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Trifolia Part One
She should never have left that day, the woman realised later. They had warned her about the landslides before she had left the village where she was staying. Or maybe that was why she had left then. For the risk, the thrill. Whatever the reason, it didn't matter. All that mattered were the rocks crushing her legs and spine.
She had known how dangerous the mountain pass was and assumed she had experience enough to handle the jagged rock-faces that was the only way through to her destination. I want to see the world, she had told her parents back in Paris. All she was seeing now was the vast expanse of grey blue sky with the clouds looming on the horizon that threatened rain.
The woman sighed and shifted her arm to try to stop the ache. She knew little of the healing arts, just enough to tell her that nobody survived a fall like this. There was no potion, no herbs that could cure shattered bones. Even if she had survived, the rot would soon have set in, poisoning her body. All the woman could do was wait for death.
This is what happens when you defy your parents, she told herself. They had a husband arranged for you, a comfortable home and a suitably large fortune but no, you turn it down to 'see the world'.
But, she had to admit, Pierre was such a bore, always so awkward around her. She hated the way men treated her - the way all the women were treated. As if they didn't have a mind to think for themselves. Although the way her mother acted sometimes supported that theory.
'Sit straight, walk gracefully, do not even try to enter a man's conversation, dear, you cannot possibly understand what they speak of.' All the endless advice from her mother, that had driven her to walk away from their home, away from the life of servants and comfort. It simply was not done in fourteenth century France.
Of course, she was unconventional as it was. The woman had just turned twenty and was not yet married. Her mother had fear of her being a spinster forever, but it was her father, a successful business man who insisted his daughter have some life before she was found a husband. Not that there had been any shortage of men. With her long silvery blond hair, big blue eyes and pale skin, the woman was not only beautiful, but the fashionable Parisian wife- material.
Of course, a woman travelling alone was always at risk. So the woman had learnt some unusual methods of defending herself from a Chinese man she had known back in Paris. She had met him through her double life in the 'other' part of the city, the underworld that no upper class young lady was ever supposed to know about. He had taught her how to fight using methods that, had her mother known, would have caused her to become *quite* hysterical. One was not supposed to be able to kick people, or break bones with one hand.
Speaking of broken bones…the woman sighed in resignation. She was beginning to feel a burning pain in her head, and her back was sore from where she had hit the ground when the ridge above her had simply dropped, straight onto her.
She was half asleep when she felt the slab of rocks pinning her down move. The woman opened her eyes, to see a figure above her, lifting the rocks as if they weighed no more than a feather. She stared up at him dazedly. He looked younger than herself, perhaps eighteen. Handsome - too handsome. Perhaps he was a devil; maybe even the Devil. Weakly, she raised a hand to make the sign of the cross, but he did not flinch, the strange man with the black and hair and blacker eyes that called to her. He even looked a little amused.
"Qui êtes-vous?" Her voice was slurred and she was not sure if he had heard her.
He said something, a collection of sounds that she could not understand.
"Qui êtes-vous?" she said again, beginning to panic as he knelt down by her.
This time he seemed to hear. He shrugged. "Je n'suis pas un diable." Not a devil. She didn't know why, but for some reason the woman felt he was telling the truth. And everyone knew that devils could not stand the sign of the cross. He carried on talking, though his accent was very strange. He was obviously not one of her countrymen, but she could not place the accent. "I am just a traveller, like yourself. I saw you under the rocks and came to help. Was that so wrong? I can help you, if you wish. If I do not, you will die. You want my help?"
The woman hesitated, but only for a moment. There was something wrong, somewhere, something strange about him, but she did not have time for this. She could wonder later. "Yes. I'm very attached to my life. It's almost an obsession."
His eyes were enigmatic as he stared at her. "I warn you, my help has a heavy price."
The woman sighed. So there was a catch. "What is this price?"
"Immortality."
The woman's eyes widened. "Imm-" He had to be mad. No one could be immortal, not now, nor ever. Only in Heaven was anyone immortal. But if this madman could help her, she would pretend to believe him, then leave. She smiled. That was not such a terrible price.
His smile was bitter. "You think?" He had read her mind…she had never heard of anyone - or anything - who could do that. But what did it matter, now.
"I do not care. Just help me and we will discuss this later." The woman was impatient and scared. She knew she would die without his help and she did not want to experience immortality in heaven just yet.
"Very well."
She screamed as his teeth sank into her neck. She had been tricked! He was a devil…
~*~
The woman awoke, confused by the bright light that hung in the sky. Why was the sun out at night? No, it was the moon, but so luminously white it burned like the sun. She turned, to see that the rockface shone with a thousand tiny lights, glints of mica. Everything seemed so much clearer. She could hear the call of the few animals that lived, smell the scent of blood on the air…blood. Yes, the devil who had changed her. She felt different, so much stronger.
Her legs were whole, not even scarred from the accident.
"Feeling better?" The voice came from behind and had so many musical tones in it. She turned, amazed at how fast she was, like the wolves she had seen once.
"Yes, like I have been reborn. What did you do to me?" She stared at the tall young man. He was not so young, she realised now. In looks, yes, perhaps eighteen. But in age? Countless years. Hundreds, surely.
"Have you heard of vampires?" Vampires…yes, the night walkers and child killers. The drained the blood, drank it from their victims. Oh, no. She was a vampire? One of the cursed.
