"They're both fine," Hannah replied, and I could hear the other two sigh in relief. My ears had perked up at hearing Ash's name, and then again when I'd hear myself mentioned. I
was touched that someone was asking about me, but it left me wondering who these new people were. I was tempted to leave my position in the living room to see, but decided
against it, wanting to hear more of what they said first. I only felt a little bad for eavesdropping, but figured if anyone walked in, I could pretend to be asleep.
"Actually, Ash isn't here right now, he went out on a job." I admired the way Hannah sneakily skirted the topic of Jez being missing, making it sound as if Ash was out on some mundane task. I guessed they were really taking this whole secret thing seriously.
"Really?" The male voice questioned, confusion evident in his tone. It was hard to miss the strain behind Hannah's words as she tried to keep her voice light in an attempt to hide
the truth. She obviously hadn't yet mastered the art of lying effortlessly like many on the people who were part of the Night World. "Yeah, is there a problem?" I almost envision
Hannah's nervousness as the other two unknowingly pressured her into giving Ash's whereabouts.
"It's I didn't think he'd be out again so soon, you know with MaryLynnette in such bad shape…" The man's voice trailed off, clearly picking up on Hannah's tone, figuring that there
was more to the story.
"Well, you know how Ash is," Hannah stuttered, stumbling to find an adequate reason as to why Ash would leave. I was guessing that the new people must have known Ash well, to
have been suspicious of his actions. They'd mentioned how they'd hated having to leave him, leading me to believe that they were good friends of his.
"Yeah, I know how Ash is," the girl began, her voice sharp and cutting. I felt sorry for Hannah who was on the receiving end. "I know that he wouldn't just up and leave when his
soul mate is in trouble. I saw how torn up he was yesterday, there's no way he would have just left."
"Well, iit was important," Hannah replied, her discomfort shining through. I decided that it was probably time to save Hannah and make myself known. Pushing myself up from the
sofa, which required a lot more energy than I thought it would, I made my way to the door. Just as Hannah was starting another round of excuses, I stepped into the hall, clearing my throat to grab everyone's attention.
All eyes fixed on me, the scrutiny of their gaze making me fidget uncomfortably. "Ash actually went to go pick up some of my stuff from the hotel I was staying at. He didn't want
us to tell anyone because he thought it would make him look soft. Don't tell him I told you."
Hannah shot me a grateful look, visibly relaxing at my presence. I smiled at her, trying to convey my support.
The other girl looked me up and down with narrowed greens eyes, deciphering how much truth was in my words. I did the same, my eyes roving her appearance, unwavering under
her stare. She had long dark hair that was currently swept up into a ponytail, fair skin, and a lithe athletic build.
She held a hand out towards me, a small smile tugging at lips. I stared at the outstretched hand dumbly for a second, before pulling my wits together and taking it. "I'm Rashel, it's
nice to finally meet the mystery girl Ash has been telling us about."
My mind flashed back to the adoration in which Ash had spoken about the girl before me, and the swirling of jealousy began again in my stomach. I silently chastised myself for
being so stupid. Ash loved me; there shouldn't be a problem with him having other female friends.
I gave Rashel a tight smile, withdrawing my hand. "MaryLynnette," I said by way of introduction. She gave me a funny look, undoubtedly noticing my sudden discomfort, but didn't
bring up the matter. "This is Quinn," she continued, indicating the boy next to her.
My heart stopped for a second, hearing the name we'd lived in fear of. Forcing myself to take in Ash's words about how he had changed, I forced the warmest smile I could muster.
Sensing my uneasiness, Quinn didn't offer his hand, just gave a slight nod of acknowledgement, with a "Nice to meet you."
"Sooo," Rashel began, trying to diffuse the awkward tension between the four of us. "When do you think Ash will be back?" I shrugged my shoulders, because I honestly didn't know
when he'd be back. It depended on how long it would take for them to find Jez, but I obviously couldn't say that. I looked to Hannah for an answer.
