Sunset Coven

Sunset Coven 19

2012-02-17T23:03:00.000-08:00

It's 2am and I'm starving. Nope. Not edited.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The window cracked, the mirror shattered, and Jack, Jime, and mustang Jack all flew backwards by the sheer force of power, more like distress, of the high pitched wail that ripped from Suri’s throat. “Numira. Daboor,” she spoke frantically. An invisiblity shield pulsed around her. The wall Jack, the car, destroyed when he flew into the house repaired, the shattered remains rising from the floor fitting together like a puzzle. She sighed. Suri had never been more humiliated and embarrassed in her life. “Un!” She tensed as a pain ripped through her abdomen. A whimper escaped and she buckled down for round two. That’s it. She was never touching another item from McDonalds again. Those golden arches did not lead to heave, that was for certain.

With nothing left in her to empty, she hoped, Suri stripped, wrapped a towel around her, and turned the shower on. It’d been over a day but she had yet to clean Toren’s blood and scaled from her skin and clothes. She didn’t want to. Not really. Yes, she wanted to clean once more, but leaving herself covered in his flesh was her punishment for playing with the dark. It would be a lie if she said she didn’t enjoy it, hadn’t reveled in it. Opposite of her normal behavior, the darkness was wild, hot, and alive. That was why she felt the need to punish herself. She enjoyed it too much at the cost of Toren’s beautiful and treacherous scales. At that rate, she’d end up like her dad.

Looking at her reflection in the ever steaming mirror, Suri shook her head. Now that was just going over hoard. She and her dad shared the same eye color, same hair color, but other than that, their similarities ended. She was small and slim just like her mother. She braided her hair just like he mother. But one thing Suri lack from both parents was their anger. At least she thought she did, but what she did to the dragon Warlord was an act committed out of pure anger. He gave her over to the enemy, and then he gave her his scales.

