Twilight Sentinel by Andrew twi·light [tw lt ] noun 1. time after sunset: the time of day just after sunset or before dawn, when the Sun is below the horizon 2. half-light: the faint diffuse light that occurs at twilight. It is caused by the light from the Sun being refracted through the Earth's atmosphere. 3. final period: the time when something is declining or approaching its end, especially in a gentle or peaceful way. the twilight of the empire [15th century. Formed from twi- "two, half" (from Old English; ultimately) + light1.] sen·ti·nel [séntn'l , sént'nl ] noun (plural sen·ti·nels) sentry: somebody who is assigned the duty of keeping guard transitive verb (past sen·ti·neled, past participle sen·ti·neled, present participle sen·ti·nel·ing, 3rd person present singular sen·ti·nels) 1. guard something: to stand guard over something or a group of people 2. provide a guard for something: to provide a guard for something or for a group of people [16th century. Via French sentinelle from Italian sentinella , of uncertain origin: possibly ultimately from Italian sentire "to watch," from Latin, "to perceive."] \Twilight Sentinel/ \One/ Few people have actually stopped and felt grateful for the ability to see. Most people just take it for granted that the world will be there when they open their eyes. Of course, those same people, when thrust into a situation that robs them of that ability, will either adapt or get into all kind of trouble. At least, that was Erin's opinion. And midnight on a cloud-covered night was certainly dark. Erin Collins was walking home along a dark back road. It took a bit longer than the main road, but it was safer. She was, after all, dressed head to foot in black. Black sneakers, black jeans, black T- Shirt, and a black scrunchy in her long black hair made her doubt whether a car would see her in time to avoid hitting her. And there were never any cars this late on the back roads. In fact, there was no one around. Except for insects chirping, there was no sound. And the almost total void of any kind of sensory input was beginning to freak her out a bit. She was jumping at any unexpected sound, while straining to see where she was going. It was all Jasmine's fault. She swore to herself that she wasn't going to go to anymore of the cheerleader's parties ever again. (Isn't that what you promised last time?) a voice in the back of her head asked. (Well, I mean it this time,) she thought. But it was hard to say no to the girl. She seemed able to talk anyone into anything. And she had this unearthly beauty about her... But Erin stopped her thoughts before they strayed too far down this path. Nothing ever came of that kind of wondering, except a hedache. Especially if she tried to talk to her mother about it. Her mother had this wierd antipathy toward anything supernatural. She laughed silently as she remembered some of their arguments about Halloween. Erin always won, using the argument that it was just harmless fun, and the kids always looked forward to visiting their house. Erin always went all out on decorations and candy. She loved the supernatural, and anything to do with it. Maybe that was why she kept hanging around with Jasmine. (Okay, that's twice now that you've called this girl supernatural. Why?) She blinked and actually stopped walking for a second. For once the voice in her head brought up a good point. Why did she keep doing that? She didn't know of anything unusual about Jasmine. (Oh, no?) the voice shot back. (Well, just what do you know about her?) She started walking again as she thought about that. Well, the party this evening was a perfect example of what she knew - and what she didn't. It had been a normal enough party, with what seemed like the whole town there. At least half of those people, of course, were people that she had only ever seen at Jasmine's parties. She was starting to wonder if she was more withdrawn at school than she thought. She had actually tracked Jasmine down at the party to ask her about it. Jasmine had laughed that musical laugh of hers and replied that they went to school in another district. She had then asked Erin if she was enjoying herself, and how the food was. Erin had told her that she was having a great time - the truth - and that the food was great, too - somewhat less true. That was always one of the weirder things about her parties. Jasmine might know everything there was to know about being cool, but she knew zip about food. No one in the house did. Erin wondered why they didn't just get a caterer. They obviously had enough money. (Probably spend it all on take out. There's no way that they cook for themselves.) She stopped again. "But what about when they eat at home?" she wondered aloud. "Nobody can eat out all the time. If they don't make their own food, what do they eat?" She sighed. She felt like the answers to all of her questions were in her head somewhere, but she couldn't access them. It was very frustrating. As she once again started for home, she wondered if her suspicious attitude towards Jas wasn't partially due to the fact that she had asked Erin to stay and help her clean up. It had already been late, and a school night, and Erin had had no intention of agreeing. But Jasmine explained that her friends couldn't stay and help like they usually did, and it would be SO super-nice if she'd do it. Even then she was going to say 'no'. But Jasmine locked eyes with her, and after a few seconds, Erin melted. She still didn't know why. She stiffened. She was being watched, she could feel it. Since it was useless to try and look around, she just started walking faster. She couldn't hear anything, but she was positive that someone was there. She could always tell when someone was watching her. It was a talent that both frightened and fascinated her friends by turn. Right now, though, she wished it was more specific. She'd love to know if the presence was hostile or not. She was about to break into a dead run when the clouds started clearing, letting the moonlight shine through. It wasn't a full moon, but it was light enough. apparently whoever or whatever was watching her thought so, too. Before she had more than a second to look around, the bushes on the side of the road ahead of her rustled, and a large gray wolf jumped out. Erin stopped, jaw dropping open. A wolf. In Virginia. Before she could even get over the absurdity of that notion, something even stranger happened. The wolf sat up on its hind legs, as if to beg for a treat. Then it started stretching, growing taller. Its paws expanded into arms and legs, complete with fingers and toes. Its face flattened, assuming a more human shape. Some distant, detatched part of Erin's mind noticed that its fur seemed to change into clothing. The process continued quickly, until Erin was looking at a human body. A female human body. The girl was rather beautiful. Standing about four inches taller than Erin's 5'6", with long hair that was bleached ghostly white by the moonlight. She was now wearing some kind of form fitting bodysuit. Then she spoke. "Greetings, sister," the wolf-woman said. "My name is Suzannah." "Hello," Erin said weakly. Then she fainted. \Two/ Suzannah Kingston had been having a good day. School had gone great, she had had a date with one of the cutest guys in town, then she had been invited to a killer party. It had been hosted by an acquaintance, a vampire by the name of Jasmine. Then she had noticed the girl. Erin, she thought her name was. Suze knew that most of the people at the party were Night People, so she was surprised to see a mortal there. But the more she watched her, the less certain she was that Erin was human. There was something odd about her, and Suze could sense something. Shapeshifters were the undisputed masters at sensing life energy. Nine times out of ten, they could tell a Night Person from a human. Often, they could even tell the species of the person. But, for the life of her, Suze couldn't figure out what the hell Erin was. At times, she read almost like a witch, at others, Suze caught the barest hint of vampire. Guessing that all the other Night People at the party were screwing up her readings, she decided to follow the girl, talk to her alone. But then Jasmine just had to have her help clean up. By the time she'd gotten to where Suze had hidden herself, it was after midnight. Suze had turned herself into a wolf so that she could get home faster afterwards, and had set to reading Erin. She kept getting that baffling mixture of witch and vampire, though predominantly human, when Erin started wondering about what Jasmine's family ate. Suze mentally sighed. (Then she is human.) Then Erin tensed, seeming to fight the urge to look around. She started walking faster. Suze was too startled to do more than stare for a second. No human could have sensed her like that: she had made no sound whatsoever. Silently, she trotted after Erin. Just then, the clouds parted, allowing the moonlight to illuminate the scene. Erin was going to start running any second, so Suze decided to take a chance. She leapt out of the bushes and changed back to human form. (Now, what kind of greeting does one give a human who might be a witch who might be a vampire?) She thought, then decided on an approach. "Greetings, sister," she said, hoping she wasn't making a titanic mistake. "My name is Suzannah." Before she could add 'but call me Suze,' the girl smiled weakly and replied, "Hello." Suze felt a second of hope. Then the girl's emerald green eyes rolled up into her head and she collapsed to the ground. Suze's heart sank. Not exactly the reaction she had been hoping for. (Now what do I do?) She couldn't just leave the girl here. While she may have had good intentions, there were other predators out there, as well as some Night People with less than enlightened attitudes towards humans, who would be decidedly less pleasant. Unfortunately, that also ruled out taking her to Suze's house. Her family might make dinner out of the helpless girl, if given half a chance. (How old is she anyway? 15? 16?) Whatever her age, she wasn't quite up to dealing with the Night World, as she had just proven. Suze started checking Erin's pockets for her wallet. If she could find some ID, then she could find an address. If she woke up at home, in her own bed, she'd dismiss the experience as a dream. And since they went to different schools, they weren't likely to come across one another often. It wasn't a great plan, but it was the best she could do. Erin groaned and stretched. She stared up at her ceiling in confusion, wondering how she'd gotten there. She didn't even remember coming home from the party. (Alright, I know I wasn't drunk, because I didn't have anything to drink.) The punch at Jasmine's parties always tasted too thick and sweet. The few times she'd tried it, it had nearly made her gag. Although there was something... almost familiar about it. She had gotten several amused looks from people when she drank some of it, so this time she hadn't. (Okay, let's look at this logically,) she told herself. (I do remember staying to help clean up, then I walked home, and ran into that girl-) Abruptly the events of the previous evening came flooding back, and Erin gasped and bolted upright in bed. Suzannah. The girl. The werewolf. She was amazed at how calmly she was taking it. (Was it real?) A quick search of her room, and a scan of the ground underneath her window revealed that yes, it was. There were faint but detectable dirty footprints on her rug, and footprints in the soil outside. Unnervingly, those footprints soon gave to paw prints. Wolf tracks, if Erin was any judge of things like that. Without really knowing what she was doing, Erin drifted into the bathroom to take a shower. Naturally, her mother was downstairs at the table waiting for her. With breakfast, Erin was glad to note. "I didn't hear you come in last night," her mother said disapprovingly. "Neither did I," Erin said, watching her mother closely. "Suzannah must have brought me home." If someone didn't know that the two were mother and daughter, they'd be hard pressed to believe that they were even related. Her mother had curly strawberry blond hair, usually tied tightly to the top of her head. She was also a couple of inches shorter than her daughter. And their personalities were polar opposites. Her mother was often quiet and withdrawn, almost as if she was trying to fade into the background. Erin was the kind of person that enjoyed the spotlight if it was shining on her, and was friendly with everyone. Madeline Collins quickly ran through a mental list of her daughter's friends. At least, the ones that she knew. Her daughter had so many friends that it was damn near impossible to keep track of them all. (Let's see. Suzannah, Suzannah...) "Who's Suzannah?" she finally asked, coming up blank. "Just someone I met at the party," Erin told her. Her mother raised an eyebrow. "She's okay," Erin assured her. And she was certain of that, even though she had no other evidence than that the girl hadn't killed her; she could feel it. "And what do you mean, 'brought you home'?" her mother pressed. "Erin, were you drinking?" "No! God, Mom!" She had briefly considered that. "How could you even think that?" She had gotten drunk a few times. "I just bumped my head on a rock. It was my own fault." She did, in fact, have a bump on the back of her head from hitting the ground when she fainted. She was rather embarrassed by the fact that she had fainted, but figured that, given the circumstances - like the location, time, and environment - that she was allowed. "I'll have to thank her next time I see her." (Which will be soon.) \Three/ "Hey, Suze! Think fast!" That was all the warning Suze had before a football came spiraling across the parking lot toward her head. Only her superhuman reflexes allowed her to catch it and save herself from embarrassment. Not to mention a headache. She hated it when he friends did something like that; forcing her to reveal her superior reactions. Most of the school was used to it by now, but she still hated having attention drawn to her like that. If anyone figured out what she was - anyone human, that is - she'd have to kill them. Or get a vampire to erase the knowledge from their head. That was what she had done last time. "Nice catch." She froze at the voice behind her. No, it couldn't be. But when she turned around, sure enough, there was Erin leaning against her car, watching her. "So, Suzannah - or was it Suze?" At Suze's stunned nod, she continued, "so, Suze, I'd like to have a word with you." She glanced at the small crowd watching them. "Alone." "Okay," Suze replied, still trying to puzzle out how Erin had found her so quickly. "Becky, do you mind getting a ride home with Tia today?" A small blonde, which Erin correctly identified as the aforementioned Becky, shook her head and moved off. After the others began dispersing, Suze unlocked the dark blue Fiat's doors and the two girls got in. "So," Suze asked as she pulled out of the parking lot, "where to?" "Well, we can go somewhere