Sahar laughed, light and unrestrained, just loud enough to turn the heads of the people at the two tables closest to the phones. "Huh. Does that apply to all the things that I've heard about you, Mace?"
    "I fully intend to blame Terra," she said, promptly. "For this, and for what happened at the house earlier, and for Darshan getting fried, and quite possibly for the sinking of the Titanic. Or maybe just for the movie 'Titanic'. Because I need to blame someone for that." She kept the soft humor in her voice, because, really, did either of them need an excuse to be morose right now?
    Her eyes drifted back to the nice Daybreak folk at Mace's words, and she shrugged, even though he couldn't see it. "No, not really. They're not so bad, even if they are a little bit... intense. They know about Darshan, and I've been trying to convince them that they don't need to go all spaghetti western, ain't-room-enough-in-this-town-for-the-both-of-us on him." She huffed a little, an indignant little sound that carried well through the phone lines. "They... kind of... listened."
    The mention of Koran made her pause, but only briefly. "Just as long as he's not the only one there. I don't really intend to avoid him for the rest of my life." All the same, she felt a little quiver of nervousness in her belly, one that she thought would be there for a while.

    "Well, you have your fun, and I'll have mine," Sonya said, and her expression turned thoughtful. "I do worry about this, though. Terra and Sadi are powerful, but manageable. They're not the only people that Blaire has working for her, though, and most of the others are somewhat more restrained." Meaning that they were much more willing to dance to the tune that Blaire played, as long as they got what they wanted at the end of the day.
    "Are you surprised?" Tristan asked, amused. He laughed softly, and gave her a hot once-over before leaning his head back against the pavement. "You're exquisite, Rye, and you have some of the best legs that I've ever seen. Understand, I am only saying this because I don't want your self-esteem to suffer."

    "Quite," Galen said, and sighed.
    He reached up, running a pensive hand through his golden hair. He looked at Price. "Don't take this the wrong way, but if this Darshan Guivre is such a fine old chap, what was he doing this morning to set off all of our alarms?"

    Jacob grunted and let Fang field that one, because the lazy bastard needed to do /something/.
    Nona's words made Kersti bite her lip lightly, and send out another tentative thought. *Mom??*
    *Jasper and Zabri are coming to get you out, baby. It'll be a couple more minutes.*
    A little sigh of relief and she looked up at Nona. "My mom's sending some friends to get us out."
    Meanwhile, George's voice came back into Fang's head. *Tristan is no longer broken and bleeding, I am fine, and your cavalry is likely on the way. Hang tight, Acacia.*

    "Oh, probably," Mace said unabashedly. Rumors were always fun, and if they weren't real, lies were just as fun. "Feel free to say something of your own. My reputation knows no bounds."
    A smirk formed at the blaming of Terra. "I think I'm gonna blame her for the Teletubbies. I mean...what the fuck?? And that anime garbage these days. Jesus, what happened to good old fashioned cartoons, like Transformers??"
    The news of Daybreak knowing about Darshan made Mace's face darken. Especially if she was talking to his dragon-slaying brother, literally and figuratively. "I don't like that," he admitted, coming to realize he might have to talk to Galen after all. "Daybreak doesn't like dragons, and there are a lot more of them than him." Though at this point, Daybreak would have to go through him and all of the gang to get to the dragon.
    "And no, I'm here, and Liv is, and Christian and his girlfriend, and Gift and some of her little friends, and a blessedly unconscious C.J. A bit of a crowd, actually." Kind of disturbing, really. Drama always brought out the crowds.

    "What, no fun together??" Christian inquired, glancing at the female with a calmer version of the brutal smile. Her further words made his face smooth out and he gave her a thoughtful look of his own. "Do you know who she has working for her??"
    Rye chuckled richly, fingers skimming lightly up the arch of his feet as the power continued doing its work. "Yes, I could see some biting following that," she finally decided. "And my self-esteem does appreciate it."
    George, who'd been watching this display of shameless flirting with vague interest, finally got around to rolling his eyes and walked away. The humans were starting to get curious, a few running out from the hotel to finally dismiss their wailing car alarms. Some were coming from the street, stopping and staring and lifting cameras. Damn tourists. Unfortunately, there wasn't anything they could do about Tristan until he was able to walk, but leaving C.J. out in her underwear on the hood of a car was just begging for groupies. And press. Gods, the press.
    Walking over to Christian and Sonya, he gave her a brief nod and focused on him. "We need to get her inside."
    A brow raised at him. "The suite is trashed. Where do you propose to take her??"
    "Out of public," George replied bluntly. "She's a well-known figure and she's going to start drawing attention, especially in her current state. I'm not entirely sure what's going on, but we need to start cleaning it up, now."
    Christian studied the man for a second, recalling this was one of Gift's drones, then glanced at C.J. Who was still sleeping fitfully. *Adrian, how long is C.J. going to sleep??*

    Keller managed not to echo the sigh, though she moved her hand beneath the table to squeeze Galen's knee gently.
    Ignoring any hint of movement beneath the table, Price shrugged at Galen. "Apparently he was fighting another dragon," he said mildly, with a glance at his mother. Keller grimaced just slightly. "If you want some more info, you might can ask her." Price nodded towards the shifter on the phone and grinned cheerfully at Galen.
    Again, little brat, Keller thought.

    "Good," Nona said, flashing a brief, appreciative smile at Kersti.
    *Okay!* Fang chirped, and broke off communication. "George is fine. Tristan was broken and bleeding, but he's feeling better now."
    The look that Nona gave him was alarmed. "What? What happened?"
    *Nona wants to know who busted up Tristan* Fang relayed, sounding bored.

    "Oh, that has such potential," Sahar breathed, "but I'll make sure to keep any rumors involving barnyard animals to a minimum." She shuddered briefly at the mention of Teletubbies. "Ugh. I'm not sure that even Terra is capable of an evil that great. You're a Transformers man?" She giggled softly. "Tell the truth, Mace. Did you originally try to pick some kind of household appliance as your other form? Is that why you get so upset when I blow them up?"
    "I don't like it, either," she replied, twisting a bit of hair between her thumb and forefinger nervously. "I'm also worried that if Terra does something naughty, something that really attracts their attention, it will reflect badly on Darshan. I mean, I'm not really worried about them putting him back to sleep, but I don't want for him to have to disappear or fight them. He'd hate that, and C.J. would hate that, and it would be really bad if it that was what it came to." She released the lock of hair, and chewed on her lip. "I'll put in another word or two when I say my goodbyes," she said, finally, determined. "They have to understand. We really can't worry about Daybreak breathing down our necks at the same time that Jayden and Terra are causing trouble."
    "Christian has a girlfriend?" Sahar wondered, then shook her head. "Never mind. I'll find out soon enough. See you in a few. Bye." She hung up the phone, scraped the remaining change into her hand, and turned back to the table full of Daybreakers.

    "Now, Christian," Sonya said, with a slightly deeper smile, her voice gently chiding, "I'm always willing to play with you." For a bare moment, frustration flashed across her features, before they cleared. "Some, not all. Blaire doesn't really trust anyone completely, and although I was relatively far in her confidence, there are things that she kept even from me." She snorted softly. "With good cause, it would seem."
    She looked up when George approached them, and glanced at the spectators. "We're going to have to do some massive damage control," she remarked, cold eyes ticking over the humans who had come out into the parking lot as if she was contemplating who she was going to kill first.
    "You know, it's really not fair to use the word 'biting' so often around a vampire," Tristan mocked, his head still resting on the glass-strewn concrete.
    Adrian didn't so much as twitch when Christian contacted him, although the power that he was filtering through Rye stuttered for a moment before picking up again. "Tell Christian that I had intended to keep her under until Darshan returns, but that I can wake her at any time."
    Tristan grunted, and relayed the message.

    "Another dragon?" Galen repeated, his voice going a little rough. "Who is this other dragon? For that matter, who on earth has been waking these people up?"
    "Her name is Terra Drago," Sahar said brightly, as she came up to the table. Then her tone dipped ominously. "She's the one that you should be worrying about."

    Kersti smiled back, hearing Jacob's sigh of relief from across the elevator. She glanced over and saw one of the new vampires was looking at her again. Okay, creepy vampire was starting to make her a little nervous. She hoped Zabri and Jasper hurried.
    *Tell her she can learn all about it when she gets down here,* was George's succinct reply. He was not playing messenger boy with Fang, that was for sure.
    Nolan was looking mildly alarmed as well, though he had a better idea of why Tristan was broken and bleeding.

    Mace sighed deeply as Sahar hung up, replacing his cell phone. Sometimes, she made him feel old; other times, she made him feel rather alive.
    Smirking at that thought, he glanced over at Oblivion. The vampire raised a brow and Mace jerked his head, and the pair came over. "Sahar's coming over."
    Koran perked up instantly and Mace gave him a stern look. "No Koran. There will be no touching of the little lioness. Mine."
    A pout from the witch. "Not fair."
    "Koran, meet life," Mace introduced solemnly, and Oblivion shook his head.
    Christian chuckled. "Now that's promising." Her revelation about Blaire wasn't entirely surprising, and he merely nodded. "We'll talk about it later."
    The comments about spectators made him look around with little interest. "Gift will take care of it," was his reply, even as there was a sound of sirens in the distance. Police were getting a workout these days.
    Tristan relaying Adrian's response made him look at C.J. again. *Is it necessary to be face-to-face with her, or can you do it from a distance?? It's been brought to my attention that she shouldn't be out in the open like this.*
    Rye looked at Tristan through her lashes again, lips curving into a slow smile, voice dipping seductively again. "Biting," she crooned, running her tongue lightly along her bottom lip. She didn't comment when she felt Adrian's power stutter, just kept her own spiraling down into Tristan's shattered body.