When the mirror fogged completed, Suri used a finger to write an incantation onto the glass. The spell worked swarmed into a circle as the mirror grew black. The glass vibrated. And again.
“Suri. Baby!” her mother’s face filled the screen.
“Hi mom.”
“Where are you? Do you have any idea how worried I’ve been?” Angelica asked.
“I think I have an idea.”
“Baby, come home. Now.”
Suri shook her head. She missed her mom. She really did, and this was the first time she’d seen her mother since she stole away in the night with Jime over a year again. Worrying her parent’s wasn’t something she was proud of, but damn it, she was no longer a child. She could not tuck her head and head home just to please mommy and daddy. Not anymore. “I can’t,” she said. “I won’t. Not yet anyway. There’s something I must do. I’m worried about pahwah,” she referred to Jime in her mother’s native tongue Paiute.
“What’s wrong with her?”
“She’s sun obsessed.”
Angelica frowned. “I don’t think I want you hanging around a sun obsessed vampire.”
“And living at home with a black mage in safe?” Suri chuckled dryly. “Sorry mom, but no.”
The infamous anger seeped into her mom’s eye. “I will not argue with you, daughter of mine.”
“Neither will I.”
“I’ve heard rumors about you that I don’t like. You will come home.”
“Eventually.”
“NOW!”
Suri shook her head again. “Can’t do it.”
“Can’t or won’t?”
“Doesn’t make a difference. I said I would help her and I’ve never backed broken my word before. You know how dangerous it is for a witch when she breaks her word.”
At that, Angelica’s anger deflated. It was then Suri noticed how tired her mother looked. Her eyes were more slanted than usual. The warm tanned glow of her skin ashen. “Are the nightmares back?” she asked concerned.
Angelica nodded.
“Will something happen to daddy? Do you need me?”
“Something has already began to happen. Your father will lose the darkness. I see it in my dreams.”
“That’s good right?”
“No, baby, it’s not. Because it’s wrapping around you. Suri, please, come home.”
“I will mother. Eventually. I just wanted to talk to you. You go rest now. I’ll send a slumber spell to you in your sleep.”
“Suri,” Angelica said before her daughter could end connection. “There’s something else in my dreams about you that worries me.”
“And that is?”
Angelica hestitated.
“Mom! Tell me. If it’s something bad, I can protect myself better if I know what to look for.”
“Fire. It’s fire. You’re surrounded by fire.” And for a witch, fire was synonymous with death. Angelica’s lip tighten, her eyes narrowed. “Your father has returned.”
Suri heard her mother mumble “worthless.”
“I must go,” she said.
“No, wait--” Angelica started to speak but Suri ended the connection and scattered the magic. Sage would be able to trace her call if she was connected. Angelica was a seer and didn’t have that kind of power. Her magic was in her dreams, her fortunes, and communications with the spirits when they felt like making contact. A dark mage could easily trace a simple video call through a mirror. Mirror’s amplified their gifts. She waited a few moments to see if scattering the magic had prevented her dad from finding her. The mirror remained just that, a simple mirror. Suri twisted her hair up into a know, dropped the towel, and stepped into the hot shower letting the water beat again her injured back.

~~~~

Jime pushed herself off the floor with a groan. When Suri’s scream sent them flying, she smacked into Jack, the car, before awkwardly landing on Jack, the man. And what a man he was. Not too slim, not to big. Sold. Just the way she liked her men. Also, the way she remembered him from way back when. Her fingers had glifed over his chest with a familiarity. Her lips against his was a homecoming she didn’t know she was looking for. But she’d have to deal with Jack later, after she finished spanking her niece.

On her feet, she walked across the dinning room and living room, that’s how far back they flew, to the bathroom door. Five feet from it, she stopped. She too another step but moved no further.
“It’s that shield again. I can feel the same magic from the hotel.”
“Suri!” Jime yelled at the shield. Suri was invisible to them, but they weren’t invisible to her. For all she knew, Suri could be standing front in front of them. “Let us in.”
Jack placed a hand on her should. “Uh...maybe we should wait until she’d finished doing whatever.”
Jime shrugged his hand off her shoulder. “You stood in the King’s court after a bloodlust and you’re nervous about a barely immortal witch on the toilet? Unbelievable. You really just lost what few cool points you just gained.”
“I’m not nervous,” Jack sounded put off, “But your niece is in a volatile mood, and if she shoots me with some spirited arrow like she did her mate, I can’t promise not to kill her. Those things hurt.” He rubbed his shoulder to dislodge a ghost pain.
“Shut up. She’s not going to shoot you.” Jime paused. “I think. And she’s not that dragon’s mate.”

Jack didn’t respond to that. He arched a brow and shook his head. If Jime didn’t know, prehaps Suri didn’t tell her or there was the possibility Suri didn’t know. His vote was on the latter and suddenly he wasn’t so sure allying with the dragon was a smart idea.

Jime huffed. She walked back across the room and sat on the hood on honey-poo. “She’ll come out eventually. If not and she teleports away, I can trace her energy or honey-poo can find her again. Although after what he just did, throwing me into a occupied bathroom and all, I don’t think I want anything to do with this mustang for a while. And by a while I mean about an hour.”
he growled at her. “First of all, it’s honey-BOO and he’s a she.”
“What was that?”
“What”

She tapped the mustang. “That crashing through the wall and ejecting us like I’m some WW2 fighter pilot?” She pinned him with a glare. “Exactly what did you do to this car Jack. You treat it the same way you treated those skii’s of yours you lost when you lost your godho--” she gasped and how fast he moved, at his hand being around her neck, at how close his lips were to her.
“Jimena. Jimena,” he whispered, trailing one finger across her jaw. “Some things are better left unsaid.”

For a moment, she remembered why so many, mortal and immortal alike, feared Jack Jammers of the Sinn-Jammers. Only a brief moment. She whipped her head back and smacked it again his in the ultimate head butt. No one put their hands on her neck.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A sense of total despair and embarrassment tore through him, yanking him from a deep healing slumber. Toren’s eyes snapped open. Though he could not see his reflection, he knew they glowed. Using his elbows, he pushed his front off the bed.

A hand closed over his neck forcing his front down to the bed. That hand was too small to be Rivers, too soft to be male. He swore in the language of the old ones.
“Explain to me why I come in here to find my Prosecutor Princess DVD you stole from me but instead find my little brother spread out across his bed like a skinned fish, because your lackey won’t talk.”

Toren pushed again her hand. Despite her strength, she pinned him with care to avoid his injury which made it easy to slip from her hold and sit up, legs crossed.
“I’m waiting.” She crossed her arms, smashing the over sized gray sweatshirt that exposed one shoulder against her chest.
“What does your shirt say?” He hadn’t had a chance to take a good look at what the bold black letters said, but his eyes spotted one word.
When she didn’t respond, River spoke from his position in the corner of the room. “I’m going to make you fuck my body.”
Joslyn blew steam from her nose in his direction. “Be a good lackey and shut up.”
Even if he was 527 years old, which gave him a lot of time to get around the world, and even if Joslyn was pushing 650 but still looked 19 in her black leggings, ballet flats, sweatshirt, and hair cut in a fashion that belonged in a Korean boy band, he didn’t want to think of anyone fucking her body. If the rumors were true, they were, Jos has had many bodied. She lied to lure her pray with her innocent appeal. Unless the more mature and experienced attituded worked in her favor. Her ability to adapt and get the job done was why she was his left hand, third in the nest. She would bully him all day but if that didn’t work she’d...”Stop pouting,” he said to her.
Her breathing became choppy, her gold eyes bright with tears. “Tell me what happened. Why are you hurt?”
She sound liked she would cry. Scary part was, she would. “That doesn’t work on me, Jos. Hasn’t for centuries.”
“I just want to know what happened to my baby brother.”
He looked at River who looked like he just swallowed a dozen raw eggs at Joslyn’s “I’m really a loving sister” act.
She caught his glance. “You’re lackey knows, but you won’t even tell me?”
“I tripped. Fell down a mountain side. Skinned my back.” He shrugged a shoulder and winced. It would take time for damage of this size to heal. The salt made the process slower.
She turned to River. “Where you there?”
“Yep.”
“Then why aren’t you injured? I keep you around to protect him, lackey.”
“He didn’t trip. And you don’t keep him around. I do.”
The territorial battle over him had been waged between the two since he arrived. River snorted. He stayed because the nest welcomed him, was good for him and too him. When his own people wanted to kill him, they welcomed him with opened arms. That’s why he stayed. Besides. Watching those two argue and fight was hilarious.

Joslyn’s attention shifted back to her brother. “You yelled just before you woke up. Nightmare?”
He recalled the flash of intense emotions that weren’t his and tasted of Suri. “Something like that.”
She looked him over again, er eyes locking on his neck. “Where’s your necklace?” She fingered her own.
Again, he looked at River.
“On the bedside table.” River had picked it off the ground when Suri flashed away with Toren leaving it behind.
All eyes went to the table. Empty.
“Where’s your necklace?” she asked again.
“I put it on the table,” River repeated.
“So, it was on the table and now not on the table.” She dropped the loving sister act. Her eyes brightened. “Where’s your necklace little brother?”
His eyes gave River a silent comment to keep quiet. Only River had the ability to trace him through the necklace. Joslyn could trace River and everyone else in the best, but that didn’t benefit her seeing as River was right beside her.

Receiving no answer, she turned fully to River. “Okay. I’m being kept out of something and you’re going to tell me now, River, since he won’t talk. Someone better explain to me why he,” she pointed at Toren, “was last seen at the Tavern right before it blew up, why it blew it, why Amor and his lover came looking for you two after that, what the hell happened to his scales, and where’s that necklace before shit goes to hell in a hand basket.”

And her ability to switch personalities so quickly, Toren thought, was why she wasn’t his second. Joslyn was bipolar. If you let her explain it she’d say something like, “I’ve been around for over 600 years. It gets boring just being myself. So I created an alter ego. A couple dozen of them.” She’d shrug and say, “Works in my favor. No one wants to cross one dragon let alone one dragon who rolls thirty-six deep.”

But at least that answered one question. Amor did show up.

River shifted and propped one foot up against the wall. “It all started at Jack’s bar.” And then, the lackey began to snitch.

Chapter 18.

2012-02-12T15:21:00.000-08:00

Ho ho ho! A little J+J background! I'd come up with tons of flashbacks but decided to go with the first time they met... mwahahaha!

---------------------------------

Pain, death, so thirsty… why won’t the thirst go away? It hurts! Things are blurry, she can’t seem to be able to focus. There are some screams in the distance, are they far away? They sound human. She wonders for a second about it but the pain comes back, it drowns her inside its black hole, she swings her arms, trying to swim out of the Bloodlust, but it’s no use. BLOOD! Suddenly, there’s blood. She opens her mouth, she must drink it, it will quench her thirst for a while, but not for long, sweet release, so fleeting and ephemeral, she wishes for a magical fountain of blood that never dries out… maybe there are things like that out there in the world, who knows? Anything is possible, now that she knows such nightmares as what she had become actually exist.
The blood she swallows soothes her pain, it engulfs her in the usual delirious euphoria, so good. It’s gone too quickly! No! The pain comes back doubled, it licks her insides like fire, it burns her. It must be the flames of Hell. Damnation is inside her now. This is Hell on Earth.
She must find more blood! But there’s something blocking her path, she kicks, what is it? Wood, stone? It feels so soft, it’s nothing to her, like walking through spider webs. She runs, the overpowering stench of death and decay that continues to surround her slowly decreases, maybe she should turn back, there’s no blood when the air becomes clean, she must go somewhere else.
The burning continues, it becomes all she knows, her skin burns now too, why? Why? Why must this happen? The pain is too unbearable, she drops on her knees. She looks up. It’s too bright. Is it morning? There’s something coming down to where she is, is it a figure? A man? Storms surround him, something starts to collect on her skin… snow?
It calms her… it’s cooling her… she closes her eyes… she lets the cold seep inside, maybe the man’s magic will put out the fires of hell burning inside her…

♥

Jack had long hair the first time Jime saw him falling from the sky. It was shiny silver and the way it moved around him made it seem like it had a life of its own, it was beautiful, she kind of envied him for it. Whenever they fought she used to grab it and yank him around by it, very dirty girl-fight, but it worked. Now though, it seems he finally learned, because he had it cut short since the last time they fought back at his club. Jime reached for it almost by natural reflex and grabbed air. Jack snorted. They continue to grapple with each other. Jack landed a hit on her shoulder, Jime twisted around and took hold of his hand, crushing the bone. A millisecond opening presented itself while Jime used her force on his hand, Jack took the chance to put his arm around her neck, locking her with his body.
The front seats they were fighting on suddenly collapsed and they fell backwards.
Jime kicked her legs out in an attempt to disentangle herself but Jack managed to get his wrapped around hers, Jime threw her fingers at Jack’s eyes, poking them viciously, he scream from the pain and his hold slackened a little, allowing her to once again twist around and while doing so she got on top of him, pinning him down.

♥♥

She was a vision, a red vision. While he descended, after his joke of a death in Asgard, he thought life on earth would be at the very least boring, but look what was waiting for him down there. A red woman. He wondered for a second if humans had changed since the last time he came into contact with them and somehow had become obsessed with painting themselves entirely in one color, but as he got closer to her he realized she was only covered in blood.
Old blood and new blood, she was also covered with bits and pieces of stuff -human clothing, human meat, human bones and the like- what was she? How intriguing.
He could now see her blood-shot black eyes, they seemed tormented, she was suffering from something, the pain radiating through, and somehow they were beautiful. She was also burning now that he looked closer, huh, maybe he could do something about it.
He casted a snow storm to surround her, ice forming in all the places where she had caught fire.

She closed her beautiful eyes, her expression reflecting some peace. He was glad.

She was now fully encased in ice, but she hadn’t died like a normal human would have, confirming the fact that she was something else. Her heart had slowed and she slumbered.

♥♥♥

The temperature inside his car had risen, Jime was always hot, literally too, and she always made everything rise. Jack chuckled to himself. That was she, still the red vision caught in fire, stirring things inside him. He wondered when she would finally realize she needed him to cool her. When his eyes (and his hand) came to normal once again he opened them to find himself staring at her face, this time she looked down at him, she was straddling him.

“I can’t say I’m disliking this much.” He rubbed his lower half against hers. Things always rose when next to her.

“You pig-” Jime used her knees for leverage to separate herself from him, but put too much force into it and ended up hitting her back against the roof of the car, which made her ricochet back on Jack’s body.
They both lost breath from the force of it, among other reasons.

♥♥♥♥

“Give her to me.” He said, stepping closer to the woman in ice. These ants sure were impudent, did they think he was someone to trifle with? Humans or not, he would get what he wanted.

“No. She belongs to me. You interrupted something here, whoever you are…” The self-proclaimed King of Vampires started to wonder out loud with his annoyingly snide voice if this man was an ice elf of some sort, he certainly looked the part, too tall, too silver white, cold seemed to come out of him, and he had his set of bow and arrows strapped on his back; but he didn’t have the tell-tale physical signs like the long ears, then again he could be changing his appearance with glamour. He also didn’t seem faced at all to be surrounded by an army of vampires.

“Let us exchange goods.” Maybe a transaction was all that was needed here, he must remember that he couldn’t smite others anymore. But battling was always fun, so he was half-expecting the man to say no so he could shake his bones a little bit. Do some exercise.

“I doubt you have anything I could want.” The king made his move.

He growled, excited about the coming violence, the king seemed happy to have pissed off his opponent, the fool.

“I will take her by force then.” He thought this would end fairly quickly, such a shame, but a nice way to begin his life on earth.

The so-called vampires unsheathed their swords and other weapons while he screamed his battle cry. The king flashed to a near-by hill to watch the proceedings, coward. His army was taking a beating though, and he wasn’t even using his arrows. The king looked like he came to a decision and suddenly a new power emanated from him, connecting him to his lackeys. They dropped their weapons in unison and started to attack with inhuman force, they had grown claws that were obviously poisonous, and others seem to have plenty of different tricks up their magical sleeves.

He was thrown off guard for a few moments, he didn’t have all his powers anymore, and now these vampires were using powers he didn’t know about. A twist, how entertaining. They were still flesh and bone though. The gruesome fighting continued, but he was careful to direct it away from the woman in ice, he didn’t want to break her.
After a while the vampire numbers dwindled, while he remained. Like always.

“Stop.” The king said, flashing back into the battle field.

The vampires froze in place while he walked to stand in front of him. What an arrogant bastard, he wondered how he controlled his lackeys like puppets.

“I see you have much power. You are good in a fight.” He caressed his chin while he seemed to ponder, what an ass. “I have decided we can come to an arrangement. If you join my group, you can have all the time you want with the woman, her name is Jimena by the way and she also belongs to my group. I will not get in your way if you wish to be with her.”

There were many things the king wasn’t saying, it was clear. Some of the soldiers had weird expressions on their faces when they heard this deal, a few from the group that was the toughest looked pained, a couple disgusted, and one looked at him with murderous eyes. This was all very interesting, he was intrigued and desired to learn more about them all, but most of all about Jimena. He made his decision.

“Fine.”

The king extended his hand for him to shake. “You haven’t told me your name.”

“Call me Jack.” He said.

♥♥♥♥♥

“Let go!” Jime yelled while Jack was doing everything in his power to keep her in a wrestling lock, in his arms. She always managed to get away from him, maybe this time- Jime concentrated her power and divided her body into bats, it was a difficult trick, her consciousness split into pieces that only her will power could bring back together, she hated to use this so soon after she discovered it, and now Jack would know she could do it, but desperate times called for desperate measures.

“What the hell?” Jack yelled while bats flapped all around him, trying to fly inside the car, screeching. They forced him to sit awkwardly in the back seat.
The black blurs seemed to regroup again in the front of the car and melted into Jime once more.

Jack and Jime looked at each other, in a stand-still.

“You always surprise me.” He half-smiled.

“You always underestimate me.” She half-smiled back.

They lunged at each other once again.

♥♥♥♥♥♥

She had been floating inside a white space, or so it seemed to her mind, the latest Bloodlust a thing of the past. Cold had her in its grip and it felt so soothing, like final peace. She had almost convinced herself that it was all finally over and she had actually died when heat started to sneak up into her soul. Bloodlust heat.

“No!” She couldn’t help but scream when she opened her eyes, the word coming out of her lips before she could stop it.
That was not smart, if the Bloodlust was back it meant she was still suffering the king’s latest punishment which meant she should not show signs of any weakness lest the king be near-by.

Yes, he was there, right in front of her, laughing out loud, of all the languages she had learned there wasn’t a single one that described the level of hate she felt for him. Her vision started to blur, signaling the Bloodlust’s commencement of insanity yet again, but before it took hold it suddenly stopped.

She was shocked, it was over? She couldn’t believe it, no punishment had lasted… how long had it been? 1 year was it? She could only be sure of the lucid times in between the crazy spells in the induced Bloodlust of the king’s making, but still, one year was too short a time. He usually liked to follow her path of destruction, reveling in the aftermaths, herding her to the places he wanted to destroy, it was all so funny to him he liked to have at least a few years of front-row seat entertainment. She had counted on that.
And this time… she had done everything so meticulously, had been so careful in her manipulating and setting things up… she should have been able to get away from his power long enough to break the sire bond, the potion Sage had made working itself slowly into her system, powered by the Bloodlust, even her team had been sure it would work… but not enough time had passed! Her big plan had failed! Why did he break his Bloodlust so soon!
She noticed she was on her knees inside the king’s throne room, she looked up, searching for her team, she suddenly feared the king had wised up to her plan and had done something to them, and they were there, all in one piece, and they all looked defeated. Damn.
She focused her attention on the king, who was whispering something to a man standing next to him, she didn’t know this man. What was happening now?