to talk, or you can just take me home. I believe you know the way." Suze winced. (So much for any hope of her thinking last night was a dream.) "Will you just tell me: how did you find me?" Erin smiled faintly at the memory. "I asked Jasmine." She remembered that conversation well. She'd found Jasmine in the halls during the break between third and fourth periods. "Hey, Jas, can I ask a favor?" she'd asked. Jasmine had smiled her too beautiful smile again. "Actually, I think I still owe you a favor. Ask away." "Can you tell me where to find someone that was at your party?" Jasmine's smile had slipped momentarily. It was only a fraction of a second, but Erin had seen it. "Who?" Erin had sighed. "I'm not sure, really. Her name's Suzannah, she's about three or four inches taller than me, blonde hair." A mischievous impulse had compelled her to add, "She's a real dog lover." That last had Jasmine looking confused, but she'd shrugged and told her that there had been one Suze Kingston at her party last night that fit that description. She had then added, much to Erin's delight, that Suze usually stayed after school for track practice. When she learned which school, Erin had done some mental math and found that she could get there well before practice let out. A quick search of office records had revealed which car was Suze's - she'd arranged for the person manning the office to be called away, and she'd just barely gotten out before he returned to lock up for the day. "You snuck past Goldberg?" Suze asked incredulously. "Barely anyone at school can do that!" "And I bet you're one of them. Am I right?" Erin shot her a teasing smirk. Suze laughed in spite of herself. "You are indeed." She shifted topics as she shifted gears. "So, why did you go to all the trouble of tracking me down?" "I wanted to thank you for bringing me home last night." Erin watched Suze's face closely. "Sorry about freaking out on you like that." Suze winced. "How much of last night do you remember, anyway?" "All of it." Erin paused, hoping she wasn't about to make a complete fool of herself. She also couldn't believe that she was about to say this out loud. "Just to be clear: you are a werewolf, right?" For a second Suze couldn't breathe. (She didn't just say that. She did not just say that.) But Erin was looking at her expectantly, and she clearly remembered what she had seen. (I hope Jasmine will erase her memory for me...) "Yes," she admitted at length. "Yes, I am." She sighed. "Since I guess I'm going to have to erase your memory, I may as well tell you everything." "Erase my memory?" For the first time, Erin sounded nervous. "You can do that?" "Well, I can't, but vampires like Jasmine can." "Jasmine's a vampire?!" (Whoops.) "Yes, she is. You didn't know?" Erin paused, then sighed and admitted, "I think I was about halfway there. So, everything?" "Okay." Suze braced herself. "Let's start at the beginning: the Night World." " 'Night World'? Where's that?" Suze turned the car into an exit heading for the mall. She could use some food, and she also thought she might find a vampire there who might blank Erin's memory. "It's not so much a 'where' as it is a 'what'. The Night World isn't a place. It's everywhere. It's a secret society of vampires, witches, werewolves and other shapeshifters, and other assorted creatures of darkness that live among us- er, you." She paused to take a breath. "The Night World doesn't really regard humans as significant. The laws say that it's okay to hunt them, toy with their hearts, even kill them. There are only two things that you can never do. One, never tell a human about the Night World. Two, don't fall in love with one." "What happens when someone breaks the rules?" Erin asked, not sure she really wanted to know. Suze cringed. "If they found out you knew, it would mean death for you and anyone you told. And me, too." A pause. "I think. It's never really come up before. With me." "And that's why you want to erase my memory of all this?" Erin asked, oddly touched. "Why not just let them kill me?" She paused as she realized just how that sounded. "Um, let me rephrase that..." Suze laughed as she pulled into the mall's parking lot. "I know what you mean. I, unlike my family, don't consider humans to be playthings here for my personal amusement. Besides, I kinda like you." "Yeah, that brings me to another thing," Erin said as Suze pulled into a parking spot. "What did you mean last night when you called me 'sister'? And why did you change in front of me at all?" Suze turned off the car and just sat in thought for a second. "I thought... you were a witch." Another pause. Then, quieter, "or maybe a vampire." "Why?" Erin asked, now completely lost. (How to explain, when I don't even really know?) "Okay, let me try and explain this. A lot of people in the Night World can sense a person's life energy. Shapeshifters are the best at it. You gave off the feeling of a witch, with just the faintest hint of a vampire in the mix. In fact, you still are. So I figured that you were a Night Person, and I wasn't in danger of breaking any laws." A shrug. "I was wrong." "A witch?" Erin laughed. "I wish. That would be perfect!" Suze couldn't help but laugh with her. "You are the strangest person, Erin- uh, what is your last name?" "Collins. My name is Erin Collins." Suze frowned. Collins? Why did that sound so familiar? "Do you have any relatives that I might know?" "You mean Night People? Not that I know of. Why?" "I don't really know. I just feel like I've heard that name before." She unlocked the car doors. "C'mon. I think I know someone in the mall that can help clear this up." "And then you'll erase my memory?" Erin asked, sounding somewhat sulky. Which, Suze reflected, she had every right to. "I don't know. It really depends on what we learn. I guess we'll see." As they got out of the car, Suze was glad to see that Erin looked somewhat happier. Or at least less likely to whack Suze in the head. "So, the person we're looking for works in a Mrs. Field's cookie store?" Erin sounded incredulous. Suze couldn't blame her. If she hadn't known better, she would have never thought to look for an expert on witch family histories there. "I know. But trust me: she's there." And sure enough, standing behind the counter was a short girl with frizzy red hair. She looked to be about sixteen, and had startlingly clear green eyes that flicked to Suze and Erin the second they walked into the otherwise empty store. "Suze?" she asked, her voice soft and melodious. "What are you doing here?" Her gaze drifted to Erin and back. "And who's your friend?" "This is Erin Collins. Erin, meet Maxine Wright." "But call me Max," Suze and Maxine chorused. Max chuckled. "You saying I'm getting predictable?" Suze grinned. "Oh, never. Now, we are here for a reason. Can we talk freely?" Max looked at her watch. "The boss'll be on break for another hour. Unless someone walks in, we've got plenty of time. What can I help you with?" "Actually, I was hoping you could tell us something about Erin's family. I know there are some witches in there somewhere, but neither of us knows where." Max frowned, but decided that it wasn't her place to tell Suze how to live her life. (I just hope she has some plan in case this Erin is simply a human.) "Collins, huh?" Now that she thought about it, the name did sound familiar. "Your great-grandmother came from England?" Erin thought hard. "Yeah, I think so," she said finally. "Then yes, you do have witch ancestry. Some of your more notable relations include the Olivers, the Drakes, and the Arlins." "The Arlins?" Suze repeated in disbelief. Max nodded. "Who are the Arlins?" Erin asked, hating the feeling that everyone knew something about her that she didn't. "Arlin, or more properly, 'Arm-of-Lightning,' is an old family, nearly as old as the Harmans." Then, anticipating Erin's next question, Max continued, "The Harman, or 'Hearth-Woman' family, is the oldest and most famous witch family. They're practically royalty. But I can look up some more detailed information about the Arlins, if you want." Erin nodded. "Great, stop by after we close, and I'll take you to my office." She looked up as a customer entered the store. "Now, if you'll excuse me...?" "You got it," Suze said. She and Erin departed the store. \Four/ Suze spent the rest of the day explaining the subtleties of the Night World to Erin. Who the most famous families in the assorted species were. What the positions of authority were in the witch power structure. Erin was especially fascinated by Aradia, the blind Maiden of all Witches. She tried to make her questions as intelligent as possible, since she didn't want Suze to get angry with her. Technically, Suze was still breaking Night World Law. And from the little Erin knew, the longer she had the information, the harder it would be for it to be erased. But Suze didn't seem annoyed by any of the questions, taking time to think about her response before she gave it. Erin found herself hoping that she would be allowed to keep her memory of all of it. She didn't want to lose Suze as a friend. Finally it was time to go meet Max. After Erin called her mother to tell her she wouldn't be home until late - she'd already called to say that she'd miss dinner - they left for the mall. This trip was much more quiet, but also more relaxed. Suze had pretty much given up on the idea of erasing Erin's knowledge of the Night World. Erin didn't seem very inclined to talk about it with anyone, and if she was even part witch, she had a right to know it. The Night World couldn't say anything about that. And she was surprised to find out how good it felt to talk about it - the Night World and its subtleties - with someone. Since everyone else that she could talk about it with already knew it all, she had to keep a lot of things to herself. She liked hearing a human perspective. Max seemed anxious to get out of the store as soon as possible, as if worried about what might happen if her boss interacted with them. Or the information she'd found was very important. Or maybe she just didn't like her boss. Erin didn't know, nor did she especially care. All she wanted was to know what Max had learned about her. The suspense was killing her. Max's 'office' turned out to be her basement. There hadn't been much in the way of conversation in the car. The only time Max had said anything was when she gave Suze directions to her house. She responded to all of Erin's inquiries with, "You'll see when we get there." Eventually, Erin had stopped asking. By the time they actually got to Max's house, it was just after midnight. Erin smirked, beginning to detect a pattern. Why is it that all my experiences with the Night World have to happen so damn late? she wondered silently. What, am I destined for darkness of something? Now there's a depressing thought. Actually, that thought would eventually lead to the biggest decision she would ever make in her life, but she didn't know that now. All she knew was that she was getting impatient. And maybe a little hungry. As quietly as possible, so as not to wake her family, Max led them downstairs. Once she closed the door, she breathed a sigh of relief. "It's soundproofed down here, so don't worry about making noise," she told them. The basement had been divided into different rooms, obviously all used by Max. "I like it down here," she said offhandedly. "It's sort of my own little apartment." She led them into what had to be her office. To call it cluttered would have been an understatement. Papers were scattered everywhere: on the desk, on chairs, on shelves, even on the floor. There were also artifacts whose purposes Erin could only guess at lying around. In the far wall was a safe. Despite the mess, Max seemed to know where everything was. "Here," she said, plucking a piece of paper off the desk and thrusting it at Erin. "I traced your family as best as I was able." For a second, Erin just stared blankly at the paper. "When?" she asked when she finally took it. "We only asked about it this afternoon, and you've been at work all day." Suze had to admit she had been wondering the same thing. "Actually, no, I haven't," Max replied with a smile. "I had a nine to seven shift today. I only went back in to help close up. We were a bit shorthanded today." As Suze took that in, Erin read over the family tree Max had given her. She had always known that she had a big family, but she hadn't known it was this big! The paper was covered with names. Some branched into dead ends, but more kept going right up to the present. And, as promised, it focused mainly on the Arlins. She even had a distant cousin her own age, Winfrith. She made a mental note to get in touch with the other witch. She probably had some stories to tell. Then she noticed something odd. "There's not much here about my father," she said, raising her eyes to look at Max. "That's because his side of your family was a bit harder to track." She shuffled the papers on her desk. "I did find something..." she muttered as she searched. "You never mentioned much about your father," Suze said as the witch looked for the missing paper. It was true, too. While Erin had been only too happy to talk about her mother and all the great times they had together - or, conversely, their fights; many of which centered around her mother's tendency to hide from the public - she'd never said a word about her father. Erin shifted uncomfortably, her eyes staying focused on her family tree. "That's because he's dead," she said, sounding a bit choked up. "He died when I was three. I don't really remember him." Oh. Oh... damn. "I'm sorry," Suze whispered, fighting an odd urge to give the girl a hug. Instead, she reached out and grabbed Erin's arm, giving it a good squeeze. "I didn't-" "No way you could have known," Erin said cutting her off. "Like you said, I never mentioned it." She grasped Suze's hand for a second, then let go. Suze pulled away just as Max finally straightened up and exclaimed, "Found it!" She quickly scanned over the page. "Like I said, most of your Night World ancestry is on your mother's side, and even that's rather faint. The only thing I found on your father's side is a distant relation to the Redferns." Suze was rather impressed. "No wonder I keep sensing this almost-a- vampire energy. The blood of the Redferns, even as diluted as it must be in Erin, would still be there." Max nodded. Erin, not certain if she wanted to know, asked, "Would I be right in thinking that these Redferns of yours are important in the vampire community?" "They're like the Harmans of the vampire world," Max confirmed, talking to Erin. "But you may want to keep this information to yourself. You don't have enough lamia blood to do anything more than give the occasional shapeshifter an odd feeling, and the vampires really frown on human-vampire couplings. You're damn lucky that nobody else has ever found this information before now, when they might have been able to stop it." "What do you mean?" Max sighed. "Well, as I said, they won't care about you now. But if someone had caught