tone, he pulled out dollar bills out of his pocket and threw it at her.
"I don't give a damn if you haven't lied before because you are lying to my face right now," she said quietly. Mari had to swallow her pride as she bent to pick up the money on the
floor. This is what my mother must have done, she thought with shame. Picking up money from a stranger after spending the night with him. "We are not soul mates. I'm not as
stupid, blind, or naïve as I was before. And by the way, there is nothing you could do that could make me love something like you. Even if we were soul mates, I would never, ever
love you." Calmly, she turned and walked towards the door, counting her foot steps. The door looked so achingly far away. One, two, three, four…
Valdis grabbed by her hand and roughly turn her around. She hadn't realized he had broken her fingers until she felt the bones mending themselves. That didn't matter any more.
It was nothing like what her friends' had said. Were they her friends? No, not really any way. Maybe they were lying about how the soul mate link worked. Because what she felt
was like she was being pulled under water, letting the thoughts and feelings spread over her until she was floating through him. Mari didn't like it there. There was so much hatred,
and murders. Killing his friends, his family to get his position, killing witches, and vampires to get more power. Immeasurable hatred for humans, for people who didn't do a damn
thing to him. At least he was truthful to every one he murdered, she thought grimly. But what wounded terribly her was the fact she was in that group of humans he hated. It didn't matter what freak she had become now because he would always view her as vermin. Nothing but play things and a food source.
And this man was her other half. This evil person was supposed to make her whole, to complete her for the rest of her life. Neither of them wanted that.
Mari let go, not caring what he saw of her. It didn't matter any more because he didn't want to see her, to talk to her, he didn't even want to love her.
"You can't go, Maria." He didn't want her to stay because he wanted her. It was his job.
Mari had to laugh. He, after all that happened, he expected her to listen. She demurred softly, "Let me guess, you won't get paid by your bosses? My big brave Valdis cowering
before another. Not so hard to imagine. Guess what? I. Don't. Care. I don't care about having El Diablo for a soul mate or about choosing sides.
"I'm leaving. Don't you dare lift a finger to stop me." On this third trip he didn't try to stop her. Before she walked out, Mari felt compelled to look at him. The moonlight made his
blood red hair black. He was looking back at the TV, not caring if she left. Looks like the price on my head wasn't high enough, she thought bitterly.
Mari walked out, determined to solve a problem, one that would please a whole world. Question was, whose world would it be?
September 22, 1999
Las Vegas, Nevada
12:03 AM
"How could he? We all trusted him," Hannah shook her head disappointedly.
"We were stupid. Mari's probably dead by now," Quinn's voice was flat and held no room for an arguments. Rashel didn't feel like fighting with him, but she didn't agree with him
either. Mari could live, she was a survivor.
Then again, Dorian's betrayal could have taken a toll on her survival skills.
"If we're going to fight, we're going to need every body in Circle Daybreak," Thierry thought aloud. He had been saying things like that ever since the members arrived hours
before. After resting and eating, the meeting had finally come to order.
Everybody was silent again, letting the leader's word bounce off the walls of the dining hall. It was the only place with enough room to fit the extra one hundred daybreakers who
came to join the two hundred once they heard the news. And after hundreds of angry words and suggestions, there was no plan.
"What if we don't want to be here for the final battle?" a voice spoke up. Normally laid back, Ash sounded strained and stressed.
"And where do you plan to go?" James asked with a hint of annoyance. Poppy looked at him worriedly. Everybody was on edge.
"To my sisters. Is that a problem for you?" Ash's voice was challenging and he appeared to be eager for a diversion.
"Shut up," Nissa broke in the same time James said, "We are all putting our lives on the line here…"
"Stop it!" As always, they obeyed the Maiden. "We need to find the fourth wild power. Hunter has washed his hands of Maria and has set forth assassins to assure his victory. The
Night World Council recently learned of her and we're not entirely sure what their choice of action is. Either way, live or die, the Night World will win. Trading threats and insults
will not help us. Ash, can't your sisters come here, or with us when we fight?"
Ash sulked at the floor. Poppy answered for him. Tossing her coppery curls over her shoulder, she turned to Aradia. "It's not just his sisters, Aradia. He has a girl…"
"Oh please," James sighed and rolled his eyes. Poppy glared at him.
"Would you just shut up for a second? Ever since you got off the plane you've been nothing but grumpy."
"Grumpy isn't the word I'd use," Gillian mused absently. She sounded sleepy, having talked to James and Poppy throughout the whole flight.
"It's my soul mate okay? Remember I told you about MaryLynnette, James? Excuse me if I want to spend my last moment on earth with her. And no," he addressed to Quinn before
his friend could ask. "She can't come here. She'll probably want to be with her family when the apocalypse comes."
"It's not as bad as you guys think," Maggie called. She and Delos were at the back of the hall. "You speak like there will be one big bang and everybody will be dead. But what you
don't realize that if the Night World wins, we're going to need a place for humans that the Night People won't be able to get to. Other wise, if we just sit here and talk about the end
of the world, they'll just enslave all your loved ones and the last time you'll see them is in chains."