The man was tall, had a swimmer’s body, lean muscles almost sculptured, he was attractive, very attractive. His coloring was white, too white, he wasn’t human, his long silver hair moved ethereally, it reminded her of something, as if she’d seen it before, it was mesmerizing. His face was hidden behind a full beard but she could tell he was gorgeous. It all was very masculine put together though, features that sounded feminine in writing looked manly on him, that kind of pissed her off, he suddenly looked right at her, gray eyes that seemed to hold storms inside them pierced her soul, what the hell?

The king spoke then. “His name is Jack, Jime. You two should get to know each other.”

“Over my dead body.”

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

“Stop it or-” Or he was going to embarrass himself, yet again.

Jime and Jack continued to wrestle, rubbing up and down against each other, they both acknowledged inwardly that this specific bout of fighting had turned into something else at some point, but they would never say so out loud. Never. Too much water under the bridge as people say, they had centuries of on-off love/hate push and pulls, and it had been almost impossible to even begin to clear the air between them, and after that one time when they had gotten together… and it all exploded in Jime’s face, she just didn’t want to go there. Jack, on the other hand, still didn’t understand what went wrong.

Mustang jack had other plans though.

While Jack and Jime started to get hot and heavy, mustang jack turned on the radio. Kylie Minogue’s (also known as Aphrodite) “Cupid Boy” started to play.

♫ If only you knew, I shimmer for you, oh the very thrill of it, I’m hooked on your line, under your spell, your love is king… ♫

“Eh?” Jime was distracted from the fight for a second, Jack took advantage and pinned her down, silently thanking his honey-boo.

♫ So why don’t you thrill me like you did before? Why don’t you give me a little bit more? Why don’t you call me, start hittin’ me up? hittin’ me up, hittin’ me up… ♫

They stared at each other’s eyes, and the inevitable happened. They kissed.

♫ Cupid boy, when we touch, I’m in heaven in your arms, fire me up, they way you love, feels like heaven in your arms, sky rocket to Mars, straight through to your heart, every time we touch, I’m shoottin’ the stars,
Cupid Boy, when we touch, I’m in heaven… ♫

A long time had passed since the last time they did this, they were so involved in deeply kissing they missed how Mustang jack had found Suri and with super-sonic speed crashed through the wall of the place to get to her.

Suri gasped and was so shocked she didn’t have time to teleport away again, she was frozen sitting on the toilet she was in the middle of using.

Mustang jack’s roof disappeared, he catapulted Jack and Jime off of him using the seats and they landed inside the tub.

“What-?” Jack snarled.

They three of them looked at each other, speechless.

Sunset Coven 17

2011-10-04T20:00:00.000-07:00

Not edited, but that's nothing new. Kinda had a problem writing this. It reads weird, but I think I got back into it towards the end.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

River gently laid Toren down on his bed. It took longer toget him there because Toren insisted that the people did not see him in such astate, and he had to sneak through the dark tunnels, masking their scent. Hedidn’t want them to worry or for them to strike out while he was predisposed.River didn’t agree with that outlook. If it were up to him, he would inform the clans and their alliances. The more people who knew the better their chanceswould be at finding the witch and the vampire.

Toren laid on his front, his raw back exposed.

“I’ll send for Taliah,” River said. Taliah was a nurse inthe mortal world and one of the healers in the nest.

“No,” Toren said. “Don’t send for anyone. I’m fine.”

“No you aren’t.”

“No,” Toren’s voice was that of the warlord, not a friend.

River sighed, resigned. He was completely fed up with allthis. Since they first ran into the witch back at Jack’s, Toren’s view andjudgment had been clouded. River found his friend and leader too focus onwooing the spring chicken and not on saving their nest.

He wasn’t against Toren having some fun with a woman, but itshould wait until after the nest was saved. Besides, Suri was just a kid. Adead kid once he got his hands on her. He stared at Toren’s back.

“You should really have that looked it.”

“It’ll heal,” Toren replied. “Eventually.”

“When I find that witch, I’m-“

Toren was up on his feet and in River’s face within a blankof an eye. “You. Will. Not. Harm. Her,” his voice a strict command thatreminded River that despite Toren’s weakened state, he could still defend whatneed be.

River huffed, not happy at being denied vengeance. He heldToren’s eyes, which were glowing, until he turned away, dropping the challengeof strength between them. Damaged as he was, Toren still was the more dominate.But, that didn’t mean he would keep quiet. “Is she worth the lives and futureof the clan?”

“How you constantly put the two into the same categorybaffles me, River.” Toren’s eyes started to fade. He sat, grimaced, and theneased down more smoothly. “Let me tell you this one final time. I never forgetmy duty is to my people first.”

River pressed his thumb and index finger to his eyes. “Fine.Then tell me what you’re going to do now.” He dropped his hand and looked atToren. “You had a deal with the wolves, but that broke when your witch wentdark. Which brings me to another point. We haven’t heard from the wolves yet.That’s odd. I expected the Alpha and his mate would have sought youimmediately.”

Toren had also found it odd that Amor and Eva hadn’tcornered him yet, but he had been out of the nest lately. They could havecalled for him while he was out. “Go check with Joslyn to see if there are anymessages.” River turned to leave. “But whatever you do, DON’T tell her where Iam. The last thing I want is for her to see me like this. Don’t even breathe myname. Go shower and throw those clothes out first so she doesn’t scent you.Maybe roll around in the mud as well.” At River’s quirked brow, Toren waved ahand in the space between them. “You’re right. Forget that idea. Just wait.Don’t go near Jos. Leave the nest and call from somewhere far away. Yeah. Dothat,” he said, because Warlord or not, there were people even Toren would liketo avoid, and his sister was one of them. He loved her dearly, but she could bea bit overbearing. Too bad she was one of the strongest in the nest. Wheneverhe and River were absent for extended periods of time, it was Joslyn who leadthe clan. If she saw him damaged and ruined like this, she’d somehow get it outof him, and if he didn’t talk (he wouldn’t) River would likely tell whathappened, and if River told what happened that would require explaining whatwent down between him, Suri, and the leech. That would be no problem if it wereany other person, but Joslyn and the Jime…he shook his head. Bad combination. Dangerous pairing.

No. He’d have River check for messages and give Jos as briefreport of what’s going on. He didn’t want his clan on edge, ready to rips headsoff, or worrying about their future, but he wouldn’t leave them in the darkentirely, because despite his messy relationship with his witch, his clan camefirst. Always would.

≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈

She couldn’t sleep. The darkness cloaked her dreams wheneverher eyes closed. The dark dreams started only a weak ago while Sage had beensearching for their daughter. She hasn’t mentioned the dreams to him. She hadmentioned them to her dad who had talked to the medicine man. They drafted apotion that would keep her seer abilities at bay while she slept, but it hadn’twork. The darkness was always there, clinging to Suri. She lost her husband toit centuries ago. She wouldn’t lose her daughter as well. Oh, how she prayed to thespirits that her dream was wrong.

Angelica looked at the sleeping body beside her. He restedpeacefully tonight. Too peacefully in fact. He slept like a log while shestewed in her own worry over their daughter, the daughter he drove off, thedaughter she missed dearly and hadn’t so much as heard a word from for a year,the daughter cloaked in darkness. She pulled her knees up, positioning themmidway. She kicked, hard, sending Sage off the bed crashing to the floor with aloud thump. "FIND MY DAUGHTER!"

≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈

Her life was spiraling down a path she wasn’t sure when shestepped on. She destroyed him. Those glorious scales of his. How many had sheplucked? How had she let the darkness take over to…

No. Suri couldn’t blame what happened on the darkness. Notentirely. She was conscious. She knew what she had been doing, and she enjoyedit, inflicting pain on the one who had caused her so much hurt. Her back stillburned. Suri wanted revenge and gladly let the darkness help seek it. Now, ifshe acted without the influence, would she have plucked his scales like guitarstrings? No. Hell no. No doubt she would have made him suffer, but she wouldhave choose another form of punishment. Maybe. They did need scales for thelist-quest-mission-thing after all.

She smacked her palm to her face. Then again. And once more.She vividly remembered the first time she had ever saw his.

They had gone down to the bayou. She and Jime dropped by tocrash a party thrown by a bunch of berserkers at one of Jack's bars. Or, Jime wanted to crash. Suriwanted nothing to do with the overly muscled heathens.

Apparently, they weren’t the only ones who decided to crash.A few Unseelie fey, shifters, wolves, and dragons had been there. Jime blendedin instantly, jumping straight in, frolicking with the many men, and doingsomething Suri will never ever allow her mind to recall. In fact, she wiped thememory, so she no longer remembered exactly what Jime had been doing, just thatit was something she didn’t want to remember.

Suri slipped out. She never liked the whole crowd-partyscene. Being around so many creatures of the lore after spending twenty-threeyears of her life in small settings, she felt cramped. She disappeared deepinto the bayou, miles from any of the party-goers. At least that’s what shethought.

Not two-hundred feet ahead, she saw a fire glowing, heardrough rowdy voices, bodies smacking. Oh, goody. A stupid brawl. When she gotclose enough, she noticed it wasn’t just a brawl, but a bet. Organizedfighting. She kept her distance, but spied the fighters, the audience, and putout feelers to see if there were other’s lurking. She kept her eyes in thecircle on the fighters. One was tall, at least seven and a half feet, his skinso dark, black seemed too light. His eyes were pearl white, so were his teeth,a stalk contrast against dark sweat glistening skin. He was heaving, windedfrom the fight. His opponent was also tall but in normal standards, six-feet,maybe a few inches taller. He was muscled and fit, biceps and abs ripplingacross sun kissed skin. Dark hair stuck to his forehead with sweat, andtrickled down his face, a mix of Asian and something…old. Meso. He was angledaway from the tall guy, a bogey Suri thought. They circle each other. A flickeragainst the fire. Suri squint her eyes. Scales. Glorious bluish-green scalesthe flowed from the top of his neck down to below his waistline like islandwaters on a sunny day. It almost hurt to look at them. Dragon. She knew who he was because his scales wererumored to be the most hypnotic and seductive of all dragons. They called himRiver.

They lunged at each other and then…it was over. Just likethat. The bogey’s face was smashed between wet earth and the boot of thedragon. It happened so quickly Suri almost missed it. Damn he was good.

“No use hiding way back here,” a voice spoke from behind. Surididn’t jump in surprise. That would show that she hadn’t been paying attention,a weakness. One didn’t display weakness around others who would some day use itagainst them. She batted her eyes in a slow lazy movement. “All who venture outto this area are automatically entered into the competition.

“Wh-wha-what?” Suri sputtered. That certainly caught herattention. What the hell did he mean automatically entered in the competition?She wasn’t enrolling in anything. She certainly planned to tell him that, but whenhe grabbed her arm and pulled her into the clearing where the other’s stood asif he was flicking a feather, she found herself momentarily speechless. Later,she learned his name was Rex, a troll in charge of ushering all stragglers whosought to watch the competition but too coward to fight.

“Well, well, well. Who’s this?” one of the berserkers spoke.

“A girl. Haven’t had a girl join the fight since Lennykilled that one harpy seventy years or so ago. Ain’t that right Lenny?”

“Aye.”

“She’s just a baby.”

“Looks mortal.”

“Let me fight her.”

They all spoke.

“Why not. Let Flacko have at her.”

“What’d you say, little girl?” Flacko, a goblin if shejudged by his stench, said with a fang-full grin.

Having quickly regained her composure now that she wassurrounded by so many…other’s, she stared Flacko down, bored by the way theyall diminished her because she was 1.) a girl, 2.) small, and 3.)mortal-looking. They all thought to make a spectacle out of her, toy around fora bit before getting serious and really harming her. She didn’t even want tothink about what a goblin would try to do after that. It totally pissed heroff. She thought these guys would know better than to judge someone by theirsize and sex. Didn’t think know who Jime was? Jime would destroy them allwithout breaking a nail, probably while filing her nails. The first thing Jimehad told her when they set off on their adventure four months prior was tonever let any put her down, no matter how small it was. In fact, she suggestedblowing up over the small things, that way everyone would be deterred fromtrying being stunts.

“I’ll say you’re going to lose that filthy little spikedtongue of yours really soon if you ever call me a little girl again, you uglybeast,” she spat.

A mixture of laughs, growls, curses, and taunts explodedfrom the thirty or so guys that stood in the clearing. From the corner of hereye, she saw the bogey picking himself up off the ground, the dragon pullinghis shirt on.

“Is that so?” the goblin hissed in Suri’s face. Apparently,her strike out hadn’t deterred him. It only made him more eager.

“Funny how you’re so energetic and pumped to fight a femalehalf your size, Flunko, when you wouldn’t pipe up at any of the otherchallenges.”

Suri turned to look at the speaker. Another dragon. He stoodbeside River, a spitting image of Park Shi Hoo, only much more deadly inappearance. But that could have been a simple trick of light, because whenFlacko gave him the one-finger salute, he laughed and grinned so hard, a boyishlaugh, a charming smile. Definitely a light trick.

“What’s it to you?” Flacko said.

“Why fight the female? Why not me?” Toren walked from theside over to where they stood. He stopped behind Suri. “Challenge me.”

“Defending the female?” Flacko said.

“No one defends me,” Suri said. She glared at both men. “Ifyou want to fight, then we-“

“I challenge your challenge,” Toren cut Suri off and spoketo Flacko. He looked around the circle of men. “That’s okay boy’s? I’ve beenwaiting all night for a go.”

There were a few grumbles, but eventually the guy’s agreed,okaying the challenge of the challenge. Suri wasn’t really sure how that worked. She didn’t care either.

Flacko backed away, stepping into the battle circle that acted an the make-shift ring. TheDragon with the boyish charm stepped around to face her.

“What the hell? I don’t need you, whoever you are, fightingfor me? I can do so myself.”

He looked down at her, his clear eyes focused. “I have nodoubt about that little witch,” he grinned cheekily when she eyed himwearily. “Yeah, I know what you are.”

“I don’t care. Don-“

“Don’t deny me this.” He reached for the hem of his shirtand pulled it over his head. He tossed the shirt over to River. Leaning downuntil they were eye level, he smiled. “I’ve wanted to rip that filthy spikedtongue from the ugly beast for a long time now. It’s not fair that you justshow up and get the opportunity just because you’re so beautiful.”

Suri rolled her eyes while fighting a blush. Usually shewould have brushed the comment aside, made a snarky response at the attempt offlirting, or slapped the guy for such a weak line. But with him so close, andhis eyes so sincere, even if they were glowing with glee, she could only rollher eyes and turn away. “Sure. Sure. Whatever. Don’t bust your balls at it.”

He laughed, a whisper of power shifting over her skin.“Thanks.” He started for the circle.

She spun around so fast mud kicked up. No way that guy wasthe warlord. His back was towards her as he walked to the circle, and she knewthe rumors weren’t true. Toren’s scales of black, jade, and gold, were morespectacular than anything she’d even seen. Even River’s. Dear lord but they were gorgeous.

Feeling her eyes on him, he looked over his shoulder. “Bythe way, the names Toren.”

“Suri,” she replied.

She stayed at that fighting circle that night, not just towatch Toren, although that was part of the reason, but mainly because not muchlonger after he ripped through Flacko the Flunko, Jime showed up. Then ---

Suri snapped out of her daydream when she felt a trickle ofmagic hit the feeler she set out. Jime’s magic. Jack’s as well, and a lowrumble that told her they were heading for her, fast, much faster than when sheever drove ‘ol Jack. She looked around. How the hell had they found her sofast? She looked left, right, behind her, but nothing. A shiver went down herspine. She looked up. “Aw, what the fuck?” she said in disbelief when she spotJack the mustang. FLYING. She didn’t have time to stand there in awe. She hadto get away. She wouldn’t let them catch her. Jime would be pissed and therepercussions for using dark magic again would be terrible. And Jack had analliance with the dragons, which mean the Dragon’s would arrive at any moment.“Fil amo,” she said and teleportedaway.

≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈

“God damnit.” Jime beat her hands against the dashboard.

“Stop beating my car,” Jack snapped.

“It’s all your fault. I told you to park and go in quietly.Now she’s going who knows where.” She beat the dashboard in anger again.

“Oh shut up. Honey-boo can follow her. Now stopped beatingher.”

“It’s a HIM, Jack,” she snapped. Her fangs elongated at thatstupid pet name. Honey-boo. He never called her honey boo. Stupid ex-god. Screwhim and his stupid car. Angry, but not sure how to unleash it, she took it outon Jack. She shoved him, hard, into the car door, his head smacking into thewindow. That felt a little better. Teasing Jack always made her feel be—Herhead slapped the passenger window. Jack shoved her back. A knot formed on hertumble instantly. Slowly, she turned murderous eyes on her assailant. Shehissed and flung across the space between them.

Sunset Coven 16

2011-09-20T21:51:00.000-07:00

The moment Jime had come out of jack’s trunk she knew something was extremely wrong. Jack was right next to her, looking solemn, and River was on his way to tackle her. Suri and Toren were absent though, which meant she had to find Suri. Now.

“Stay!” she voiced Jack and River, she could do that to other creatures of the Lore for only a short amount of time, their own specialness making them less vulnerable than humans to her power trick. Jime teleported just before River could make a grab for her.

*******

Toren’s body was his own again. The second Suri left, her spell disappeared and he knew he could move, but he still waited to even try it, his body had been through too much in too little time and was functioning at an almost human speed, so he just stayed there, on his knees, head low, with his back an indiscernible mess of meat, bones, and dragon blood. He didn’t have the energy to even look up when he heard Jime cuss when she came into the room, let alone wonder the how.

“Damn it all!”

She fumed as she thrashed the place. Jime will not loose Suri like she lost Sage. This time she would make sure the apple fell well far away from the tree. Jime had lost precious time teleporting to all the places she thought Suri might have gone to, and had found her –wouldn’t you know it- at the very last one she tried. She would have used River or Jack to follow her niece since vampires don’t have the tracking skills those two had for hunting a creature of the Lore’s energy trail but the Dark clouded Suri’s energy and she could not be traced that way. Just as well, it would not do to have River find Suri, he’d attack on sight, and Jack… hmmm, maybe he knew another way.

Jime left the room and went to find some salt. The place Suri (or the Dark, as it turned out) had chosen to have the scale-plucking was an old abandoned house in Baltimore. They had found it before their road trip one time when Jime needed a place to crash, and Suri had placed some magic around it so that it remained unnoticed, but neither knew exactly why or how it had been abandoned in the first place. It was as if the owners had just stepped outside for a minute, but never came back. Jime and Suri had long ago cleaned out the perishables and other potentially nasty stuff and had left everything else as it were. It suited them anyway. Only they knew about it now.

Jime went to the kitchen and found a big container full of salt, bingo. She went back to the room and found Toren still as a statue, but conscious, looking almost alive.

She circled him, eerily in almost the exact same way Suri had done before, she popped the container open in front of his face and instead of her finger she used the tip of the salt container to touch his torso.

Toren swallowed, he knew what will come next.

“Listen here lizard, you will remain still for a few moments longer and then I’ll take you to your second in command, got it?” She asked sweetly.

“Fine.”

“Good.”

Jime positioned herself behind Toren and oh-so-slowly began to pour salt over his raw back. She drew a big S with a J in the middle, marking him for all to see. The salt will repel his dragon magic (all magic really, it was a nifty tip every creature of the Lore was taught), making the healing process slow so much he will be scarred. At least for as long as Suri was. It was justice, after all.

“Don’t worry about aesthetics lizard. Your scars? They will heal.” She rubbed the salt into him.

Toren didn’t know how he managed not to break and wail like a little boy crying for his mama, but he did, only a single tear escaped from his left eye. Jime gently grabbed it with her fingertip and cleaned her hand on her clothes.

“Blood, sweat and a single tear. It’s better than nothing. But don’t mistake my not killing you now that Suri’s got her revenge, any friendship we might have shared in the past is forgotten now, if I find myself in the position to fuck you up, I will.” She gleefully patted his back rubbing the salt some more with so much force he was thrown onto the floor again.

“D-don’t expect me to take it lying down either then. ‘Cause I won’t, not anymore.”

“You wouldn’t be a Dragon Warlord if you did.” Jime studied him for a moment, wondering what his deal was. Whatever. She had other more important things to do now.

She grabbed him by the belt in his pants and teleported to the parking lot where Jack, jack and River waited.