    "Thank you for that," Keller told Sahar dryly, before looking at Galen. Her voice dropped softly, meant for his ears alone. "She's the one Gift's been fighting with. I'd heard she'd died a few years ago actually, but she apparently didn't."
    "Nice phone call??" Price was asking Sahar at the same time, grinning winningly at the little shifter.

    *You mean that we'll eventually get down there? Really?* Fang joked, before once again turning to Nona. "George won't tell me."
    That did nothing to ease Nona's worry, because if George wasn't willing to talk about it at a distance, it had to be bad, right? She looked at Nolan, obviously worried. "I hope they get us out soon," was all she said.

    "Later," Sonya agreed, her voice silky soft as her eyes continued to wander over the spectators. When Christian said that Gift would take care of it, she nodded reluctantly and turned her gaze back to him. "I suppose."
    "I need to touch her," Adrian said, and since it seemed to have no real relation to what Tristan and Rye were speaking about - at least, not in any context that Adrian would consider - Tristan sent that on to Christian as well.
    He watched the movement of Rye's tongue, and laughed softly. "You're a dangerous woman to know," was the only thing that he could think to say, and only because it seemed so very, very true.

    Nodding to his soulmate's words, Galen turned to gaze thoughtfully out the window. "If he really is fighting another dragon, perhaps we should give some more credence to what Price and this young lady here say about him," he said, hesitantly. He didn't like it, but he trusted Price's instincts, and this seemed to be an indication, if not exactly a confirmation, of the truth of what the younger man had been saying.
    Sahar sent a dazzling smile at the two older shape-shifters, then turned to Price. "Very nice. I have to go now, though."

    *Eventually,* George sent back, hiding the relish he felt at the thought of Fang being stuck in an elevator. Seemed fair, after what that particular band member had put his team through.
    Nolan hesitated for a second, seeing the worried look on Nona's face. "He was in a fight with someone when I left the room," he muttered, not knowing if he was lessening or worsening her worry. "But George says he's fine, so don't worry too much."

    Christian smiled at Sonya. "Can't shoot them all, Sonya."
    Adrian's response wasn't one he was wanting and he frowned slightly at C.J. That produced a problem. He agreed with the healer, not wanting her awake before Darshan got back. But he needed her out of public before some fans got wind of this, except he needed Adrian.
    Decisions, decisions.
    *How close are you to healing that vampire??*
    Rye smiled at him again, and her dull eyes glinted. "Everyone loves to flirt with danger, darling."

    Keller had to fight her first instinct, which was flat-out refusal and a desire to go out and slay the dragon. Before it tried to slay them. But she also trusted Price's instincts and Sahar had been leaking sincerity the whole time she spoke about him.
    "We need to meet him," she finally said.
    "Already??" Price protested. "You didn't finish your coffee."

    "Jerk," Fang muttered to himself, and it did not seem to be directed at anyone in the elevator.
    "Yeah, you're probably right," Nona replied, because George would not have lied about the vampire's condition in order to keep them from worrying. For one thing, she doubted that he would have seen the point of a lie meant to comfort. She laughed softly to herself. "Do you ever just feel not so tough when dealing with those two?" she wondered, sounding both disgruntled and amused.

    "Who said anything about shooting?" was the only response that the vampire made. However, she muttered something very softly after that, something which sounded remarkably like, 'rubber-neckers are too gamey, anyway.'
    Adrian's sigh had just the slightest hint of exasperation, and he slid his hands off of Rye's and onto Tristan's ankles so that he could check the man's condition himself. Closer than they had been, but not close enough. He sank deeper into the healing, into the broken body under his hands and his own power, closing out everything else. This time, when he reached for that power, it wasn't a trickle, or even the careful stream of it that he used when encouraging a person's body to heal itself. Instead, he opened the floodgates, allowing power to sink into the shattered bones in Tristan's legs, feeling muscles twitch madly as they hurried to heal, using his own strength to mend the damage done.
    "Do they?" Tristan drawled, but became immediately distracted when Adrian started his work. That just felt so... strange, and not entirely pleasant. His the muscles in his legs were jumping, and his bones actually seemed to -itch- under the skin.
    Less than a minute passed before Adrian sat back, blinking furiously as if he was trying to shake off a daze. He sneezed. Then he smiled vaguely at the witch and the vampire, and clambered to his feet, using a nearby car for support. "I'm lucky you set down a strong framework, or I'd be flat on my ass right now," he told Rye. "Sorry, that will pass in just a minute," he added to Tristan, when he saw that the bodyguard was scratching his legs in a way that would probably take off the top layer of skin if he continued.
    He rubbed a hand over his eyes, feeling just the slightest bit punch-drunk. That would pass, too, and he turned to walk slowly across the parking lot to where he had left C.J. He was just glad that waking a person from a healing sleep required almost no energy at all.

    "We do," Galen agreed.
    "Yep," Sahar said, and her next smile was more apologetic. "I'll take it with me. It was, uhm, nice talking to you all." She sounded a little dubious about this last part, but she was sure that it would be completely true under different circumstances. She looked at Keller again. "Just think about what I said, okay? Please? Darshan really hasn't been causing any trouble.

    Jacob smirked when Fang muttered, though it wasn't really directed at the vampire. More about him than anything.
    Nolan nodded slightly, running a hand through his hair. At her question, a little grin quirked his lips. "A lot of the time," he assured her. "I feel downright weak sometimes. But I'm a witch, whereas they're vampires, so I'm just as useful in different ways, I suppose."

    Christian chuckled, soft and low, and didn't say anything. He did look over at Adrian, almost as if he heard the witch's sigh, and shook his head.
    Rye didn't reply to Tristan, because her hands were still on his legs, and she could feel what Adrian was doing. Could feel the immediate and lasting results. Her brows lifted slowly, and her gaze as well so she could watch as Adrian stood up. She inclined her head at his words and watched her as he stumbled a bit across the parking lot.
    After a long minute, she looked back at Tristan, watching him scratch his legs. Moving slowly, she ran one finger from his knee down to his ankle, sending questing tendrils beneath his skin. His bones were whole and healthy, his muscles strong and working. As if his fifty-foot fall had never taken place.
    "Wow," she said softly, casting a hooded glance after Adrian.
    Christian watched the witch's approach, a little smile lifting one side of his mouth. "That wasn't a prompt to finish it now," he commented. "I don't think C.J.'s ready to wake up, quite honestly, but I just need to get her out of here."
    "I'd offer to take her to my place, but," Mace said as he appeared at Adrian's side, offering the witch another energy bar and more juice with a shrug. Koran was at his side, staring at Adrian with huge eyes.

    "We will," Keller sighed. "Price was going to arrange a meeting. Do you want to be there??"
    Price's smile gentled as he looked at Sahar. "We won't hurt your friend, Sahar," he said softly, and left it at that.
    Expression neutral, Keller nodded slowly at the little shifter. "I will. I won't judge him before I meet him, Sahar, that I can promise."

    "It's not just physical strength that I'm talking about," Nona said. She shook her head. "My dad is the same way. Before he retired, he lived and breathed this stuff." She smiled faintly. "Actually, that hasn't changed much since he retired."
    Fang started to say something. Tala silenced him with a gesture.
    And in the corner, Kawada snickered, very softly.

    "Wow is right," Tristan said, still trying to reach that itch, even knowing that his fingers would have to break skin to touch it. "If that boy lives into adulthood, he's going to be a force to be reckoned with."
    "Why don't we just get her into the Durango?" Sonya asked, waving a hand at the car. "The windows are tinted, so she'll be out of sight but not far away."
    "Putting her at your house would probably be too much temptation for Terra to resist," Adrian interjected softly. So many of the people she wanted, and all in one place. He tore into the energy bar, and the back of his neck flushed red at Christian's words. "Eh, well, I wasn't sure, and we were... pretty close to done. It was just broken bones, anyway. Anything more serious, and I'd probably kill myself doing it that way." Which was an oversimplification, but not entirely untrue.
    His eyes drifted past the others, and he focused on the far end of the parking lot. "I think it's a moot point, in any case. There's Darshan." He pointed, because the dragon's entrance had been much quieter than his exit. He was clean, dressed in fresh clothing, and the dark power that had been bleeding from him all morning was once again firmly under control, confined to his skin and not crackling through the air around him.

    Price's words made Sahar smile wryly. "She will," she replied, just as Keller spoke. She shot the other woman a quick glance out of the corner of her eye, chagrined. "That is to say... I trust you do what you say, but I don't doubt that you'll do what you think you have to." The promise actually made her feel a little bit better, though, because Keller seemed like the sort of woman who would keep her promises. If she said that she wouldn't judge the dragon before she met him, then she wouldn't.
    "We will keep what you've said in mind, miss," Galen added solemnly, turning his gaze from the window to the people at the table. He caught his soulmate's eye, and nodded quickly, a subtle response to her question. "Really, if you're correct, it would be the best possibly scenario for everyone involved." Because if that dragon was as evil as his kin, he wouldn't be the only one to suffer when Daybreak moved against him.

    Nolan chuckled a little, then seemed to think about it. After another minute, he slowly nodded. "I think you're right, though. Pretty much in every way, they're at least a little bit tougher than us." Because he couldn't honestly say he could've shot David, not to kill. Because he /had/ been a friend, no matter what.
    It did make him a little more wary about George though. Were they all so easily expended??
    Kersti stared at the other people, a look of confusion on her face.