the original human-vampire hybrid, they'd have killed him. And his family. So, don't bring it up." Then, seeing Erin's pale face, she changed topics. "But enough about that. We have a lot of work to do if we're gonna find out just how much of a witch you are." "What kind of work?" Erin asked, puzzled. "Well, to start, I think it might be good for you to come to the next Circle meeting." Erin blinked. Suze had told her some about the Circles that made up witch society, but not that much. "What Circle?" "Mine. Circle Twilight. The not-so-wicked witches." She smiled gently. "They're really the best option available to you." "What are the other Circles?" Erin asked curiously. Max hesitated. "There aren't actually that many... anymore. There's Circle Midnight, which I advise you to stay as far away from as possible." "Why?" The way things kept happening, she was certain that she'd end up meeting them sooner or later. (They are Circle Midnight, after all.) "Because it's made up of the darkest witches around." It was Suze that answered her this time. "They redefine the term 'evil'." Max nodded. "Yes. The only other good bet for you would be Circle Daybreak." She grimaced. "Although that may be taking things a bit too far." Even Suze looked lost. "Huh?" they said together. Max couldn't help but snicker. "Cute, guys." She sobered. "Circle Daybreak is the newest, and the last, Circle of witches. But it's not just for witches. Anyone can join. Vampires, shapeshifters, humans, it doesn't matter. They take all kinds." "Sounds like it may be the perfect place for me," Erin said, studying Max's face for a clue as to the reason for her disdain for the Circle. "Why don't you like them?" she asked at length. There was a long silence. Then, just as Erin was about to repeat her question, Max said, "Well, it's not that I don't like the other kinds of Night People, because I do. The fact that I went to all this trouble for you should tell you that I like humans, too. But... I just don't feel that we should start including them in our Circles. I'm sorry, but I don't." There was another moment of silence. Finally, Erin spoke up. "Well, that's your right," she said. "And I don't think I'm in any position to tell you what to do. And as for Circle Twilight, I'd be glad to visit." She frowned as a sudden thought took hold. "I wonder... Do you think my mother knows any of this?" Suze leaned against a wall. "What do you mean?" "Well, I was just thinking of what I should tell her about these meetings when it hit me: the way she tries to fade into the background, the way she shies away from attention, her antipathy to anything even remotely supernatural. Do you think she's trying to hide from the Night World?" Suze shrugged. "Only one way to find out for sure." \Five/ It was a year later that Erin got the news. She had just come home from a Circle Twilight meeting when she found her mother waiting for her at the door. "What's up?" she asked, throwing her backpack on a table and closing the door behind her. The bag had her witchy stuff in it, but it may as well have contained drugs for the way Madeline shied away from it. "You don't have to do that, you know," she said, feeling slightly exasperated. "Nothing in there is dangerous." "I just wish you wouldn't hang around with those awful people," Madeline shot back. "It's unnatural." Now Erin was beginning to get angry. "You may be content to turn your back on your heritage, but I'm not. It's a part of me, one that choose to embrace." Sensing that she wasn't getting anywhere, Erin decided to try a different track. "So, was there something you wanted, or were you just waiting by the door to berate my lifestyle?" All at once, Madeline looked uneasy, which made Erin uneasy. "I just got promoted." "But that's great!" And it was. Erin's mother worked as a General Manager of the local branch of a national bank. She had often complained that it was rather boring, and wished for something more challenging. "I thought that was what you always wanted." Her mother nodded sadly. "Yes, it was. I've been promoted to regional manager," Erin smiled, feeling happy for her mother. The feeling disappeared, however, when she continued, saying, "in California." Erin stared at her blankly for a few seconds as she processed this. Abruptly she exploded. "What?!" she practically screamed. Her mother sighed and headed into the kitchen. Erin followed, still ranting. "How could you do this?! And without even asking me how I felt? I thought we had an agreement around here: no making an important decision without first talking about it with the other person. I mean, I talked to you before I started attending Circle Twilight meetings." And that was true, Madeline thought with a wince. She could still remember the immense shock she'd gotten that day a year ago at breakfast the morning after her daughter had gotten back from her evening with her new friend, Suze, and had started asking her questions about the Night World. Madeline had nearly fallen off her chair. The look of pain in Erin's eyes when she had asked why she'd never mentioned any of this still haunted her. They had fought, and Erin had started going anyway, but at least they had talked about it. "They just sprang this on me," Madeline protested, wincing at how feeble that sounded. "I didn't even get a chance to say no." "Isn't there anything you can do?" Erin wailed. At her mother's head shake, Erin's eyes narrowed. "If you're doing this to get me to go back to having a 'normal life,' you can forget it. I'm sure there's a Circle Twilight branch out there. The Night World is everywhere!" Madeline sighed again. "I know that. I may not like it, but I understand it. But unless I want to kill my career, I have to do this." Erin knew when she was beaten. "How long?" she asked sullenly. "Two weeks." Madeline hated the gulf that was building between her and her daughter, but was powerless to stop it from happening. "As of Tomorrow." Erin sighed. At least school was out for the summer, so she wouldn't miss anything. "I hope that'll be enough time to say goodbye to my entire life." With that, she stomped up the stairs. Madeline felt the slam off Erin's door like a physical slap. It felt like she was being shut out of her daughter's life. She didn't like that feeling. "You're moving?!" Suze sounded as shocked as Erin had. "When? Why?" Erin sighed. She'd actually moved past feeling furious into a numb state. "In two weeks. As for why, my mom got promoted." "Where are you going?" Even though Suze couldn't see it, Erin smiled grimly. "Well, that's the one good part. California. San Francisco, actually." "Sounds like fun," Suze said, sounding a bit too upbeat. "And two weeks should give me plenty of time to get everything packed." (Huh? Give her...?) "Don't you mean, it'll give me time to pack?" "Huh? Oh, yeah. You'll have plenty of time, too." "Suzannah Kingston, what are you talking about?" Suze grinned. Erin only used her full name when she was getting seriously annoyed with her. "Well, you don't think I'm going to stay here while my best friend moves across the country, do you?" Erin groaned in frustration. "Suze, this isn't like when you changed schools. This is huge!" "I know," Suze replied. "But I'm not really needed for anything here, and my family certainly wouldn't miss me. Hell, I think they'd actually help pay my rent if it meant getting rid of me." "Ah, the lone wolf," Erin teased. Inwardly, though, she was glad. The entire ordeal would be made considerably easier by Suze's calming presence. \Six/ San Francisco, Erin was discovering, was a pretty cool place to live. And, as it turned out, she had been right: Circle Twilight did meet nearby. Max had called them to let them know that Erin was coming, and what they'd be in for. She also checked in on a regular basis, and they chatted about what was going on in each other's lives. Erin was happy to have earned a position in Circle Twilight all on her own. Her unique ability to detect threats had caused the witches to dub her their 'Sentinel.' In the past year she had learned how to hone her senses to a degree even most shapeshifters would be hard pressed to match. She knew that Suze was also adapting well, which made her happy. She couldn't have asked for a better friend. Suze had literally dropped everything to come and keep her company. Oh sure, she made noises about her family, but Erin knew that she had really done it for the sake of friendship. Night World relationships, she was finding, were often much more complicated - and more fulfilling - than their dayworld counterparts. Even a chance encounter could change your life. As Erin would soon find out. Walking through Golden Gate Park, Erin sighed. This city was so different from her old home. For one thing, it was so much bigger! You could easily fit three towns the size of her old hometown in the city, and still have enough land left over to build a few international airports. Construct an oil refinery. Host the Olympics. Then there were the people. Such a diversity! People of every ethnicity, gender, nationality... everything. And there were plenty of Night People. In fact, now that she thought about it, lately Suze had been warning her about a vampire gang that was doing some illegal hunting. (Hope I don't run into them,) she thought. (I'm not even sure if I'm supposed to object or not.) As if in response, she felt a tingling at the edge of her senses. On a sneaking suspicion, she checked her watch. 12:43 am. (I thought so.) It seemed like she couldn't even escape the bizarre string of midnight coincidences by moving across the country. She sighed and prepared herself for the inevitable confrontation. The wait was not a long one. She soon heard someone thrashing through the bushes. A young man wearing gang colors and wielding a knife burst out of the woods, followed by a young woman with wild red hair tumbling over her shoulders and down her back. Her unearthly beauty quickly told Erin that she'd found one of the vampires. The gang member was pulling ahead - or rather, the vampire girl was letting him pull ahead. Whichever it was, he obviously thought that he might live through the night. Then he spotted Erin. Whether it was the fact that she had seemingly appeared from nowhere, or the no doubt eeire picture that she painted - tall girl, black hair that blended with the night, watching a vampire run at her calmly - he seemed to decide that she was a threat. Did she look like a vampire? Erin wondered as the gang member ran for her. No matter. She waited patiently until he got within striking distance, then dropped to the ground, balanced on her hands, and swung her legs around in a move that her gymnastics coach would have kissed her for, sweeping him off his feet. Even as he was falling, she swatted the knife out of his hand. His head had barely bounced off the ground before she drew back her fist and administered one sharp, clean punch. He was unconscious before his head hit the ground a second time. Since she could do little in the way of a magical defense, Circle Twilight - and Suze - had made sure that she'd be able to defend herself physically. The vampire stopped several feet away, staring at her. "Impressive," was all she said. "Thank you," Erin replied coolly. "A girl's gotta know how to defend herself." She stood. "You going to tell me what's going on?" The vampire tilted her head thoughtfully, then straightened. "Tell you what. I'll do you one better. I'll show you." She transformed, showing her fangs and growing far more beautiful. "Start running." Erin stiffened, then made a show of relaxing her posture. "Oh, thank the Goddess, a vampire. For a second I thought I was in real trouble." As she'd expected, this completely confused the vampire. "What?" Then, somewhat more calmly, she added, "And what makes you think you're not?" "Because from what Circe tells me, Night People can hunt humans at will, but hunting other Night People is really illegal." "Circe?" the vampire repeated, looking a bit less sure of herself. "The-" "Head of the local branch of Circle Twilight, yes." Erin smiled as the vampire relaxed into her human face. She was actually kind of cute when she wasn't threatening someone's life. Kind of an exotic beauty. Erin liked it. "Oh, but we haven't been properly introduced. I'm Erin Collins." The vampire couldn't help but smile back. "Jez Redfern." At Erin's raised eyebrows, she chuckled softly. "Yes, I said 'Redfern'. Got a problem with that?" "Should I?" Erin shot back. She knew that she probably shouldn't be bantering with a vampire gang leader - and she was the leader, Erin could feel it - in the middle of her gang's hunt, but she couldn't help it. "Well, maybe just a little," Jez said with a smirk. Then she tilted her head, listening to something that Erin couldn't hear. Whatever it was didn't make her happy. Her face scrunched up, and Erin realized that she was talking to someone telepathically. She'd never done it herself, but she'd seen enough people do it to recognize it when she saw it. "Something wrong?" she asked curiously. "Just that we're about to have company," she said, sounding slightly angry. "Morgead, my second-in-command." Erin chuckled. "What's so funny?" Jez demanded. "I knew it. I knew that you were the gang's leader." Erin realized two things a bit too late: one, she'd just admitted to knowing that the gang existed; and two, that she could tell who was a leader and who wasn't. But the first was common knowledge among the local Night People, and the second was to be expected, given who she was. And Jez probably knew that. Even if she didn't know that she knew. Erin blinked. Or something like that. Jez, sensing that Morgead was coming, filled Erin in about him as quickly as possible. Morgead Blackthorn was seventeen, a year older than both girls, and her worst enemy. He was conceited, hotheaded, stubborn, and power-hungry - rather like she was, Erin suspected. As he approached, Erin could see his gem-green eyes sparkling with mischief and... something. Whatever it was, it was directed towards Jez. It vanished quickly, but Erin knew she'd seen it. His hair was almost as dark as Erin's. "And who's this?" he asked, smirking. "A new friend?" Jez made an annoyed sound. "This," she said in her best 'you-should- know-this' voice, "is Erin Collins, the Sentinel of Circle Twilight. Erin, meet Morgead, my second-in-command. Now," she said, turning to face Morgead, "was there something you wanted?" "Well, I was going to tell you about the police cruiser that was patrolling nearby picked up one of our 'playmates'," Morgead growled. "But right now, I'm more interested in what the good Sentinel is doing here." "Actually, we never got that far," Jez said flatly. "Well, I can tell you that I wasn't expecting to run across a gang of vampires hunting illegally," Erin replied. "I was just out here communing with nature." There, that sounded like a witch thing to say. And it wasn't a lie, either. It just wasn't the truth. The truth was much more dangerous. She was looking for someone from Circle Midnight. It was perhaps