Appearing at River’s back, she threw Toren’s body next to him. River quickly turned around to inflict some damage but was stilled by Toren, who had grabbed his leg.

“Shit.” River knelt down and winced at Toren’s back.

“Dragons, you will not follow me, or try to find Suri!” Jime voiced them.

“Not again…” River sighed, “What is that, anyway? It’s like I hear your voice inside my soul as well as my head and am compelled to obey…” He gulped, “For a little while anyway.”

“You are such a noob, River. I’m old enough to know a few tricks you know nothing about.” She responded with self-importance.

“But I know.” Jack murmured.

He was leaning over jack the car, watching the action silently.

“Of course you would know… you’re as old as dirt.” Jime rolled her eyes as she walked to the car.

Jack bristled, remembering this game Jime used to play on him, making him feel old or inadequate. It would have been nothing for him back when he had been beyond human years before joining the Sinn-Jammers, but now… Well, he could piss her off too. He straightened and regarded River.

“The ancient Art of Voice is- Uhm… ah…” He was cut off by a female hand slowly caressing his chest.

Jime did not need the Dragons to know what Voice was. Any way she could distract the men she’d do it, besides, it had been such a long time since she got her hands on Jack, somehow it felt like coming home it was so familiar, which was just wrong on so many levels she would not think about it, for now, she was sure she’d fret over it later though, when she was alone.

“We need to talk, you and I.” She whispered in Jack’s ear, leaning her body over his, feeling his hum and vibrate, infecting her as well.

“Yes. We. Do.” Jack responded in a breathy voice, regarding her under his hooded eyes.

River was looking at the pair with his right eyebrow almost touching his hair line; he glanced at Toren, who was also watching them from the floor. It was good to know Toren wasn’t so hurt he didn’t pay attention to what was happening around him. As far as River knew, after everything that had happened, it was war between Suri, Jime and him. Anything he could find out about his enemy was welcomed, he’d have to investigate this Voice thing.

Toren, on the other hand, was reflecting on the nature of male-female relationships. He was amused at how easily Jime could play someone like Jack, but he wasn’t so naïve as to believe Jack didn’t realize it as well, or that Jime herself didn’t know that he knew… they played each other. Which made him think about the mess his relationship with Suri was, and if he could ever make up for the mistake he had made with her. Or even if he wanted to… nah, he wanted to. At this point, he still needed to. At least they had even ground now, they hurt each other equally.

Jime glanced at Toren and River, “Let’s hit the road, Jack.” She went to open the driver’s door but was stopped by him.

“I drive, it is my car.” He invaded her space, pushing her away from the door.

She bristled but knew she’d have to pick her battles, time was of the essence here and she wanted to find Suri fast, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t piss off Jack. She walked to the back seat door on the other side of jack and opened that door.

“Driver, let’s go.” She waved her palm in the general direction of the road and got inside.

Jack fumed but got in as well, he turned on the engine, and to Jime’s annoyance the car responded beautifully, one could even say happily. They took off in a burst of speed that left Toren and River covered in dust.

“Damn Vampires!” screamed River.

**********

“I missed you so much, my love. You don’t know how I’ve suffered. One moment you were there, the next this huge void in my heart. No one will ever even compare-” Jack got choked up and couldn’t continue.

Jime was lounging in the expanse of the back seat, all that space for herself, trying not to continue rolling her eyes, at the rate they were moving they might just pop out of their sockets on their own.

“It’s just a car! Give me a break.”

“My honey-boo is not just a car I’ll have you know!” Jack shouted to the rear-view mirror. He got a bit distracted with the sudden glimpse at Jime’s legs but quickly shook his head to snap out of the increasing in-lust he did not need to feel as his time with Jime prolonged. He needed to get used to her again.

“Oh? Not just a car? In what way, pray tell, driver, is honey-poo not just another car and you not just another man in a mid-life crisis who’s in love with it?”

“First, I am not in a mid-life crisis.” He started to count off with one hand while driving with the other.

“Potato-potahtoh.”

“Second, I am not your personal driver.”

“I see you driving me… case closed.”

“Third, honey-boo is special because she’s mine in every way.”

“Forth,” Jime interjected, “This car is male, not female.”

“You will not impose your world views on my honey-boo!” Jack swirled around to glare at Jime so fast the car swirled too.

“Eyes on the road, buster!” Jime yelled while sitting correctly, she made a grab for the seat belt but decided not to strap herself down. “You sure drive like a rookie.” She mumbled while hugging the seat before her, bringing her closer to Jack. “It’s as if you forgot how to drive in the little time honey-poo’s been mine…” she sneered, “In fact, it’s as if honey-poo is doing all the work-”

The shifter changed gears on its own, Jack was not quick enough to mimic the move. He cursed under his breath, the jig was up. Just another secret Jime knew about him now.

“HEY! I saw that! It is driving itself!” she pointed at the shifter. “What the hell? It never did that with me!”

“Ha! That’s because honey-poo is mine! We are connected in ways you know nothing about!”

“So this is a special car…” She rubbed her hands (which where hanging in the air next to Jack) with glee. Maybe that was why sometimes it broke down on Suri and her, because it was already magical, and to top it with Suri’s magic was somehow messing with it.

He gripped Jime’s hands with his own free hand, “Stop that.” The electricity of their skin contact charging them both.

“Why the hell?” She shook him off.

“Uhm, because…” Jack was momentarily at a loss.

“Because? Just because? You’re suddenly serious, what could rubbing my hands- wait a minute, you rubbed your hands when you got in the driver seat, you sorta caressed the steering wheel before turning the ignition, I thought it was just you being weird, like always, but…”

“How many times must I tell you, woman! I am not weird, I am an ex-God!”

“Same dif., I bet it’s like a magic ritual, oooooh, I bet it’s how you connect with the car!” She slapped his shoulder, now sure she discovered the secret because of the expression on Jack’s face. She knew him too well still. “O.K., so what else can it do?”

“I am not telling you anything.” Jack pouted.

“Oh, come on, tell me,” She cooed near his left ear, blowing a little on it while seductively running her hand down his arm.

Jack shivered, “No.”

“Can it go wherever you tell it to go?” Her hand moved onto his lap.

“YES,” Jack hit the wheel, “Damn it.”

Jime removed her hand slowly, but the grave tone with which she talked next made Jack forget about his swelling boy parts in an instant.

“Make it go where Suri is.” Her eyes were serious, pleading.

He could never say no to her when she played with him, but he knew that when it came to her family, if you got in the way, that was a deal-breaker. No one messed with Jime’s family. He had learned that the hard way. Fate had presented him this new chance, he would not squander it for anything.

Jack faced the road and said, “Ullr magiske skiene, ta meg til Suri.”

Jack the car revved as if alive and took off into the sky.

Sunset Coven 15

2011-08-13T18:36:00.000-07:00

Isn't she just the cutest!!!!

How ironic that this picture proceeds this chapter. Is that isn't as wrong as it gets.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jime had showered in the hotel room before meeting Suri out by Jack. Suri had the trunk open; she leaned on the side of the car. She looked up when Jime appeared before her, her expression thoughtful.

"Jack and I were a long time ago. Really long time ago. More than a blue moon ago," Jime said, not really wanting to get into this conversation but glad Suri hadn't walked around with a bitter expression as she had when she told her about the La Reina thing.

On the contrary, Suri had seemed to find their encounter with Jack highly amusing as she farmed a different section of the field with her eyes locked on Jime and Jack.

Jime wasn't the most forthcoming on the best of days. Suri knew that. So she resigned to let Jime peel back the layers one at a time. Although, ripping them all off at once would get the pain out of the way...if one didn't bleed to death in the process.

"Extremely long time ago," Jime said

"Did you love him?" Suri asked.

Jime's face became impassive. Whether that meant, "yes" or "don't fucking kid yourself," she wasn't sure.

Moments passed by and Jime didn't respond.

"Very well. We'll talk about it later, I guess." She wasn’t happy about dropping the subject though. Suri tapped the interior of the trunk.

Jime slipped inside, tired from all the farming as well as keeping her guard up when Jack was around. She couldn't wait to sleep. Suri shut the trunk before she could say goodnight. Maybe she was pissed again. Oh well! She didn't have time to deal with that. She had to figure out how to shut off those feelings being close to Jack had brought. She sighed and let the darkness close in.

Suri had flashed back to the room to shower. She threw on an oversized t-shirt and hopped in bed when she was through, but she didn't sleep. She couldn't. Her mind was rolling; her body restless, and the pit of her stomach felt like it brew acid. The darkness. Using dark to defeat the wolves back in alien land made her skin feel stretched and tingly. The only time the sensation had abated was when she was in P and S cooking up a brew for Jamie.

Suri rolled over and tossed the comforter on the floor. Not use sitting in the room like a caged chicken, she thought. Magicking a pair of teal leggings and white tank top, she changed clothing and flashed back outside to Jack. She hopped on the hood of car and laid back in what should have been an uncomfortable posting, with her head down by the trunk and her feet up on the roof of the car.

"Numira," she spoke softly. The air around the car shivered with magic, a cloak of invisibility surrounding her and honey-boo. Just remembering that name-spoken pass Jack's lips made her giggle like a schoolyard girl. Like she would know anything about that. She never giggled in a schoolyard. She didn't have friends to laugh with. Everyone either envied or hated her for her power, or they feared her for her power and because her dad was Sage, the black Mage who destroyed half of Europe because he was bored.

Suri magicked a pack of twizzlers next to her. Popping the bag open, she grabbed two of the sticks and stuffed the ends in her mouth while she watched the sun rise on the horizon.

She was stretching her legs while she lay on the car when the air her started to twist. Suri released the leg that she had extended up to her shoulders and started out into the empty road where Jack was parked across from the hotel out of sight of any camera. A moment later, Jack Jammers of the Sinn-Jammers was standing in the once empty road. How had he found them so soon, under and hour of teleporting from him? It took other half a day, if not days to pick up her and Jime's trail.

Jack looked around. Suri knew he didn't see her or the car, but his gaze lingered on her for a moment before looking around again and coming back once more to her.

He inhaled deeply as if sniffing the air for a scent. He wouldn't smell anything, though. Her cloak of invisibility was perfect in every sense. Not only couldn't he see them, he couldn't smell them, hear them, or any of that.

She was about to step out to ask why he was there when she felt a stir. Another twizzler enters her mouth. The air cracks. Toren and his running mate, River, flash next to Jack. Funny, she didn't know Dragons could flash. Also funny that they should show up directly after Jack does.

"Jack," Toren greets

Suri wings her legs off the hood of the car and sits up. She braces her hands on the hood of the trunk between her legs, her fingers gripping the steel so hard she could peel the paint from it. Just looking at him, hearing his voice made the darkness growing in her blood burn.

"Toren," Jack replies and nods at River in acknowledgement. He turned his attention back to where she and Jack sat. "Their trail ends here, if you're looking for the witch," he said.

"Have you checked the hotel," Toren asked.

"No. The trail ends here. Not there."

"There's nothing here but trees and a nice view of the hotel," River stated.

Traitor! The word vibrated through Suri. Kill the traitor, the dark inside her whispered. Her insides raged to hurt him. He hurt you. Physically, she was scarred. They would heal soon leaving no mark behind, but at the moment the scars were there, not just a memory. Mentally, he betrayal hurt more than the scars. Suri didn't trust often. Besides her aunt and parents she didn't trust anyone. And even with them she trusted that they would always treat her like a child. But she wasn't a child. She was a woman, a woman who had been betrayed but that damn dragon standing 25 feet away. Make him suffer.

"Yet the trail ends here," Jack repeated.

Toren found that odd. That the trail stopped there with no energy left to trace, means that Suri and Jime were there. He let his eyes glow and used the sight of the dragon to scan their surroundings. River did the same thing.

"I don't see anything," River said.

Toren almost laughed. "You wouldn't," he said. Not unless she wanted them to see. He turned to River. "Pull out your locket."

River pulled the necklace from under his shirt. Toren took the locket into his hand and blew on it.

The locket around Suri’s neck grew hot. She growled, a low menacing sound of a beast. That douche bag could track her threw the locket. She had a feeling it worked that way when Jack said a lizard told him where they were, but she couldn’t be certain.

Toren dropped the necklace from his hand and looked where Jack at been looking. How Jack was able to locate them without a trail was another story. “She—“

“Lunpe,” Suri mumbled darkly from her spot perched on the trunk of the car.

Toren flew back like he did when Jime tossed him earlier. He landed hard on the ground on his back. He shook his hard to dislodge the shock and looked up. River and Jack both stared at him, a confused expression on their faces. Pushing up, he stood up only to be hit from the side and flew back again.

“Dadoe. Luet. Kimel. Kimel, kimel, KIMEL!” Suri threw spell after spell after angry spell at Toren, hitting him from all angles until his clothing was tattered. But the dragon was strong. He always got up without taking too much damage, and that only made the darkness in her scream. “Ku tet new a le eck zinha,” she said. She didn’t look down as a bow, glowing bright with spirit energy materialized in her left hand, a spirit bow in her right.

Toren stood tall, looking in her direction.

“My Lord,” River rushed over to his leader when it seemed like the attack at stopped. Jack walked over as well. Having an alliance meant that he would join Toren and River in battle if the dragon warlord was to ask for his help. But he didn’t think that was necessary at the moment. What? The witch was only a baby. To fight against her would be like—

Suri fired the arrow. The attacks had pushed Toren further away from the car then he stood before, but that was okay. The spirit bow wasn’t of this plane. The untrained eye couldn’t see it. That’s why none of them saw the bright neon blue arrow until it struck its target in the center of his chest. Toren dropped to his knees upon impact, a hole gaping in his chest, his blood running out.

The darkness inside her clapped with glee. More. Make him suffer more. With a simple wave of her hand, she shattered the invisibility cloak.

River reached for Toren but stopped when the wind suddenly shifted and howled. He looked up at the once empty spot a few feet away to see Suri sitting on the trunk of a car looking like the devil herself. Her eyes were dark, her expression pure murder. He went to stand in front of his lord, ready to fight and protect, destroy. He reached for his waist—

“Freeze,” she said, and they all froze movement, his body locked. Though their bodies couldn’t move their minds were still aware.

She hopped off the car, her eyes only on Toren, and stalked forward so slowly like a cheetah hunting. She waved her hand and Toren groaned as she released the freeze from him and him alone. She wanted him alive and kicking as she tortured him. Ten feet away, she pointed at him and beckoned her finger. Toren rose off the ground into the air like someone stepping on a rake until he stood straight, his feet a foot off the ground. She glared up at him. Steam flowed from his nostrils. “Veroppi.” He grunt, his face twisting in pain his blood turned to acid in his face. But after a few second of coping, or maybe just to bother he, he smirked.

“Is that all you got?” he taunted, blood spilling out from his mouth.

The darkness raged, begging her to send him to Hecate. She obliged.

Suri placed her hand on his chest over the wound leaking blood. She looked him square in those crystal clear beautiful eyes of his as she said, “Hecate. Feed.”

Toren gasped and grunted, but he wouldn’t cry out. His soul felt like it was being twist and torn, the blood in his veins destroying him from the inside out, but he wouldn’t cry out. Let her take her revenge if it pleased if, but for the love of god, if she doesn’t, “stop…calling dark magic,” be hit out, angry with her for doing so.

Granted, her sudden use of dark magic may be his fault. May. If he hadn’t turned her over to the wolves, she wouldn’t have committed that ritual. He had no doubt that she hadn’t used it before. If so, she wouldn’t have spared the human side of the wolves. And yes, it was his fire that blew the building apart which killed the wolves. So, maybe he was to blame for using the mage powers. But that doesn’t mean she needed to keep doing so. Did she even know how dangerous it was to call the dark magic?

And, if the marks on her back looked anything like the scars visible on her shoulders then…why hadn’t she healed? She was immortal. She should have heeled. She’s a witch after all, Jime vampire had said, and witches could be killed by fire.

From the corner of his eye he saw River breaking free of the spell. So did she. Her gaze shifted from him momentarily to River. “Leave,” she said, her voice low. She flicked her wrist, but instead of attack River, she transported them to a new location.

River watched as Toren and Suri vanished, the spell she casted breaking once she left. A tiny clink sound was all that was left of those two as the locket Toren gave to her sat on the cold ground. He turned to Jack who was stretching his muscles. Jack walked over to the car but came up short just out of its reach, unable to get through whatever charm had been placed on it. “Dammit!”

Toren collapsed onto a cold stone floor. Where he was, he didn’t know. He pushed up on his hands but the pain seared through him and he almost fell again. He was almost on his knees when Suri’s foot connected with his back and she pushed him back down. “Naydok.” His body locked, a sensation different from when she had froze them, but the motionlessness just the same. He felt himself raising again the same way as well.

She shifted in front of him. “Liar,” she called him.

“I,” his voice small but strong, “never lied to you.”

She slapped him like a woman scorned. “Liar. You betrayed me.”

“Yes.”

She slapped him again, his face turning from the force of the hit. Whoever said witches weren’t much stronger than mortals were the real liars. Her slaps were as strong as River’s punches. Or maybe it was his currently weak state of being that made it feel that way.

“You seduced me, followed me like a lost puppy, spouting your nonsense, and then you fed me to wolves. WOLVES!” She slapped him twice.

He turned his head, a slow progress, until he faced her. “Exactly, which pa-part of that are you upset about?”

Her jaw clenched, but she didn’t hit him again. “You scarred me. Left me damaged.” She fisted his shirt and snatched it from his body. Circling him slowly, a single lazy finger trailing across his torso in the process, she stood behind him. “It’s only fair I do the same thing to you,” she stroke his back, running that solo finger from the top of his back down to the hem of his jeans. “Awake!”

This time, Toren cried out as his scales grew onto his back without his call, forced. When she called the Hecate, it might have felt as if his soul was being torn apart, but now his skin was being torn apart…literally.

The change last for close to five minutes, painful the entire time. Had he called his true form, they would have grown instantly, in a matter of seconds, painless as can be. But he hadn’t called.

Suri allowed him a few deep breaths. She balled her hands into fist, a small material instrument suddenly in her palm. “Better?” she asked when his breathing was no longer ragged. “How about now?” With the little tweezers in her hand, she snatched one of the scales from his flesh. He roared a loud painful sound. Good thing no one was around for miles and miles. He could scream all he wanted. In fact, she wanted him to scream. The darkness wanted him to scream.

“How many scales does it take to until I have a kilogram,” she mocked the tootsie roll pop commercial tune. She peered around him and smiled a dark bitter smile. “Let’s find out.” Pluck. “A one.” Pluck. “A two.” Pluck. “A three.” She peered around into his face again. “Doesn’t weight a kilogram yet. I suggest we keep going until we find out.” So she plucked and snatched and pulled at his scales tossing them over her shoulder after each one, and he grunted, cringed, and groaned with each one.

“You know the worst part about it all?” she said what were probably hours later after removing more than half the scales from his back. “It’s not the burns or the fact that I had to call on Hecate.” Pluck. “I trusted you.” Pluck. “That’s the worst part.” Why had she even trusted him? She asked herself.

Because he had been nice? He made her laugh? Because of the kiss they shared that was so hot it scorched just thinking about it? No. It wasn’t any of that, though his kiss wasn’t bad. She wouldn’t admit to anyone that she went to sleep thinking about it every night. At least she did until The Tavern. No. It was because he showed interest in her. Not her powers or what she could do for him, what he could use her for. He showed interest in just her. Just Suri. It was the first time anyone had showed interest in just Suri.

Her parents love her. She knew that, but with them it was always about being the best. Her classmates, the ones who didn’t envy or fear her, only wanted her to help them with assignments. Her teachers were only interest in having the chance to say they were her teacher. With Toren, it had been just about her. Well, if that’s what showing interest in her lead to, being chained to a gas line, beat, and bullied by a pack of wolves, she didn’t want it.

“Suri!”

