after they've already been mobbed at least three times tonight?? Do I look stupid or just daring??"

    Tala bared her teeth at him. "Good. You can eat the salad, and I can eat the busboy who brings it."
    She didn't even both to deny the truth of what C.J. said; there was just no competing with the other woman when it came to drinking. "Deal."
    "She says that it's only going to be close friends," Darshan said dryly. "Which means that, oh, only about half of the people in the club will be showing up."

    "Now now, /he/ will definitely go straight to your hips," Jacob predicted with a smirk. "And was I the one complaining about my hips or thighs?? I don't think so."
    C.J. giggled. "You should. You got big hips."
    Jacob sighed and the tiger grinned at Tala. "So let's go! Shots await us!"
    Christian shook his head. "My friend, I do not envy you a pop culture girlfriend." A half-grin curved his mouth. "Think the ass-groupie will be showing up??" He looked over to see the band's limo was trying to maneuver towards the back alley the bass player had come from, causing an almost-white brow to raise in slight question. A few smoking fans also saw this, and were watching with baited breath to see if the band was going to emerge.

    "Yeah," Tala said in a disgusted tone. "Like you have to worry about /anything/ going to your hips or thighs. You're on the ultimate liquid diet." She stretched out her fingers so that she could reach the door that Fang had disappeared through, and it swung open, letting in a gust of desert air, cool now that the sun had set. This way they could see when the limo drove up, and get C.J. in as quickly as possible.
    "Do you know how hard it is to maintain anonymity with all the tabloids and fans?," Darshan asked. Then he looked down at his current form. "Well, maybe not so hard for me as for others."

    Jacob shrugged. "Still don't hear me complaining," he observed, lips quirking some more.
    C.J. breathed in the night air and sighed happily. Made her want to go running.
    "Indeed," Christian said dryly. "But then you seem to dislike it most out of all of them."

    Tala rolled her eyes but let the argument go, raising her head to catch a whiff of the night air. It was stagnant here, flavored with the stench of the alley, but she knew that out in the desert it would be dry and sweet. "Full moon in a couple days," she muttered, mostly to herself.
    "Yes, well," Darshan said with a shrug. "I like my anonymity more than they do."

    "Heading back to the homestead for it??" Jacob asked, glancing towards her as C.J. began humming again.
    "No one can doubt that," Christian agreed. "Are you actually going to the party??"

    "I can't," Tala said, a little wistfully. "We're booked solid all this week - there's no time for me to fly across the country. Maybe I'll go for a run in the desert after our show that night."
    "I actually am," Darshan said. "For a while, at least. I usually beg off pretty early. Around the time I start to feel like eating a few of the guests."

    Jacob nodded. "I heard there's a gang hanging around here somewhere. Not sure what shifter protocol is, but maybe they'll let you run with them??"
    Another half-grin settled over Christian's mouth. "And trust C.J. in the hands of the ass-groupie?? I'm impressed." Velvety eyes lifted when the club doors swung out, emitting a whole crowd of teenagers. In the middle was someone shouting about their upcoming nuptials and how everyone needed to head towards the Elvis Chapel now if they wanted to be there on time.
    Christian's brow rose a little higher, and he glanced over to see how the limo was progressing. Hopefully that meant the band was coming out of a back way and would avoid being mobbed, yet again.

    "Ha, no," Tala said. "Werewolves in particular and 'shifters in general are very touchy about their territory and who they run with. If I really want company, I can always hunt down a few Daybreak 'wolves. They try really hard to suppress their tear-out-your-throat urges, so they might snap and growl at me, but it's unlikely that they'll try to rip me a new one. Since, y'know, we're all supposed to just be the best of friends."
    "I'd be more worried about what the hotel would charge us when she pitches him out a window," Darshan replied, also watching the progress of the limo. The good thing was, once the limo was in the alley, the fans really couldn't get through on either side. There was just no space.