    "You might have a point there," Rye murmured, still looking after the healer. "If he lives." That was the catch. She knew healers; they always put others first. It was going to get him killed, sooner or later. If he didn't fry himself before that point, anyway, because he obviously put other people's health way before his own.
    Shrugging it off, because it wasn't really her business, she turned back to Tristan and flashed a silken smile. "Ready to give standing a whirl??"
    Christian nodded at Sonya, looking at the Durango. He didn't imagine Gift would mind, at least until she was ready to go.
    Mace smiled at Adrian, but there wasn't anything humorous about it. "Yeah, that about summed up my own "but" there."
    Koran cooed sympathetically at his boyo. Giving another mirthless smile, Mace patted the witch's back.
    Raising a brow at Adrian, the half-smile didn't leave Christian's face. "I'm sure," was all he said though. Hell, Tristan had fallen at his feet originally, but if Adrian was modest, all the better for him.
    Darshan's arrival made his eyes lift, and he watched the dragon's approach. The dragon didn't look the worse for wear, much to his relief, and he didn't seem as tightly wound as he'd sounded earlier. Not to say he wasn't, exactly, but Christian was glad they had a healthy and safe C.J. to offer.

    Price studied Sahar for a second but didn't say anything. Because it was true. If Darshan turned out to be a threat, Keller /would/ hurt him. But if he was as harmless as Sahar was saying, then they had nothing to worry about.
    It all depended on him, in the end.
    Keller's eyes were level as she studied Sahar as well. "I will," she agreed softly. Because she did like Sahar, in her little bouncy way, and she didn't want to hurt her by killing her friend. But she /would/ do what was necessary, if it meant the safety of Daybreak.
    Of course, Galen still managed to say the perfect thing at the perfect time, and Keller simply nodded in agreement to his words. Price had slouched in his seat again, back to gnawing on his straw as he considered his companions.

    "Yes," Nona said simply, and when she looked at Nolan, there were the same doubts and worries etched across her face. She rubbed her arms, as if she had suddenly gone cold.
    *Trouble in paradise* Kawada remarked to Ry.

    Tristan sighed, staring after Adrian with startling intensity. Then he turned back to Rye, and schooled his features into something more pleasant: a smirk. "Well, since I doubt that you're going to sweep me off my feet, I had better try." He grabbed the side of the nearest car, and used it to lever himself to his feet. Once he was upright, he released the car cautiously, and the smirk turned into a real smile. His legs felt stiff, and his muscles were still spasming from the speed of the healing, but it wasn't anything that a walk around the parking lot wouldn't cure. "I'll be damned."
    "Uhm-hmm," Adrian muttered, rubbing the back of his neck. His own eyes remained fixed on the dragon, watching as Darshan meandered towards them with the critical eye of a craftsman examining his work. Sonya simply seemed bored, her eyes wandering away from Darshan and up to the balcony that she had leapt off of earlier, fifty stories above.
    Some sense of balance and normalcy seemed to have returned to Darshan, and he was silent but calm as he approached the group. C.J. drew his attention first, and he reached out a hand to stroke her hair. He didn't look at Adrian, but his words were addressed to the healer. "She's alright?"
    "All fixed up," Adrian promised, and watched as something in the dragon's posture seemed to relax.

    "I know," Sahar said simply, with a flashing little smile. She stretched an arm out past the group, grabbing a lid for her coffee from the little side table filled with condiments. "It was really nice to meet you all. I guess I'll probably be seeing you around."
    "Do you need someone to give you a ride to where you're going?" Galen asked, ever the gentleman.
    "It's only a couple blocks," Sahar assured him. "I can walk it."

    Nolan saw Nona's face and couldn't help reaching out the short distance to lightly touch her arm. "I'm sure it's not that big of a deal," he said softly. "David deserved it, that's what really matters."
    *It would seem so,* Ry said mildly. He was somewhat tempted to ask, but it seemed this David fellow was dead anyway, so...why??
    Plus, just then, Nolan stiffened and his eyes flew upwards. There was a soft groaning sound, then a slight screech, which made Kersti stiffen and Jacob's head lift, and then the elevator was moving. Sliding what seemed to be quite steadily and calmly downwards.
    Ry pushed off the wall, leg muscles tensing as if preparing for when the elevator started to free fall. But...it didn't. Nolan's face remained tense until the elevator came to a very calm stop. There was a ding, then the doors he'd been leaning against slid open.
    Two women were waiting there, one lounging against the wall and the other studying the elevator occupants with idle interest. Only when her dark eyes found Kersti did she nod slightly, more to herself than anyone.
    The lounging woman, with hooded golden eyes, smiled lazily. "Hey guys. Bad day??"
    "Christ, let us out of here before it starts falling again," Jacob grunted, pushing to his feet.

    "I need to see if you're worth sweeping first," Rye remarked, rising herself as Tristan started the journey upwards. And managed it, with only small difficulty. His reaction made her smirk. "I'd think not damned, more specifically."
    Everyone was silent as Darshan approached, though Mace was staring at him with just slightly narrowed eyes. More in thought than in any indication of his mood. Koran smiled brightly at the dragon and said cheerfully, "Nothing keeps C.J. down. Well, unless she was eaten or something." He peered at Darshan curiously. "Would Terra eat C.J.??"
    Mace's elbow buried itself in his ribs at that point. Koran yelped and jumped away, rubbing his side with an aggrieved look.
    Christian shook his head. "You probably want to relocate, or at least get another room here," he told Darshan, voice mild, eyes unreadable.

    Keller smiled faintly but didn't say anything. She recalled Gift had tried to pass Sahar over to her, so she didn't doubt she'd be seeing Sahar likely in the near future.
    "Likewise," Price said, tilting his cup towards her in a weird kind of toast. His eyes were laughing as he added, "Be good, cutie."

    "David deserved something, but I'm not sure it was a bullet to the head," Nona said tiredly, covering his hand with her own for a moment before releasing him and stepping away. "Whatever. What's done is done, and like you said, it's not that big of a deal."
    She tensed as the elevator started moving, staring up at the roof of the elevator car as if she expected the cables to snap at any given moment. When the doors slid open, she breathed a sigh of relief. "It's been a shit day," she agreed, which seemed to be the general consensus. It had been a shit day, and it probably wasn't going to get any better.
    "Amen to that," Tala said, glancing sideways at Jacob before she dragged Fang up by the back of the shirt and pushed him out the door.

    "Someone thought that I was worth sweeping off my feet," Tristan commented, with an upwards glance towards the balcony. Off his feet and out a window, but that was something else entirely. He stretched his legs, and as they began to relax, he wondered if it was actually possibly for them to feel better than before they had been shattered, or if the absence of pain was just making him delusional.
    Koran's question didn't seem to bother Darshan at all, although he flicked a brief glance at the other dragon. "Terra," he said calmly, "won't be eating anyone. Because I am going to rip her jaw off and shove it down her throat."
    "What an interesting image," Sonya mused, still not bothering to look at Darshan.
    Darshan nodded shortly at Christian's suggestion. "Another room within the hotel would probably suffice. It's obviously not safe, but it's unlikely that anywhere will be until Terra and Jayden have been taken care of."

    "The hell I will," Sahar said cheerfully, scooping up her coffee in one hand and the sandwich in the other. "You take care of yourself, okay? There are lots of dangerous people out there, you know." She winked at him, waved at Keller and Galen with the hand that was holding the coffee, then pushed her way out the door. She started towards the Paris, her legs moving in a steady, ground-eating lope.
    "She's..." Galen started to say, then stopped. Because he really, really did not know how to describe the lioness. 'A disaster waiting to happen' seemed apt, but not particularly flattering.

    Nolan grimaced just slightly at that little tidbit of information but didn't say anything. She'd been at the scene, he hadn't, so he couldn't say if he really thought David had deserved it or not. In principle, because David /had/ betrayed them, he supposed he did. But the way Nona said it...no, it didn't really deserve that /anyone/ deserved that kind of treatment.
    The elevator moving brought a lot of mixed reactions. Most of them tense but hopeful, some wary and excited that, finally, /something/ was happening. Ry looked bored, and his expression didn't change when the doors managed to open without a hitch.
    "So we've heard," Zabri agreed, flashing a smile at Nona. "But we've come to save the day. Aren't you excited?? Now everyone out."
    "All too happily," Jacob grumbled, following Tala out after she'd pushed Fang. Nolan gestured the others out ahead of him, still looking up at the ceiling of the elevator.
    Kersti stepped out gingerly, Ry right after her. He was disturbingly close, she noted a bit warily, but he didn't try anything funny. Didn't even touch her, though she felt his eyes on the back of her head. Creepy guy. She was quite happy to not be stuck in an elevator with him anymore.
    Zabri and Jasper were looking at the two new vampires, the former with interest, the latter speculatively. "Don't suppose you two know Jayden Sadi," the vampire drawled casually, her eyes hard as she looked between them.
    Jacob glanced back at that, a little frown forming between his brows.

    Rye smirked as Tristan's eyes raised heavenward. "Not arguing with that," she observed. "Probably want to get back to them then, huh??" Hands rested on slim hips, one cocked out a little so her skirt split in an inviting way. Totally unintentional on her. "So how's it feeling??"
    Koran beamed. "Well then she'll be eating herself, won't she??"
    Mace's jaw went a little slack, just at the visual imagery that popped to mind at that. Holy fuck.
    Christian inclined his head in silent agreement with Darshan, and George cleared his throat slightly. "I'll go have it arranged," he said, nodding to the group before heading inside. Yes, he had every intention of calling Anna Valdez right now, because eventually, the hotel personnel were going to make it upstairs and see what had become of the Fays' suite.
    How much to bet /that/ wasn't covered under hotel insurance??
    So he was going to use Anna to smooth the way. Damage control under way.