She stared at him, horrified. "Why did you do this?"
"You asked me to, if I remember correctly." His voice was cynical. The woman realised she had walked straight into the trap. But what was done could not be changed.
"So I am a vampire." She spoke thoughtfully, considering what was to happen now. She would be dead now if not for this change - but then again, she would never be dead. Doomed to live forever. But she had so much more now; her senses, her power. She turned to face the vampire who had changed her. "What are you called?"
He frowned, looked slightly puzzled. "I am not sure what you would call me in your language. Perhaps…sombre étoile?" The woman edged away. She had better get away from the madman as soon as possible, even if he was immortal.
He watched her, one eyebrow slightly raised. "You can leave whenever you want, you know." She felt foolish for being so obvious and walked closer.
"I will leave, but first I need to know how to live - I have to drink blood, don't I?"
~*~
Trifolia Rasmussen hummed softly as she walked along the streets of Las Vegas in the afternoon sunshine. It was strange, she thought detachedly, how her life had come full circle now. After Darkstar had changed her into a vampire, six hundred years ago, she had left, to roam the world. And now she was working with him again.
She had been lucky, she realised now. Over twenty and she survived the change. Very lucky. She smiled to herself. Tri had always been unusually lucky.
Life had been busy, all six hundred years. Tri had married into a lamia family, and promptly become hated by almost every Rasmussen, Redfern and Blackthorn in America after they found out she was a made vampire, of all hideous creatures in the world. No children, of course.
And now, going back for a family reunion with some of the younger members of the vampire families. The rebel younger members of Circle Daybreak. They didn't know who she was, of course. After giving her name as Ami Maurier, a made vampire 'being hunted by the Nightworld', it had been easy to get into Circle Daybreak. They weren't very discerning. Tri had dyed her long blond hair raven black, changed her clothes a little, and voila, she would hardly have recognised herself. Neither would any of Daybreak, with a bit of luck.
Daybreak headquarters were not exactly hard to find, not when Thierry Descoudres mansion stood out so much. Tri dropped her usual fluid walk and tried to act more human, like a newly made vampire. Remember, she told herself, disguise your voice. Six hundred years had not managed to get rid of the slight accent she still had a remnant of her old life and she had a distinct habit of pronouncing 'z' as an 's'. Tri had no idea why she did that. She had a feeling it was some sort of old childhood game she had never gotten out of.
She knocked on the door and waited, inwardly nervous, praying this would work. Darkstar had told her to find out about the Wild Powers any way she could. What better way than by meeting them?
A guy who looked more like a bodyguard than a vampire opened the door. Nilsson or something, Tri thought. She smiled shyly and put on her most paranoid look. "Hi, I'm Ami Maurier. Please, I need your help - I think they're following me." Tri glanced over her shoulder at invisible hordes of evil Nightpeople. "I called - I'm Fiona Wolff's friend." Tri had done her homework. Fiona Wolff - whose degenerate little brother had left Daybreak -was honeymooning in Jamaica with her soulmate-turned-husband.
The guy nodded and stepped aside. "Come in, Miss Maurier." Tri stepped inside, trying not to smirk. They were so stupid.
Nilsson closed the door behind her - the perfect butler, Tri thought. "Go down the hallway. Third door on the left. Mr Descoudres is busy now, but some of the other members of the circle will talk to you." Calm this panicked vampire down, you mean. Tri tried not to smile. It was obvious Nilsson wasn't used to dealing with half-hysterical vampires.
She followed his instructions and walked into a small room. Nice. She wouldn't mind living in a place like this. With a professional eye, Tri valued the furniture and items in the room mentally and added up the totals. This room alone was worth a small fortune. But the information from the people sitting around was worth a lot more.
One of them got up. It took a moment before Tri recognised her. Thea Harman, Daybreak's meet-and-greet witch. "Hello. You must be Ami." Thea radiated calm and serenity. "Welcome to Circle Daybreak." The witch smiled, a smile that reached gold-brown eyes.
Tri smiled back, trying to think how a scared teenager would react. "I'm so glad I'm here. It was so frightening, being chased by the vampires all the time. Are you sure they can't get in here?"
"Don't worry." The voice was cool and confident. Hello John Quinn, Tri thought. The Redfern family's resident troublemaker. "If any of the Nightworld got in here, we'd know straight away."
Tri sniggered inside her mind. Am I in your headquarters? Know straight away, huh? I think not.
Thea smiled warmly. "You see, it's perfectly safe here. Let me introduce you to everyone." She waved a hand around the room. Tri glanced around. All young, a fair number of them soulmates, she guessed.
"This is Quinn. Don't let him scare you." Tri glanced coolly at the black haired vampire who bared his teeth at her. A little like Darkstar, she thought, but with none of his calm self-possession and elegance.
"Rashel - his soulmate - isn't here right now." Rashel, that had to be the slayer they called the Cat, tall, hair black as Quinn's and vivid green eyes. And a bad attitude towards vampires. Tri had run into her once. The Cat had been on her own but Tri hadn't been in the mood for a fight, so she left.
"Poppy and James." James…Tri hadn't seen him since he was eight or nine. He still had the same sweet smile but he seemed less serious now. The girl by him - Poppy was a vampire, too - she was pretty enough. Tri remembered James' parents had said something about a human friend when she had visited.