one of her stupider ideas. She knew that it was. But she went ahead with it anyway. She had to learn more about what she was, and she knew that the darker witches might just know some things that the 'good' witches were too afraid to discover. But she wasn't about to tell Jez that. Even if she, more than anyone else, might understand, Erin didn't want to tell anyone about it. She didn't know who it might get back to. "Well then, we'll leave you to it." Jez gave Erin a look that said that she didn't quite believe her, but was going to let it go. As if she'd spoken into her mind - which, Erin reflected, was entirely possible - she got what Jez was really saying, (You don't tell anyone about us, we won't tell anyone about you.) Erin nodded. (You've got a deal) she thought. Jez seemed to pick up the thought. She nodded back, and she and Morgead melted back into the shadows. It was only then that Erin remembered the unconscious gang member at her feet. (Oh, son of a-) Erin thought, then shrugged. Not her problem. Jez could clean up her own mess. It was over three weeks before Erin ran into Morgead again. She was surprised by how panicked he looked. But once he told her, she felt a bit panicked herself. Jez was missing. While her gang continued searching for her, Erin decided to take a somewhat different approach. She ignored it. Jez was a gang matter, and they didn't really want her help. Which was fine by her. She had better things to do. She had decided to put her whole Circle Midnight plan on the back burner for now. There was no reason to unnecessarily complicate her life at that point. She was getting a handle on what she could and couldn't do. What could Circle Midnight possibly have to offer her? \Seven/ Katarina McConolly sat facing the Night World Council, the picture of serenity. Only someone who knew her well would see the ever-so- faint hints of the rage that was roiling beneath the surface. And there really weren't that many people that knew her that well. In fact, there weren't any. She had known that something like this was likely to happen. She was, at sixteen, one of the youngest members of Circle Midnight, but she was moving up through the ranks fast. So fast, in fact, that the Council had taken an interest in her, and wanted to make sure that she didn't hurt herself. (Translation: they want to make sure I'm not a threat to them,) she thought bitterly. (As if I care about vampires or shapeshifters. My Circle is all.) She shifted her gaze as Hunter Redfern started speaking. "Well, Ms. McConolly, what do you have to say for yourself?" (Self-important bastard. Like you even care. That little civilized act doesn't fool me, Hunter. I know the real you.) "I simply wish to remind the Council, again, that how strong I become is no one's business but my own and my Circle's." "I quite agree," an unexpected voice broke in suddenly. All eyes turned to face Grandma Harman, Crone of all Witches. "This situation is a witch matter, which we shall handle. Unless clear and specific charges are brought against Katarina, she is no longer your concern." And that was the end of that discussion. Katarina watched Grandma Harman as she left the meeting hall and the crowd began to disperse. Most witches in Circle Midnight tried to have as little to do with the Harmans as possible, but Katarina had never been quite so grateful to anyone before. (I'll send her a 'Thank You' card or something. But if she thinks that she's going to convince me to join Circle Daybreak, she's wrong. Dead wrong.) "Ah, Katarina. I was wondering when you'd get back. How are you?" The voice, as usual, sent shivers down Katarina's spine. Marcus Bloodstone, her mentor. Her lover. She was five foot nine herself, and he still dwarfed her by almost a foot. He was blond and muscular, his unruly hair trimmed to a point just above his cold blue eyes. His looks contrasted sharply against her spun gold hair and violet eyes, which she had been told were two of the high points of her elven features. She had more of a swimmer's body, athletic without being bulgy. Although, she thought with a mental smirk, she certainly was bulgy in other areas. "Hello, Marcus. I'm exhausted. I thought those windbags on the Council were never going to let me go." She plopped herself into a soft chair with a sigh of satisfaction. Her room at Circle Midnight headquarters - the Los Angeles branch - was comfortably furnished. Unlike some Night People, they knew a good thing when they saw one, and were determined to do whatever was necessary to make sure that she didn't leave. "Oh?" Marcus asked with a chuckle. He walked behind her and started massaging her shoulders. Katarina groaned with pleasure. "Yeah." She had at first been nervous about talking negatively about the Council in front of him, since he was older than her, but he seemed to have even less love for them than she did. "You'll never believe what happened, though. I thought I was going to be there all day. I might have been, too, if Grandma Harman hadn't intervened." "Grandma Harman?" Marcus repeated incredulously. "Yeah, I know. I couldn't believe it either. But she said, and I quote, 'This situation is a witch matter, which we shall handle.' She made it abundantly clear that unless I make a violate a major law, they're not to touch me." She laughed softly. "Remind me to send her a fruit basket." "You're not too grateful, are you?" The comment was teasing in nature, but Katarina thought she detected just the slightest hint of genuine worry in his voice. She twisted out of his grip and turned to face him. "Not hardly. I appreciate what she did, but she's a fool if she thinks I owe her anything." Marcus grinned. "Now that's what I like to hear!" He walked over to her glass coffee table, and picked up a folder. "Here's that information you requested. I had to pull some pretty major strings over at Circle Twilight to get these. In fact, they wouldn't even let me look over them. Said they were 'for your eyes only'. As if I'm just some low-level functionary." She chuckled softly, but there was just the slightest hint of danger in her eyes. "Well, if that's what they said, than that's the way it's going to be." Marcus looked ready to argue, but evidently thought better of it. He left without a word. Once he was gone, Katarina removed the wards on the folder with the specially requested herbs that had arrived the day before. She opened it and got her first look at her new objective. She studied the picture carefully, as well as the name. Erin Collins. \Eight/ It would be a year, however, before Katarina could make any headway on her new project. The delay didn't worry her. It just gave her time to work on her spells and become stronger. She was rapidly becoming one of the darkest witches in Circle Midnight Which was why all the talk she'd been hearing lately had been making her nervous. There had been some whispers - only whispers - that the witches might split from the Night World. Katarina honestly had no idea what to do if that happened. She wanted to stay loyal to her kind, but not if it meant joining with the Daybreakers. And really, Circle Midnight and Circle Daybreak were the only two options left to a witch now. The only thing that comforted her was that, from what she could tell, Erin semed as confused as she was. Unlike the rest of Circle Twilight, she had stayed away from Daybreak. (She seems to be heading, if you'll excuse the cliché, more towards the dark side,) Katarina thought. (This couldn't be going better if I'd planned it.) Erin, however, was not in quite as good a mood. With the collapse of Circle Twilight - that was how she viewed it - she had little to do. Suze tried to keep her occupied, but nothing worked for long. The other day she'd gotten so bored she'd went shopping for a motorcycle helmet. She didn't even have a motorcycle. Then they started showing up. Circle Midnight operatives. They seemed to be watching her, but she couldn't tell why. At least dodging them provided some entertainment. And she loved seeing the confounded look on their faces when their tracking spells seemingly just fizzled out. That's not what really happened, though. They didn't fizzle out at all. Erin absorbed them. It was one of the only tricks she could do exceptionally well. She had next to no magic of her own, but she could absorb magic from another witch and use that for spells. Or, if she got enough, witch fire. Just before Circle Twilight had disbanded, she begun to theorize that, if a stable link were created, she'd be able to function like a normal witch. But her mood at the moment wasn't excited. It wasn't bored, though, either. She was terrified. But not for herself. For a child. She and Suze had been flipping through the channels while her mother got dinner ready. That's when Suze had seen the news broadcast. A young girl was trapped in a fire. "Tell me you're recording this," Erin hissed, not sure why that was important. But it was. She could feel it. Without a word, Suze hit 'Record'. By now, Madeline had come out and was sat down on the couch next to them, looking shocked. Together they watched as the fire got steadily worse, despite the best efforts of the firefighters. The flames engulfed the girl's window. The reporter's voice broke. Erin stopped breathing. Then, suddenly, everything changed. There was some kind of light gray flash, then white smoke was billowing out of the building. Erin remembered to start breathing again as the reporter confirmed what she thought: the girl was out of danger. Not because she'd gotten out, but because the fire was gone. It was just gone. They sat for a while in silence. Then, when she was certain there wasn't going to be anymore useful information, Erin picked up the remote and stopped recording, rewound the tape, and hit 'Play'. "What are you doing?" Suze wondered. "Why would you want to see that again?" "Didn't you see that?" Erin asked as she got to where she wanted and slowed it down. "See what?" "That's what I'm trying to find out." Erin gasped and pointed to the screen. "That! What's that?" They looked. She reversed the tape, then played it in slow motion again. They could see the burst of orange fire, frame by frame, getting larger. It crawled up to engulf the window. And then there was a flash. It had only showed up as a flicker at normal speed, easily mistaken for some kind of camera problem. Suze couldn't figure out how on earth Erin had spotted it. At this speed, though, no one could mistake it. It was blue. It looked like lightning or flame; blue-white with a halo of more intense blue around it. And it moved. It started out small, then seemed expand and reach into the fire. After that, it was gone, and the fire was gone with it. Erin hit pause just as white smoke began to creep out the windows. "What-" Her voice sounded strangled and rough. She cleared her throat and tried again. "What was that?" "I have no idea," Suze answered, sounding amazed and just a bit scared. "But I think it's time we gave Max a call." Erin was surprised that her mother didn't object. She wondered if she'd just forgotten. If so, then Erin sure wasn't going to remind her. Later, when she had time to reflect, she'd realize that her mother, despite her attitude towards the Night World in general, knew that some things were just too big for the Day World to deal with, and this was one of them. "What did you say?!" Erin held the phone away from her ear until Max stopped shouting. "I said that we saw something on TV that looked like a flash of blue fire. Why? What's the big deal?" A pause. "Okay, look. I'm coming out there. Don't show anyone that tape, don't talk about this with anyone, don't do anything. I can't explain over the phone, but this... Just wait." Before Erin could say anything, Max hung up her phone and turned on her lights - on low. Being several hours ahead of San Francisco, Max had actually been sleeping when she'd gotten the call. But what Erin had said had made her forget about sleep completely. As carefully as possible, she made her way into her office and opened her safe. Inside were several papers, copies of several scrolls that were in possession of the Night World Council. She had come across them during the course of her career. Including some that they were just discovering now. What Erin had told her about sounded far too much like something from one of the bigger prophecies. The one about the four Wild Powers. The blue fire. (Goddess, is it possible?) She actually hoped not. Naturally, she'd give nearly anything to see a Wild Power in action, but not when she considered what else the prophecy mentioned. The end of the world. That was the reason for the Wild Powers existence - if they did, in fact, exist. To stop the destruction of the Day World. She scribbled everything that she had about the Wild Powers on a separate piece of paper, then locked the original copies back into the safe, restoring the old wards and adding several new ones. Then she began working on the ingredients for a very special spell. A teleportation spell. She wanted to get to Erin fast, and this was the fastest way possible. Teleportation spells were very tricky, but Max had finally learned just what was necessary. (Hope Erin's up for company.) She wasn't, actually, but she adapted quickly. Even her mother was polite to Max, which was a feat in and of itself. Max knew this, and made certain to be as nice to Madeline as possible. She couldn't help but wonder, however, as the evening went on, just why Madeline had turned her back on the Night World. Sure, she didn't have much power, but she had quite extensive knowledge. She would have made a welcome addition to the Council. Or at least Circle Daybreak. Max made a mental note to discuss that with her later. If there was a later. Eventually, they came to a decision. Max knew that the witch elders most likely knew about the prophecy, but they needed to know that the Wild Powers were manifesting themselves. And after Erin showed her the tape, Max was positive of it. She and Suze were going to go to Circle Daybreak headquarters and find Grandma Harman. As the Crone of all Witches, Max felt that she should know about the situation. Erin, much to her mother's relief, declined their invitation to come along. She still had school to attend, and she didn't feel right about going to Circle Daybreak, despite the fact that she had family on the inside. She had finally tracked down her cousin Winfrith, or Winnie, as she was typically addressed. Winnie, strawberry curled pixie that she was, had been thrilled to learn about her. Even when they'd met, and she'd learned about Erin's powers - or lack thereof - she'd still promised that Erin would be more than welcome at Daybreak. And Erin had been tempted. But she simply couldn't bring herself to side with one Circle over another. Winnie had been slightly depressed, but had accepted her decision. They still kept in frequent contact. Erin wished she could bring Winnie and her team in on this - she, a vampire named Nissa Johnson, and their leader, a black panther named Keller, were an elite Circle