    Price grinned after Sahar's retreating form and settled his eyes on his parents. "I like her."
    "You would," Keller said dryly, before patting Galen's knee again. "She is that. Though her seriousness concerning the dragon makes me wonder."
    "Oh come on," Price protested. "Not all dragons have to be like that last freak, right??"

    "I'm sorry," Nona mumbled, when she saw Nolan grimace. She edged out of the elevator once the three band members present had left it, and dredged up an answering smile for Zabri. "Oh, yeah. I'm real excited. I'll be even more excited after a couple of bottles of tequila."
    Kawada's eyes drifted to the two woman, and his eyebrows jerked upwards. "I've heard of him," he said, seemingly unaffected by the vampire's hard look. "May I inquire as to why you're asking?"

    "You could say that," Tristan said, his voice low and mellow. He ran a thumb over his gun, still clutched in one hand, before sighing and sliding it into its holster. "The legs? Much better. My wounded ego? Not so much."
    "One piece at a time," Darshan told Koran, with a slight, feral smile that quickly melted away into his usual stoicism. He nodded shortly to George, still stroking C.J.'s hair gently.
    "You were struck by lightning," Adrian prompted gently. He hadn't shared that with anyone else yet, but he wanted to know what exactly had happened to the dragon.
    "Indeed," Darshan agreed.
    "Lightning?" Sonya asked, with a flickering glance towards Christian. "How do you know that?"
    "It sure wasn't a stun gun," Adrian said, and bit into the energy bar in his hand.

    "If he really is a friend, that's understandable," Galen said, placing his hand over hers on his knee. "However, there's always the possibility that she's under his influence, or perhaps even working for him willingly. Of course, it sounds like Gift also trusts him." He didn't exactly trust Gift, but Keller did, so he had to mention it.
    He looked at Price, and his expression turned tired. "If the Scrolls are accurate... yes. They weren't kind or gentle creatures, Price. They were bloodthirsty, and evil, and powerful enough to get away with it."

    "Me too," Nolan murmured back, with a tiny little smile.
    Zabri smirked at the security officer. "I bet. I'd personally ask for a raise, on top of the tequila, but that's me."
    "That's after the tequila, more like," Nolan commented. Because he couldn't imagine approaching Gift and claiming he wanted a raise when he was sober enough to know how stupid it would be.
    Jasper's expression didn't change as she studied the two. "No," was her only response to his question.
    Zabri smirked again, then clicked her tongue at Kersti. "And you. You know your boyfriend's downstairs, right?? Does he know you've been stuck in an elevator??"
    "No," she replied, before her expression became puzzled. "Why /is/ he downstairs??"
    Zabri and Jasper exchanged looks. "Oh, just a little assistance was needed," the human finally replied, before making gesturing noises. "Come on, let's go. I think we're going to take the stairs this time."
    "Works for me," Jacob muttered, pushing into the stairwell to lead the way down.
    Nolan made sure the band was all together and followed them down, as Kersti followed him and Nona. Ry moved after her, glancing at Kawada, as Zabri and Jasper brought up the rear.

    "Bet you'll think twice next time you try to run at someone," she observed, with another little smirk. Had to wonder if she'd seem similar results so often to know the cause. One could never tell with the RoA.
    "Oh boy," Koran giggled, clapping his hands together with some kind of excitement. Mace grunted, and it was hard to decipher what kind of emotion was in that sound.
    Christian's expression didn't change as the cause of injury was announced, but his eyes remained steadily on Darshan. Mace didn't seem surprised. Koran was cooing again.
    "Darshan, if you've got a minute, I need to talk to you," Mace finally said as Adrian ate his energy bar, glancing around. It seemed like the most opportune time, before C.J. was woken up and anything else tried to happen.

    "That's what I was thinking," Keller admitted quietly. Because he /was/ a dragon, and shifters were susceptible to dragons. It was part of their blood.
    Though Gift knowing him threw a wrench into things, and she frowned. She /really/ needed to talk to that woman. "I think I'd better talk to her before we see him. Maybe we can get a better idea then." Because, if there was one person completely unbiased towards everyone and everything, it was Gift and her little band of...entrepreneurs.
    Price looked between the pair of shifters as Galen spoke, and his expression gentled again. "Okay, I understand. So you'll just meet this guy, and can judge for yourselves. Maybe he knows the vampire too." His voice was thoughtful on the last, and Keller blinked. There was an idea, and a bit of a freaky one, quite honestly. If those two blasts were by people who were /friends/...how did Daybreak now /know/ about these people??

    "Tequila first," Nona agreed firmly. "Frankly, I'm not sure that I want to talk to anyone before I've had a few shots, much less go asking Gift for money."
    "As you like it," Kawada said, with a shrug. Really, he was more involved in watching Ry watch the girl. *I'm telling you, she's too well guarded here* he cautioned. *Grab her later, if that's your intention. It will draw less attention, and it's less likely to get us both shot.*
    "Whatever happened to the charmers on the top floor?" Tala wondered, referring to the men who had attacked them. She looked at Zabri, a little alarmed, when the other woman said that Adrian had been needed. -Why- had Adrian been needed?

    "I would," Tristan said, solemnly, "but you see this?" He knocked on his head with a loose fist. "This is mostly bone." He leaned over, folding his body in two and letting his hands rest on the ground, stretching out the back of his legs with a little groan.
    A very faint grimace stole over Darshan's face, as he apparently reached the same conclusion. "I imagine that you do." He motioned to the side, indicating that they should separate from the group, at least far enough to create the illusion of privacy. "There is no time like the present."

    "We'll do that," Galen agreed, "just like we said that we would. We can give him the benefit of the doubt, at least."
    His eyes snapped up towards Price at the young man's next words, and he made a face. "I hadn't thought about that, but it seems like it could be possible. Either as an enemy or a friend, this Darshan Guivre probably knows who the vampire is, at least. It's too great of a coincidence, otherwise, for both of them to have come to our attention at once."

    "Sounds like a plan to me," Zabri agreed with a smirk, because she was always up for alcohol. Only in moderation while she was working though. "I can probably make a list of people who need to get smashed about now."
    Jasper was still watching the two vampires, seeing how their eyes moved between each other. Who were they, that was the question. And how had they come to be /here/??
    *Yes,* was Ry's reply, not sounding too upset about that fact. He was smart enough not to make a move now, because she /was/ Gift Redfern's daughter, and most of these people worked for Gift Redfern. And two, he was beginning to think, were part of her rather elite team. That would be bordering on suicidal, right there.
    Zabri flashed her winning smile at Tala. "Why, Gift and Ethan went to say hello." She shrugged at the alarmed look that passed the werewolf's face briefly, because from what she'd seen, Adrian had done his duty and wasn't needed anymore. No big deal.
    Ethan's name didn't seem to make an impact on Ry, though a little smile curved his mouth.

    "That's a shame," Rye admitted, eyes followed his bending over. He had nice assets on him too, and she unabashedly enjoyed the view for a while.
    Mace didn't seem to feel much sympathy for the grimace he saw on Darshan's face, just stepped over to the side as motioned. None of the others followed them, and Mace crossed his arms over his chest when the dragon joined him. "So, should I start calling you Gramps now??" Well, one thing at a time. A little smirk was playing on his face, though his eyes were intense on Darshan's face. As much to make sure what he'd come to believe was true as well as seeing the dragon's reaction.

    Keller nodded, though privately she thought it best she talk to Gift alone first. It was no secret that Galen didn't much care for the assassin, and Gift just found him amusing.
    Price nodded agreeably at Galen's words, having given up the straw in order to twirl his cup lazily around the table. "I thought so. It might be there's a whole underground of powerful people he can let us in the know-how about."
    "I don't think he'll be that forthcoming," Keller said dryly.
    Price grinned at her, then glanced at Galen before turning back to her. "Does he know about C.J.??"
    Shrugging, Keller looked at Galen. "We were informed that the dragon has a soulmate. Sahar," she nodded in the direction the little shifter had gone, "told us, and said he's quite attached to her."

    "I'm sure that most of them are currently somewhere in this hotel," Nona said to Zabri. "We might want to limit it, though, or Tristan's credit card will max out, and his head will explode."
    *Good* Kawada replied, simply ignoring the female vampire's eyes on him. If she had a question, she would ask it, and he would lie. It was as simply as that.
    He looked down when his phone started to vibrate, and took a step or two away from the group, although he continued to move with them. "Hello?" A pause, and one of his sharp-edged little smirks. "Is it safe to return to the house yet, or will I be poisoned by the sheer amount of estrogen floating through the air?"
    "Oh," Tala said. She considered for a moment. "Good."

    "On the bright side," Tristan said, his voice muffled by his knees, "if I land on my head next time, the damage is unlikely to be as severe as it was today."
    "Only if you no longer value your life," Darshan said, but the faint quirk of his lips indicated that he was joking. Then he grew serious again, molten gold eyes moving to meet Mace's with equal intensity. "You're not entirely wrong, however. The blood relation is distant, but direct." He said the words simply, with no real inflection.

    "A soulmate?" Galen asked, surprised. "C.J., you said? Have you met her, as well as the dragon?" That was interesting. In nothing else, it showed that dragons did at least have souls. Black and rotten though they might be.

    "Most of them are actually out in the parking lot, or heading that way," Zabri corrected, waving a hand around with a smirky grin. "And he's got multiple credit cards. He can handle it."
    Ry smirked again and headed down the stairs, which Jacob was taking with a certain amount of enthusiasm. He definitely needed a drink.
    Kawada's conversation into his phone made Ry toss another smirk at the vampire.
    "Not to worry, we've got things under control," Zabri assured Tala, and Kersti smiled a little at that news as well.