"Keller and Galen aren't here right now - they're out with Rashel and Morgead, who by the way, is Jez's soulmate." Thea smiled at Jez, who waved a hand from where she was sprawled on a couch watching TV. Tri knew Jez too well for her comfort. Jez's part of the Redfern clan had liked her. But then, she knew about Jez's parents. Half-human, half-vampire.
"Jez," Thea confided, "is what we call a Wild Power. You'll hear a lot about them here." Tri couldn't stop her shock showing on her face. Jez? A Wild Power? She would have said Jezebel Redfern was the last person she would trust with saving the world. No wonder the Nightworld was so confident it would win this dog-fight.
Jez looked up and rolled her eyes. "Yeah and people never stop asking stupid questions. You know, yesterday, someone actually asked me if I could repair their TV using the blue fire." She shrugged. "I told them it was fifty bucks a minute for my time."
"Really?" Tri muttered. Jez was the same as Tri remembered her. Her and Morgead Blackthorn, huh? Hardly a surprise. They were always off causing trouble, Hell's Angels with fangs.
Thea carried on, oblivious to Tri's reaction, though she saw Jez look at her thoughtfully for a moment. "This is Maggie." The girl with the short fox-coloured hair glanced at her and smiled sweetly. She was one Tri wouldn't want to fight with. She had the feeling Maggie would kill to protect her friends and family, even though she would regret it.
Thea stopped where two boys were playing some sort of virtual computer game. Tri watched, slightly puzzled, as a sandy haired boy threw down the control and sighed. "I don't believe this. Lives in a medieval castle all his life and still manages to beat me at a computer game he's never seen before."
The other boy grinned. There was something familiar about him that Tri couldn't place. It was the eyes, huge and gold…eyes like Hunter Redfern's. He had to be a relation.
Thea smiled at the sandy haired boy with a lot of affection. "This is my soulmate, Eric. And that's Delos Redfern-" I was right! "-another Wild Power." Thea shrugged. "And that's pretty much all of us - not Daybreak, just the people you're likely to meet - except for Ash who's out somewhere-"
"Correction." Ash walked in through the door, eyes calm grey. Tri would not have thought he was the sort to have a soulmate. "Who was out." His eyes flicked to Tri, shifting from glass blue to sea green. "I don't think we've met." Wrong, thought Tri, but I have to give credit to whoever thought up this disguise - hey, that was me.
Thea, still smiling - something that could get very annoying - introduced Tri to her many-times-great nephew. "Ami, meet Ash Redfern. This is Ami Maurier."
Ash raised his eyebrows, looking Tri up and down. "No, it isn't. It might be nice to see you again, Auntri-" He automatically used the nickname all the vampire kids called her, she noticed. "-if you weren't trying to spy on us for the Nightworld."
Thea stared at him. "Ash, what are you talking about?"
Ash stared back patiently. "You've been to enough schools, Thea, you should be able to understand English by now. If she is really 'Ami Maurier', Quinn's a tap-dancing nun."
"I left my shoes at home today." No need to see who said that.
Ash smiled angelically. "This is great-aunt Trifolia Rasmussen."
Damn, damn, damn. Caught out. Ash was smarter than she had given him credit for. "Hi," she said weakly, as heads snapped to look at her. "Nice to see you all again."
"Trifolia?" James sounded shocked. Tri would have sympathised with him if Quinn hadn't suddenly produced a wicked looking stake that she knew would hurt if he got the chance to use it.
"Yes, it's me."
"Why are you here, Auntri?" That was Jez, sitting up suddenly, looking a lot more focused and dangerous, eyes as blue as the lightning she controlled.
Ash rolled his ever-changing eyes. "Why do you think she's here, Jez? She works for the Nightworld now, just like anyone with any sense does."
There was a chorus of 'Ash!' from around the room. He ignored them and carried on. "And I'll bet you all treated her like some poor innocent vampire, didn't you? Knowing you lot, she probably knows who the Wild Powers are and what the big plan is." Tri watched Ash in amusement. Had he ever grown up with a vengeance.
Quinn smiled, beautiful but lethal. There was a slightly triumphant edge to his voice. "So we might as well kill her now, then?" He was ready to pounce, Tri realised, keeping an eye on him so she could dodge if she had to.
"No!" Thea sounded disgusted with him. "You haven't even asked her if she is with the Nightworld yet."
"Look, this is all a lot of fun, but could you: a) stop referring to me as 'she' or 'her' - I do have a name and it's Trifolia, and b) can you get a move on?" Tri was carefully avoiding the phrase, 'get to the point' because she had a feeling Quinn wasn't entirely reformed yet.
"You can tell she's related to Ash," Tri heard someone mutter. A human, she thought. Technically speaking, she was only related to the Redferns by wedlock. Lock being the operative word.
"So whose side are you on, Aunt Trifolia? Day or Dark?" Jez's voice was quiet, deadly. Talk about an atmosphere. It was so tense in here, if anybody breathed someone was probably going to scream.
"Please don't call me Aunt Trifolia, or Auntri. It spoils my image of youth," she said dryly. "You aren't kids anymore and every time you call me Auntri, I automatically expect to take you out for an ice-cream. Call me Tri, or Trifolia." It was always best to act the older and wiser when you were facing family. It unnerved them. "And I'm not on either side. In the daytime, I wear sunglasses and at night, I have a torch."