Daybreak commando team (or whatever) - but she had promised that she wouldn't tell anyone. But that didn't mean that she couldn't interact with other Night People, she thought, hiding a grin. Like maybe Jez. As far as her old gang knew, Jez was still either missing or dead. But Erin knew the truth. She was hiding in a small town named Clayton, about an hour and a half's drive from San Francisco - assuming there wasn't much traffic. On a really good day, she could cut travel time to an hour and fifteen minutes. Jez didn't come into the city often. Only whenever her work as a vampire huntress demanded it. The only reason that Erin knew that she was there was because she'd ended up in Clayton a few weeks ago when she'd been dodging a pair of particularly persistent Circle Midnight operatives. \Nine/ Three Weeks Prior Erin crouched on the rooftop, watching the two operatives go by. Fortunately, they didn't think to look so high for her. Probably because most witches couldn't move that fast. The only reason she had was that she had already been by this house a few times and had figured out the fastest route to the roof. She hoped the Goddard family wouldn't mind. After a few minutes, they finally gave up and left. Erin heaved a sigh of relief and began climbing down. At least no one was home. The adults were at work or out shopping, and the kids were at school. (Where I should be,) Erin thought with a wince. But if she'd stayed there, she would never have been able to avoid the two clowns she'd finally lost. And she didn't want Circle Midnight to know too much about her before she decided what to do about them. (Well, listen to you,) a voice in her head remarked. (Like you hold the fate of Circle Midnight in the palm of your hand. Hey, why not think bigger? How about the fate of the world?) (That's not what I meant!) she thought, annoyed. (All I meant was I'm not sure what to do about this weird interest they have in me.) She dropped to the ground with a quiet thud. (Ah, well. I'll figure it out when I get home... if I can just get out of here without anymore trouble.) Unfortunately, things didn't work out quite the way she planned. She'd barely gotten a few steps before her early warning system started screaming at her. She had learned how to interpret the levels of her feelings, and react accordingly. For a sensation like this... She threw herself to the side without thinking. Just in time, too. She felt something pass through the air where she'd just been, only missing her by a few inches. She hit the ground rolling. By the time she'd managed to stop herself, the other person had already recovered and was coming after her again. Strong hands threw her back to the ground, and she groaned as someone knelt on her, twisting her arm behind her back. "Who are you?" an angry female voice demanded. "What are you doing here? Did the Council send you?" "They wish!" Erin ground out. Something about the voice was oddly familiar. There was a snort of laughter. "Well, you've certainly got guts. But what are you doing here?" Now Erin remembered. "I was just out here communing with nature," she said with an audible smirk. There was a moment of silence, then the grip on her arm let go. Jez stood up and stared at her in confusion. "Erin? What are you doing here?" Erin greedily sucked in air once the pressure on her chest vanished. She rose and faced Jez - and stopped dead. She couldn't believe the change in Jez's appearance from a year ago. Oh, the features were the same; the height of cheekbone, the curve of chin. They had even fined out a bit because she was a year older. Erin's own features were slightly more sharp, more beautiful. Jez's red flag of hair was the same, too, although she noticed that it was now pulled back in an attempt to tame its fiery disorder. No, Erin thought, the difference was in the expression, which was sadder and wiser than Erin would have believed possible. And her eyes. Jez's eyes weren't as silvery as they had been, not as dangerously beautiful. And they were oddly vulnerable. Erin couldn't help herself. "What happened to you?" she blurted out. Strangely enough, Jez didn't even pretend not to know what Erin was talking about. "Let's just say that I found out a few things about myself, and leave it at that." Erin sighed. "Sure you don't want to tell me? I might understand better than you might think." At Jez's continued silence, she changed subjects. "Okay, I get it. I haven't answered your question, so why should you answer mine? Well, obviously I didn't know you lived here..." She glanced at the house. "With humans... Well, whatever. I was on your roof because I was dodging a couple of mid-level bozos from Circle Midnight, which took me a bit out of town." "Circle Midnight? What would they want with you?" Jez asked, confused. "Well, thanks a lot." "Not what I meant, and you know it. They don't usually chase witches like that." Erin winced and sighed. "Well, that could be because they don't know that much about me, and I'm going to keep it that way until I know how I feel about them, and what they can offer me." She paused, then continued, somewhat quieter. "Besides, I'm not a witch." Jez gave her an odd look. "Yes, you are. You wouldn't have been in Circle Twilight if-" "Oh, I have some magical abilities, sure. But little if any magic of my own. They mainly wanted me because of my senses and instincts. You remember that whole 'Sentinel' thing?" Jez watched as she seemed to deflate, staring down at her feet. "That's one of the main reasons I'm avoiding the Midnight people. I don't wanna know what they'd do to me if they found out I was a fraud. But you wouldn't understand." "Actually, I would," Jez said slowly. "You were right before. You do understand my situation better than I thought. That's why I left my gang. I'm half human." Erin looked up from her study of her shoes, shocked. "But I thought that Night World law forbade vampires from falling in love with humans." A new thought hit her. "And aren't vampire-human hybrids-" "Impossible?" She laughed bitterly. "I'd always thought so. But my mother was human. So I understand what you're feeling. In fact, my parents were killed because of me." "That's not true. It can't be!" Erin looked sick. "Jez, it isn't your fault. It's theirs. The vampires." Erin's face darkened. "Always the vampires," she spat. Jez sensed that Erin's reaction was coming from more than just her story, but the expression on her face discouraged any questions. "C'mon inside," she said instead. "Somebody's bound to notice us out here." Once inside, they sat down at the kitchen table and exchanged stories. Jez told her about her last hunt with her gang, remembering her parents' murder, moving in with her Aunt and Uncle, and joining Circle Daybreak. She got a brief faraway look on her face when she talked about her usual contact, Hugh Davis, a wakened Old Soul. That was rare enough to stop Erin's kneejerk reaction to the subject of Circle Daybreak. She talked about how hard it was to make Daybreak trust her. Erin told her about her first encounter with Suze, her earlier suspicions about Jasmine, meeting Max, and being introduced into Circle Twilight. She'd even once met Aradia, which had one of her high points at Twilight. She said how she shivered at the penetrating look the Maiden had given her. Aradia had said something about her not being able to fight her destiny when the time came, but had been unable to explain what that meant. She told Jez about her first conversation with her mother about the Night World, and her mother's keeping it a secret from her for her entire life. She talked about her mother's abrupt decision to move across the country, her settling into San Francisco, and her curiosity about Circle Midnight. She even told Jez about her ability to absorb magic from other witches. Then she told Jez about the faint but present Redfern blood in her. Jez was astonished, but somewhat happy, to learn that she wasn't the only human-vampire hybrid in existence. Although she was now. Neither had ever talked so candidly about themselves. But then, neither had ever met someone who so thoroughly understood what they were going through. Then they talked about less consequential things. The odd weather. The recent animal attacks around the country. Other things. They talked for a few more hours, until finally Erin had to go, before her mother started worrying. She promised not to mention seeing Jez to anyone, especially her gang. She casually mentioned how worried the other gang members, especially Morgead, had been. Jez didn't quite seem to believe her. (Which,) Erin thought three weeks later, (was too damn bad.) She and Morgead belonged together. Erin could feel it. And she was starting to learn that that kind of 'feeling' was always correct. It had led her trust Suze, and Jez. It had also led her to record the news footage of the blue fire. And now she could feel that Jez and Morgead would end up together. (To paraphrase Aradia, one can't fight destiny.) \Ten/ As it turned out, Erin was right. Jez and Morgead would end up together. But before that would happen, Erin paid her a little visit. Suze and Max had been at Daybreak for nearly two weeks, and Erin was getting nervous. What was taking them so long? She wasn't really sure how to get in touch with Winnie, and even if she could get through to Circle Daybreak, she had no guarantee that Winnie and her team wouldn't be on a mission. So her best bet would be Jez. Stopping only to pick up her new, useless motorcycle helmet, she grabbed the keys to her new car - a pleasingly inconspicuous Ford sedan - and headed for Clayton. As she pulled out of her driveway, she fleetingly wondered if Jez had been missing as many days of school as she had. At least she'd managed to go today. Her mother was seriously considering getting her a private instructor. Jez had actually missed far more school than Erin. She had even missed that day. So when Erin presented herself as a classmate there to give Jez her homework, Jez's family let her right in. (Dangerous,) she thought. (Anyone could just waltz right in here. You'd think the home of a vampire huntress would be a bit harder to infiltrate.) After fielding a few questions, she learned that Jez wasn't even home. Jez's cousin Claire seemed especially angry at her. Rather than leaving the imaginary homework up in Jez's room - where she was sure that Claire would look at whatever she left there - she left to go looking for Jez. Several hours later, she intercepted Jez on the way home. After exchanging pleasantries and warning Jez about her family's anxiety about her whereabouts, she got down to business. Because of her promise not to mention the tape or anything on it - which she knew still applied; even Max and Suze wouldn't say anything about it directly - she couldn't tell Jez anything about why Suze and Max, a witch from her home town in Virginia, were at Circle Daybreak. She just said that they'd been gone much longer than planned. Jez seemed to understand the urgency behind her request, if not the reason, and promised to get word to them. In return, Erin gave her a ride home and provided an excuse for her now extreme lateness. She told Jez's uncle that it was her fault, and apologized for keeping his niece out so late. He nodded understandingly and said that it was okay, but it had better not happen again, which seemed to really make Claire mad. Before she left, Erin told Jez to be more careful with Claire - the human girl could prove to be a huge complication, as well as a huge distraction that could end up getting her killed if she wasn't. She could feel it. She didn't know how right she was. After that things began getting complicated. True to her word, Jez had gotten word to Circle Daybreak, and Suze had called her back. Unfortunately, from what Suze could tell her, Jez was now unavailable, since she was needed to participate in the investigation of the Wild Power, who had seemingly been identified by Morgead. On the bright side, Max hadn't had to mention the tape at all, since one of the elder witches - Grandma Harman, most likely - had had a dream about the Wild Power manifesting in San Francisco. And something about the Coit Tower, which confirmed it. Knowing that Jez was searching for the Wild Power did explain a few things, though. Like why she'd seen Jez and her old gang riding around with a kidnapped child. But soon, Erin had bigger things to worry about. Like finally having to deal with Circle Midnight. \Eleven/ Jez had just discovered that the child that Morgead had located was not the Wild Power when Erin stumbled across the battle. Keeping her distance, she could see a witch being attacked by several shapeshifters. In daylight. In public. (This is insane!) she thought wildly. Carefully, she maneuvered closer. It was all Katarina could do not to smile. (I should have done this sooner!) she thought with a mental cackle. (As undecided as little Erin is, no way is she going to just walk away from a witch in trouble. Especially in a situation as weird as this.) It was a bit risky, doing this in broad daylight, but she'd taken precautions. Powerful glamours kept humans from even seeing them, and wards were in place to keep out any curious Night People. Anyone but Erin Collins, of course. Katarina had chosen two wolves and a tiger for her little act. She found the initial look of horror on Erin's to be strangely satisfying, even though she didn't know why. Then Erin surprised her by stopping several yards away, an unreadable look on her face. That wasn't good. She needed Erin to stop this fight. The shifters that she had drafted for this mission doing just what she'd told them to - not pulling their punches. And she'd hate to waste a valuable resource by killing them. A blast of her witch fire hit one of the wolves, and it went down. Erin didn't react at all. Despite herself, Katarina was almost impressed. Finally, after just staring at them for nearly two minutes, Erin seemed to unfreeze. "Do I need to separate you three?" she asked with a smirk. Well, that stopped them. They looked at her as if she'd lost her mind. The looks on the animals' faces was especially priceless. Katarina felt a smartass remark just itching to be said, but she stopped when she took her first good look at Erin. Her mind shut down for a second. Erin's ebony hair was blazing in the midday sun, while her eyes shone like emeralds. She made for a rather breathtaking sight. Katarina shook her head. What was wrong with her? Was she that lonely? She had Marcus... who had been rather distant lately. No matter. She was here for one reason and one reason only. To recruit Erin. Erin hadn't moved since her little comment. Katarina broke away from the fight. "Ah, Ms. Collins," she said with an evil grin. "I was wondering when you'd get here." "Sorry I'm late, traffic was a bitch." Erin gave the blond the once over. Her face held an elven beauty, with her shining blonde hair and violet eyes making a striking addition to her features. "So, you're the one pulling these bozos' strings." It wasn't a