This caused another dull roar from the crowd. Morgead stood on a chair and waved them to be quiet. "So what do you propose, Maggie? We build an underground kingdom? We
don't have enough time. We never could have had enough time to build a world for the four billion that might have survived."
"But we could always try, can't we?" a new voice from the east entrance. It was a little boy with dark brown hair and an angelic voice. By his expression, they could tell he had
been listening for some time.
Rashel left the folding chair she was sharing with Quinn. "Timmy, you're not supposed to be here," she chided in a motherly voice. Sometimes it didn't work, when he would become
reckless and violent. She scooped him up and he rested his head on her shoulder. The daybreakers made sure to be quiet as she carried him up the stairs.
"That's another thing," Jez observed once Rashel and Timmy were out of view. "Who's going to take care of the kids while we're out at war? Some of these people have families,
Thierry, they just can't take off. How many can be spared to take care of the children? With the witches joining us, there are at least hundreds, maybe thousands, children that
aren't ready to fight but need to be protected."
"There are too many problems. How are we going to take care of everything in three months?" Nyala asked.
"If we find Mari we won't have to worry about them," Thierry pointed out.
"But will she be willing to fight by our side is another matter." Hannah mentioned quietly. The room fell into silence. Nobody had thought of that possibility.
"It was the Night World who betrayed her, wasn't it? Why should she want to fight for them?" Gillian became doubtful with each word.
Aradia spoke up in a calm, collected voice. "She has nobody to trust now. She needs to decide if she wan
ts to fight at all."
October 13, 1999
Motel somewhere near Boston
"I'm just curious, not vain," she told herself when she finally opened her eyes. Mari frowned. There was no change. She had the same shining black hair that fell to her waist, the
same slightly slanted amber eyes. Frustrated, she took off her shirt.
"That's all?" As far as she could tell, the only visual difference was the fact that her chicken pox scars were gone.
Satisfied, she changed into the shirt and sweat pants she bought at the street corner from Valdis's apartment. It was only minorly embarrassing to shop at the same store where ten
year olds shop, but at least the clothes fit. It was far from her usual jeans and black and white tops. The shirt was a sickening pink and the white sweats had blue butterflies on the
front pockets, but she would just have to make do. He had given her one hundred dollars and she intended to use it wisely, at least until she found a more stable way of living.
She took the bundle of clothes in her arms and dropped them in the trash can. It made her heart ache that they smelled like him. Mari corrected herself. Her heart was only an
organ to pump blood to the rest of the body. Her mind was making up the emotion and she could make it go away.
"That's strange," she told the empty motel room. She could literally sail through her thoughts and arrange them to her will. It was like floating through Valdis's mind except now she
was in a more familiar terrain. When she couldn't remember past the age of four or three, she could dive easily into her memories of such an early youth. A stranger appeared, one
who looked like her but had sparkling blue eyes and dark brown hair. Even in a faded memory she could see that the woman was as small as her.
"My mother," she said in wonder. Mari was looking at the woman through an infant's eyes, with love and complete, unwavering trust. Then the woman was singing to her and
rocking her to sleep. Such a lovely tune, and the woman had a hypnotic voice. Mari heard an angelic squeal. Was that her laughing? The woman laughed in turn and kissed her
nose.
The other memory she had was her mother's death. The run down apartment was scattered with broken and overturned furniture. "They sure made a mess just to kill one person."
She could here somebody crying about her baby. Then a face loomed over her, and a young Dorian lifted her out of the crib. He couldn't have been no more than thirteen in her mind. Mari pulled away from her mind and felt herself in her body.
"I wish I could have killed him," she muttered solemnly. Dorian used to be the one she could turn to. Now she didn't have any body. She was supposed to have friends, but they
were people who needed until the New Year. She was supposed to have a soul mate, but he didn't want her. He was loyal to the Night World and the Night world only.
Well maybe not loyalty exactly. It wasn't very loyal of him to stab his best friend in the back, literally, when he thought the other vampire was a threat to his new friendship with a
council member. More like loyalty to the highest bidder. There was no changing that. By saving her life, he was already going back on his boss. If Mari and Valdis met at different
times, in different lives, it might have worked out. But Valdis wasn't going to help a daybreaker when demons were his leader.
"It's not like I would have made him convert to Circle Daybreak. I wouldn't do that, try to change him. I just wanted somebody to make me feel better," she pleaded pathetically.
But nobody was listening, she was alone. Then again, Hunter was probably sending some assassins to her room as she thought.
"No." She wasn't going to be killed like her mother and she wasn't going to wait for death. Mari stood up and winced at the pain in her side. The glass of blood wasn't enough. She
was going to have to find a donor. Somebody was bound to be at the bar across the street..