Not these kids, though. Daybreak made for tougher types than she'd thought. "Fine. Trifolia. What are you doing here?"
"Research." Now they were staring at her like she was crazy.
"That means, idiots," Ash put in, looking contemptuously at the others, "that she's spying on us." Tri tried not to smile. Ash would probably kill her if she told him how much like Hunter Redfern he sounded. "For who, though, that's the question." Now green-gold eyes were fixed on her, shifting into dark forest-green.
Tri glared at him. "That's none of your business, Ash Redfern."
"That's what they all say."
"Before or after they punch you?" Tri said in her sweetest voice.
She glanced over at the door. Clear path to it. Tri didn't hang around any longer, but ran. She heard shouts behind her as she ran down the hallway. Nilsson tried to stop her, but she kicked him with six hundred years of practice giving her an advantage and a sense of satisfaction as she saw his startled face.
Tri hurtled out of the mansion and left the area with the speed only a vampire had.
~*~
The dark haired vampire looked at her. "Delos and Jez Redfern? Really?" Tri nodded. She was reporting back after finally managing to wash out that revolting black hair dye, but it had left some sort of green…stuff on her hair.
Darkstar smiled, something she didn't see very often. "You did well, Tri, even if it was taking what I asked to extremes. I didn't plan on you meeting them, but…" He shrugged then glanced at her with s hint of mischief in his eyes. "By the way, nice hair. Green is definitely your colour."
That was her signal to leave and Tri did gladly, wondering what had put him in such a good mood. She had known him for a long time, but Darkstar was rarely cheerful. You got used to his morbid attitude after a while, though.
"Hey! Trifolia. Slow down!" She heard the voice and groaned quietly. It was Ross, the most irritating, sadistic vampire she had ever had the displeasure to meet. She obediently slowed her walking pace - it didn't do to annoy someone who whilst looking quite sane, probably had a mind more twisted than a corkscrew.
Ross smiled up at her, blue eyes flickering. He was cute, Tri had to admit. His hair was a muddy brown, cut short in a style that suited his cheerful face. "Heard about the latest job?"
Job? "Darkstar didn't say anything to me."
Ross leaned closer to her and it was all Tri could do not to step backwards. "Well, just between you and me, Trifolia, Darkstar doesn't know about this. I'm going freelance for this one."
"Why?" Tri knew Ross enough to know that he wouldn't risk getting Darkstar mad unless it was something special.
"There's some human - stirring up trouble. She's been looking at lists that no one was supposed to see, lists of spies, lists of families…she's been finding out more than is good for her. There's a Nightlady's put a price on her head. And I could use a few million. Three guesses what I've got to do?" The poor human would be dead in a few days.
Tri could see he was enjoying this. She bothered him, Tri knew that. Everyone who worked for Darkstar knew that she didn't like killing. And that was what this lot spent most of their time doing. Ross knew she didn't kill and spent every possible opportunity reminding her.
"Kill her?"
"Yeah. But don't you let Darkstar know anything about this. But I do have a legit job to do. Just a 'shifter who killed one of ours." Two killings in a day. Tri avoided the sadistic look on Ross's face.
"Well, thanks for informing me, Ross. See you." She started to walk off before he began the inevitable question. It was something of an annoying habit. He didn't like her, and deliberately kept asking her-
They really did not get on, but for some reason Tri couldn't really fathom, Ross pretended they did and she played along. "So, do you want to go out tonight?" Tone laced with venom, sapphire eyes glittering with malice.
Tri spun round and smiled sweetly at him. "What, is the day that hell freezes over here *already*?" She saw his face, turned back and walked out of the building smiling. Tri 1, Ross 0.
~*~
Tri was shopping when they caught her, for a birthday treat. She had found an electric blue minidress she loved and just needed some boots to go with it. She was just about to walk into a department store when a pair of teenage girls walked past her…turned and grabbed her, talking excitedly, looking like they were all just good friends. But 'good friends' did not hold a wooden knife at your wrists and they definitely did not threaten to disembowel you if you tried to run.
She was herded down to the first floor, through the crowds of shoppers, none of them having any idea in their stupid vermin brains what was going on. Tri tried to wrench out of their grip, but all she got for her trouble was a cut arm and hissed threats.
Tri shut up until they shoved her into a limo. "Ah, the nineties way. Kidnapping, but with style."
"You, Trifolia or whatever, shut up." One of the girls ordered. "Go."
The driver, a vampire with black hair and bright green eyes, who seemed somehow familiar, grinned. "Yes ma'am," he said wickedly and floored the accelerator.
Tri glanced at the two girls. The first was a 'shifter, long black hair and dark grey eyes. She was sitting with the easy grace of some sort of cat, calm, regal but ready to pounce at any time. The other one was a human, but Tri knew her already. Rashel Jordan, a.k.a. the Cat. She didn't need to ask what they wanted to talk about.
The 'shifter looked at her, contempt in her eyes. "For someone who's supposed to be a Nightworld agent, you weren't hard to find."
Tri just smiled sweetly at them and decided maybe she should try to bluff her way out of this. "Either that, or you just played straight into our hands."