    "Plus your head's not quite as pretty as the rest of you," Rye reflected thoughtfully, eyes still locked on his backside. It's not like he wasn't offering it up, at that angle.
    Mace blew out a breath, rolling his eyes skyward. "And you've known this for /how/ long, I feel I have to ask??"

    "I've met her," Price agreed, starting to grin again. "She's the dummer for the Death Fays."
    "That band in Anna's hotel??" Keller asked, with some surprise. She hadn't known /that/ little fact.

    "Maybe he should be the one to ask for a pay raise," Nona mused. Better Tristan than she, at the very least.
    "I wasn't worried," Tala replied. "If anyone can handle those people, it's you people."
    "Very articulate," Fang muttered, rubbing his arms resentfully where the t-shirt had been pulled tight by Tala's less-than-gentle treatment.

    A soft, amused snort was Tristan's only response, and he straightened from hsi stretch slowly, moving his limbs experimentally.
    "A few years," Darshan replied, ignoring the eye roll, "although I began to suspect not long after I met you. The information was not easy to obtain. Your family's history is relatively well known, but I was not terribly fond of my children, and I rarely bothered to keep track of them or the children that they themselves bore." He looked at the other man steadily. "I don't hesitate to tell you that I probably wouldn't have said anything, had the circumstances not called for it."

    "His soulmate is a rock star?" Galen said, faintly. He looked at Keller when she spoke, then back to Price. "Does that mean that Anna knows these people too?"

    "I think you all should get pay raises," Zabri said. "Guarding a band shouldn't be this difficult, in my book."
    A grin was tossed over at Tala. "Well isn't that the sweetest thing I've heard today. Your faith is touching, and deeply meaningful in a world that---"
    "Zabri, stop it," Jasper said, a touch of dryness in her voice. "These people have been stuck in an elevator with each other for half an hour. Let them have their peace and quiet while it lasts."
    "That's all it was??" Kersti murmured.
    Jacob sighed deeply, and this time he was the one who smacked Fang in the back of the head. He should do that more often. Theraputic.

    Rye smiled again, her eyes reluctantly dragging from his backside up to his face as he stretched. "Going to send Adrian chocolate and flowers now??"
    A long-suffering look came to Mace's face as Darshan explained how he came to know this information, but it disappeared with a shrug at his blunt afterword. "Not surprised," he informed the dragon. "But you did and now I know, Pops. Now the serious stuff." He looked at Darshan for a second, voice dropping quietly as he said, "You're still in control of my gang." There were multiple questions laced with that statement; ha, Mace could do it too.

    "On the rise," Price agreed, seeming to enjoy that piece of information, if his grin was anything to go by. "And Anna knows those people quite well, from what I've heard. She loves the band, though they run her ragged. She's not as familiar with Darshan, but he hangs out there a lot. C.J. being there and all."
    Keller looked slightly disturbed by this information.

    Fang yelped when Jacob’s hand connected with his head, and glared at the other musician, before Zabri’s words drew his attention.
    “We really, really wish that guarding us wasn’t this hard,” he said, for once with complete sincerity. And for once, Tala didn’t silence him, and nodded instead. Because, damn, this job really shouldn’t have involved anything other than a few really obnoxious fans, and even then, it was mostly for show, because the Night Worlder members of the band could very well defend themselves against any human fan who turned dangerous.
    “Only half an hour,” Nona mused, then shuddered,

    “Maybe I’ll just take the next bullet that someone shoots at him,” Tristan responded, with grim humor.
    “You’re never going to let me live it down,” Darshan said, and it wasn’t a question. When Mace turned serious, Darshan’s eyebrows rose, ever so slightly. “Indeed,” he said. It seemed that if Mace wanted his questions answered, he was going to have to ask them outright.

    Galen just closed his eyes.
    “Do you think,” he asked, after a moment, “that Anna might have something to contribute to this discussion? Information on the dragon, or his soulmate, or anything else that might be pertinent?”

    Jacob just shrugged at Fang’s glare, then added his own nod of support to the lamia’s words. He’d never thought it would be this hard to protect them. Seemed they should’ve inquired into C.J. and Darshan’s pasts after all.
    Chuckling a little at Nona’s shudder, Nolan offered a shrug to the band. “Don’t worry about it,” he said as they worked on making their way downstairs. “Beats being bored on the job, I guess. And the bribes are nothing to laugh about.” Little smirk.

    Rye smiled. “I don’t think it’s bullets people send after Adrian,” she murmured, because yes, she’d heard stories. Who hadn’t, by this point.
    “Never,” Mace agreed with some amount of cheer. Because it really was the small things in life that made the big disasters more bearable.
    Though Darshan’s stubbornness was not one of those things. Mace did another eye roll. “Okay. Are you going to /remain/ in control of my gang??”

    The grin almost could’ve split Price’s face in half, it was so big as he watched Galen’s eyes close. Keller gave him a bit of a dirty look and the grin turned sweet and innocent.
    “Oh probably,” he said at Galen’s question, back to twirling his empty cup around. “She’d probably be the best person to ask, since she’s probably more unbiased than you.”

    “Really?” Nona said, her lips quirking into a small smile. “Right now, I’m feeling a bit of nostalgia for those good old days when the job was boring.”
    Tala, meanwhile, was giving Nolan a suspicious look. “Not you too,” she muttered, because she knew that Tristan and George had been accepting bribes, but hadn’t thought it of the witch. Silly her. “Let me guess. You were responsible for the plastic baby getting into the room?”

    “Yeah, that would be much too simple,” Tristan agreed, and made a sour face.
    “I had intended to do so temporarily,” Darshan told the shape-shifter, his expression turning thoughtful, “in order to keep Terra from regaining control, and so that I’ll be able to tell if she does target you again. Sahar called Gift and I, but if you hadn’t gotten her out, how long would it have taken us to realize that you were in peril? Days, weeks?” He looked at Mace, and shrugged, relaxed in his crisp white shirt, black slacks, and blazer. “If you have any objections, or alternate ideas, please express them.” Because, for the most part, Darshan did not relish being in control of anyone. He had cut that part of his past out of his life, and had no desire to lead an army of shape-shifters into bloody battle, or have them answer to his slightest whim.
    And, if a small part of him sang at the thought of using that kind of power, he refused to admit it. It was easily ignored, in any case.

    “I don’t doubt that Anna would be happy to express any opinion that she has on the matter,” Galen said wryly, but not without humor. He really did like the human girl, it was just that there were times when it was very evident that the youthful trouble-maker lingered in the grown woman.

    Nolan smiled a little at his fellow team member. “Okay, I’ll agree with that. I’m looking forward to some downtime after this escapade.”
    “You and me both,” Jacob mumbled.
    Turning to Tala, Nolan held out his hands harmlessly. “Not me, I wasn’t on duty when he baby stroller fiasco happened. And I generally only take bribes when Tristan or George highly suggest it, like last night. Otherwise, I don’t like the groupies anymore than you do.”

    “Much,” Rye agreed with a little chuckle. “But you’re looking in tip-top shape now, ready to take on…anything.”
    Mace’s expression became a little grim as he listened to Darshan. Because he was pretty much thinking the same thing. With Darshan in control, Terra couldn’t commandeer his gang again. Which kept them safe. Which was a big huge deal with Mace, these days. And he did trust Darshan, in his own little way, not to make his gang do stupid shit just because he could.
    “No, I think it’s a good idea,” he said quietly when Darshan stopped talking. “Better than leaving them open to suggestion again. But you might want to take it off me.” An agitated hand ran over his face and back through his face. “I’m not stupid, Darshan. She’s going to come after me again, and again and again, and when she finds that you’ve got me, it’s going to piss her off and she’s going to hurt my gang. Just because that’s the way she is. Better to just let her have me until someone kills her, than risk them.”

    “Quite loudly,” Price agreed, still grinning. “And repeatedly, if she thinks your head’s up your butt again.”
    “Price,” Keller said, a warning tone in her voice, and Price just shrugged cheerfully.

    “What do you think that the likelihood of that is?” Nona wondered, with a twist of her lips that said she expected the answer was basically ‘nil.’
    “It’s hard to like the groupies less than we do, sugar,” Tala said. “Fang bein’ the exception, of course.”
    “Hey,” Fang protested. “I only like them if they have really, really nice legs. And… other things.”
    “You’re a pig,” Tala informed him.
    “Oink, oink.”

    “Maybe not anything,” Tristan murmured. “For instance, I don’t think I’m quite ready for another fifty-story drop.”
    “Terra is going to be pissed no matter what,” Darshan said, flatly. “She won’t refrain from hurting your people because you’re accessible. She’ll hurt them because they try to interfere with her hurting you, or because she thinks that they’re mine, or because it happens to be a Tuesday. No, I do not think that leaving yourself open to harm is a viable solution, although the problem is a troubling one.” He tilted his head, his expression going distant, as if his mind was on other things. Then he looked at Mace, and his eyes went sharp and focused again.
    “Perhaps,” he said, slowly, “I should relocate to somewhere closer to you all. The band is going to need to leave the hotel, anyway; after this, I doubt that they are going to be welcomed back, no matter how many strings are pulled and how much money is thrown around. That way, I could help to defend your gang and, if Terra does show up as you say she will, I can be there waiting for her.”
    Because this time, he fully intended to kill the other dragon.

    “That sounds about right,” Galen agreed, and shook his head. “Would you like to ask her about this, or should I?” He stroked a hand down Keller’s hair when he heard the warning note in her voice, to show that he really didn’t mind. Why chastise Price when everything he was saying was true?
    Well, maybe not the part about his head being in his butt.