“Lunpe,” she called out and tossed the scale over her shoulder. She turned around to find out who the intruder was and how sorry they would be.

Jime had been knocked off her feet by the unexpected spell. She pushed herself up onto her feet almost as soon as her back hit the floor. She looked her niece, her poor baby niece who looked more like a mad woman covered in blood ready to attack than the sweet, innocent little girl was really was.

She was about to cross the room when thunder crackled, inside the room, and Zeus stood between them.

“Well, well, well,” his voice vibrated off the walls. “Aren’t you chicky's on a roll?” The scales that once littered the floor disappeared. “One kilogram. Taken.” He vanished.

“Suri stop,” Jime said the moment he was gone. She wasn’t concerned with him at the moment. Right now, her focus was getting Suri to stop. Yes, she wanted to see the dragon suffer for what he did to her, but she would rather Suri make him suffer when she wasn’t being tempted by darkness.

Suri raised her hand to cast another spell.

“Suri!” Jime voiced.

The hand froze midair and Suri shook her head like a wet puppy. The darkness in her eyes began to fade. Suri looked at her then turned to look at what was once Toren’s back. The tweezers fell from her fingers. She looked back at Jime, back at Toren, then at Jime again and shook her head before vanishing.

The Vampire

2011-08-13T15:16:00.000-07:00

Thank you wifey! You rock.

Chapter 14.

2011-08-13T01:20:00.000-07:00

14.

Thunder flashed above the three of them. Zeus making a grandiose appearance. Floating above them he deigned to bestow his gaze upon them.

“Uh uh,” He motioned no with his finger, “Another technical foul, girly girls. You must harvest the field without damaging the goods, we don’t want the poor farmer that owns this land to not get his money now do we?”

“So we’re not stealing the corn?” Suri murmured.

“No little witch, the list said harvest, not steal,” He displayed the trampled corn husks under Jime and Jack’s feet, “And now we have this… what to do, what to do,” He touched his forehead mimicking thinking, “Oh! I know! For each corn damaged you will have to work another field. There. Problem solved. So, how many fields does that make?” He counted gleefully, “I believe it is 36 fields! Good luck my little puppets! I’ll be watching! Continue putting such a good show!”

With that he left, zooming upwards to disappear between the clouds.

That bitch Demeter, who was the actual owner of all corn fields in Iowa, was gonna be sorry for having the gall to beat him at Guitar Hero. Her entire crop was being harvested before time. That will show her! Plus he also needed some corn for the Potion.

Jack was looking where Zeus had disappeared, “What was that about?” he asked Jime.

Jime turned to him, fury in her eyes, “None of your goddammed business!”

Once again their powers circling each other, picking up wind. When frost started to appear above them Suri interrupted.

“Hold on! Hold on! People! Don’t damaged the corn! What the hell, I don’t wanna be stuck all night farming… God! It took us an hour to get this one almost done, and now we have to do 36 more?” She inhaled, “It’s going to take all night as it is!”

Jime squinted her eyes and decided to flash to a near-by road. Jack and Suri followed.

The road was illuminated by a single lamp that looked like it was about to die any second now, but the light was enough; Jime and Suri stood together facing Jack, who was standing at a comfortable distance, trying to cool off the storm inside.

The tension was still palpable even though no one was talking, so Suri decided to jump right in. “What are you doing here?” She sneered at Jack.

“This does not concern you.” He sneered right back.

“Don’t use that tone with her, you bastard! Who the hell do you think you are?” Jime yelled.

“You tell me what’s got you following Zeus’ orders, then!” He yelled at her.

“What the fuck? DON’T YELL AT ME! I gather you know damn well what’s got me following orders! You have been messing into my business again, I know you have!”

“I was told you’re after a greek potion and I thought it would be good of me to make way for you, I helped you, you owe me now.”

“In what twisted reality do you live in? Wait, what am I asking, you live in the special I’m-the-top-of-everything-and-everyone-should-worship-me world of Jack Jammer extraordinaire.” Jime eye-rolled with derision.

Jack got furiously red but managed to control himself, “You owe me, and now you have to tell me something I need to know.”

“I don’t have to tell you jack-shit!”

He looked at Suri, “This is a private matter and as such-” He started to collect his power to form a bubble between he and Jime, leaving Suri out.

She would not stand for it, this situation was too juicy to miss, “Oh no, you don’t!” Suri mumbled an incantation under her breath and figuratively speaking burst that bubble.

“Step off your high horse, you bastard. She knows everything.” Jime cast a side glance at Suri with her follow my lead look, at which Suri answered with her you got it look.

“She knows?” Jack paled with embarrassment, casting his eyes on the floor.

“Yes, I don’t keep secrets with my family. I do not practice deceit.”

Suri raised her eyebrows at that, a half smile on her face, but Jack didn’t see her because he was looking pretty troubled with himself. Seeming to come to a conclusion, he looked up once again, addressing them.

“Very well, if my honor is to be thus tarnished so be it.”

“Honor? Ha!” Jime laughed and looked at Suri, “That’s like saying Zeus is a gentleman.”

Small thunderbolt energy cracked behind the women, hitting Jime’s butt. “Ow!” She covered her tush with her hands.

Suri snickered while Jack’s attention was drawn to Jime’s body, clad in a sexy flower print bikini. His eyes wandered over her lower half, taking in her shapely legs, to go up slowly over her stomach, her curves (she had always been a curvy woman, no skin and bones, just how he liked his woma-women! Women in general!) to her breast, his heated gaze resting there, remembering his neverending plans for those puppies. He smiled to himself, a snap of Jime’s fingers breaking his reverie.

“As I was saying, I don’t have to tell you anything.” She was blushing.

“All I need to know is why you said no to my proposal, so that I can move on.”

He donned an air of victimization that pissed Jime off once more. She must remember her vow to never let her guard down again when it came to Jack. The Bastard. Always so self-centered, so smug, the levels his delusion could reach always astounded her. He still thought he was God’s gift to womankind apparently. The asshat had insulted her in every possible way, betrayed her in the worst of ways, and then he proposed to her? Thinking it would solve all her insignificant little woman troubles, that he had contributed to, and that would make it all ok? Fuck him!.

Suri was riveted watching the two of them. They had had a nasty fight the last time they chanced each other at Jack’s club, then he had left the premises in a huff. Later on Suri and Jime had left too (taking jack the car with them), with Toren not far behind, as it turned out. A proposal! So, Jime and Jack had a thing going on between them at one time? Figures.

While Jime was remembering, she also remembered her plan to get Jack’s help for Operation Hairball… it was painful for her to swallow her old hatred of Jack, but she must, for the sake of the Potion. She mulled over how to go about manipulating him, “Why I said no…” She stalled for time, “It’s simple really, I was not in love with you. I said so at the time… pretty clearly if I recall correctly.”

“And I know that was not true, it couldn’t be.”

“It couldn’t be…” Jime repeated managing to not make her eyes roll again, “Well, the past is past. Things change and what-not…” She made sexy eyes at him.

Jack was stunned. Could it be? Dare he think..? His heart was beating so hard and fast he almost feared it could be heard by her. He will have to tread lightly. This was too important to screw up. He would change the subject, for now, so he could get to the bottom of this when they were alone. He asked out loud, “Zeus! Can they have outside help in whatever it is they are doing?”

A thundering voice responded, “SURE, WHY NOT, THEY ARE FEMALES AFTER ALL, I’LL ALLOW IT.”

Suri and Jime both breathed in, with hands in tight fists of rage at the condescension.

“I will help you.” Jack’s smug smile coming back to its natural habitat on his irritatingly good looking blondie face.

“All right! The more the better.” Suri rubbed her hands together, ready to be done with this bullshit task. “Say… how did you know where to find us?” She asked Jack.

He didn’t look at Suri while he answered “A little gecko told me.” He was staring at Jime, never taking his eyes off her every move, which in turn made Jime shift in discomfort, making certain feelings come to the surface she did not want to feel again.

Suri thought about what Jack said, suspecting that weird feeling she felt, that the locket Toren had given her turned hot for a few seconds, when they started plucking the corn husks, had not been her imagination after all. Interesting.

***********

Toren was writhing, green sweat staining his brand new egyptian cotton sheets. Bloody hell. But that’s what you got when Jime-vamp got her claws into you, poison that got you killed, slowly and painfully. As a Dragon, Toren could make his own body reach high levels of temperature, and his body healed faster; that way he could sweat the poison out of his system. Jime knew that. But it would cost him time and energy, also, there was no medicine for the pain. So he took it. He opened his eyes briefly and saw River had sat on a chair next to his bed. He was making River worry too much.

“I see you’re finally awake. Here you are, out of commission, yet again. See a pattern here?” River spoke with his almost-boring voice, this was not good.

“How did you find me?” Toren whispered.

“I followed your sorry ass through the Underworld and you didn’t even notice. Damn, you have it bad.”

So, River had probably witnessed his encounter with Jime-vamp and picked him up after she left and he lost consciousness. “I told you I would handle the leech alone.”

“You were looking to get a glimpse of Suri, is what you wanted. You and I know you wouldn’t have been able to handle the vampire if she had really wanted to kill you.”

Toren sighed, closing his eyes for a moment, guessing his second in command would have a lot of questions to ask, while River fumed quietly.

“So what? You have a death wish now? Aren’t you forgetting something important here? You have responsibilities! The survival of our Clan depends on you!”

“I never forget that, River.” Toren spoke through his teeth with pain lacing his words. Physical pain and emotional pain. River sure could cut deep with his words when he wanted to.

After some minutes of silence River spoke again, “I invoked the locket, got their location, and called Jack Jammer.”

“You what?!” Toren sat up with difficulty.

“You heard.”

“Dammit, River-” A tremor so bad went through Toren’s body his teeth rattled, shutting him up.

“I made him swear his loyalty and aid to the Dragon Clan, in writing. I’m not an idiot. He was eager to do it anyway.” He waved Toren’s concerns away with his hand. “So we have him on our side now.”

“I need to go to Suri. I can’t have her out to kill me.” Toren started to get up from bed, but was shoved right back by River.

“You really need me to tell you this? You have to let the poison out and rest, get your energy back, that’s going to take about 5 hours.”

Toren conceded defeat, he really needed to be in top shape to fix this situation. “But we have to go as soon as possible. Where are they now?”

“On some field in Iowa.”

“Random.”

“Do I look like I care?”

**********

4:47 A.M. in the morning found Jime, Suri and Jack done with the 36 fields. It had turned out to be hard work, they were sweaty and tired. They had reunited at the first field when they finished to find the corn that had gotten damaged to be missing.

“I guess Zeus took it. Fine, if anyone gets in trouble, it can be him.” Suri shrugged.

Jime sighed, “I don’t care, I just want to take a shower and get inside jack’s trunk.” She cringed, realizing what that had sounded like.

“WHAT?” Jack’s hand almost made it to his chest, almost.

“She meant the car…” Suri said while straightening her overalls and putting them on.

Jack’s sudden arousal fizzled down at the mention of his car. How could he have forgotten? “You will give me back my honey-boo, or else I will not continue to help you two.” He threatened.

“Honey-boo?” Suri huffed, amused, “Now I’m torn, should we continue calling it jack, tia?” She joked.

Jime had turned her back on them to dress as well, not wanting to look at Jack’s currently naked torso, all hard muscles gleaming with sweat under the moonlight. She didn’t respond.

“Wait, you named my honey-boo jack? Jack chuckled.

Jime turned around, raising her arms in the air, “I hereby re-name it honey-poo.”

“Brilliant!” Suri clasped.

“I object!” Jack put on his shirt, making quick work of the buttons.

“Whatever, it’s going to be dawn soon, so I’m off, see you tomorrow.” Jime waved and teleported.

“Wait for me, jeez.” Suri followed her.

“Damn it!” Said jack, it would take him an hour to follow the energy trail they had left, but he could find them. He teleported after them.

At that same moment Toren and River showed up at the field, saw Jack disappear, and followed his trail.

Sunset Coven 13

2011-08-11T19:45:00.000-07:00

Caesars Lane

Caesar Lane.

Suri found it a bit strange how all-major roads in the underground were named after some dictator whose entire empire collapsed and rumored nations. Really! The irony of it all was a bit comical.

For example, the casino they appeared in front of was called 23 Slots, named off the number of times Caesar had been stabbed. The saloon across also referenced Caesar’s death, All But 1, because only one wound had been fatal. Then there was a clothing store, 60 and Counting, on Venus Genetrix, a road perpendicular to Caesar Lane, and The Idiots, a comedy stage of sorts, well...the point was, it was all ironic. Suri wondered if she was the only person who thought so. She learned her lesson a long time ago about revealing such thoughts to Jime. Having lived 900+ years, her aunt was a bit of a history buff.

Last time she mentioned her opinions, they were over on Atlantis, Jime rattled on and on for hours. She ended up casting a spell on her ears to block out Jime's voice. Never again would she engage in that subject with her.

“Why are we in Little Rome?”

“I need to make a stop at P and S first,” Suri responded. Potions And Stuff was the mini-mart of witchcraft. Witches traveling could stop in, replenish their stock, or even take few seconds to whip up at brew, and then be on their way in a matter of minutes. P and S was located on Salem Court (irony strikes again), which was just a few minutes walk from Caesars.

“Okay. Cool, but make it fast. We have crops to field.”

Jime couldn’t keep the smirk off her face as the strutted down the street. 900 years later, and a reputation that was feared, she still attracted eyes from all types of creatures. Yeah, she looked good, and the pants she wore framed her hips and thighs so well, she was too hot to handle. She flashed her fangs at an incubus walking across the street when he looked her up and down. He flashed his pretty whites right back at her. Oh, she would definitely be looking him up doing her spear time.

She looked at Suri, who was attracting her share of attention as well with her bikini top and jumper. The ones who eyed her were a bit bolder, maybe because her niece was just a kid and they thought her easy. Too bad for them that Suri’s attention span was about a millimeter long and she paid no attention to them at all. Also to bad for them, that Jime would rip out their trachea’s and drink their blood as it pooled out of them if they even so much as came into arms length distance of her niece.

She was being over protective of her nieces innocence, so what. That’s even if Suri is an innocent. She said she wasn’t and Jime didn’t detect a lie, but Suri had ways around lying. Jime let her guard down once and Suri suffered, physically, mentally, magically because of it. That wouldn’t happen again.

They arrived at Potions and Stuff. Suri disappeared into the back of the store towards the brewing section. “I’ll just meet you outside,” Jime called. Suri flicked a wrist in returned, but didn’t say anything. She wondered if she was still upset about the whole La Reina thing. God, she wasn’t to strangle Zeus with his own thunderbolt for opening that can of worms.

Flicking her hair over her shoulder, Jime sauntered out of the shop and moseyed around. She was eyeing a silver Douche and Gabbana bag in a window display when she caught a scent in the air. Her fangs and claws elongated and she moved with lightening speed around the corner.

Jime dug the sharpened nails on her left hand into Toren’s solid chest and she slammed him into the wall of the building he stood by. Bricks cracked and crumpled under the impact. “I want you dead,” she hissed, her face directly in front of his, his blood trickling down her fingers.

Too his credit, he didn’t cower. He didn’t even bat one of those pretty little eyelashes of his. That only pissed her off more and she dug her claws deeper into his flesh. She felt his body tense, that was slightly satisfying, but he didn’t make a sound of pain. No warlord would.

“I’m answering your calling card.”

She twisted her hand and watched in pleasure as his face shifted just a bit. If she wasn’t who she was, she might not have noticed. “You spoil all the fun. I really looked forward to bathing in the blood of your people, blood traitor.”

“We share no formal alliance, Jimena,” his tone was calm, radiating power and control.

“You betrayed my niece.”

“She’ll get over it,” his gaze was slightly lower than hers. Not low enough to admit defeat and submission, but low enough for her to not mesmerize him. But Jime could kill him in a second if she wanted to.

“You left her injured, damaged, scarred,” she lifted him up and slammed him back into the wall.

“She’s immortal. Her scars will heal.”

“Will they?” Jime challenge. “She’s a witch after all.” And everyone knew witches were only just one step above mortals. Suri had been right when she said no one was immortal. It only took the right weapon to kill an immortal. For Wolves it was silver, or having the wolf snatched from their souls and given to the Hecate. For witches it was fire. She slammed him into the wall again, further cracking the bricks, and threw her fist right into his face breaking his nose.

Toren’s eyes glowed, but he didn’t fight back. He remained still and allowed the assault to continue. “They will heal,” he repeated.

Jime wasn’t sure why he wasn’t fighting back. Maybe he sensed her hesitation, and it killed her to hesitate killing him. She snatched her hand from his chest after tossing him into the building across the street as if she merely flicked a piece of lint away. She licked the blood off each finger slowly while he gathered himself and stood up. “I would love to watch you die ever so slowly, baby dragon, to watch your blood run free around my boots, but that won’t be by my hands. I’ll leave that Suri.”

Toren actually smiled at that, and it wasn’t an amused smile. Suri took away his hope of protecting his family when she killed the wolves. Now…the thought of his clan dying off made him blind with rage. Smoke and fire shot from his nose. It wasn’t her fault. Not really. She was only defending herself because she thought he betrayed her. And he had. That pissed him off. But she should have known he would get her out of it. That she hadn’t pissed him off even more. “I look forward to that.”

Jime loved her niece more than anyone. She would never want anything bad to happen to her, to watch her fall as Sage has fell, but at this moment, all she could do was say, “I hope she gives you to Hecate.”

Toren’s mask of anger collapsed briefly.

She looked over her should and into the shadows where River stood the entire time. Idiots. To think they could hide in what she controlled. Licking her fingers one last time, Jime ran back to Salem Court, just as Suri exited the door. “All done?” she asked in a casual tone.

“Yes—“ Suri looked her up and down. “Why are you all…vamped?”

She ran her tongue over her fangs before pulling them back in. Then did the same thing for her nails. She knew her eyes must be glowing, but that would fade in a couple of minutes. “Just getting acquainted with an old friend.”

Suri’s eyes narrowed. “Lie.” She heaved. “I thought we established the ‘don’t-lie-to-me’ clause.”

“Truth,” Jime responded.

Suri walked forward and grabbed Jime by the front of her shirt. She leaned forward and took a deep sniff. Her sense of smell was nowhere near as strong as a vampire, wolf, and other creatures of the lore, but it was strong enough. She pushed Jime away; more like she pushed herself away since Jime remained still yet a small distance was between them. “Dead or alive?”

“Alive.”

“Harmed or not?”

“Harmed enough. Nothing deadly I assure you.”

“Harmed enough?” Suri repeated sarcastically. “He wasn’t supposed to be harmed at all. Not by you. The dragon is mine. Mine to handle. What? Did you flash to his lair while I was in the store or something?”

Jime sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. “Don’t ask me not to do anything to those who harm you, niña. I can’t do that.” She dropped her hand to her side. “No, I didn’t go looking for him. I don’t know where the nest is. Come to think of it, do you? I mean, we’ll need to know where to located the lizards when it comes time for mission number two. Anyway, back when you blew up the Tavern, I had just learned what happened from the brownie chick, and I sent out a declaration. He had to respond or I’ll be bound by magic to carry out what I said.”

“And what was that?”

Jime twist the toe of her right foot sheepishly. “Oh, nothing much. Just to wipe out the entire clan. See, nothing big.”

The big window in front of P and S cracked as Suri threw her head to the side and held her hand to silence Jime. She counted to ten, and then looked up at her aunt. She pointed a finger at Jime. “I’ll let the declaration go because it was at a time of distress, and therefore I must dismiss your encounter with the dragon warlord because you were bound by contract magic. But that’s it.” She waved her hand clearing the air. “No more. I’m serious, tia.”

“I’m trying Suri. But you can’t change a hoe into a housewife overnight, you know.”

“What?” Despite her anger, Suri smirked. She flicked her wrist again and the window repaired, the cracked sealing slowly.

Jime waited a few moments before she spoke, allowing Suri to get herself under control. When she was sure Suri wouldn’t cast some random spell on her, she bumped her with her hip. “Sooo, what did you get?”

“I sent a potion to someone.”

“Who?”

Suri looked up at Jime and away. “Do you know where the passage to Idaho…Indiana…Iowa is?”

Jime turned around and whistle at the Pouka passing by on the other side of the street. “Yo!” she called out. “Which way to Iowa?”

“Columbus and Hispaniola. “

“Columbus and Hispaniola,” Jime repeated to Suri who chuckled and mumbled ‘irony’.

“Lets go,” Suri said. “By the way, you owe me.”