All three of them, vampire, human and shapeshifter tensed. It was obvious they hadn't thought of that option. Then the 'shifter fixed steely gray eyes on Tri. She seemed to be the leader of this merry band and had a confidence that Tri liked about her. Pity about that nasty little piece of wood she was holding.
"If it was a trap, we'd be being chased by now." Raksha Keller - that was the girl's name. Demon. Well, it was appropriate.
"Who's to say you aren't?" Tri threw in that little comment, hoping to put at least a little bit of doubt in their minds.
The three of them ignored her. The vampire she had seen before. Tri frowned. It must have been a while ago, but where? Think, Trifolia, any information you can get is going to be useful now. Black hair, green eyes…the name Louis appeared in her head and Tri groaned inwardly. She had been reading too many of those vampire books lately.
"Let's go back the long way, then." Rashel Jordan glared at Tri for a moment then spoke to the driver. "Morgead, can you see anyone who might be trailing us?" Ah, Morgead Blackthorn. Jez's friend and apparently now her soulmate.
Sandwiched between the two Daybreakers, Tri could do nothing but wait until the car drew up at the mansion. She would bet Daybreak was not going to give her such an easy way to escape this time.
~*~
She was right. Tied up in a chair, there were at least six people guarding her, if she wasn't mistaken, even though she couldn't see any weapons. How're you gonna get yourself out of this mess, girl?
No one spoke, no one even looked at Tri. She felt like this was a bad gangster movie. And in six hundred years, she had seen a fair few of those. Everyone looked up as the door swung open.
Tri was surprised to see Lord Thierry himself, and Lady Hannah Snow. She had met Thierry before, in his usual quest for his soulmate across the world. Shiny blond hair, big dark eyes that glittered when he was mad, pale skin and elegant features. He was a nice enough guy, unless you crossed him, even if he did have enough emotional baggage to weigh down several bellboys.
Hannah Snow. She studied her thoughtfully. Long blond hair, clear gray eyes and the famous blushing pink birthmark on one cheek. Everyone in the Nightworld knew what she and Thierry looked like.
Thierry smiled at Tri, but that didn't make her feel any better. "Hello Trifolia. It's been a while." His tone was relaxed, friendly. He was trying to get her to drop her guard, but it wouldn't work. Tri knew every trick in the book. "So, why did you feel the sudden need to visit us?" Still calm.
Tri shrugged. "Like I told my great nephew, it's none of your business."
Quinn smiled. Tri had forgotten he was in the room. "Why don't you just let me and Rashel talk to her. I'm sure she'll answer our questions." As threats went, on a subtlety scale of 1-10, this was a minus number. She knew a lot about John Quinn and his…less subtle acts. He was a serial killer a hundred times over. And, Tri thought very quietly, probably a little insane.
Thierry shook his head. He knew as well as Tri what would happen if he agreed to Quinn's proposal.
"Maybe I can help." The voice came from the open door and Tri's mouth dropped open as Darkstar walked in. What the *hell* was he doing here? He couldn't afford to get caught by Daybreak or the Nightworld. But it was definitely him, black hair, blacker eyes and that slightly twisted smile that meant he was up to something.
Thierry stared. He looked as surprised as Tri felt. She knew Thierry and Darkstar had met and that they did not get on. Something to do with ethics, she thought. Thierry didn't like that Darkstar killed indiscriminately, Darkstar thought the Nightworld lord was an imbecile for taking up a lost cause like Circle Daybreak. And he had no time for soulmates.
Darkstar glanced at Tri. Can't you keep out of mischief? I don't have time to dig you out of trouble like this. It sounded like him, but Tri just could not shake the feeling that something about him was slightly…blurred. A little unfocused in a way. She realised that he was talking aloud as well.
"-let her go? She can't tell you much."
Thierry watched the vampire. He was considering it, Tri could tell. Let her go and talk to the mastermind of most of the trouble both Daybreak and the Nightworld had been having lately. Tri knew how many vampires, witches and 'shifters would like to get their teeth, hands and paws, respectively on Darkstar.
"Very well." Thierry nodded to two of her guards and they untied her. With a sigh of relief, Tri stood up, trying to massage some life back into her hands. Quinn had cut off her circulation, deliberately, of course. He was still a sadist. Obviously finding his soulmate hadn't done much for his temperament.
Darkstar, are you going to tell them? Seriously? Tri flung a telepathic question at her boss.
He didn't look in her direction but the answer surprised her. What can I tell them? I would have thought that you, at least, would realise - I am not Darkstar. I'm just playing guardian angel for a day. Silence for a moment, while Tri tried to work out what was going on. Listen, meet me later. I have news you might be interested to hear.
How do I know I can trust you?
Aren't I saving your ass now?
He had a point. Whoever 'he' happened to be.Where?
The Black Foxglove. The 'shifter place? Why there, of all places. Well, she reasoned, it was the last place anyone would look for two vampires - if that was what this angel was.
But she didn't get a chance to ask as Nilsson and friends marched her out of the room, the house, and the area.
~*~
The Black Foxglove was definitely a 'shifter joint, but the cute 'wolf on the door let her in with a smile that held a hint of warning. There were Nightpeople - vampires - about who went into places like this just to start fights.