Her eyes were wide with indecision. "I don't know," she began slowly, looking to me for inspiration. I shook my head telling her I had nothing. "It depends on how much… traffic
there is." Hannah looked extremely pleased at her quick thinking, giving a plausible excuse to why Ash would be taking so long. I nodded my approval, but Rashel didn't look so
convinced.
"Right," she said, her eyes darting between Hannah and I, searching for a chink in our armour. "I heard it's bad this time of day," I added, hoping to throw the girl off our trail. It
was only my first day and already I was being forced to lie to the fellow residents of Circle Daybreak. So much for first impressions.
"Come on," Quinn said, taking Rashel lightly by the arm. "We need to go change out of these clothes, I smell like werewolf."
"Don't let Lupe hear you say that," Rashel returned halfheartedly, clearly distracted. However,, she still let Quinn guide her away towards the stairs. "It was nice meeting you MaryLynnette, and good to see you're okay," he said, turning to look over his shoulder.
"Thanks," I replied, smiling goodnaturedly. "Nice meeting the both of you too." I watched as they ascended the staircase, Rashel's eyes never leaving my own. She couldn't have made it more obvious that she knew we were hiding something. I internally winced; I didn't want to get on her bad side if she was friends with Ash.
Once they reached the top, Quinn disappeared out of sight while Rashel leaned over the bannister, calling down to me. "We'll talk some more later, MaryLynnette."
"I look forward to it," I called back, offering her my brightest smile, which was painfully forced. Rashel shook her head in amusement, not fooled by my cheeriness. I wondered
what we had to talk about. Would she interrogate me about where Ash was, or would she really just want to get to know me?
"Thanks," Hannah sighed, once Rashel and Quinn had completely disappeared. I smiled at her, gently nudging the girl on he shoulder. "What are friends for?"
She answered me with a smile, but then a small wrinkle appeared on her forehead. "I'm sorry that you had to get mixed up in all of this. You've only just got here, and already
we're asking you to lie to people," she said apologetically.
I waved off her apology, shaking my head. It wasn't her fault that Jez had disappeared, neither was it my business to question how these matters were dealt with. If secrecy
worked best in these scenarios, who was I to question that? "Don't worry about it. It's not like I'm a stranger to keeping secrets."
Hannah nodded her head knowingly. She too had been lumbered with the burden of knowing about the Night World, being forced to keep that knowledge to herself. Whilst the
vampires, the witches and the shape shifters had grown up with the secret, learnt the art of deceit from a young age, us humans had had the Night World thrust upon us
unexpectedly. We didn't have the luxury of our loved ones already knowing about what was going on.
Although keeping things from my Dad hadn't been hard. He was hardly ever home and when he was, he was too preoccupied to notice anything unusual. It said a lot that even after
six months of me moping and barely leaving the house, he hadn't even realised anything was wrong. Even Claudine had noticed, but that was Dad for you.
Hannah opened her mouth to saying something else, but before any sound could escape, she was interrupted by the front door being flung open. At the sudden movement Ha
nnah moved into a defensive position, facing the intruder full on. Immediately my heart began to hammer at her reaction.
I followed her lead, whipping round to see the person who'd made such an entrance. The sun flooding through the open doorway blinded me for a second, hindering my view.
Squinting, I could make out the outline of a man.
He slammed the door closed behind him, relieving me from the blinding sunlight.
At last I could see the boy fully, with blonde hair, fair skin and bottomless grey eyes that held an ancient wisdom. Although his initial appearance did not seem threatening in the
least, the stormy look on his face made those eyes look like grey thunder clouds, readying to release lightning bolts.
I raised my guard, my eyes scanning the hallway for possible weapons and escape routes. A vase of flowers held my gaze, fixing my sights on the damage it could. I was just
beginning to edge my way towards it, when from the corner of my eye I saw Hannah visibly relax, although she did hold a hand on her chest.