~~~~~

A small popping sound and a puff of smoke brought James attention away from Jamie’s sleeping form to the nightstand beside her bed. There sat a small flask with a tiny piece of paper attached to it. Cautiously like, he lifted the flask and detached the note. Looking at the silvery liquid yet gaseous content in the bottle, he sat it back down wondering what it was. Whatever it was, it couldn’t be something good if it just popped out of nowhere.

He unfolded the note, and unfolded, and unfolded. The little slip of paper, no longer than a 1x2 inch sticky note, changed into a full-length sheet of paper.

James,

Not all of us as dangerous. I don’t know what your connection to my aunt may be, but you have a connection anyway, so I’m sure despite your wariness you know that statement to be truth.

As a token of gratitude, and also an apology for the injury you sustained (thank that douche bag, Zeus for saving you, although he was a little slow in doing so), I offer you a token. A solvent for your sister’s ails.

No! It’s not poisoned. Don’t even think about throwing it away. It will aid her, I assure you. Feed it to her, and when she’s well once more, I think you should have a long talk with her about insulting someone of my caliber.

If she ever calls me old again, she’ll live the remainder of her days with permanent warts on her face, warts that no amount of surgery and/or cosmetics will cover. Just Joking.

-Suri

P.S: Attached to the back is a check for your troubles. Thank the vampire for that one.

~~~~~

“You know,” Suri called out to Jime who stood on the other side of the field harvesting but could hear her as if she were right next to her, “I don’t think Zeus put much thought into this list.” She popped an ear of corn off, then another. “I mean, besides two or three task, the rest of this is fairly easy. I mean…this is just too easy. Surely he knew it would be. You may have been Queen of the Murderers, but you were a farmer in the Spanish lands first, right?”

“That was a long time ago,” Jime responded.

“But it’s still in your blood obviously…at least in your soul…body.”

“I get the point,” Jime replied bitterly. “Are you talking so much to distract yourself from the fact that you’re stealing from someone, while wearing a hot pink bikini, and king of the lechers is watching?” Suri didn’t respond but Jime heard her growl. “If farming is in my body, what’s your excuse? You’re expectantly good at this.” Which was no surprise considering the slave driver of a father Suri has. But, farming wasn’t something he’d subject her to. That was below him.

“The skin-walkers taught me while I was learning from the medicine man.”

“How’d that go? Bird brain was okay with that?”

“Not really,” Suri called. “He finds shamanism a waste of time, but to say so and prohibit me would have been a direct insult to my mom.”

And like herself, Jime thought, no one crossed Suri’s mom. Not even her own husband. Jime sniggered at the thought.

“Well, aren’t you enjoying yourself,” a deep voice rumbled only a few feet from behind her. Jime jumped up and hissed as her fangs shot out. The wind picked up and spun around them, the tension cracking between the two as their powers thundered against one another.

From the other side of the field, Suri felt the shift of the wind and the rise of power with it. She bolted up and ran through the field of corn, most which had been picked within the three hours they had been on the field. Running as fast as she could, she covered the acres that separated her from Jime in a matter of seconds. Suri burst through the field into the clearing where Jime had been working and froze. “Ah. Shit!” she said as she saw Jime facing off against Jack. And not the car.

Chapter 12.

2011-08-09T19:08:00.000-07:00

12.

“Hold on, nobody talk!” Jamie exclaimed in her usual dramatic style while her gaze fixated intensely on Suri. “How old are you?” She asked Suri but went on before she could answer, “Because you look way too young for my big brother and it’s kinda creeping me out right now.” She made an eww face.

“I’m not too young for him! In any case, he’s too young for me!”

“Really? Then, are you, like, addicted to botox or something? ‘Cause you have, like, zero wrinkles on your face… you must be loaded. And you’re fit… you probably live in the gym, or have a personal gym of your own you can use all day- Oh, my God! Do you own a gym? Because your loaded? Are you really rich? This is awesome! I have a new big sister! Welcome to the family!”

Jamie clapped her hands and hugged a stunted Suri, who didn’t know what to say. It was the first time she had ever been called old, and she didn’t like it. Not one bit. She turned her body around, or as much as she could manage with Jamie hanging on to her like her favorite stuffed animal, to bestow her Death Glare on James.

James had been checking his body for the bullet wound he knew he had suffered, the evidence being in all the blood covering the front of his shirt, but found none. He felt fine. It was too weird, he should have been feeling at least a bit nauseous from the teleporting… The vampire had teleported them back home, he had been hurt, bent over the floor from the pain… then… nothing… then he was standing up grabbing his shirt. He was sure some kind of paranormal shit had just gone down and he didn’t know what it was, dammit, he did not like having his memory toyed with, let alone his body. He looked up to find the witch girl glaring at him while his sister hugged the life out of her. What the hell?

“Jamie, let go of her, she’s not a squishy toy.”

Jamie didn’t seem to hear him, keeping a tight grasp on Suri, she eventually loosened her hold but managed to keep Suri’s hands clasped with hers. “I’m so happy for you two! So, when’s the wedding?” She gazed at her brother but lost all train of thought, her face paling with horror at the sight of his bloody shirt. “Wha-?” She shakily pointed at the big stain, then met James’ eyes and immediately passed out.

Suri grabbed Jamie’s unconscious body while James ran to them and helped get his sister on his bed.

“What happened to her?” Suri asked.

James was beyond angry. Jamie had just experienced a watered down version of the vampire attack, and her repressed feelings of mind-numbing fear had overwhelmed her. He didn’t know what to do now, what a mess. He lovingly arranged a pillow under Jamie’ head and went about looking for his address book to call their psychiatrist, he just remembered that she had said if Jamie suffered a relapse to call her as soon as possible. Will Jamie have to go on medication again? It was probable. He supposed he’ll have to come up with a reasonable explanation for the blood, even if he didn’t know what happened exactly himself. Nothing good ever came out of getting tangled with the supernatural. Nothing!

Suri watched James go on in his bedroom, tending to his sister, completely forgetting she was there. Boy had some serious problems here… it was sad. She felt like a peeping tom just standing there doing nothing, so she grabbed the bag they had used for the Alien heist, and just teleported out.

************

Jime laid spread out on top of jack’ hood, gazing out at the stars above her. The cool breeze caressing her hair as the sounds of the night played their music undisturbed. Her dreams, all her wishes, actual happiness was at the tip of her fingers, she was closer and closer to the All-Delivering Potion. After all these centuries… she would be free to look at the sun, get a nice tan, and just be free. Of everything and everyone she hated. They could kiss her ass. It meant too much, the sun. Humans thought their ‘winter depression’ was bad? Try feeling that for eternity; Jime longed to feel the warmth of the sun’s rays on her skin, to watch how everything changed colors around her (she was sure, with her vampire vision, it would be mesmerizing); to eat real food, she was so tired of the liquid diet; to witness how human life went about the day, with everything buzzing and moving, it would be a riot! She had missed so many thing dropping dead every day!

But more than all that, it was what the sun represented for her that she desperately wanted.

If she could walk in the day… she would not be the night’s puppet any more. And by night she meant the King of all vampires. Hell, maybe that potion would reverse her vampirism and make her human again! That would be…

Jimena had never wanted to be a vampire, back in the day. She was just another illiterate woman from thousands. Her family lived a peaceful farming life in the Spanish countryside, while the rest of Al-Andalus became a beacon of learning and culture under the Moor influence and the Christian kingdoms warred for power. Now that she thought about it, well, there is just no comparison… medieval times were filthy, even if you had your own small river right next to your house… Jimena always gave thanks for indoor plumbing, she loved that modern luxury. But anyway, back in the day, she was so innocent, she never suspected what cruelty humankind could show… but never even dreamed of what the supernatural would be able to do. Her father had been an astute man, if the Moors came, they were Muslim, if the Christians came, they were Christians; he always said God was one and the same anyway, might as well go with the flow and protect their family by any means. But he never guessed that human religion wasn’t something of importance when it came to vampires.

Whatever Jimena had thought life was all about was crushed in her face when the King kidnapped her and made her his. His property.

Her family never knew what happened to her.

Jime brushed clean her tear-streaked face with the back of her hand. It wasn’t good to remember the past. She should stop now. Must forget. Damn that creep Zeus for bringing it up in her mind. Better to concentrate on the now, on the good things. It had been a hellish nightmare the first centuries of her vampire existence, BUT she had managed to learn, to accommodate, and to make things work for her advantage. She had managed to run away and become a woman vamp of her own. She had come to love the independence, the power, she wielded. She was now one of the oldest most powerful ones out there, she was respected, even feared. Becoming a vampire had not been all bad since then. In many respects, it was awesome.

Suri appeared then, bag in hand, and furiously walked to where jack was. She looked on Jime, tapping her foot on the floor, her hands on her hips. Jime looked at Suri and burst out laughing.

“What?”

“You bailed on me! I can’t believe you!”

“Sooooo… are you James’ girlfriend now?” Jime wagged her brows.

Suri thrust her arms down “Apparently! Jamie got it in her head that I’m rich too, and older than James.” The surly tone of Suri’s voice was a thing of beauty.

“Oh, sweet karma, how I love thee,” Jime singsonged. “You’re old?”

“Whatever.” Suri embraced jack with a slump, “I’m tired now… and I don’t feel like talking shit about Jamie and James… they have their issues.”

“All right.” Jime jumped off jack’s hood and opened the driver side door. “It will be daylight soon, let’s go find a Hotel and check in, you can rest and sleep all day while I’m dead and then we’ll go by the list again and refine what to do next.”

They climbed on jack and burned rubber on the asphalt, after Suri re-did all the spells she had cast on the car before. Jime knew she had to say something to Suri, she had had a very good point bringing up the fact that she had better chances of defending herself if she knew all there is to know, but it was so difficult to talk about the past, and talking about it made Jime remember, when she had spent so much time willing her mind to forget. It was a trick Suri’s grandmother had taught her actually, to keep herself from going mad.

Bracing herself, Jime inhaled deeply and said, “Anne Rice.”

Suri turned her head from looking at the road lights fly by, startled, “What?”

“You were wrong, the Sookie Stackhouse book author reference you made? Charlaine Harris doesn’t have any ultimate Queen of all vampires in her books. If there ever was a Queen, it was Anne Rice’s Akasha, Queen of the Damned. Now, there was someone who kicked ass, I would have followed her gladly. I wish- I… I wish there really was a queen of all vamps instead of-” She swallowed, “The actual King we do have…”

Suri waited for Jime to continue, this level of vulnerability she was hearing in her aunt’s voice was something she never thought could be… it made her pay attention.

“O.k., ok, that Reina comment Zeus said?... La Reina was my nickname, at one point in time… I was the queen, but not of all vampires, just… the murdering ones.” Jime chanced a somewhat fearful glance at her niece, waiting to see how she would react to that.

Suri worked to keep her face blank, so Jime took that as a good sign and went on.

“You see… right after I was turned… I sort of… succumbed to the bloodlust. Going to that dark place helped me live through the things I was-” She cleaned her throat, “Subjected to. I got so good at it that the King made me his head lackey. My team and I did all his dirty work, for centuries.” She inhaled and exhaled, “It’s not something I want to relive or talk about, Suri.”

Suri frowned and went back to watching the road. Soon after they found a Hotel in the next big town and parked jack there. Jime pulled the shadows to cover them while they opened the trunk so she could climb in.

“Uhm, dearest wonderful understanding niece of mine…”

“What do you want now.”

“Could you, maybe, be so kind as to magic 1 lt. of blood for me? Blood donation plastic bags will do nicely, don’t want to ruin the upholstery.”

“Didn’t you have enough with those thugs at the Diner? I thought you didn’t need to feed often now.”

“Yes, you’re right, but what with the James incident and all… Could you also make it diabetics blood? I feel like having something sweet.”

Suri snapped her fingers and the bags appeared inside the trunk.

“Thank you, thank you,” Jime climbed in and settled for the day, “See you tomorro-” She was cut off by Suri closing the trunk. Well, Jime thought, she took the new information better that she expected. Her niece wasn’t aware of all the past deeds in Jime’s undead life, she would need time to reconcile them with the cleaned-up image she had of her aunt. Jime thought it was better to drop a few facts at a time, so as not to overwhelm Suri, and this was as good a start as any, she figured.

************

Suri checked in the Hotel and went to her room, she dropped her bags, looked around, and went out again. She needed to eat, she was ravenous. She had spent too much energy with their latest antics and really was in need of some food and a good sleep. She found a nice little neighbourhood restaurant right around the corner and bought food to go.

She was resting on her hotel bed with her treasure around her, watching TV. The pork barbecue, mashed potatoes and big-ass green salad were good, but the best turned out to be the cornbread and the vegetable soup. Delicious.

As usual, there was nothing good on TV. Her mind started to wander to what Jime had told her in the car. Why did it bother her that Jime had a dark past? She had figured as much on her own, she never thought her aunt was all Glinda the Good Witch, it would have been naïve, silly of her, to think that, and she was anything but. But it was one thing to suspect and another to have confirmation she supposed. Maybe what really bothered her wasn’t all the vampire violence, but the fact that she hadn’t been considered… what? Mature enough to handle it? That she had been kept in the dark? Well! It stops now! It was about time her aunt started to confide in her!

Suri’s rightful indignation was followed by another disturbing thought. Jime had suggested, somewhere along her speech, that she had been abused by the King? It had sounded something like that to her… and the way Jime was so reluctant to talk, and even remember… it was as if she was afraid somehow. But she shouldn’t be, Suri thought, her aunt was the take-no-prisoners type. NO ONE messed with her, and those who did were fools. Huh… she now realized all those skills came from that time serving the vampire King. Things were bound to be different now, as opposed to so long ago, anyway.

They’ll have to take things as they came, she figured. No sense in dwelling on the past, it couldn’t be changed. Suri loved who her aunt was now. Her past persona was a stranger to her.

**********

The next night found Jime using the bathroom while Suri talked through the door.

“Right, so task #1, a.k.a. the Apple Heist, we’ll leave for last?”

“Yes, we’re gonna need all the help we can get for that one.” Jime answered while washing the shampoo off.

“Operation Dragon Scales is mine, #3, a.k.a. Feather Fever, will take time and research so we’ll also let that one be for now.”

“The snake feather thing, I have a pretty good idea who to ask though…”

“Ok, #4 a.k.a. Dog Fight, and #5 a.k.a. Gross, are yours.”

“Right.” Jime applied the conditioner.

“#6? Whack-a-Naga?”

“Uhm… let’s leave that one third to last, I’m guessing since we don’t know exactly what entails capturing a Naga our best bet would be convincing him to help us, instead of fight him.”

“#7 a.k.a. Hairball…?”

Jime sighed and braced herself, she could think of only one person to ask for that one. “Mountain Trolls inhabit the wild parts of Scandinavia… that’s all I know. But there is one person who knows all about Trolls… Jack.”

“Oh, Come on!” Suri exclaimed, “Not him! I swear you have some insane attraction for that loser. There’s another story you WILL have to tell me if we’re going to go his way again!”

“I know! I will, just give me time!”

“Fine. #8 a.k.a. Glitter Panties is mine, #9 a.k.a. Zeus-is-a-big-geek is a check…” Suri grabbed a pen and checked that one. “#10 a.k.a. Farmer Chick?”

“We can do that one tonight, we just have to go do it, we’ll probably spend the hole night… and I suspect the Z-man will not be exactly watching, but ogling us, hence the bikinis.”

“Fer Christ’s sake…” Suri sighed, “#11 a.k.a. Senior Trouble?”

“Ah… let’s leave that one for last.”

“Ok, #12 a.k.a. the Alien Heist is also a check. Two down, ten to go is not bad at all considering we were given the list yesterday.”

“You’re right. We rock like that.” Jime turned off the shower.

“And that’s my cue to go.” Suri walked back inside the room and threw herself onto the bed, bouncing.

Jime came out with some denim hot-pants, a checkered shirt knotted in the front, wellingtons and a purple straw cowboy hat on her heard. Suri chuckled at the outfit.

“You look more like you’ll be heading for the Love Parade than farming.”

“It doesn’t matter, since we’ll be in bikinis pretty soon.”

“Ugh. The things I do for you, tia.”

Suri got up, magicked herself a bikini, with overalls, cowboy boots and her hair up to showcase her neck and then both women teleported to the Underground to find a passage for rural Iowa.