    “I think it kind of depends on if we keep C.J. with the others,” Nolan admitted, voice pitched low so the other band members wouldn’t hear. “If we move her, then they won’t be targets anymore, and it shouldn’t be a problem.”
    He gave Tala a faint grin. “I didn’t mind groupies so much until I started working with you people. Looks like you taught me something.”
    Jacob heaved a sigh at the other two. /He/ needed some downtime.

    “At least without a parachute or bungee cord attached,” Rye agreed, eyes glancing up at the balcony so far above.
    “Darshan,” Mace said, maybe a little sharply as his eyes narrowed on the dragon. “It’s /my/ choice, you know. And yeah, she’ll be pissed, but maybe she won’t try to level the place if I’m accessible to her.”
    A slightly doubtful look came to his face and he looked over at the little group circling the car where C.J. was still laying, then looked back at the dragon. “You’re going to move C.J. closer to us, putting her that much closer to Terra and Jayden, to help defend my gang?? Darshan…why??” He didn’t doubt the dragon meant his words, otherwise he wouldn’t have said them. He just wanted to know /why/.

    “I’ll ask,” Price assured him, glancing at his watch. “She’s probably getting ready to go to work right now, anyway.” He made a little face when Galen’s hand went softly down Keller’s hair. “Think I’ll do that right quick too.”
    Keller shook her head as Price slid from the booth and moved just outside the doors, pulling his cell phone free. She glanced at Galen then, hand still absently on his knee. “So what do you really think about this??” she asked softly.

    “We’ll figure it out,” Nona said, just as softly, and without much conviction.
    “Great,” Tala drawled, looking at the security guard with narrowed yellow eyes, “do you think that there’s any chance that we could also teach you how not to take bribes?”

    “Maybe I should have flapped my arms on the way down,” Tristan joked, “although that doesn’t even really work in the cartoons.”
    “Of course it’s your choice,” Darshan said simply, with an equally sharp look towards the hyena-shifter. “I didn’t take control with the intention of taking your choices away from you, Mace.”
    He sighed softly, and rubbed a hand across his eyes. “If I can, I intend to convince C.J. to go into a safehouse. If not… I’ll be there.” He dropped his hand, and when he looked at Mace, his face was hard. “Do you really think that anyone is going to get through me to her?” It was one thing to attack her when he wasn’t there, or to disable him with a strike to the back. It was another thing to go after his soulmate when he was standing right there.
    The second part of Mace’s inquiry made him pause, however. “Why,” he repeated, tasting the word. “Has it ever occurred to you that there might be a reason that I don’t enjoy taking control the way that my brethren do, aside from a desire to remain removed from conflict? I don’t crave the kind of responsibility which goes with that kind of power.”

    “Good,” Galen said to Price, “she probably won’t feel moved to forcibly remove your head from your ass.” He watched the younger man walk out, and shook his head, his hand still moving gently down Keller’s hair.
    “I don’t know what to think,” he admitted. “Everything we’ve heard points to this guy being okay, but that goes contrary to everything I’ve ever learned or seen of dragons.”
    Anna answered on the third ring, in a breathless, hassled tone of voice. “Hello?”

    “Or have it figured out for us,” Nolan agreed with only a slightly humorous little laugh, because that actually didn’t sound like a bad idea. Sometimes it was nice to let someone else take the responsibility.
    Brows lifted at the rather accusing look on Tala’s face. “Why, what’s wrong??” He didn’t generally take bribes he knew was going to cause the band trouble, anyway.

    “Who knows, maybe it’s underrated on TV,” Rye said, a hint of teasing to her voice. “Maybe you should try it sometime. A little lower than fifty stories though.”
    Darshan’s words made Mace blow out a breath, and he rubbed his eyes again. He felt immeasurably relieved to hear the dragon say that, because he’d known it wasn’t likely Darshan was going to do that, but it felt better to hear him actually say it. Mace was intimately familiar with dragon nature, and though Darshan didn’t act like most dragons, the kind of power he could have at his hands might cause little shifts of thought.
    His face became grave as he studied Darshan. “Darshan, she’s not going into a safe house without you,” he said quietly, just because he knew it. Probably as well as Darshan himself did.
    The hard look on the dragon’s face made him sigh. “No, I don’t imagine anyone’s going to get through you. But Terra’s really pissed right now, like you said, and if you’re gonna put yourself in a position where you’re protecting C.J and my gang, she’s going to find a way to hurt you through us. Probably through all of us, unless you put C.J. under your control too.” The idea of Terra with her binds on C.J. made him grimace.
    He listened quietly as Darshan maybe tried to explain why he’d done what he’d done, and what he was doing. But if there /was/ an explanation in there, Mace wasn’t getting it. “That didn’t really tell me why you decided to take that responsibility all of a sudden right now,” he commented.

    Price’s laugh echoed back to them as he left and Keller smiled at Galen. A nice little smile, one that had taken many years to fully develop. “What do you know, you’re funny,” she teased gently, fingers kneading his knee.
    Her expression turned serious when he spoke, and she nodded slowly in agreement. “Price wouldn’t be swayed by a dragon, and he’s always been a solid judge of character, but I still can’t bring myself to believe it,” she murmured. “Though with all of the people that seem to be his champions, we may not have a choice.”
    “Oh, don’t tell me you’re at work already,” Price protested when he heard the tone of her voice.

    "Oh, yes, please," Nona said, with unrestrained wistfulness.
    It didn't seem that Tala had a prepared response as to why security should not be taking bribes from annoying fans, because she simply huffed and continued to stalk down the stairs.

    "I don't know," Tristan said, "maybe you need the fifty-story drop to build momentum." Downward momentum, of course. The kind which no amount of arm-flapping would halt.
    "C.J. is my soulmate, and has been with me consistently for the past decade," Darshan said, as gently as he could when he still felt like his temper was just simmering beneath the surface calm. "There's nothing that can overwhelm that kind of bond, Mace. No witch's spell or vampire's hypnotism or dragon's mind control." The words could have been something out of a supernatural movie-of-the-week, but Darshan delivered them with the calm simplicity of fact. "As for you and your gang, she'll probably hurt you whether or not she intends for it to hurt me. As you've pointed out, she wants you."
    Why, why, why. Once again, it made the dragon pause. "There were practical reasons. I couldn't afford to have them under Terra's control and at my back. I am also not so without compassion that I would leave people I know under her power." He shrugged. "I was also exceptionally angry with Terra. I may not have been thinking clearly."

    With Price safely out of sight, Galen leaned over to place a kiss on Keller's forehead. "I know," he said, and sighed softly against her skin. "The best that we can do is what we promised that girl: reserve judgement until we've met him for ourselves."
    "I've been, left, and am going back," Anna said, although she didn't sound quite so irritated now that she had realized who was calling.

    Nolan smiled a little at Nona, thinking himself that he was glad this job was almost over. At least for the moment. It was past time for the required fifteen minute break.
    When Tala continued down the stairs without replying, he shrugged as if to say "who knows." Jacob smirked a little to himself but didn't say anything either.

    "Yes, there is that," Rye agreed with a little smile, observing the fifty-foot drop again. "Must've been a hell of a ride while it lasted."
    The little blurb about the power of the soulmate bond made an intrigued look cross Mace's face. "Seriously??" he murmured, fascinated at the idea. C.J. wasn't a strong presence mentally, everyone knew it, but the idea that she was stronger just by being close to Darshan for all these years...what a thought.
    The words about Terra just made him shrug. Because there wasn't anything else to say to that. Though it didn't answer his why question.
    Mace crossed his arms as Darshan /finally/ got around to explaining the whys. Which made sense, all of them. Granted, the little add-on at the end made him less tempted to check Darshan for a temperature or something. Though the compassionate part made a little smirk appear. "Thanks for that, Gramps. And for anything you wind up doing for me and mine in the future." He looked over at C.J., then back at him. "I already offered to put C.J. up at my place, but Adrian pointed out that it might not be the wisest thing. Even with you there."

    Keller smiled when Galen kissed her forehead, and leaned into him a little. "Alright," she agreed softly. Though she wasn't sure how she was going to react to a dragon face-to-face after all these years, with all those memories. She would try, at least.
    "Already??" Price inquired curiously. "I thought you didn't have to be there for another half an hour."

    The rest of the way down the numerous flights of stairs leading into the hotel's lobby, Nona chanted under her breath. It sounded like the words 'Fiji' and 'tequila' arranged in a variety of ways, and uttered with a great deal of fervor, but she was speaking too softly to be heard clearly. She fell silent as soon as they stepped out into the lobby, and where allowed a clear view out the doors and into the parking lot.
    Tala, a few steps ahead of everyone else, had already come to a stop. Her mouth was gaping, just a little, and her sensitive ears were ringing with the sound of car alarms, and the excited buzz of voices within the hotel's lobby. "Jesus Christ on a pogo-stick."
    "Huh," Kawada said, eyeing the destruction in the parking lot with cool reserve and just the slightest tilt of his lips. His phone was hanging in one hand, and he had apparently finished his conversation.
    Meanwhile, Fang was too busy examining Nona from behind to really worry about what was going on outside of the hotel.