An hour later, she stood over a thirty something man who had too many tattoos. Of course she could have hunted down some animal, but an animal didn't deserve being sucked
dry. They didn't plot, lie, or kill for fun. He definitely deserved it, he had abused to many girl friends, and whores in his lifetime to go unpunished. There was another car coming by
but the driver couldn't see her in the wall of bushes and trees. Nobody went to where she took the man. There was a barb wire fence that she sliced through to get on the land that
belonged to somebody who wasn't taking care of it. After slitting the throat where she had bitten, she jumped over the fence just to show off to the animals who were watching. She
was sure the crows and worms would take advantage the carcass as soon as she left. Now she had to find Hunter, and fly to whatever state he was in.
October 20, 1999
An enclave off of Maine
"This was a wonderful plan," he boasted to Traces. His first plan had gone terribly awry, but things had picked up at the end.
Traces didn't answer, he almost never did. Hunter didn't usually look at the help when he spoke to them. Bragged mostly. He continued, "She's probably off somewhere killing
herself. Killed by some daybreaker who didn't recognize her in her new form. And with her gone, I'll teach all those council members not to underestimate me." Hunter paused, and
concluded he couldn't really blame them for underestimating a supposed dead man. "And that traitor Thierry. I'll teach the whole world," he finished merrily. He was in a good mood. After draining a pretty little girl and hearing news that Maria was a vampire, he was just ecstatic. "I wonder how long it took her to adapt."
"Not very long." Hunter allowed himself gasp before controlling himself and spun his chair around to find his best spy dried like a raisin on the floor. Maria smiled sweetly at him.
"That was my best spy. How am I supposed to replace thousands of years experience?," he yelled at her through clenched teeth.
She gave a little shrug. "You kept him a little preoccupied. A good spy should always be aware of his surroundings. Don't be surprised to find a little trail of dead guards in your
secret entrance. So hard to find good help these days, isn't it?" Mari sat in a Victorian love seat and widened her smile at him. "We need to talk."
Hunter calmed. He knew exactly how to handle the situation. "Didn't Dorian explain things perfectly before?" Instead of faltering, the girl maintained her pleased countenance.
"Yes, but now we must discuss the current terms." Dorian was not a weakness any more; he tried a new tactic.
"How current? Are you willing to discuss how your Circle Daybreak friends will die on December thirty first?" She laughed amiably. Damn.
"No, Hunter you seem to be unaware of the current events. I no longer have any friends. Except family. To the Night World, I am Maria Redfern, am I not? How about letting one of
your relations live till January the second? Afterwards you can do what you please. Just tell your minions to abort the mission for the time being."
Hunter replayed every word she said back to him. Two problems. "What will you be doing between now and January second? Playing spy for Thierry?"
Mari didn't even blink. "Have you no faith in me? Or are you deaf? No, no spying for that man. I'm just going to take care of unfinished business, that's all." Hunter finally figured
out what happened. His little girl had gone tragically mad.
"Fine," he agreed, surprising himself. "but you will be monitored. My people will make sure you're not tattling on me or plotting to kill me for that matter. Otherwise you dispatch
whoever you want. Don't cause me any trouble darling."
Mari stood up and stepped over Traces to lift up a tapestry. "Don't worry, I'll behave." She exited silently.
Hunter was more than ecstatic now. Just in pure bliss. Of course he'd have to have two dozen vampires check her story and watch her, but he was sure she was being honest. Maybe he didn't have to kill her, keep her aft
er the millennium to keep the slaves in check. He leaned farther back into the chair. It was nice to have an obedient daughter.
October 23, 1999
Las Vegas, Nevada
"Hunter has sent you a love letter," Gillian hollered once she reached Thierry's floor. She burst into his study and covered her eyes with her free hand. "You've got mail."
Hannah laughed. "We were just kissing. A love letter? Thierry is there something you should tell me?" Thierry sat up and took the envelopes from Gillian's hand.
"Hey, that one's mine. It's from David," she chirped happily and snatched it away from him. "What does he say?" she asked seriously, and sat on the floor.
"Time for another meeting. Hunter literally wants to battle."
Two hours later, they were once again gathered in the dining hall. The number had decreased to a hundred, the others dispersing around the world to attend to other business.
"What is it?" Ash called tiredly. Clearly eleven o' clock was not the best time to talk to him.
"I got a letter from Hunter. He says, and I quote, 'perhaps the best way to settle our differences that refer to the ruling species should be settled on the battle field.'"
"Them's fightin' words," Poppy drawled with a Texan accent.
"He's suggesting that we play war? Night World against the rest of the world?" Rashel asked with interest.
"Wrong," Morgead droned, drawing out the word so he sounded like a buzzer. "Do you think the rest of the human population would jump at the chance of fighting side by side with
the vampires, witches and shape shifters three months before the possible fall of the dominant species? Remember, in their view, some of us are looked as unholy creatures of the
night that should never exist. Nope, it's gotta be Night World against Circle Daybreak and the rest of the world can be the audience."
"Wonderful speaking skills," Eric commented. Morgead bowed.
"Where does he propose this battle? We can't exactly hold it in the back yard, if you assent," Galen said in a calculating voice.
"Will you believe me when I say Iceland isn't the only island next to Greenland?" Thierry asked.
"Judging by your voice, I'd say yes," Maggie concluded.
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