The Witch

2011-08-08T16:08:00.001-07:00

Thanks Poppet!!! Love it!

Sunset Coven 11

2011-08-06T21:34:00.001-07:00

I definitely did not edit a thing. Too tired. Took a nap and would have slept through the night, but woke up just to type this for you guys. I could have gone on, but I'm too sleepy to continue. Therefore, you're only getting this.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Suri shifted uncomfortably and uncontrollably in the passenger seat while Jime drove, tension riding hard down both of their backs. She waited and waited, determined to let Jime be the one to bring it up, but Jime proved resilient. Suri sighed and shifted again. "Are we just going to leave the white elephant here alone or can I poke at it now?"

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Really?"

Jime chuckled humorlessly. "You're always going on about one thing or another, it's hard to keep up with you."

"That means I can poke it?" Suri jabbed her index finger repeatedly in the air. "Thanks, La Reina."

Jime mumbled inauditibily under her breath.

Suri nodded her head sarcastically. "Yeah. Huh uh. That elephant. Why'd her call you Queen."

"You're honestly questioning why a guy, God or not, who can't even speak Spanish properly called me Queen."

Suri twisted in her seat. "No. Not just Queen but The Queen. I don't speak Spanish either, but I don't think that was a simple grammar error. I think he knew what he was doing with the whole La thing, and I think you know what it means and once again you're hiding something else from me. So what, are you like the Queen of all vampires or something? I thought that was only some B.S Char...whatever Sookie Stackhouse author name is, made up."

When Jime didn't respond immediately, Suri figured she just might be on the right path. "So you are." She threw her hands up in defeat. "Just fucking great. My aunt is The Queen of all vamps."

"Don't start, sobrina." Jime's grip on the steering while tightened. "No, I'm not The Queen of vampires. Yes, there is a King, but he's...he has nothing to do with me and I'd like to keep it that way."

Suri heard what wasn't said. Jime has history with the King; something the Z-man knew and knew Jime wouldn't like the reminder. Fine, if Jime didn't want to talk about it, so be it. She could just stuff that and whatever other secrets she has in that bag of hers. "You know, I'm tired of being treated like a child."

"You are a child," Jime retorted instantly.

"I may not be as old as you--"

"You better pray you live to be this old."

"I do. Every night, because everyday I wake up I prepare myself for something else you've been keeping from me that'll come to take a bite out my ass." She shifted.

"Language, darling."

"I don't need you to correct my speech either. You're not my mother."

"How sad. I like your mom. Your dads a different story."

Suri grunted. "They say the people who often can't stand each other are similar in many ways."

Jime laughed, this time with humor. "That's rich. Where did you get that from, a fortune cookie? Sage and I are nothing alike."

"Then stop trying to protect me. I can handle myself, Tia. I could do it better if I knew what I was up against, so enough with this keeping your dark past a secret from me. I don't like lies."

"I've never lied. Only omitted," she answered honestly. " You don't need to know everything. I can't even remember most of it until someone says it."

"Omissions and half truths are lies as well, so stop it. Please. Because I don't think you'll like if I figure it out on my own. I'd rather not have to cross that path again so soon," Suri spoke of the dark temptation that lived within a witch or wizard when he or she played with dark magic.

"Is it hard to control?"

She shook her head. "No. I don't think it is." she sighed. "It's just that I no longer know if my thoughts are my own or spawned from that thing." She twitched.

Jime stole a glance at her niece. "What do you have fleas or something?"

Suri reached down the right side of the seat and pulled the lever to push her seat flat back. With a simple bash of her eyes, the windows tinted. Unsnapping the seatbelt she twist around and yanked her shirt off. “It burns.”

Jime sucked in a sharp breath at the sight of the raw flesh that was once smooth skin on her nieces back. Her fangs elongated. "I'm going to take my time when I kill that dragon."

Her bra flew into the back of the car along with her shirt. A la nude from the waist up, minus the necklace that dangled from her neck, Suri rubbed her hands together, inaudible babble falling swift pass her lips. Her hands heated and the temperature inside of Jack rose.

"What are you doing?" Jime asked when Suri suddenly hugged herself, running her hands up and down her back. She shifted her gaze from the road to Suri swiftly, multiple times, but Suri continued to chant and run her hands along her back.

“Well whatever it is, hurry up. It’s hotter than werewolf balls in here.”

Suri had her eyes closed, but opened one at that common and shook her head.

“It’ll heal,” Jime told her. “It’s just taking you a bit longer because you’re fresh into your immortality.”

“There’s no such thing as immortality. We’re just harder to kill. Even we can die. All you need is the proper weapon.”

“Why such the solemn outlook on life. That’s unlike you, baby niece.”

Suri dropped her arms and spun around, lying down on the seat with her back exposed. “Wits end, I guess. First that thing with the pansy,” Pixie Fae, “then, the fight with the wolves before Jack’s bar, Jack’s bar, the fight with the wolves at Jacks bar, that banshee bitch, fighting the wolves after Jack’s bar, having my…” Suri stopped midsentence. She sighed and closed her eyes. “Now the Z-man wants to send us on one of his ever dreadful and stupid freaking quest all for his amusement…” she stopped and sighed again, this time pushing out a bit of annoyance. “Wits end.”

Jime pulled the IPhone from her pocket and connected it to the dock. “Well, lets get you out of this down and damper mood. You’re totally killing my vibe, and if we’re going to go off and make a fool of ourselves, we should at least do it in a good mood.” She pressed the play button and let whatever music James kid sister had on it play.

This kitten got your tongue tied in knots, I see. Spit it out cause I’m dying for company.

Suri pushed up onto her elbows. “This for my own musical education as well,” she chucked her head towards the stereo.

“Hell yeah!” Jime said pumping to the beat, the Chanel shades suddenly on. “Britney’s back, baby. Time for the world to recognize that.”

“Super Junior’s back too, but you don’t see me blasting Mr. Simple for your musical education.”

“Any special reason you’re all into Asian’s now?” Jime asked, a perfectly arched brow rising above the shades.

“Oh suck it.” Suri dropped back down onto the seat.

They drove in silence, or as much silence as one could have with Jime blasting the IPod the entire time. “I swore to kill him,” Suri mumbled into the headrest of the seat, her arms folded so she rested on her hands.

Jime reached out to turn the volume down. “Good.”

“Now I’m not so sure if I made that decision because the woman in me felt betrayed or if it was the darkness in me that’s driving me.”

“Hmm.”

“That’s it. Hmmm? That’s your great motivational advice to your poor niece who wanted to hear something…anything to help her out of a sticky situation.”

“You kill him, or I will. How’s that.”

“You won’t.”

Jime ran her tongue slowly over the tips of her fangs. “I will.”

Suri sat up. “You won’t. He’s mine to handle. Leave him to me.”

Jime held up her right hand to block her view. “I know that us creatures of the lore are more openly sexual then mortals, but either lay back down or put a shirt on. I don’t like having my kid nieces’ chaachanichi’s all pointing at me.”

Suri crossed her arms over her chest. “The dragon is mine,” she repeated.

“You’ve said that…three times already.”

Suri growled at her aunt.

“So for mission number 2?” Jime inquired.

“Leave that to me.”

“You know his lackey will come after you if you so much as harm a hair on Tor-Tor’s head.”

Suri laughed arrogantly. “River is the least of my worries.”

“Well, I can take care of River if you don’t mind. It’s no sweat of my back. Really. I’ll be glad to help.”

Suri tried to keep her lips from twitching, but couldn’t refrain. “I just bet you would. And the fact that he’s all types of Aztec warrior hot and sexy and those scales of his are an aphrodisiac of their own has nothing to do with it?”

“You’ve seen his scales?”

Suri nodded. “Gorgeous things they are. Not as magnificent as Toren’s but unique in their own way.”

“When exactly did you see their scales?”

“I’ll tell you that when you tell me what’s up with you and Jack Jammers.”

“Nothing.”

“I don’t like lies. Honestly, Tia, it would serve you well to remember that.”

Jime flipped her hair over her shoulder, signifying that Suri’s threat was easily brushed aside. “Lets compromise. You’ll tell me about River and Tor-Tor, when I tell you about Jack, when you tell me what it was that you were just doing to your back.”

Suri shrugged. “Simple. Healing it.”

“That wasn’t a simple spell.”

“Because, it wasn’t a spell. More like an incantation or ritual of sorts that I picked up from the medicine man.” Suri reached for her bra and shirt and redressed herself.

“Nice necklace,” Jime commented. “Never saw it before. On you.”

Suri pressed her head through her shirt and twirls to face her aunt. “You know tia, sometimes I think you’re too anal.”

“That’s funny. My last bf dumped me because I wasn’t anal enough.”

“Ha!” Suri raised the seat to its proper position. “So…about this quest thing for this potion stuff. Do we have to do it in order, or can we just pick and choose until it’s complete.”

“I don’t see why we can’t.”

“You do know I could just conjure up half this stuff out of thin air like this.” Suri snapped.

A thick hardcopy book landed in Jime’s lap. She slammed on the breaks, Jack screeching as it came to a stop along the highway. She picked up the book and flipped through it checking all the signatures. “Shit, Suri. They’re all here.”

“Technical foul,” a deep voice rumbled from the back. Suri and Jime both whipped around to find the God King sitting in the back seat, taking up all the space with his overkill of a robe. “That’s cheating.”

“Is it?” Suri countered.

“You can’t use magic to wish the objects into your possession.”

“You never said we couldn’t,” Jime responded.

Zeus eyes narrowed to slits. “My patience runs thin with you already. Do it correctly.”

Suri rolled her eyes, a quintessential teenage move, and shifted to face forward again.

“Fine, fine,” Jime resigned. “We won’t magically wish the items into our possession even if she’s a witch and magically wishing stuff is what she does, but since you never said we couldn’t from the start,” she held the book up. “This is all yours.”

Zeus smiled, a mischievous gleam in his eyes that made the hairs on the back of Jime’s neck stand. He took the book and just like that, he was gone.

Jime turned around. “Well.” She looked at Suri who frowned. “What next.”

Suri slumped in her seat. “I say we start with something simple.”

“Okay. Area 51 it is. Always wanted to go there.”

“I was thinking more along the lines of Fairy’s underwear.”

“51 first. Then Fairy. It’ll be daylight in about,” Jime checked the clock, “5 hours. That’s more than enough time to get in and out, but I don’t want to push it where the fairy are concerned. Time runs differently around them. In fact, you may have to handle that one on your own.”

“Gladly. I know a Fae. You can do number 5. I’m not touching anyone’s spit,” Suri bit out disgusted.

They took a few moments of going through the list again sorting out which missions would be best to handle alone or together and which ones the had no clue how to handle. “The naga might be a tough one to do without magic.”

“Tell me about it. Same thing for Hera.”

“She’ll smite us.”

Jime laughed. “I don’t think anyone smites people anymore, Suri.”

“Don’t laugh,” Suri warned, “I’m not the most intelligent where animals are concerned, and yeah, I know, that’s a real disgrace considering my mom’s dad being all tribal and skin-walkers and such, but do snakes have feathers?”

Jime laughed anyway. She laughed until she had to clutch her stomach. “Lets just get this over with.” She shifted Jack into drive and drove further along down the road until she found a good place to stash him. Once they exited, Suri made the car invisible again and turned to Jime. “Now what?”

“Now, we teleport.” Jime grabbed onto Suri’s elbow and flashed.

“Human!” Jime called out.

James shot up in bed, the blanket pooling around his waist leaving him exposed from hips up. “What? Does everyone want to flash me today?” Jime muttered nonchalantly. She ran her eyes over James once, then again. “Not bad, human. Not bad at all, wouldn’t you agree, Sobrina.”

Suri shrugged uninterested.

“What do you want now?” James asked, sleep lacing his voice making it far more deep and huskier than usual.

For the first time ever, Jime wondered why James didn’t have a girlfriend. Yeah, she kept an eye on him over the years so she knew all about his nonexistent dating life. Outside of taking care of his sister, he didn’t have a life at all. But that’s what made him so convenient to her. “We’re doing a little B and E tonight, along with some theft from a major government facility.” She looked at Suri and nodded.

Suri rolled her eyes. “Really? This is an all time low for you tia, dragging a mortal into something like this. Do you know what would happen to him if he was caught.”

“Which is why you won’t let him get caught, isn’t it.”

Suri sighed for the thousandth time tonight. A black bag appeared at Jime’s feet.

“Thanks,” Jime smiled. She bent down to pick up the bag and tossed it at James who caught it. “Lace up,” she said.

James squeezed the bridge of his nose trying to ward off the instant headache. How did he life end up this way? Sometimes he wondered if maybe he should have died that night in the alley. Those moments were brief and only ever occurred when the vampire was around. He’d managed to keep her a closed chapter of his life, only even opening that book once when his sister asked about that awful night. That was years ago. So many times he wanted to avoid her, which is why he had moved often, but Jime always found him, so he gave up trying. If only he could just say no and she’d leave, but that never worked any time before now.

“You know, if you don’t want to do it, you don’t have to,” the girl next to Jime said. He’d never saw her before, outside of the video footage of her performing dark magic that he scanned for Jime only a night ago. She wasn’t his type, none of the paranormal was his type, her mere presence giving him the heebie-jeebies’, but she didn’t expel that deadly aura that the vampire did. Maybe it was that she appeared to be no older than his sister. Then again, she could be older than his house and he’d never know. He rubbed his eyes and unzipped the bag. “Exactly where is this place?”

Jime rubbed her hands together gleefully. “Some place you’ll love, I’m sure. Ever been to Area 51?”

Standing on the desert land in Nevada in plain sight of the USA military, James turned to the vampire and witch. “My sister?” he asked for the twelfth time, much to Suri’s displeasure.

“Is perfectly safe,” she said for the twelfth time. “There are protection enchantments on your house, ones I didn’t place there.” She arched a brow. “Any knowledge about that?”

There were charms on his house? “No. I don’t.” Who placed charms on his house?

“Humph.”

“Quit worrying,” Jime cut in. “You don’t even have to do much. Just crack a few codes to get us in and that’s it. The minutes we get through, Suri will send you back.”

And he was so looking forward to that experience again. NOT! James had never been teleported anywhere before. It wasn’t something he wanted to experience any time soon. His entire body felt as if it had been tugged and ripped apart, twisted and set on fire. The sensation lasted on a second, maybe three, before his feet left New York wood to touch Nevada desert. He spent the first fifteen minutes vomiting and wheezing, precious time Jime couldn’t afford to waste she reminded him.

“Yes you can. We’re in the PDT which is 3 hours behind EST. Sunlight won’t rise here for another seven-eight hours.”

His attention switched back to the guards.

“They can’t see us,” Jime said. “Not yet.”

“Once we get into the artifacts room, that’ll change, but that’s when Suri will send you back. See. No harm no foul.”

Did James believe it would go that smoothly? Not in a chance in hell. He just hoped if anything did go wrong, his sister would be safe. He really should have said no to this, found a way to get out of it. There was just a certain line you don’t cross, and breaking into a government facility to steal an alien artifact was one of those lines. But how could he resist the allure of even being so close to something that has fascinated him for so long. Was it unfair that they planned to send him back before he even had a chance to see anything? Totally, especially since he was doing all the work.

“Ready?” Jime asked.

“Was about an hour ago,” Suri replied dully.

James was hesitant, but followed when the girls started to walk towards the building. Jime used the moonlight to cast a shadow to hide them completely amongst the dark.

“I thought you said they couldn’t see us,” James whispered.

“They can’t,” Jime replied.

“But cameras are tricky things,” Suri added. “Sometimes they see us, sometimes they don’t.”

“That’s very reassuring. Don’t you think this is something you should have mentioned to me before?”

“Shut up,” Jime said. “They can still hear.”

James bit his tongue and ran along the building sides to the door they would use as an entrance. The door was the one with the most cameras but least accessed. When they reached the door, James pulled out an extremely high-tech digi-pad he knew wasn’t even available on the black market yet (oh the things the lore could do), and inserted the connecting card into the card slot. With a few taps at the pad, the light changed green and the sound of the door unlocking was all the needed before Jime open it and dashed inside. James pulled the key card out and stuff the device back into his backpack before running in after them. Two guys in uniforms and guns were walking down the hall. He froze, holding his breath not to make a sound. All this secret agent spy stuff wasn’t for him. His nerves were edgy. All he could think about was being caught and his sister. Who would take care of her if he was caught and jailed for life?

Unlike him, Jime and Suri didn’t freeze; they continued to shuffle down the hallway, winding their way throughout the building, narrowly dodging pass people as they tried to locate the artifact room. He shuffled cautiously behind them.