    "I wasn't paying much attention," Tristan intoned. "I can quite honestly say that the only thought in my mind at that moment was something along the lines of what Wile E. Coyote must be thinking every time he goes over a cliff."
    "The soulmate bond is... difficult... to explain," Darshan said, turning his head away as he said it, so that Mace was presented with his profile. "Think of it this way. I called you away from Terra using a blood bond, one which has been severely weakened by time. How much stronger do you think that a soul bond is? No, I do not think that Terra would be able to slip in and wrest C.J. away from me."
    His lips twitched into something that might have been a smirk or a snarl when Mace called him Gramps, but he otherwise ignored the dubious honorific that the hyena seemed determined to use. "Frankly, I doubt that C.J. is going to be safe, no matter where she is. The only thing that keeping her separate from you would accomplish is that I would have two places that I would need to defend, instead of one." All his flanks were weak, and as Darshan recalled that earlier conversation with Gift, he was once again unsure as to whether he should be smiling or snarling. After a brief struggle, he did neither, his face remaining stone-hard and remote.
    His head was still turned to the side, so he saw Sahar when she came cutting through the parking lot from the direction of the IHOP where he had met with Christian earlier, and the Starbucks where he had confronted Terra. She was looking around with eyes that were roughly the size of dinner plates, and that finally drew a faint, wry smile out of him.

    "I'm not too happy about it either," Galen said, softly. "I thought that I had lost you, that night. It scared me then, and the thought of it still scares me now. But even if we owe this dragon nothing, we do owe it to all of the people speaking on his behalf to at least try to be unbiased. Besides, if we don't -have- to fight him, I'd rather that we didn’t. Nissa said that he was giving off a hell of a lot of power, and if we have to take on that kind of power, the fact of the matter is, we'll lose people." His green-gold eyes were troubled, because Galen cared for the people around him, and had always taken the idea of noblesse oblige seriously. "Good people."
    "Last-minute shift change. I was scheduled to work early this morning, right after class," Anna explained. She locked the door of the house that she and a handful of other Daybreak orphans shared with their foster parents, then reached up with the hand holding her keys to rub at the spot between her eyes, where a headache was just starting to form. "I ended up taking the rest of the day off, somewhat unexpectedly." She blew out a frustrated breath. "Now I am going back to work, also unexpectedly. Have you heard of someone named Terra Drago?"

    Jacob paused just behind Tala, staring over her shoulder at the mess that had become the Paris's parking lot. All of the people standing out there were Night people too, which just made it weirder.
    "This keeps getting better and better," Ry observed, another smirk appearing, as he pushed his way out of the hotel and onto the glass-covered asphalt. A few pairs of eyes turned towards him but no one approached as he held the door open for the rest of the current gang.

    Rye's mouth widened into another smile. "Believable. At least you're not as likely to go through as many trials as he did."
    "Whoa," Mace murmured as that thought really sunk in. He couldn't really imagine being /that/ tightly bonded to someone, much less someone like C.J. Though, granted, Darshan never seemed to mind it, and Mace sent a considering look in the sleeping tiger's direction.
    Protecting Darshan's soulmate made his eyes swing back to the dragon, and Mace shrugged as his words. "You're welcome to hole up with us, you or her or both of you," he offered casually. "Just please don't eat my gang if they bow to you, and /please/ don't /make/ them bow, because they'll never stop after the first time." He actually felt the urge to call his gang, make sure they were all still breathing. Knowing Terra was in town was making all of his protective radars go off and he hated being separated from his people for this long.
    Granted, some of that worry did ease when he saw Sahar appear, and he lifted his hand in a slight wave in her direction. Koran had caught sight of her too and was cooing, but Oblivion was standing beside the witch so he wasn't too worried about it.

    Remembering that night, or at least aspects of it, weren't pleasant five years ago and still weren't pleasant to this day. Keller squeezed his knee gently, fingers gently kneading in a reassuring kind of way. She kept the thought to herself, but she knew if Darshan Guivre turned out to be a bad guy, she'd be the first one on the line. Because of who she was /and/ her experience.
    "We're not going to pick a fight with him," she murmured. "Not in any circumstances. We're just going to feel him out, get a sense of his direction and goals for the future. Then we'll decide from there. There's no reason any good people have to fall."
    Anna's words made a line form between Price's brows, but the follow-up name made a heavy sigh blow out of his mouth. "I've been hearing that name a lot today," he mumbled. "What about her??"

    "You have a very strange sense of fun," Nona muttered to Ry, casting him a wary look before slipping out the door. She stopped only a foot or two outside, and glanced back to make sure that the rest of the group was following. After all, the band was still her responsibility.
    "Oh, I wouldn't bet on that," Tristan muttered. He watched as Nona walked out the door held open by a stranger, and raised a hand to catch the shape-shifter's attention. She looked a bit haggard, he noted, her red hair in disarray and her mouth pinched into a tight line. Tala stalked out from behind the security guard and immediately made her way towards C.J., bare feet stepping carefully around the glass on the ground.
    Mace's words made Darshan nod, then grimace ever-so-slightly. "Thank you, but neither option sounds particularly appealing. Shape-shifter gives me indigestion, and having people bow to me has a remarkably similar effect."
    Sahar waved back, picking her way through the parking lot until she was standing next to Darshan and Mace. "Darshan," she said, in a voice filled with suspicion. "Did you blow up the Paris?"
    "A little bit," Darshan admitted, without the smallest trace of a smile.
    The lioness simply sighed, and shoved her coffee into his hands.

    "Let's hope that it goes as smoothly as all that," Galen said. Reluctantly, he added, "at the very least, it seems unlikely that he'll be another five-horned dragon. Azdeha was the exception, not the rule, at least according to the scrolls."
    "She’s a dragon. She showed up and caused some problems for the band this morning," Anna said, although that seemed like something of an understatement. "That's when I went home. I think I was being pushed out of the line of fire. But George, he’s one of the security guys, he just called me, and asked me to come smooth things over, because the band's suite has been trashed through no real fault of their own."

    Ry smiled lazily as the shifter passed through the door, followed by the band, then Nolan. He noticed that the security team were still in a state of semi-protection, which amused him to some extent.
    Zabri followed them out but Jasper was still studying the two vampires, her face smooth and neutral as she looked between them.
    Rye merely smiled again, looking over at her fellow RoA members as they came out. She raised a brow and Zabri shrugged, pointing upwards briefly. Rye nodded slightly and glanced about, wondering where Ezio was still hiding.
    Jacob caught sight of C.J. as well and followed Tala over, frowning when he saw the tiger's current state. Watching their approach, Christian didn't say anything, just stepped slightly to the side so they could judge for themselves.
    "Good for you," Mace said approvingly, because, really, who wouldn't like that kind of attitude in a dragon?? Especially one of Darshan's rather potent abilities.
    He smirked as Sahar arrived, then gave her a semi-critical look-over as she spoke to Darshan. After coffee had exchanged hands, he said, "Darshan and C.J. are thinking about coming to live with us. You still staying??" He couldn't help the grin at that, because Darshan and Sahar under the same roof would be entertaining.
    But wait. Maybe not when it was actually /his/ roof...

    "Yes, it said most are three-horned," Keller agreed. "So it shouldn't be as difficult as with him, if it comes to that. Though really," a little frown came to her face as she thought, "those power bursts we were monitoring earlier actually seemed /stronger/ than Azdeha's. Granted, we weren't keeping track of his power at the time, and I haven't felt Guivre's myself, but..." She shook her head firmly. "But no, like you said, he was the exception."
    Price whistled softly as Anna spoke, catching him up on the morning's events. That would explain a lot. From what he'd heard and seen, if someone was causing problems for the band, power was going to roll.
    Which actually reminded him. "Hey, do you perhaps know one of Darshan's friends. Blond vampire guy?? Kinda quiet and menacing??" He remembered the vampire who'd come to Starbucks to retrieve Darshan earlier, the one who'd said an old friend had come to town. Could /that/ be the vampire who was causing a ruckus in Daybreak??

    The last of the band to pass through the door was Fang, pouting like a child who just wanted to nap after a long day. He had looked up from Nona's short skirt and seen the parking lot, and... jeez, Vegas was supposed to be exciting, but not this exciting. He trailed listlessly after the rest of the band, and looked down at C.J. Meanwhile, Kawada went to stand next to Ry.
    "Why is she just lying there?" Fang wondered. Then he reached out to poke the tiger in the shoulder.
    Tala slapped his hand.
    "Sleep will do more good for her than anything else, at this point," Adrian explained, gently. "She's completely healed." He patted Jacob on the shoulder, then went to meet Kersti as she left the hotel.
    Blue eyes followed Zabri's finger upwards, before Tristan turned to Rye. "I think that I need to go make sure that the rest of my team is in one piece."
    "The only thing good about it is taste," Darshan muttered. Because, really, in this day and age, who really wanted a bunch of people bowing and scraping and drooling on their Italian leather loafers? It was conspicuous, and, well, a little irritating. Usually, the irritation won out over the dark rush that he felt when he knew that someone would follow any order he gave them.
    When she caught Mace looking her over, Sahar pirouetted in place, as if to prove that she was without damage. As Darshan sipped on the coffee, she shrugged. "It's stay with you, run screaming to Daybreak, or run screaming to my..." she shuddered, just a little, "...mother. I think I'll take a chance with you."
    "You will," Darshan said, darkly.
    "I guess I will," Sahar said, her tone as bright as Darshan's had been dark. "Besides, my struggle against the vacuum cleaner has not been completed."
    A soft, exasperated sigh escaped Darshan. "I'm going to go check on C.J."
    "Wait." Sahar reached out to catch the dragon's sleeve as he turned to go, stopping him. "You should know, Daybreak is asking questions about you. They... well, they're feeling a little nervous, being as you're a dragon, and all. Thought that you should know."
    Darshan closed his eyes briefly, but he had known that this was coming. "Yes. Thank you, Sahar." He tugged his sleeve away from her, and continued towards C.J.