question. Katarina answered it anyway. "Yes, I am. I hear you've been giving my boys a hard time." "You must have been kidding, sending them after me. Was I really not supposed to notice them?" (Well, that was the general idea.) "All I wanted to do was see what you could do." "You could have asked." Then, as if she'd just noticed, remarked, "Glamours to keep mortals away and wards to keep witches away. Cute trick. But not easy." She watched as a thirty-something woman with mousy brown hair walked right past her without seeing any of them. "Who are you?" She laughed. "How rude of me. My name is Katarina McConolly." She watched with amusement as Erin's face betrayed her astonishment. "Ah. You've heard of me." "There aren't that many witches in California that haven't. But I thought you lived in LA." "I do. So I hear you're interested in Circle Midnight. Want a tour?" The werewolf on the ground had woken up by now and, not knowing that the 'fight' was over, launched itself at Erin. Katarina raised her hands to fry him, but Erin stopped her with a shake of her head. "A tempting offer, Ms. McConolly, but what exactly do you have to offer me that I can't get elsewhere?" She made no move to avoid the wolf. Katarina suspected she knew why. If she tried to get out of its way, the wolf would just change course to catch her. If she ran, it would chase her down. But why not let her fry it? She knew that some humans, trained in the ancient art of ninjitsu, could get away from it. The only problem was that she knew for a fact that Erin had no such training. Erin waited until the wolf was only a few feet away from her before she acted. Moving faster than anyone would have thought possible, she calmly stepped out of the way. The wolf was unable to stop in time. Carried forward by its own momentum, it slammed into a nearby parked car. The impact shook the car, actually moving it back a few feet. Its alarm began to wail. Katarina was astonished. Nothing human, not even anything wiccan, could move that fast. (Looks like I may have underestimated the Redfern blood in her,) she thought. (Or I underestimated her. Either way...) "What can I offer you? How about a ride out of here? Even the glamours won't keep people from noticing that for long." She gestured to the car. Deciding not to question how we had become me, Erin looked around. Sure enough, people were starting to look around in confusion. (Well, doesn't look like I've got much of a choice, does it?) "You better get your people in human form fast," she warned. Katarina grinned in triumph. "Gwen! Alex! Chris! Time to go!" Without waiting for them, she grabbed Erin by the arm and led her away from the battle scene. She knew that the shifters would be human and in the car by the time they were ready to go. And they were. They had been driving for nearly twenty minutes before Erin thought to ask where they were going. Of course, she'd had several other questions that she wanted answered first. Like who the shapeshifters were. She knew that they couldn't be part of Circle Midnight, since Circle Daybreak was the only circle that accepted anyone but witches. It was the first question that she'd asked once they reached the car. She would have asked it sooner, but she was still a bit disoriented by her earlier encounter, and the gorgeous witch hustling her along didn't give her time to recover. And the tingling along her arm, coming from where Katarina was grabbing her. The car Katarina had mentioned turned out to be a long black limousine. The two wolves, Gwen Acevado and Chris Robertson, and the tiger, Alex Keene, had joined them just before they peeled out. Alex and Chris were about the same height, the former heavily muscled, looking like a blond surfer; the latter dark haired and lanky. Gwen had odd silvery-brown hair and dark amber eyes. She felt the most out of place to Erin - other than Erin herself. According to Katarina, the three were - or had been - a professional strike team for the Council, now employed by Katarina. Not Circle Midnight, Alex stressed, but Katarina. She treated them much better - most of the Night World considered shapeshifters to be low creatures, higher in status only than humans - and she paid much better as well. "I gotta tell you, I'm surprised to see shapeshifters working with a witch outside of Circle Daybreak," Erin remarked casually. "You've had a lot of experience with Daybreak?" Chris asked suspiciously. "Enough. They're the only ones who've shown even close to the same interest as you," Erin said, mostly to Katarina. "And at least I know what they want with me." "You don't sound like you care for them overmuch," Katarina remarked, deliberately avoiding Erin's implied question. "More like I don't entirely trust them. Which makes it harder to relate to my cousin Winnie." "I know what you mean," Gwen said, her amber eyes flashing sadly. "My sister Lupe is on the inside, too. I miss her a lot, but I just don't agree with her or her boss, Thierry." "Thierry? The Lord of the Night World? That Thierry? Your sister works for the second oldest vampire in existence?" "Actually," Katarina interrupted, "since Maya was killed, he is the oldest." "What? Maya was killed? Who-?" "Thierry's human soulmate, Hannah Snow." "Soulmate?" Erin asked curiously. Then, "Human soulmate?" "Yeah, I know," Katarina said. "Lately, something's been making Night People find human soulmates. At least Hannah's an Old Soul." "A very Old Soul," Gwen put in. (Soulmates.) Something about the word gave Erin an odd feeling. "So," she said in a rather obvious effort to change the subject, "where are we going?" "Los Angeles," Katarina said, giving Erin a look that said she should have known that. "What?!" Erin looked at Katarina as if she'd gone insane. "Why?!" "Because that's where Circle Midnight headquarters is, and I did promise you a tour." She smiled. "Besides, aren't you even slightly curious as to why I've been trying so hard to see you?" Erin had to admit, she did want to know. "But my mother-" "Has been informed that you'll be away for some time," Alex said. Erin winced, trying not to imagine her mother's reaction. "I'll bet she was just thrilled to hear that." Alex chuckled dryly. "I've got to say, I've never heard some of the things she called me. That was the first time I'd ever been glad to be working for a witch." "Why?" Alex smirked. "Because Katarina's stronger than any of the rest of them. Easily as twice as strong as Grandma Harman." Erin gaped in astonishment, while Katarina looked embarrassed. "Yeah, but I don't have even half the influence." She remembered the events of a year ago, when only Grandma Harman's intervention had gotten her away from the Council before they found out too much. She actually had sent the Crone a fruit basket, complete with a card reading, 'Thanks for your help. I guess I owe you one, but don't expect too much. Sincerely, Katarina McConolly.' "But they did make me head of Circle Midnight LA for a reason. And even though my age makes it unlikely that I'll be advancing any farther, I'm satisfied where I am." A pause. "For now." Erin laughed. She couldn't help it. "Well, you are an ambitious little thing, aren't you?" They all shared a laugh at that. \Eleven/ As she looked around Katarina's room, Erin came to one inescapable conclusion. She had good taste. Despite the darkness of its occupant, the room was decorated in soft, muted colors. From her plush armchairs to her thick, velvety carpet, the room simply screamed class. Running a hand along the off white couch, Erin felt a muffled pang of longing. She'd always wanted a place like this. She sensed that she could be very comfortable here. (Okay, that's enough of that,) she told herself with a mental headshake. (Time to get down to business.) "So. You wanted me here. I'm here. Now what do you want?" "You." Katarina must have realized how that sounded, because she added, "working with us." "Uh-huh, that's pretty much what I figured," Erin said. "Now for the twenty-four dollar question: why should I?" "I suppose threatening you wouldn't do much good?" Erin shook her head. "I didn't think so. So I'll say this instead: there are a lot more opportunities for someone with your unique talents here than at Circle Daybreak." Katarina's mouth unconsciously twisted into a sneer on the last word. (My unique abilities, huh? Hoo boy.) "Are you really twice as strong as Grandma Harman?" Katarina blinked at the unexpected question. "Well, not really. At present, I am much stronger than her, but if my power was cut in half, it wouldn't be equal. And I'm certain of that, because I've been careful to only use about half of my Power so that no one here knows how strong I really am. And no one does, except for Gwen, Alex, Chris, and you. No one else. Not even Marcus." "Who's Marcus?" "My lover. He was also my mentor, but I don't really need him in that capacity anymore." Erin felt a strange feeling upon learning that, but Katarina didn't give her the necessary time to figure out what. She took a warning step closer. "I don't really need to warn you not to tell anyone else, do I?" Another step. There were only a few feet between them now. "No," Erin said with a small gulp, her composure slipping slightly. She had heard terrible stories about this girl's temper. "But if you're so strong, why do you need me?" (Not a bad question,) Katarina thought, (though it is somewhat rude. Anyone else and I'd be blowing them through a wall.) But Katarina hadn't gone to so much trouble just to do that. "Like I said, I could use a girl with your abilities. For example, I'd love to know just how you managed to deflect every single tracking spell we used on you." "I didn't." At Katarina's incredulous gaze, she added, "I absorbed them. I can absorb any magic directed at me." "Any magic?" "Yeah. Guess those files you got from Circle Twilight were incomplete, huh?" she asked, gesturing to the files spread out on Katarina's coffee table. (Now for the part sure to get me killed.) "They'd have to be, since Circe didn't write certain things down. Like the fact that I don't really have any magic of my own." Katarina didn't think she'd heard right. "What?" "I have next to no magic of my own. Aside from my defensive abilities, I'm pretty much human." (Marcus is in SO much trouble.) "I... see. No, actually, I didn't know that. But then, that's not what drew my attention to you in the first place." "You- you're alright with that?" Erin asked, astonished. Whenever she'd tied to figure out how Circle Midnight would react to that bit of news, she'd always figured that they'd at least react. She felt off-balance. "With me... I mean... Aren't you...?" "Let's just say that this is another thing that we'll keep between us," Katarina said with a neutral expression. She held out her hand. "Agreed?" Erin nodded. "You've got a deal," she said, reaching for Katarina's hand. "Now, about my tour-" Contact. Erin grasped Katarina's hand, and her vision exploded into white light. (What is this? What's happening?) Erin could feel her body falling forward, clutching at Katarina. They both slid to the ground. (What are you doing to me?) (It's not me!) Katarina sent back. And it wasn't. Erin could feel that she was equally as startled and astonished as she was. Some force was trying to merge the two of them, and Katarina wasn't happy about it. But she seemed resigned to it. (What is this?) Erin asked, then gasped as thoughts and memories hit her. But they weren't hers. They were Katarina's. And Katarina was seeing her thoughts. (At least this way I'll save time trying to explain my past,) she thought wryly. To her surprise, she heard a soft voice laughing. It took her a moment to recognize it as Katarina. It sounded so much lighter and warmer than her real voice. (Do you know what's happening?) (You haven't guessed?) Katarina sounded amused. (Just what were they teaching you at Twilight?) (Katarina...) Erin warned. She got the distinct impression that her threat amused the witch immensly. (It's the soulmate principle.) Erin felt the floor drop away beneath her. (My soulmate... is a woman?) That made no sense. Katarina had just confessed to having a lover - a male lover - and Erin had lost track of the amount of guys she'd lusted after. (There's a difference between lust and love.) It was impossible to tell which of them the thought had come from. Katarina laughed wryly. (Someone up there,) she told Erin, (has a very warped sense of humor.) Erin acknowledged that with a chuckle. (So,) she asked, (what do we do now?) All at once she became aware of her own body again as Katarina pulled away. "Good question," she said aloud, her voice cracking slightly with emotion. She cleared her throat and tried again. "I'm not sure." She lovingly brushed a stray strand of ebony hair out of Erin's face. Erin captured her hand and held on to it. "First of all, are you going to be staying here?" "Yes," Erin breathed. The mental contact, short as it was, had put things in perspective. School, attempting to hold on to what was left of Circle Twilight, even her home life with her mother - none of it mattered. Oh, she'd visit her mother often, but she couldn't leave Katarina. She kissed the blonde girl's hand. "If you'll have me." "And you realize that when I asked you to stay here, I meant stay here." With her free hand, Katarina gestured to her room. "Even if we will have to hide the fact that we're soulmates." "Why?" Erin asked, feeling hurt. Katarina sighed. "Look, Erin, we both know that I'm not a nice person. I made it to the top by being the best and by being ruthless. I've made plenty of enemies. If we let on that we're soulmates, you may as well wear a giant target on your back." Erin tried - and failed - to keep from smiling. Her vision blurred, and she furiously blinked away tears. Once she was back in control, she looked at Katarina hopefully. "There is one thing we could do to make things easier." "Oh? What?" (How to explain?) "Well, a while ago, when I was learning about my magical absorption ability, I had this theory. If I could forge a stable enough link between myself and another witch, I'd be able to function as a normal witch. There were only two problems. One, creating a stable enough link was nearly impossible. Two, since we'd be sharing Power, we'd each get only half." Comprehension dawned on Katarina's face. "But a soulmate link is the most stable link there is," she said slowly. "And I've got twice as much Power as I need." A look of mixed curiosity and awe appeared on her face. "Of course. That's why." "Why what?" Erin asked, confused. "For the longest time now, I've been trying to figure out why I was getting so strong. Now I know. Because of you. You were meant to be a witch, but since you didn't have any Power, I got twice as much as I needed, so I could share it with you. Amazing. I didn't know it could work that way." "I guess it is." (And I guess I now know the answer to that question I keep asking myself: Am I destined for darkness? It seems that I am, but in a way that I never would have ever expected.) She leaned over and kissed Katarina's