    Jacob chuckled. "I was wondering that myself. But yes, I'm sure Daybreak would supply you with a few wolves to make the run fulfilling. Probably the spayed and neutered kind, so they'll be extra nice to you." He winked at Tala, hearing the limo nearing. Hallelujah, maybe this night was almost over.
    That got a real smile from Christian. "Yes, there is that too." His eyes remained on the limo though, and the inevitable nudge went through the crowd. Eyes swiveled around to the limo, watching its progression, and murmurs went through it. Who was in the limo?? Or, who was going to get /in/ the limo??

    Tala laughed softly. "Ah, yes, my poor kindred werewolves. Daybreak took them for a trip to the vet's office, and now they don't play with the other puppies anymore."
    The limo pulled up right next to the open stage door... and really, it was a good thing that it was open, or Fang would have had no room to push open the limo door. As it was, it scraped against the doorframe a little. He gave them a jaunty wave, then scooted over on the seat to make room for the others to get in.
    "Looks like they're making a break for it," Darshan said amusedly.

    "They just don't fit in anymore," Jacob commiserated with a little grin. All too willingly, he helped Tala get C.J. into the limo when it finally arrived, then followed the girls in and shut the door. "Please, let's get going. Just maybe we can get a clean break."
    "Think they'll make it??" Christian inquired, as a few of the more daring fans started to sprint towards the limo. They clearly had an idea or two who it might be for.

    Tala grinned back. "What about the poor little defanged vampires? Do the other vampires make fun of them?"
    She got into the car with a remarkable amount of speed, considering the fact that she was helping to balance a woman who was a good half-foot taller than she was. "Lock the doors," she warned, and reached over Fang to click the lock on her side. There had been a nasty incident where several more hardcore fans had actually gotten into the limo.
    "Well, I wouldn't put it past Tala or Jacob to tell the driver to back out over the fans," Darshan said.

    "And threaten to bite them," Jacob agreed with a little smirk. He slapped all of the locks down once in the limo, watching with some amount of fascination as C.J. immediately pounced on the mini-bar. That girl just scared him sometimes.
    "Shots all around," the tiger sing-songed as the limo started to ease backwards out of the alley.
    "That's one way to take care of it," Christian agreed. "Might hurt sales though."

    Tala relaxed once the doors were all locked, and grinned when she saw where C.J. had gone. She shifted in her seat so that she could peer over the tiger-shifter's shoulder. "I'll take a little dinky bottle of gin, if you don't mind."
    "I doubt it," was Darshan's only response. He sighed and stretched unfamiliar bones. "If you're unwilling to brave the party, would you like to meet tomorrow for breakfast? I would like to know more about this child that Jayden and Terra have spawned."

    "A dinky gin bottle, check," C.J. chirped, handing one over her shoulder to the werewolf. "Boys??"
    "I'll leave the mini-bar for you," Jacob chuckled, watching as the limo exited the alley. And was promptly besieged by screaming fans pounding on doors and windows, peering in, trying to confirm their suspicions of who was inside.
    Christian chuckled, then inclined his head. "I do believe I'll pass on the party. If anyone can handle it on his own, it's you." Lips quirked again. "And yes, breakfast tomorrow morning will be fine. Around eight, say, at IHOP??"

    "You girls are on your own," Fang said, as Tala opened the bottle of gin. "At least until we get to the hotel, where they keep the good stuff." He actually winced as someone screamed into the glass right next to his very sensitive lamia ear.
    Tala saw the wince and smirked. "Be glad that it's tinted, at least."
    "That will be fine," Darshan agreed. "There's one fairly near to the hotel."

    "Oh boy," C.J. said happily, grabbing a handful of the dinky bottles for herself before sprawling across the leather seat beside Jacob. She flicked one of the tops off with her thumb and downed that particular bottle, eyes sliding from side to side, observing the fans beating the limo as it inched through them.
    "Oh!" she suddenly explained, pointing out the window nearest her. "It's the...the...the ass man! He wanted me to have his ass. Hey, we should let him in!"
    Inclining his head again, Christian agreed, "I'll find it. I'm going to call a few people tonight, see if I can find out anything else about the girl. Hopefully I'll have more for you tomorrow."