    "Like you said, we had no way of monitoring Azdeha while he was here," Galen pointed out, "and no one to compare Guivre to. If we knew who he was, we could check for his name in the scrolls, but since he's obviously using a pseudonym..." The shape-shifter prince shrugged helplessly. He smiled faintly. "It almost makes me wish that Iliana still had the Wild Power." But no, that had been meant to stave off the darkness at the Millennium, and nothing else.
    "One of the vampires on the security team is blond, but he's not friends with Darshan," Anna mused. "Tristan, who you met last night. Honestly, I'm not sure that Darshan has many friends, and those that he does probably aren't the sort to be hanging around with a rock band, if they're anything like him. Why do you need to find him? Can you give me a better description than 'menacing' to work with? Because I'm telling you right now, that describes a lot of the people who hang out around the band."

    Christian smiled just slightly at Fang when reached out to poke C.J., but his eyes were cold. He took another step back, then looked up towards Darshan. As that conversation seemed to be winding down, he murmured, *I think I'm going to take my leave now. I need to talk to Sonya and I'm sure you want to get C.J. settled.*
    "Fang," Jacob hissed softly at his bandmate, even as Tala slapped his hand. He nodded in understanding at Adrian, and sent a grim look at the hotel. "I don't think we should stay here anymore, guys." Nor would they likely be welcomed, no matter how popular they were.
    Kersti stepped past Ry as Kawada joined him, not looking at the vampire but feeling his eyes on her again. Her face eased and lit up with a smile when she saw Adrian coming towards her, and she met him a few steps later, slipping her arms around him in a gentle hug. "Are you okay??" she asked with concern.
    Ry watched that idly for a moment, then flashed a dazzling smile at the female vampire still watching them. Hard green eyes narrowed slightly, but she walked away to join two other females.
    "I think it's time to go," he murmured to Kawada, releasing the hotel door so it swished gently shut.
    "Good luck keeping them that way," Rye smirked as Jasper and Zabri joined them. "And don't forget the parachute next time."
    "Which we know you have a lot of," Mace said agreeably, because who could say otherwise?? It was something one could always expect of Darshan.
    Sahar's words made him laugh lowly, until the vacuum was brought up. Eyes narrowed just slightly. "Don't you be fighting Pidge for it now, you hear??" he commanded. Wondering if his newly-damaged house was going to be able to hold all of these people. But they'd take care of it. Honestly, knowing Darshan was going to be in residence lifted a lot of weight he hadn't known was on his shoulders.
    Of course, the news about Daybreak made him frown. He waited until Darshan was mostly out of ear range before dropping his voice to Sahar, "How bad??"

    "And I doubt he'll be forthcoming on that piece of information," she mused. Dragons usually weren't terribly willing to hand out their true names. Which was a shame.
    The Wild Power made her smile faintly. "If only. Though honestly, I'd prefer her to stay clear of that kind of situation anyway." No longer fused with the millennium power, Iliana was just that much more delicate these days. Though her backbone had gotten amazingly stronger in the past decade.
    "No, it wasn't him," Price said thoughtfully, dredging up that memory again. "And Mom mentioned some vampire was blasting the radars earlier, and they wanna know who it is. Of everyone I know in Vegas, he's really the only one that comes to mind, especially since he's a friend of Darshan's." He thought hard about a better description, then gave a short laugh. "Honestly, not really. I mean, he was tall, blond, blue-eyed. I only saw him for a few minutes, but he was quick to get Darshan out of there, for some reason."

    *Of course* Darshan replied. *Thank you, Christian.* Because, really, what else was there to say? The other man had probably saved C.J.'s life. He stepped up to the car, gently moving Fang to the side. The lamia moved without protest. "It probably won't matter," he told Jacob, in a low voice. "I'm taking C.J. somewhere more secure, and her presence was why they attacked today. Without her here, you should be safe enough, although I doubt that this particular hotel will be welcoming your patronage any time soon."
    "I'm fine," Adrian reassured Kersti, wrapping his arms around her waist and giving her a little squeeze. Over her shoulder, he saw the stranger watching them, and felt briefly uneasy before dismissing the feeling and resting his cheek against Kersti's soft black hair. "What about you?"
    A curt nod was the only response that Kawada gave, not even bothering to point out that Ry still had a room in the hotel. The water here was getting a little too warm for comfort. "Where would you like to go?" he asked, after a moment of silence.
    "I'll keep that in mind," Tristan remarked, and smirked briefly at her before cutting across the parking lot to Nona and Nolan.
    The narrowing of Mace's eyes made Sahar grin widely. "Well, okay. I'll leave your vacuum cleaner alone. But only because you've had a rough day.
    The grin simply dropped from her face at his next question. "Not good," she said quietly. "They're willing to talk to him, at least, but I could tell that they weren't too happy about it." She considered. "Price, Keller's son, was actually really helpful. I'm not sure how he met Darshan, but it seems like he's decided that our dragon isn't as nasty and evil as everyone else seems to think." Everyone else being Keller and Galen, since she hadn't spoken to anyone besides them.

    "She should be told what's going on, at least," Galen said softly. "Before someone else tells her." Because she was still the Witch Child, still an integral part of the power structure of the witches, and someone was bound to tell her about the newly discovered dragon.
    "Probably because you were there," Anna said, and didn't bother to elaborate. The fact of the matter was, from what she had seen, none of these people were overly fond of Daybreakers. Not really against Daybreak, but not for them, either. She could kind of sympathize with that. "I'll keep an eye out for him, though. I'm almost to the Paris. Where are you?"

    *Of course,* Christian replied, with another faint smile. *As always, need me, call me.* He cast a quick glance upwards, to the broken balcony where Gift had gone. But he didn't think his continued presence was necessary on that front, so he looked at Sonya. "Ready to go??"
    Jacob frowned at Darshan's words, looking at C.J., then at his other bandmates, then back at Darshan. His conscience balked at the idea of leaving her alone, when she was clearly in some kind of trouble. "Will she be...okay??" It really wasn't polite to invite oneself along, even if it was to be sure she was safe. He knew Darshan was more than capable of doing that, but it was habit these days.
    "I'm fine too," Kersti assured him softly, hands gently running up and down his back. Even as she gently probed, feeling him out physically and mentally, because she knew if he was here, he was doing some healing. Especially considering the glass underfoot. "You need to eat," was her conclusion. "Some real food."
    Ry glanced down at the phone still in Kawada's hand. "Got somewhere you need to go??"
    Catching sight of Tristan, Nolan watched him approach from his little hovering position near the band. The vampire didn't look the worse for wear, except his clothes were in tatters around him. "You don't look too hot," was his observation when Tristan got close enough.
    "How long is this truce with my vacuum going to last??" Mace asked mock-suspiciously, though a grin was quirking his lips. Some things that wouldn't be funny normally were funnier in comparison to the day they'd already had.
    Daybreak brought a little scowl to his face though, as he thought about his brother meeting Darshan. That was just begging for trouble. He'd almost suggest accompanying the dragon to the meeting, but wasn't sure his presence would ingratiate Darshan with the golden boy anyway.
    "I don't like that, especially knowing my brother," he admitted after a silent moment. "I mean, I've heard Keller's fair and all, but...he's a dragon. Daybreak's anti-dragon. That doesn't promise good things."

    Keller nodded reluctantly. "Yes, because she'd be mad if she found out from someone else," she said a little wryly. And she would need to tell Nissa and Winnie as well, so they could prepare...just in case.
    Blowing out a breath, Price rolled his eyes a bit. Some people he knew, just...wow. How could they live like that??
    "I'm at the Starbucks a few blocks away from the Paris, with Mom and Galen," he replied, glancing back through the cafe windows. "Mom's wanting to set up a meeting with Darshan, do the whole meet-and-greet thing, and I'm going to be the go-between. But considering the kind of morning he's likely had, I don't imagine he'd want to do it now."

    “Go where?” Sonya asked, with an upwards tilt of her brow. She looked around the parking lot. “And how? Because if you drove in here, I don’t think you’ll be able to drive out.”
    “She’ll be fine,” Darshan said. “I will take care of her. You need not worry yourself, Mr. Miller.” Although Darshan’s voice remained mild, there was a cool note to it, as if he would take offense if anyone said otherwise. Then he softened. “Please, trust me in this. I know you are concerned, but there’s nothing that any of you could do against Terra and her allies.”
    “Food sounds good,” Adrian admitted, “and I’m no longer needed here. But I don’t think that we should go anywhere on our own. Not with Terra on the loose.” After all, he had promised that he would be careful, and more importantly, he didn’t want to endanger Kersti.
    “No, not really,” Kawada said. “That was just Edan calling to tell me the house was clear.” Edan really was a lovely woman, he thought wistfully. Beautiful and passionate and intelligent. It was really too bad that their acquaintance wouldn’t lead anywhere, and that he and Ry would probably be disappearing after their work here was done. “However, if you feel that it’s no longer wise for you to stay at the hotel, I’m sure that she would be willing to put you up. She has more rooms than she knows what to do with, and she likes me.” She also wasn’t nearly as wary of strangers as the rest of her family was, or at the very least, she was more interested in concealing that wariness.
    “I’m fine,” Tristan said curtly. “Now. Prieten is good at what he does. What happened in there? How did you end up stuck in the elevator?”
    “Until you look less wilted,” Sahar said, with a negligent wave of her hand. “Unless your vacuum breaks the peace first. Then I can’t be held responsible for what I do.”
    “No, it doesn’t,” she said, biting her lip worriedly. “I don’t like the idea of Darshan getting in trouble with Daybreak. But I think they’ll at least try to be fair, Keller and your brother.” She cast Mace a curious look. “You don’t seem to like him much. Your brother, I mean.”