"Goddess, Hugh! You scared the life out of me," she said, her eyes wide with shock. Looking between the two of them, they clearly knew each other well, and I stopped in my
attempt to grab the vase. Still, I didn't lower my guard. I didn't trust anyone who barged into rooms like that.
"What are you doing here?" Hannah asked, moving towards the boy, resting her hands on his upper arms. Looking into his eyes, she registered the swirling emotion there, making
the girl worried. It was clear that she was not used to seeing these sorts of aggressive emotions in the boy.
"I heard about Jez," Hugh replied, his voice low in his throat, as if he was trying to stop his voice from wavering. I had to assume that he and Jez were close for him to be having
such an emotional reaction to her disappearance. Which raised the question of how he did know. Thierry had made it clear that the information was to be kept under lock and key.
Hannah frowned, thinking along the same lines. As if seeing the question forming in her mind, Hugh answered. "Thierry called me. He thought I should know." Hannah nodded as if
this made sense, making me think I'd underestimated the relationship between him and Jez. They obviously weren't soul mates, because I knew that Morgead was.
"Keep your voice down," Hannah whispered, warily looking up the staircase towards where Quinn and Rashel had disappeared. With so many vampires in the house, any number of
ears could be listening. I wondered how anyone ever got any privacy around here.
Hugh looked bashful at his outburst, also warily looking around. His eyes fell on me, making me freeze in place, feeling the weight of them. Fidgeting uncomfortably under stare, I
raised my hand in a half wave. "Hey, I'm MaryLynnette," I said awkwardly. He nodded stiffly, looking just as uncomfortable as I felt. "Hugh," he said, stuffing his hands into his
pockets.
"Lets discuss this in the kitchen," Hannah said after a few moments of silence. I was relieved that someone had finally spoken; the lack of conversation was making me restless.
Hugh nodded his agreement, following Hannah as she walked out of the hallway. I noticed he moved with a slight limp as he made his way to the kitchen, catching my curiosity.
For a moment I just stood dumbly in the middle of them expansive hallway, unsure whether I was supposed to follow or not. Part of me wanted to see what they would be talking
about, but another part was whining at me to rest. My bed upstairs called to me, singing its promise of sleep.
Before I could be tempted, Hannah's head appeared round the doorframe, he blonde hair tumbling around he face. "You coming," she asked, inviting me to join them. I nodded with
a smile, happy that the decision had been taken out of my hands. With one last longing look to the staircase, I followed Hannah and Hugh into the kitchen, shutting the door behind me to cut off any prying ears.
It didn't take long for us to catch Hugh up on the situation. We didn't have a lot of information about what had happened, only theories and what courses of action we'd taken. He
understood the need to keep this under the radar, nodding his head gravely.
"She wouldn't have just left by herself," Hugh said once we'd finished updating him on Ash's thoughts on the situation. I had no reaction to his words, feeling that I didn't know the
girl well enough to make a judgement. Hannah on the other hand looked unsure.
"Well, it wouldn't be the first time," she said uneasily, taking in Hugh's reaction. He'd calmed down considerably since he'd first entered the mansion, but that swirling emotion was
still present. "There's a reason we had to keep her locked in her bedroom. You know how she is, Hugh."
"Yes, I know that she'd never be stupid enough to leave our protection without backup. She may be reckless and full of pent up energy, but she wouldn't risk leaving, knowing
what's at stake."
"She's done it before," Hannah reaffirmed, clearly taking Ash's view that Jez had simply just escaped and would be back by nightfall. Unlike Ash though, who believed in his theory
because of past experiences, I suspected that Hannah only believed in it because she didn't want to think about the alternative. None of us did.
Hugh shook his head frustrated, planting his hands down on the wooden table and gritting his teeth. "All of the other times she's got out, she was always with someone, either
hunting with Rashel, or out with Keller, even with Morgead. She wouldn't leave by herself. I know she wouldn't. She understands better than anyone how important it is to keep her
and the other wild powers safe. I was there, Hannah, when she was staked; I saw how close we came to losing her, to losing against the apocalypse. I am telling you that there is
absolutely no way she left this mansion unsupervised, of her own accord." Hugh voice had risen as he spoke, filling with passion and clarity.