Tri got a martini from the bar then found a corner to sit in while she sipped her drink and waited for her mysterious rescuer. The bar was busy tonight, full of 'shifters from what looked like the whole damn city. The lighting was dark, blue and red beams flicking over the dance floor. But then, you didn't exactly need much light with night vision. A few people stared curiously at Tri, wondering, no doubt, what a vampire was doing here.
She didn't have long to wait before she saw Darkstar - no, she corrected herself, his Doppelganger - approaching. He had a glass in one hand and a smiled at her as he sat down. Then his features seemed to melt away, eyes going hell-fire orange, hair like a tiger's coat. Height dropping a little, so his eyes were level with hers. Skin darkening to a deep tan-brown. Seriously *weird*.
"What do you think of the 'real' me, then?" The tiger-hair guy inquired, voice velvet-dark and very sexy.
Tri couldn't do much but stare, something she seemed to be doing a lot of lately. He was a, she hardly dared even think the word, a dragon. Her guardian angel was a dragon. This was too unbelievable.
"It's…not what I was expecting," Tri finally managed to stutter. He was watching her. His eyes, they were *burning*. Like there were twin fires in his eyes. It brought back images of the mad- passionate priests screaming their sermons against the devil. Maybe they weren't so crazy.
Quick smile, showing rows of teeth that would make a dentist keel over. "A lot of people say that."
This was getting too cosy and friendly for Tri. She hadn't come here to set up a date with-"What's your name?"
"I don't think it's wise for me to give you my real name." His voice was thoughtful as his face. "Call me Iager."
"So, Iager, what's this news I'm going to find so interesting?" Tri forced herself to talk business, though the idea of relaxing, taking time out with Iager was definitely not unappealing.
He leaned closer, lowered his voice. "You've heard the prophecies, about the Wild Powers, I mean."
She nodded. Who hadn't? 'In blood the final price is paid…' - that line bothered everyone.
"The Third, they've found her. The witch-child. Daybreak have three of the Wild Powers. The whole Nightworld seeks the fourth." His eyes seemed to explode, like a miniature supernova. "The Hunt is on." Hunt had a capital 'h', or at least, that was how it sounded.
"So what? You didn't get me out of trouble just to tell me *that*."
"Could you stop treating this like a joke, for one minute?" She had annoyed him now and when he was mad, this guy looked like something that was fire-born. "This is serious. If the Nightworld find the fourth, we all die. If Daybreak finds the fourth, we all die."
"What?" Tri couldn't believe what he was saying. "I thought if Daybreak found the fourth we all live happily ever after!"
He shook his head and for a moment, Tri saw tiny horns, five of them. This dragon was powerful. "No, because if Daybreak finds the fourth, they will gather the Wild Powers. In one place. All it takes is for someone to get some TNT, a box of matches, an overdose of stupidity and we're all in trouble. And believe me, Trifolia, they will. The Wild Powers will die and so will we."
Iager shook his head, tousling orange and black hair and for a moment, Tri saw tiny horns, five of them. This dragon was powerful. "No, because if Daybreak finds the fourth, they will gather the Wild Powers. In one place. All it takes is for someone to get some TNT, a box of matches and we're all in trouble. And believe me, Trifolia, they will. The Wild Powers will die and so will we."
"So there's nothing to be done, that's what you're saying."
"No, that's not it. Suppose Daybreak didn't find the fourth - the Nightworld would keep on looking. That would buy Daybreak time to gather its defences. The other three would be safe until the millennium."
Tri sighed. This was a bad idea. "But there are only three Wild Powers. They need all four. And I don't want Daybreak to win."
Iager rolled his eyes, looking completely exasperated. "But you don't want the Nightworld to rule the world either, right?"
Tri just nodded.
"So suppose the fourth was kept safe, by someone neutral for a year. Someone who didn't know they had the fourth. Or if the fourth didn't even know themselves they were the fourth."
It was a good plan, Tri realised. No better than that, it was a way to keep it so that if this whole plan changed, the fourth could be disposed of, without anyone knowing.
"So why tell me all this. I'm not important." Iager's face was grim for a moment. "No, you're wrong. I need your help."
Tri couldn't control her reaction. "You - a dragon - need *my* help? That's, it's stupid. I'm a vampire, a made vampire. How can I help? And what makes you think I would help?"
"You have to help!" His desperate whisper stopped Tri for a second. "Don't you understand, Trifolia? This isn't some Nightworld scrabble anymore. We are talking about the destruction of-"
"The whole damn world. Yeah, I know. But my question is, what the hell has this got to do with me? I've chosen what side I'm on. Nothing's going to change that." Especially not now, not after her little fiasco with Daybreak.
Iager sighed, radiating frustration. "Would you just shut up and listen for a moment? She said this was going to be difficult, but I didn't realise she meant like this." Tri wanted to know who 'she' was, but figured he might just leave if she didn't shut up and listen to him.
"You're unique. Over twenty and a made vampire. That's given you some unusual abilities, even if you don't realise it right now. It's not you that this hinges about, but the vampire Darkstar." He saw Tri about to jump in and held up a hand. She stayed quiet, fascinated by his words. "If he joins the Nightworld - and he's going to have to make the choice in the end - we are all doomed, not to put to fine a point on it. All you have to do is one simple thing."
"I'm listening."
Iager smiled briefly. "Good. When you were made, you're telepathic powers were enhanced - and so were your precognitive powers."