soft lips, and the world went white again. \Twelve/ "She's where?!" Suze's voice soared up to an incredulous high note on the last word, causing people all over the room to stop what they were doing and look at her. Lowering her voice, she turned away from them as much as possible, hunching slightly over the phone. "Are you sure? Yes, of course you are. Well, on the bright side, I don't think they want to hurt her. They want to recruit her. No, I'm not certain they've succeeded. Of course, I can't say for certain that they've failed." She paused as she listened to the person on the other end of the line rant for a minute. "Naturally, we'll try and get her to come home. But if she doesn't want to leave, it may be impossible to get her out of there. But I promise we'll try." A soft laugh. "To us all. Goodbye." She punched the phone off and slid it back into her pocket. She sighed heavily. "Something wrong?" Hannah Snow, Thierry Descourd's beautiful human soulmate asked, concerned. "Yeah, something's wrong," Suze said, and shot Max a look. "Max, we're idiots." Max's eyebrows rose. "Why do you say that?" "Erin's in Los Angeles." "So? Max asked, still not seeing the problem. "At Circle Midnight headquarters," Suze added. "This is all my fault. I knew that they were getting more interested in her, and she in them, and I still stayed here. Now she's with Katarina McConolly, and I don't know how to get her away." While Circle Midnight had drawn some attention, mentioning Katarina had caused a dead silence to descend over the room. Even the usually inscrutable Ash Redfern looked a bit nervous. "I have to go to LA. Can you guys manage without me for a while?" "Of course," Max answered. In the two weeks that she'd been at Circle Daybreak, her attitude had done a complete 180. She had to admit that she enjoyed hanging around all the different types of people. And heading off the end of the world was an important task, one that she was honored to be part of. Suze blinked in the sunlight as she walked out of the airport. She had grabbed a quick flight to San Francisco, which Thierry had arranged for her. He had also arranged for a car to pick her up an bring her to Erin's house. The original plan had been for Suze to go to Los Angeles, but Erin was supposed to be home today, picking up her possessions. She'd be leaving some things at home for when she came to visit, but all her favorite things were going with her to LA. Suze figured that she had a better chance of getting through to Erin while she was away from Katarina. There was only one thing wrong with that theory. Suze frowned as she pulled up in front of Erin's house. There was a black limo parked out in front. When she walked into the house, she got an even bigger surprise. Katarina was sitting at the kitchen table, calmly sipping a cup something that gave off a fruity smell. The blonde witch looked up when she entered. Her eyes were hidden behind a pair of opaque black sunglasses, but she gave the impression of a superior look. Suze froze. (I should have expected this,) she thought, annoyed at herself. (After all the effort she expended at getting to Erin, no way was she going to just let her go off by herself.) "Katarina McConolly?" she asked coolly. As if it could be anyone else. No one else that young could exude that aura of power, of coldness. Katarina nodded. "And you're Suzannah Kingston. Erin's told me a lot about you." Her voice seemed to warm for a second when she said Erin's name, but any warmth vanished as soon as it had appeared. Suze tensed. Again, she supposed she should have expected that. But she felt oddly betrayed. Knowing that Erin had been talking to her with Katarina, telling her Goddess knew what... that she trusted her that much; it hurt. Erin chose that moment to bounce into the kitchen. "Okay, I'm just about done," she announced to Katarina. "Gwen's getting the last of my stuff now, so..." She trailed off as she spotted Suze for the first time. Suze was vaguely annoyed to see that Erin was dressed much the same as Katarina: form fitting dark clothes, black sneakers, and the same sunglasses, which she promptly removed to get a better look at her. "Suze?" As if a switch had been thrown, Erin's expression shifted from puzzled to thrilled. She flew across the room to envelope Suze in a hug. Even someone as annoyed as Suze was at Erin couldn't help but smile and hug her back. "Hi, Erin." She was surprised to find that Erin read much more like a witch now. Pulling back, Erin fixed her with a wry grin. "So, Mom actually broke down and called Daybreak for help. Wow. I wouldn't have expected that. So, go ahead. Talk some sense into me." (This could be harder then I thought.) "Well, I'll try," Suze said. "What I really want to know is what lead up to this decision. Last time I talked to you, you were avoiding Circle Midnight like they had the plague. Now you're moving into their headquarters. I don't understand-" "No, you don't," Erin interrupted, sounding angry. "Of course, how could you, since you haven't been here in over two weeks. You haven't even talked to me since I asked you to call. What, did you just forget I existed? Too busy with your new Daybreaker pals?" Her voice was dripping with scorn. "It's not like they're going to be around much longer. The entire Night World is going to be gunning for them now. They, and everyone associated with them, are going to be wiped out." Her expression softened to one of concern. "I don't want you to die, Suze. But I don't want to die either. And unlike some of my friends, Kat's never forgotten about me." Her lips subconsciously curled into a warm smile. (What the hell?) Suze was to stunned to respond for a second. (It's too late. I'm too late. We've lost her.) Or had they? She was obviously still worried about her friends, and Katarina didn't seem to have any kind of supernatural hold over her. There was something between them, though. But if she asked what, there was no way that either would tell her. It quickly became rather unimportant, though. Katarina winced, covering her ears as if she was hearing something deafening. Her sunglasses fell to the table. Erin doubled over in pain, clutching at her head. Suze gaped at them in bewilderment. "What's wrong?" she asked. She got no answer, save a moan from Erin. After a few more moments, the... whatever seemed to stop. Gradually, Erin straightened up, and shot a confused look at Katarina. "What was that?" "No idea," Katarina replied, staring at the table, deep in thought. Suze blinked at hearing her admit that she didn't know something. It didn't fit with what Suze knew of her. (Guess whatever it was felt like a bigger thing than they're letting on,) Suze thought. "Guys, talk to me here. Whatever that was, I missed it." "Most everyone did," Erin said. Nobody, not even her, knew how she knew that. She just did. "I think..." She turned pale. "What? What's wrong?" Katarina was on her feet and at Erin's side before Suze could even move, an expression of open concern on her face. Suze wondered about that, but what Erin said next temporarily erased any thoughts about it from her head. "I think it was the Wild Power." Jaws dropped all over the room. "Are you sure?" Suze asked "Yeah," Erin said, sounding uncertain. Then, in a stronger voice, said, "Yes, I am." "But why didn't you react that way last time the blue fire was used?" Erin thought about that. "Actually, I did react. The last time it happened, I couldn't breathe. At the time, I thought I was just scared for the kid, but it must have been because of the Wild Power." Suze still didn't understand. "But why are you reacting at all? And why is it worse now?" Erin shrugged. "My unique condition, I guess. And I've gotten stronger now, so my reaction is stronger." "But why-" Suze broke off. She had been about to ask, 'But why is Katarina reacting?', when she put the clues together. Their shared fashion sense. Their inability to hide their warm feelings for each other. The fact that Erin seemed to have miraculously developed witch powers. Their shared pain. Erin and Katarina were soulmates. "Whoa," she said instead. Katarina sighed. "Alright, how do you want to handle this?" she asked Erin. "Well, it's not like we can just erase the knowledge from her head," Erin said with a smirk at Suze. Suze grinned back, understanding the shared history that she was referring to. "So we'll just have to trust her to keep quiet." Katarina looked dubious. "Trust her?" "If she promises she won't say anything, then she won't." Suze arched an eyebrow. "And why should I promise that?" "Because you don't want Erin to die." Suze looked at her in horror. "You wouldn't!" Katarina restrained herself from punching the werewolf. Barely. "Not me, you idiot! But judging from your reaction, you know just how loved I am in the Night World. Imagine if someone found out that I had a soulmate, one much less powerful than I am." Now Suze got it. She turned white. "I won't say anything. I promise." She couldn't talk about this anymore. "So, what are we going to do about the Wild Power?" "We've got to get her to Circle Daybreak," Erin answered immediately. "Come again?" Katarina asked, sounding amused. It was a condition that seemed to occur often where her soulmate was concerned. "Katarina, please!" Erin begged. "I know the Council wants them dead, but I can't let someone die just because they say so. And I kind of like this world! I don't want to see it end. Please," she finished, looking her in the eyes. Katarina was silent for a long moment. Suze had hated to see her friend begging like that, but she knew that if Katarina didn't want them to interfere, then it wouldn't happen. "Don't you think," Katarina said at last, "that if the Wild Power is using the blue fire, the Council is already trying to kill them?" "Then we have to do something!" Erin protested. Katarina sighed. "Do what you must. I won't stop you." She gave Erin a hard look. "But I can't help you, either." Erin grinned and gave her a kiss on the cheek. "Fair enough." "So, time to go save the world again, eh?" Suze asked with a grin Erin grinned back and slipped her sunglasses back on. "Absolutely." "Again?" Katarina repeated. "When did you save it the first time?" "During that whole mess with the Heart of Darkness," Suze replied. "The Heart of Darkness?!" Katarina sounded horrified. "I didn't hear anything about that." "No one did," Erin said quietly. "That was the whole point. See, some vampires found it. I still don't know if they were under orders or not. Anyway, they wanted to use its power to bring about the time of darkness that's supposed to take place around the end of the millennium now. And they came damn close to succeeding." "But they didn't count on Erin," Suze said with a grin. "She got it away from them and used it to blow them all to atoms." "You used it?" Now Katarina sounded genuinely worried - for Erin. "Are you insane? You know the kind of Power it has." "You mean the kind of Power it had. After I used it... Well, I could hear it in my head, urging me to use it more, to use it for evil. And I nearly did. But I just couldn't do it. So I turned its Power against itself, and it self-destructed. I was a bit annoyed at vampires in general for a while after that, but I got over it." "Well, if you can do something like that, and keep it a secret, than you just might survive," Katarina said with an affectionate smile. "But you'd better get going. The Council is about five steps ahead of you." She shook her head. "I said I can't help and I meant it. But I can tell you this: If you want to find the Wild Power, you'd better track down your friend Jez." "Of course!" Erin blurted. "Jez was sent after the Wild Power! Are you saying that she found it?" "All that I can say is that you'd better get to her house now. The Council knows." "That she was sent back to her old gang?" Suze asked. "Well, I'd expect that." "No, you don't get it. They know. About her. What she is." Erin turned white. "C'mon," she said to Suze, "we've got to go now. Hope whoever you've got driving is good." She was already on her way out the door before Suze could fully process everything. "Wait! What are you talking about? What is it that they know?" Erin didn't answer until she was at the limo. "She's half-human, Suze." Erin stopped and looked into her eyes. "They'll kill her, and then they'll kill her family. She can take care of herself, especially if she's with the Wild Power. Her family, however..." Suze stepped around her and got into the car. "I hope you know how to get to her house, 'cause I don't have a clue." Erin got in as well, shutting the door with a slam. "Of course I do. Now, let's go!" Back in the house, Katarina watched them peel out. "Good luck," she murmured. "You're just going to let her go?" a voice asked from behind her. Katarina turned to face Madeline. "Of course. She's my friend, not my slave. She's free to do whatever she wishes. I just hope that, sooner rather than later, she realizes that this is a lost cause. Daybreak will never get all four Wild Powers on their side. Not if I have anything to say about it." \Thirteen/ They were almost too late. Jez and her friends had just gotten slammed by the Volvo when the attack on her family began. For some reason, they were all at home. Erin couldn't figure out why. Had it been something the Council did, to get them all in the same place to make it easier to kill them? Or had Katarina somehow guessed that Erin would rush off to help them and had gotten them all together? That would actually make more sense, since it had been almost an hour and a half since the attack on Jez began, and there was no reason it should take the Council's team that long to take out a bunch of mortals. But if they'd had to chase them all over town... (But she said she wasn't going to help,) Erin thought. It could just be a coincidence, but that was amazingly unlikely. No one was sick, fired, or suspended. There was no reason for them to all be home. (Or were they running from the Night World?) Erin wondered suddenly. Even if they just thought they were human attackers, they'd try and get away. Unfortunately, they'd somehow ended up back at their house, where they seemed to be trying to make a stand. They were losing. Jim Goddard couldn't believe that this was happening. He finished reloading his old shotgun, which he'd never actually used before. It had been a gift from his brother-in-law, Bracken. He'd been puzzled when he'd gotten it, but hadn't said anything, since he hadn't wanted to be rude. He just left it up in the attic, occasionally cleaning it, since Bracken had told him to keep good care of it. Back then, he'd been puzzled, but agreed. Now he was wondering if Bracken knew something that he didn't. The two remaining wolves had pulled back, as if to regroup, giving him much needed breathing time. Nanami had finally stopped Ricky's bleeding. Ricky had been the first one attacked when a group of four wolves had jumped out at them when they got back home. They had been chased all over town by a black sedan. They'd finally managed to lose