I leant back against the door, processing his words. Only just beginning to understand what they meant. "So what you're saying is that she was taken?" I couldn't help but make my
statement into a question. I'd thought the mansion was safe, impenetrable. If Jez had been taken, then surely all of us were vulnerable.
"That's exactly what I'm saying," Hugh replied, looking sick to his stomach at the realisation. He leant down, burying his face in his hands. I could only imagine what he must be
going through; not knowing the fate of someone you cared about.
"It's okay, Hugh," Hannah said, resting a comforting hand on his shoulder. I had to give it to her. She was convincing. She almost had me believing that everything was was all a big mix up. Of course we all knew the truth, that if Jez really had been taken, this would only be the start of the chaos.
"We have Ash, Morgead, Maggie and Delos all out there looking for her. You know how good they are. They'll find her." It felt as if Hannah was trying to convince herself as well as
Hugh as she attempted to reassure everyone. But I could see the seeds of doubt in her eyes, making her world ring slightly untrue.
Hugh lifted his head, looking back and forth between me and Hannah, with an almost comical flustered expression. "You sent Delos out looking for her? Isn't it already bad enough
that we have one wild power on the loose?" He asked in disbelief, his voice raising an octave.
Hannah's hand flew to her mouth in shock, and I felt my own eyes widen at the fact that we'd all overlooked that flaw in our plan. It hadn't even occurred to me that it probably
wasn't the best idea to let out yet another wild power.
Hannah's thought were clearly running along the same lines, because she quickly excused herself, mumbling something about needing to talk to Thierry.
"Ah shit," Hugh muttered, pulling himself up from his leaning position, looking as if he'd had all of the energy sucked right out of him. I felt the same way.
"I need to go lay down," he muttered, leaving the kit
chen, leaving me once again by myself. "That sounds like a good idea," I said to myself, rubbing slow circles into my temples,
hoping to relieve myself of the headache that was resurfacing.
Moving towards the doorway, my path was blocked. Looking up at the obstacle in my way, I saw a pair of emerald green eyes staring down at me. "We need to talk," Rashel said,
giving me a meaningful look.
I didn't even have the willpower to protest, or even to worry about what questions she'd ask. All I felt like doing was collapsing to the ground and crying because, god dammit, why
wouldn't anyone just let me lie down and sleep? Again I struck at how bizarre this sudden need to rest was. I blamed it on the attack. Surely something like that would have sapped my energy.
"Right now?" I whined, unable to stop a childish tone from creeping in. I was too tired to care. "Yes, now," Rashel returned, brushing past me towards the kettle. "Coffee?" She
asked, and after a moment's hesitation I nodded, feeling I probably needed the caffeine to keep me awake through the conversation. I could already feel my eyelids becoming
heavy.
"So," she began, turning away from the boiling kettle to face me. I found it odd that in a place of this size and expense, no one had thought to buy a coffee machine. "Where is Ash
really?" She continued, eyeing me suspiciously.
"I already told you," I groaned, collapsing into one of the dining room chairs. Not having to hold up my body weight anymore felt good, and my muscles sighed in relief. The table
before me looked so comfortable and tempting. If only I could just rest my head down on it for a couple of seconds, just to get my thoughts together.
"I checked Ash's room, your stuff is already in there," she said, raising her eyebrows questioningly. My mind instantly sharpened, all thoughts of resting my head disappearing. "You
what?" I squeaked in disbelief, anger colouring my voice. How dare she rifle through my stuff? I knew she was Ash's friend, but come one, there were limits.
"Oh relax MaryLynnette, I didn't go through your suitcase and try your panties on." The kettle finished boiling and she turned to make the drinks, conveniently excusing her from
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