"Meaning what exactly?"
Iager paused, drumming his fingers on the table top. "Have you ever had dreams that came true later on?"
Tri jumped. She couldn't help it. How could he possibly know that? He had noticed her reaction - had to have been blind not to - and just raised his eyebrows. "I'll take that as a yes. Have you ever acted on those dreams - I mean tried to change the outcome, the future, that sort of thing."
"Yes." Tri had done that countless times. "But it's difficult and would you stop delaying and just say whatever it is you came here to say?"
Iager leaned forward, eyes intense. "There's a girl…."
"There usually is."
"Don't be flippant. I don't want to die in a cascade of meteors and lava in a year-" He stopped talking abruptly. Said too much, Tri thought.
"Really, how strange. That isn't high on my list of things to do, either. Along with getting shanghaied by Circle Daybreak and talking to elusive dragons."
"Two of those have already happened," he pointed out, voice a little more gentle, smiling sweetly at her - a combination that made Tri's heart turn over. And she figured out why she was being so obtrusive. "Let's not make it three out of three, huh?"
I'm falling for a dragon, she thought. I'm in love with a slimy, person-eating reptile I just met…who, let's face it, beats Thierry and Ross hands-down in looks…she cut off that thought. A cannibal reptile who could kill me at a glance - and who is the most interesting guy I have ever met and cute into the bargain-
"Um." Iager's voice stopped her wayward thoughts. "You might want to keep your thoughts to yourself a little more. You have a loud mind." He looked embarrassed, but kind of flattered too, to her relief.
Tri smiled sheepishly at him. "Sorry."
"Don't be."
For just a moment, there was a tension free instant where they were both relaxed, but it didn't last.
"Please, can we talk about this girl. There isn't much time…" His voice trailed off.
"Go ahead."
Iager sighed and began to talk, voice low and fast. "We don't know much about her. Only what has been seen in visions and dreams. She's a human, very small, probably about five feet but no more. Black hair and blue eyes, but there are a million people who look like that. One distinguishing feature is that her eyes are a very strange shade of blue. Luminous I'd say. She has some witchblood in her family, but we can't tell what powers she has from the visions. But if you let Darkstar kill her, he'll join the Nightworld and you know the next part."
Tri was confused now. She had to save some human girl she had never even met, just to stop one vampire joining the Nightworld. "How is letting some vermin live going to save the Wild Powers? How is she going to stop Darkstar joining the Nightworld?"
Iager smiled ruefully. "I…don't know," he admitted. "We haven't foreseen that part. But there's only a very small chance she can stop him, somehow. All this hinges on a lot of luck."
"Oh, great." Tri sighed. Welcome to my life of fun. "Is that what you wanted to say?"
"That's it."
She smiled at him and got up, pulling on gloves and a coat. The winter air was cold and though vampires weren't suppose to be able to sense that, Tri had always been frozen by the cold north winds in winter, sun-warmed in summer, just like any mortal.
He caught her hand as she got up. "We'll need to talk again. No seriously, " he added when he saw Tri's expression. "And besides, don't you want to see this slimy person-eating reptile again?"
He was quoting her own words back at her. And she wanted to find out what the secrets were that lurked behind those orange hellfire eyes and intriguing smile… "Okay. Same time next week." He nodded and let go of her hand.
Tri walked through the crowds of 'shifters who ignored her politely. She couldn't resist a look back when she reached the door. But he was gone, the table empty as if they had never been there…
~*~
The place was dark with a gothic air to it. Candles flickered around the room, people were sat in a rough circle as Iager walked in. The room was smoky, incense scent on the air. Strange symbols were scrawled all over the wall and around the massive glowing pentagram on the floor.
His meeting with that pretty vampire had been…not what he expected. There was a lot more to Trifolia Rasmussen that met the eye. He had figured she was just another dumb blond even if she was six hundred years old. Wrong. He should have believed Adularia when she told him this wasn't going to be easy. But Iager was glad he had volunteered.
The people in the circle sat perfectly still, like statues. They even looked that way, with skin marble white and glistening slightly. They were meditating, those of them that had not fallen into the strange mindless sleep that happened to these.
Iager cleared his throat. "Hello, is anyone here or do I have to get an appointment?"
The woman opposite him opened her eyes, one bright purple, normal, almost human, the other neon-green with a black slit where the pupil should have been. A snake's eye. Apart from that, she was still perfectly still. Until he realised her pink-ice lips were moving. "How did it go, dragon friend?"
She got up, stretching lazily as masses of shining white hair tumbled down her back to her feet. Adularia was thousands of years old, but her age only showed in her hair. Her face still looked the same, perhaps eighteen or so. She was an unusual witch, and not of either of the witch circles - those had been formed long after she defected from her home and the rules the witches lived by.
She began to walk towards him in the stately glide that looked as if she were floating across the flagstones, silvery dress trailing behind her. She looked as medieval as ever, but perfectly in place here. Iager swore her feet weren't touching the floor, as though she were flying. Maybe she was.
"Well. I think she will help us." Iager spoke softly, with a respect he had for no one else.
Adularia nodded, as if it were what she had expected.