and, since they were almost there anyway, had gone home to call the police. Then the wolves had attacked. One of them had bitten Ricky before Jim and Nan had managed to beat it off. They'd run into the house, rapidly locking all the doors and windows. Unfortunately, they hadn't had time to block the windows, and the wolves had started jumping through them. That was when Jim had run up to get his shotgun. Now there were only two wolves left, and he was beginning to think that they might just live through this. At that moment, the black sedan drove up. Jim stared in disbelief. (This can't be happening!) And calling the police was out, since the phones were dead. He simply couldn't believe that the wolves had done that, but it seemed that they had. Two people got out of the sedan. Jim thought the stress was finally getting to him. They couldn't really have fangs, could they? Yes, it seemed, they could. Both were in dark clothing, almost like uniforms. Then, just when he thought things couldn't get any stranger, they did. The two - vampires? - strangers began ordering the wolves around. (Well, that's it. We're going to die.) Jim hung his head. At least Jez and Claire weren't here. He just hoped that they were alright. Erin felt a wave of dark anger when she saw the attack team. (Two dead wolves on the ground. That would make for a total of four wolves and two vampires for one human family. Talk about overkill.) The anger felt oddly foreign, and intensified when she saw the lead vampire. (Tiger Garret.) The name, completely alien to her, floated through her mind. She'd never even heard of him before, so she had no reason to hate him. But apparently Katarina did. (This soulmate business gets weirder and weirder,) she thought. The team was on the personal payroll of Hunter Redfern, Erin now 'remembered'. They were responsible for no one knew how many massacres. Including Katarina's family. Not that Katarina could ever prove it. And when she started getting strong enough to do something about it, Hunter had hidden them away. Erin felt a rush of satisfaction at being able to avenge her soulmate's tragedy. The fact that she was contemplating murder never even bothered her once. Of course, given that they were attacking the family of a friend of hers, murder wasn't really the right term. Erin, Suze, and the driver, Emily, another witch, got out of the car. With a nod of silent agreement, they started for the house. Erin didn't worry about Emily being able to handle herself. Daybreak wouldn't have sent someone helpless with Suze, in case they had to resort to violence while they "rescued" her. She still found that a laughably pathetic notion. They should have known that there was no way that she'd go to Circle Midnight headquarters against her will. Of course, she reminded herself as she charged toward the house, there was no way that they could have known the truth about her relationship with Katarina, and that there was no way in Hell that Kat would ever hurt her. Suze was changing before she was even ten feet from the car. It felt good, as it always did. Painful, in a nice way, like the feeling of having a tight bandage removed. A release. The first few seconds, when she felt fluid, like a being of pure energy, were the most intense. After that, her body tightened, compacted, and shrank into her wolf form. She sensed, more than saw, Erin let loose with a blistering barrage of golden-orange witch fire, which sent the two vampires flying. It was hard to say who was more surprised by their sudden arrival, the Goddards or the bad guys. Jim lowered his shotgun, gaping in astonishment. The two vampires picked themselves up of the ground, staring at them with a look of hatred that only the undead can pull off. The two wolves growled. "Damn Daybreakers," Tiger growled. Erin, who was the closest to him, stopped and stared. She was distantly aware of Suze and Emily taking on the two wolves. The vampires were closing on her. "Actually, Garret," she said with a sneer that Katarina could probably do much better, "I'm with Circle Midnight." She was glad Suze was too busy to pay attention to what she was saying. Tiger halted, and the other looked at him in confusion. "Circle Midnight? Then what are you-" "Katarina McConolly." Those two words were enough to make the vampires look rather nervous. "McConolly? You're with her?" Tiger asked, sounding almost afraid. (Good,) Erin thought, a surge of hatred almost overwhelming her. (Make him scared. Make him beg for his life, like he does to his victims. Like he tried to do to Katarina's parents, her sister.) "Yes," she replied, her voice sounding twisted and distant to her, "I am. With her. And I know all about you." She was too angry to wait for them to process what she was saying. She let loose with another punishing volley of orange fire, sending the vampires flying back into a tree. She withdrew two of the stakes that she'd grabbed from the car - Suze was nothing if not prepared - and, focusing her will, sent them hurtling through the air into the vamps' chests. She felt a surge of dark satisfaction as she watched the two of them mummify, as vampires did when they died. She wasn't used to having that much power at her disposal - actually, she wasn't used to having any power at her disposal - and it was a bit draining. Erin just stood there, breathing heavily, feeling happy. It took her a second to remember that there was a battle going on around her. Or there had been. She didn't know if the two Council wolves had been distracted by the rather spectacular deaths of their vampire teammates or if Suze and Emily were just better, but the fight was quickly wrapping up. Suze's brownish-blond fur was matted with blood, only some of it hers, but she had her jaws clamped on the lead wolf's throat. His struggles had grown rather pitifully weak. He'd be dead in a matter of seconds. Emily, on the other hand, had somehow produced a silver knife from somewhere, which was currently jammed into the female wolf's side. She was lying motionless on the ground. Seeing that they had things under control, Erin went to check on the Goddard family. She didn't like what she found. The boy's right arm had been torn open, and he was staring ahead, shaking. Erin was no doctor, but she thought he was in shock. Well, small wonder. The woman was cut in a few places, but otherwise okay. If having wide, terrified eyes and most likely nightmares for years could be considered okay. The man, still clutching his shotgun, was also bleeding in several places, and he had a wicked looking bruise forming on his forehead. Of the three, he seemed to be the one most still in control of his faculties. He stared at her as she walked through the shattered remains of the front door. "I know you," he croaked. "Don't I?" "Yes, you do," she said soothingly. She purposefully avoided looking at the gun that was pointed at her. "I'm a friend of Jez's. I'm here to help you. We need to get you and your family to a hospital." At the mention of his family, he seemed to snap back to reality. Dropping the gun to the floor, he turned to look at his son - what was his name? Ricky, that was it - and his wife. "Nan, how is he?" Nan didn't answer. She just stared at Erin in horror. Erin swore to herself. This wasn't good. She couldn't very well carry everyone out of the house. She turned to see how her friends were doing. Suze was back in her human form, meaning that her opponent was dead. Emily was talking on a cell phone, no doubt asking someone from Daybreak to come clean up the mess. They could take the Goddard's to the hospital themselves. Erin was not looking forward to trying to explain this to the hospital's admission staff. \Fourteen/ Taking care of things at the hospital proved much easier than Erin had anticipated. Thanks, in a large part, to the fact that Circle Daybreak had some people working there. A vampire made sure that none of the human staff even remembered them, while several witches used healing spells on them. Erin, after calling Katarina to let her know where she was - she knew that Circle Midnight would have most of her things enroute to LA, with Kat and Gwen just waiting for her - she insisted that the vampire blanked the Goddards' memories as well. She knew that they'd have to be told about the Night World, and Circle Daybreak, but there was no reason for them to remember the attack. No reason at all. It was easy to tell when Katarina arrived at the hospital. The Daybreakers started getting twitchy and edging away from the waiting room area. So Erin headed directly for it. Sure enough, there was Katarina, sitting like a queen in an ugly orange chair. Erin wouldn't have thought that anyone could pull that off, but Katarina managed it. Gwen was apparently waiting in the car. "You wouldn't believe how glad to see you I am," Erin said with a grin. Katarina rose in a languid yet graceful fashion, intended to be provocative. She succeeded. "Tell me anyway," she said with an amused smile. She held out her arms. Erin gratefully melted into her embrace. "It was rather ugly," she muttered into Katarina's hair. "And you'll never guess who's team it was." Katarina must have noticed something in her voice, because she pulled back and studied her face. "What is it? Who's team?" "Does the name Tiger Garret mean anything to you?" Katarina stiffened. "You ran into Tiger?" "And he ran into a stake." Erin grinned. "Didn't you wonder what I needed that much power for before?" "You killed Tiger?" Katarina's usual iron control slipped, showing an expression part hurt little girl and part worried girlfriend. "Are you alright? He didn't hurt you, did he?" Erin felt tears welling up. (She really does love me.) "No. And he won't be hurting anyone else, ever." She gently caressed the side of Kat's head. "I'm so sorry that he hurt you like he did." Katarina caught her hand. "How did you know...?" Erin shrugged. "I don't know, really. I just kind of... remembered it. I don't really understand it. How can I remember something that happened to you? We weren't even linked then." "Actually, we were," Katarina replied, her expression back under control. "That's how you were able to use my magic. But you must have picked up some things from my mind during the times we were speaking mind to mind." She pulled away from Erin and fixed her with a mock puzzled expression. "But what are you still doing here?" Erin responded with a genuinely puzzled look. "What do you mean?" "I thought you and your Daybreaker friends were out looking for Miss Redfern." Katarina sounded vaguely amused. "Did you find her?" "No," Erin said slowly. "But I'd figured that protecting her family was a higher priority." "But you've done all you can for them," Katarina argued. "We should be out trying to find the Wild Power." If she was trying to make Erin understand, she was failing miserably. "Why would you want to help them find the Wild Power?" A pause. "Uh, no offense intended, but..." "Why would I want to help Circle Daybreak?" Katarina finished for her. "To be honest, I don't. But I don't especially mind if they get one Wild Power, and I'd love to see the blue fire in action." Erin chuckled. "Then let's get going. I think we may be running out of time." Erin had no idea how right she was. With Katarina's contacts, it took them only a short time to find out where the Council had taken Jez, Hugh, Jez's cousin Claire - Erin had been wondering what had happened to her - and, surprisingly, Morgead. It seemed that they were convinced that one of them was the Wild Power. (But which one?) Erin wondered as the limo shot along to the house out in the country. "Which one?" she repeated aloud. "Which one what?" Suze asked. She had been a little uncomfortable with the fact that Katarina was coming with them in their car, instead of her own, which was following along behind them. But since it was only because of Katarina that they knew where to go, she kept her mouth shut. "Which one of them is the Wild Power," Katarina explained. She'd gotten it instantly. "I don't know. I don't even think they know. But if I know Lily, she has a plan for finding out." "Lily Redfern?" Suze asked. At Katarina's nod, she groaned. "Great. Like we needed that. It's safe to assume that Hunter sent her, and not alone. So what are we going to do?" "Let the Wild Power handle it," Katarina said. "Even someone from the Day World can handle themselves with that kind of power." "From the Day World?" Erin repeated in confusion. "What are you talking about?" "I'm talking about a prophecy that the Council dug up last week. And since I'm confident that Daybreak will know about it soon, I guess I can tell you. It goes like this: One from the land of kings long forgotten; One from the hearth which still holds the spark; One from the Day World where two eyes are watching; One from the twilight to be one with the dark." "Interesting," Suze said, mostly to herself. "'One from the hearth'... That must be the Harman witches. Their last name originally meant 'Hearth-Woman.'" "But from the Day World...?" Erin gave her soulmate a confused look. "The Wild Power's human? And what was all that about 'two eyes watching?' What eyes?" "If I had to guess, I'd say the sun and the moon." "Then if two eyes are watching," Erin said slowly, "the Wild Power must belong to both worlds..." Suddenly she bolted upright and gasped in horror. "What?" Suze asked urgently. "What is it?" Katarina looked equally concerned. "Jez! Jez is the Wild Power! Don't you get it?" She looked excitedly from one to the other. "She's the best of both worlds! It has to be her." "You're right," Katarina said, looking at her with something that could only be described as adoration. "In which case, we'd better hurry. Lily will do anything to find out who the Wild Power is, and she'll be considering Jez as the most expendable." It took them a while to actually reach the house. During that time, Jez and company had been deposited and tied up in the living room. Erin would have been surprised to find out that Pierce had betrayed Morgead, as well as the rest of the gang. But not as surprised as Morgead and Jez had been. And Katarina had been correct. Lily did consider Jez expendable. Which is why she agreed with Pierce's idea to stake her. Jez heard herself scream, but only faintly. There was a roaring in her ears as if the BART train was coming at her again. And a pain that engulfed her whole body, sending agonized spasms through her limbs. It centered in her chest, though, here something white-hot was lodged inside her, crushing her lung and burning right beside her heart. She'd been staked. What she'd done so often to others had been done to her. She hadn't realized that anything could hurt like this. She was glad none of her victims had lived long enough to keep suffering. The wood of the stake was poisoning her heart, she knew. Even if it were removed, she would die. Only a mile away, Erin felt something hot in her chest. "Kat?" she asked, gasping in pain. "I don't know," Katarina said, only wincing. "I assume something's happening to Jez, though why you're