"Yes, that is right. You have done well, Iager. Will you stay?" Always the same request, perfectly polite, just a hint of seductiveness behind the words. He looked at the other members of the circle, dreaming dreams he knew he would never understand, unless he stayed. Adularia Harman had harnessed the greatest powers here and those few she offered to share it with - those she invited to 'stay' - became statues eventually, trapped willingly in their own minds.
One of his friends, a Nightworld vampire called Kallen had decided to stay. Next time Iager had seen Len, he could 'shift, good as any Drache or dragon. But he could see how it had changed the vampire. Already his skin had that faint fluorescent glow, his eyes the strange sleepy look they all got eventually.
"No, but thank you all the same." Iager did not want to be like them. Dragon powers were enough for him. It was strange though. Each time he came here, he found it more difficult to refuse her offer. He supposed it was the thought of the power to do anything.
Adularia gazed at him for a moment. "One day I think you will stay with us." Her voice was slow and beautiful as ever, a thousand melodies seeming to tumble underneath it.
"Not today, Adularia." He liked the witch, but at the same time she terrified him with her unearthly eyes and strange hypnotic voice. He knew nothing about her, only that she was once a Harman and that now she had become something...else. Adularia was a mystery to everyone, an ageless beauty whose smile could break hearts and whose powers could break mountains.
"We have a new one, a vampire." Vampires were permitted into her circle to use the power. Any who was 'suitable' could stay. There was power here to awaken every dragon on earth, though it had not been her who had awoken him, Iager knew that much.
"Who?"
"I think she would interest you. She was once of Circle Daybreak." Adularia's serene gaze held Iager's eyes, her smooth face betraying nothing. Iager didn't know how a Daybreaker could have got in here. "Her name," and he saw a flicker of irony on her face, "was Dawn."
"Which is she?" Iager glanced at the circle of statuesque Nightpeople. They all looked the same to him now, with their silver hair and staring eyes. Something here seemed to age them, turning vivid eyes to glassy black and hair to silver-grey, making elegant bones prominent and taking away the pink flush of life under their skin.
"She is not here now," Adularia replied, following his gaze. She shrugged and turned away from him, to light the fire with a spell, a soft spoken word Iager couldn't quite catch, but around him he felt the air tighten for an instant.
Iager stared at her back. "Not here as in took a holiday, or not here as in gone to that happy fluffy place where all your guests go eventually?"
Adularia turned to stare at him coldly. For a moment he seemed to see something black-mist and monstrous crouched there, instead of the witch, but the hallucination passed, and there was merely Adularia watching him with icy anger showing on her face, making Iager wish he had been a little more polite. "She is in the city where you were a few hours ago, Iager. With another, who I believe was a friend of yours." Her anger faded instantly, back into the smooth lines of her emotionless face. The once thing he had noticed over time, the thing that was so insignificant yet scared him so much - Adularia never blinked.
Friend? Only person he knew here was Len…oh no. "What are they doing?"
"The one you called Kallen and the one who was known as Dawn are helping to prevent the end of the world as we know it." She was very into all this Armageddon and apocalypse doom, Iager knew that. But he didn't like the way she had said 'helping'. He had a feeling that Len and Dawn wouldn't be coming back.
"Oh…well I really can't stay any longer. It was good to see you again Adularia." He had to get away from her creepy eyes. She was a cold-blooded witch, sending others to die. Goddess, he hoped Trifolia wouldn't die. Adularia hadn't said anything, but…
Iager left, promising himself he would never go back there again.
~*~
Tri's dreams were disturbing that night. First, the girl arguing with Darkstar, spitting and snarling at him...her death…and then the millennium. The fire everywhere, the humans hunted down…and finally with the death of the last human, the death of the last witch, the last half-breed, then the last animal…the Nightworld dying out, starving vampires killed, werewolves turning on each other, anarchy everywhere. Then nothing. The earth empty, destroyed by the Nightworld's greed.
That empty world haunted her all through the day. Darkstar knew something was wrong, but he didn't say anything, just watched her thoughtfully through huge dark eyes.
Ross, blind as ever, just thought she was suffering from the humiliation of being caught by Daybreak - that news had gone around the Nightworld like fire, and he teased her until she was at breaking point.
And finally, when Ross sauntered in grinning, she remembered this murder job he had that day.
"Well, there's one human won't be spying for the Nightworld now." His voice was arrogant. "tried to run, but I caught her in some dead-end town called Ryars Valley. She's dead in her sister's house." He sniggered. "Boy, will that human ever be in trouble. Three bodies in her house. She's a pretty thing though."
"Who is?" Tri wasn't really paying attention.
"The human I just killed - saw her sister. Black hair, weird blue eyes…if I ever see her again I'm making her into a vampire. She deserves immortality."
"With you, of course?" Tri said dryly, wondering when he would shut up and go away.
Ross smirked. "Who else?" He was staring at her with those winter- sky eyes. Tri avoided his glance. She didn't want to get into staring matches; it had been fun when she was a kid - but not anymore.
"So..." Ross's voice that always had just the hint of a whine behind it grated on her ears again. "Dinner, dearest? Arsenic and anchovy pizza, perhaps?" The made vampire smiled charmingly.
"Drop dead," Tri snapped.
"Already did."
"Encore."
Eventually he did leave, to her relief. But the dreams still haunted her and came to life in her sleep that night, the screaming, the deaths. And Tri didn't know how to stop it. All she knew was that it would be the end of the world if she didn't.