“Use those fancy gadgets I gave you locate the room,” Jime said.

“I did. It’s three levels below ground. Only way down is the elevator that’s located in the left rear section of the building.”

Jime pushed him in front, his skin shivering at her cold touch. “You lead,” she commanded. So he lead them threw the building to the elevator they needed and down to the room. Now the tricky part was opening the four-door vault with a level 10-proto security system. This level security was techno savvy’s wet dreams, almost impossible to crack. Almost was the key word here.

It took longer than expected and a bit of help from the witch, but he managed to get through three of the vaults. He sighed and backed away from the last door.

“What? You can’t get in?” Jime asked.

“Oh, I can get in there alright, but this one is a bit more complicated. See this slot here?” He pointed to a slit hole in the wall above the keypad mounted in the wall. “Whatever it requires, we don’t have, and I don’t think even you can manipulate it this time.”

“You can get it open. So what’s the problem?” Jime asked.

“The alarm will go off the moment I breach the system and the door opens. It’ll be less than a minute before guards are swarming the place.”

“Actually,” a throat cleared from behind them. “It won’t even take that long,” a solider said, his gun trained in their general direction.

But how was that possible. They were still protected by Suri’s charm, right? “Can he see us?” James whispered frantically to Jime who shrugged causally.

“Maybe. But he can definitely hear and smell us. Stinking wolf. How low has this country sunk to let the flea bags in the system.”

James didn’t know what to do. They were caught. They weren’t supposed to be caught, and by a werewolf at that. He’d never seen a werewolf before. The guy who smaller in frame then he was, but that was obviously a delusion. Werewolves were notoriously strong and fast, equal to vampires if myths were true.

“Change of plans,” Jime said.

“Open the door,” Suri directed to him, “and help her pick out a working item,” she emphasized the word ‘working.’ “I’ll handle the mutt.”

“Let me do it. I’m stronger. Faster,” Jime said.

“Just go, tia. Get the item and get the mortal out. Once you get it, the magic’s back on. I’ll meet you back in NY in t-minus five minutes. Shouldn’t take that long.”

Jime hesitated. She would never admit it, but she was a bit nervous at the moment. “You’r—“

“I’ll be fine. I promise,” Suri cut her off as two other soldiers, wolves, suddenly entered the space between the vaults.

“Open it,” Jime said as she threw the shadow back up to cloak her and James. A second later the last vault door opened and sirens and flashing lights blared throughout the building. The sound of machine guns firing behind them made her shove James inside, leaving Suri to take care of the wolves. She trusted her niece to handle the job quickly and get out.

James stood there for a few seconds awestruck. He really was in the motherland of all things alien. That means aliens actually exist. Why shouldn’t they? Vampires, Witches, and Werewolves did. He would have loved to take his sweet time survey all the items individually but Jime’s voice thundered through the room for him to hurry up. He felt his body move despite his control over it. This was the first time she ever voiced him. It freaked him out, set his weird and wrong-o meter off the scale.

On autopilot, his body moved throughout the room careful not to touch anything and leave his fingerprints, while using one of the devices in the bag to pick up on any radioactivity that signified a working object. His journey into the vault wasn’t far before the scanner started making weird noises that could be heard off the sound of gun fire and…he didn’t even want to think about what ever it was that was making that other noise back in the vault doorways. “Here,” he called to Jime who was at his side before he finished the word.

“You sure? I don’t want this to all be a waste.”

“Positive,” he responded.

Jime grabbed it just as one of the wolves made it inside and opened fire. Jime latched onto his shoulder, which required her to reach high because of the height difference. A sharp pain resonated through him body making him shut his eyes tightly and hold his breath. A second passed and his feet landed on the floor of his bedroom where he collapsed into a pile at Jime’s feet.

She allowed him a few moments to gather himself, teleporting could be hard on those who weren’t use to it, but when five minutes passed and he didn’t stir, she grew impatient. Suri should be back by now, and James should at least be sitting up. “Come off it. It’s not that bad,” she said. When he didn’t move or respond she crouched down and shook his shoulder. “Hey.” She patted his side and pulled away a wet bloody hand.

Jime inhaled sharply, the rich smell of iron in his blood suddenly so strong and compelling she couldn’t stop herself from licking her palm clean, her fangs growing. She wanted to do it again and again and sink her teeth into his neck to drink him, and she would have if Suri hadn’t flashed into his room and grabbed her by the back of her neck just has she hovered over his neck.

“He needs to be saved, not feasted on,” Suri said. Jime whipped Suri’s hand from her neck. Moving with lightening speed she got into Suri’s face, her fangs sticking out. “Bite me and I’ll poison my blood,” Suri stated. “Bite the human and you’ll live to regret it for the rest of your unnaturally long life. You don’t eat innocents.”

Jime continued to bear her fangs but not for the reason Suri thought. “You called the dark magic again.”

Suri shifted her gaze away. “It had to be done.” She side stepped Jime and kneeled next to James to heal his wound.

A thunderous applause sounded from the corner of the room. “Good job,” Zeus stepped out of the shadow. “Two in one night.” The little metallic device Jime forget was in her other hand flew out of her grasp into his. He surveyed it. “Very interesting.” With that, he vanished.

“Douche bag,” Suri commented. “Not even a thank you to the mortal. Some god he is.”

“You have quiet the mouth on you, little mage.” Zeus said from Suri’s side. She toppled over at his sudden reappearance. He ran a finger along her neck, trailing the necklace. “Interesting indeed.” He dropped the necklace and waved a hand over James. “Until the next item is collected,” he said to Jime and disappeared.

The room was silent, aside from the quiet shuffles of James moving, Jime and Suri waiting to see if Zeus would reappear. Feet pounded along the floor alerted them of Jamie’s rapid approach. James was on his feet, before the door open. “James? Are you okay? I heard a loud thump. Woke me—“ her voice trailed off at the sight in the room. “James!” she exclaimed. “You have a girlfriend you’ve been sneaking home,” she accused, “and you didn’t even tell me. I could have stayed the night out.”

Suri’s brow arched, her hands on her hips, when she noticed the teenager was starring directly at her. She looked around the room to find Jime had already vanished. Fucking great. Jime bailed on her.

The Scroll!

2011-08-06T21:07:00.000-07:00

I made it, LOL.

Chapter 10.

2011-08-05T22:16:00.000-07:00

Alright! I put TONS of stuff in this sobrina! hope you and trice like it! LOL.

______________________________________

10.

“Uhm, Oh Great Zeus, ruler of Olympus… could you let me off?… pretty please with sugar on top?” Jime tried to act humble and sweet but failed miserably, with her legs locked in place she even lost her balance a little bit, but she still held on to Suri with steel force.

Zeus chuckled while running his lewd gaze up and down them. “The little people, how they ask and ask and demand things from me, without giving me the appropriate retribution”

He sighed and mock-cleaned his fingernails.

The withering mass of naked bodies started to detangle themselves and one by one left the room, they acted like sexed-up zombies, spooking Suri and Jime even more.

Zeus was suddenly clothed and sitting on a throne in the middle of the room, gazing intently at the girls. When It was only the three of them left, he said with a thundering voice, “I HAVE BEEN EXPECTING YOU”.

Jime felts her limbs unlock and she and Suri stumbled a bit, startled, but then righted themselves with all the aplomb they could muster, which wasn’t much.

Figures Zeus would start playing mind games right from the start. That’s how all the greek gods were, thought Jime. “Is that so?” she murmured.

“SILENCE.”

Suri looked at Jime sideways with her it’s all your fault look, Jime responded with her don’t give me attitude now look.

Zeus drank from a glass of wine that suddenly appeared in his hand, doing the whole sommelier bit, taking his sweet time to continue.

“It was brought to my attention some time ago that the two of you were on a quest, looking for a certain something that eludes you at the moment,” He focused on Jime. “YOU want the All-Delivering Potion, do you not?”

Jime was shocked he knew, how did he know? She didn’t exactly tell anyone, did she? The only time she had recollection of that she might have let it slip was getting drunk on raspberry vodka blood at Jack’s vampire night club… oh God, the Bastard. She bit her lips but eventually capitulated.

“Yes, I do.”

Suri was breathing hard, finally getting an answer to the question she had been wanting to ask since the beginning of this crazy road trip but never had the time to worm out of Jime. The All-Delivering Potion. Now, what the hell was that? And what did Jime want with it?

Zeus was looking pretty smug and full of himself. That spelled trouble. He smiled a half smile at Jime and leered.

“You will have to give me something in return for my help, vampire.” He waggled his eyebrows.

Jime gulped, please, please, anything but sexual favors, please. “I realize that.”

Zeus’ devilish laugh exploded all around them. “You are too easy to read, La Reina.”

Jime’s blood boiled, “If you must use Spanish, please use it correctly, it should be just Reina, not La Reina…”

“First you sass my awesome joke and now you dare correct a GOD’s grammar? You are too much, little one; your saving grace is how easy on the eyes you and your friend are to me, but don’t be mistaken, try my patience one more time and you will regret ever coming to existence.” His eyes flashed with menacing thunderbolt.

After a breath Jime asked, “What will you have us do, Oh Great One?”

“Well, that’s more like it.” He rubbed his chin, “Let’s see… I find myself… a bit bored as of late… I think… YES, I’m in the mood for some entertainment. You will have to perform a series of tasks for me, whilst retrieving the ingredients for the Potion too, of course. When you are finished you will come back to me and we’ll go from there.” He rubbed his hands with glee, “This will be good!”

Now Jime and Suri audibly gulped, their faces paling.

Series of tasks? Suri thought, if he wanted to re-hash his glory days why not go make Hercules re-do his Labours? They were not semi-gods, for crying out loud!.

Jime was sure he was playing some personal card in between somewhere here, the gods were always doing stuff against each other, she was probably going to have to steal something from someone she didn’t want to piss off, she just knew it.

Zeus shuffled in his seat, accommodating himself and concentrating, looking serious. He ceremoniously spread his hands, golden light blinded Jime and Suri for a second, a scroll magically appeared in his palms.

“Ah!, It has been a long time…” He chuckled, “Well little girls, here is the list. Keep it. Own it. Live it.”

Jime walked forward and was given the scroll.

“Now, in the interest of the tasks I command you to do coming to successful fruition, I shall give you a little piece of information. We the Greek Gods, among Others, are still alive and well, living among mortals. Some are even in the spotlight, moonlighting as pop singers and such; someone even came out recently. Now off you go.” He shooed them out, now completely uninterested in them while a new line of women and men started to come into the room.

“Greek gods as pop singers? Who-” Jime murmured then gasped, “Ah! Kylie! Aphrodite!”

“Who?” Suri whispered.

“Kylie Minogue, dear niece, remind me to fiddle with your new Ipod when you get it.”

“I will put a password, and a spell, on it.”

“Party pooper.”

Suri and Jime stepped out, almost power-walking, aiming for the outside, eager to be done with the place. They by-passed the smiling servants, pushed open the doors, jugged down the front steps, blazed by the front gate guardian and ran like bats out of hell all the way to the place where they teleported from. Not even speaking with each other until oceans separated them from Zeus.

*********

“You gave your necklace to the witch? What is wrong with you?” The steam coming out of River’s nose was quickly over-saturating Toren’s room, as it always did.

Toren straightened with reluctant indignation, “I can do whatever the hell I want with my possessions! I AM the boss her-” He was cut off by a female voice floating in the air that could suddenly be heard with the clarity of the sharpest swords.

Toren! Warlord of the dragon clan. Find me before I find you. If you make me search for you, I’ll wipe out your entire nest in the process.

Jime’s angry words were silently considered by Toren and his right hand. The momentary interruption help River cool off his anger and once again regain his calm exterior. He crossed his arms and leaned on the wall, snarling at Toren, “Huh, at least it’s fortunate that love letter came after Jack Jammer of the Sinn-Jammers came and went, otherwise…” he let that thought trail, not having to explain the consequences.

Toren relaxed on his bed, weighting the pros and cons in his head. It would serve him to have Jack’s alliance be more hands-on now that the werewolf edge was a bust. He was one of the very few that knew if you called on Jack in battle the chances increased in your favor exponentially. Well, the old Jack that is; he didn’t exactly know how it would go with the relatively new, vampire Jack.

He looked at River, knowing how angry his friend got whenever Toren acted like a spoiled Lord; he really had fun making River angry. But right now he had to think, to plan, to carefully strategize his next move, and for that he needed to be alone.

“Alright, my friend, I will rest what I must to recover, don’t be such a sour puss,” He couldn’t help riling River after all, “Go see to the people, they must be spooked by the love letter, as you call it.”

“My Lord.” River bowed and left for the common rooms. After belittling Jime’s message to the people, making it seem like a personal vacuous threat not really intended against the nest he retired to his own room.

River had much to owe to the Dragon Clan, he owed his life. He would die protecting them all in a heart beat. Even though their traditions were considered too old fashioned for today’s world, and even though Toren was trying his hardest to change some of them, to ensure the nest’s survival, River was grateful for the role they had had in his case.

The old ones had accepted him in their mist without a moment’s doubt. If you were a dragon, you belonged. As simple as that.

River had always had problems belonging. It was always like that for people like him, half this and half that. His mother had been a human descendant of Korean dragons, his father an Aztec warrior. Mother had thought mating with Father would not affect her progeny, they would come out like her she thought, but big and strong, like the Aztec warriors; but more importantly she had married her husband for love. Something like that was just not done at the time. She had been cast out and had happily gone to live with her husband’s family in the Central-american jungle.

No one could have foreseen what River had come out as. Sure, he was big and strong like an Aztec warrior, his face was said to be beautifully Korean, almost female-like. Though, turns out the Korean dragon genes mixed with the Aztec genes had made his body actually go back, magically speaking, to a time where the Aztecs were powerful gods and not human at all. He was a new mixture of old. His dragon form was magnificent like the feathered serpent Quetzalcoalt, but his powers were more like Tlaloc. He was all about the water, the earth, and the dead.

Needless to say, he had been feared since childhood. Ostracized or revered, everyone had always had extreme reactions to him. He had learn by force to control his powers and thus himself since infancy. He could even say he hadn’t had an actual infancy, in fact. Such opposites had distanced him from everyone, and eventually his own family.

He had floated adrift aimlessly throughout the world since. Always the foreigner, the odd one out, the new arrival, he had gone to Korea looking for some kind of root, but had found none.

He had then fallen into a downward spiral of depression and jaded despondency he could not climb out of… until he met Toren and the Original Dragon Clan.

The Dragon’s secrecy had become so zealous with the passage of time because of the unrelenting continuous massacre of its people that even their human descendants had thought them extinct.

An oddity amongst oddities, he was suddenly welcomed with open arms.

There are no words to describe the joy he felt.

Nowadays, he worried about Toren. Sometimes he thought his friend and Lord wasn’t taking seriously the cause. Sometimes he was awed at Toren’s foresight and respected his power and leadership. He hadn’t seen him act so recklessly since they were young ones. He wondered what it was about the witch (and the vampire) that made Toren act like that.

********

Jack Jammer of the Sinn-Jammers was back at work. He strode like an insanely tall catwalk model through his night club, flirting with the clientele, making sure everyone was having a good time, buying tons of alcohol and the other specialties he had available for the usual creatures of the Lore who frequented. As always, women flocked to him like bees to his white-blond honey.

He put up with it. He wondered for a moment when he had stopped caring about the scene, about having fun , wenching and gambling, fighting, winning, the glory of it all that was due to him and nothing else.

If he was being truthful with himself he could pin-point the exact moment.

The second he set eyes on Jime.

Damn her.

Jack was suddenly impatient to be left alone, he locked himself in his office after demanding his substitute manager to continue taking care of it all and not let anyone bother him. He slumped on his chair and stared at the ceiling.

He had been so sure of everything, ever. What he wanted in life, death and undeath (when the opportunity to become a vampire had crossed his path). He missed the snow of Asgard, the bone-cold wind cracking his face while he skied into battle, never failing to kill his enemies with his bow and arrows. The speed of it all.

The speed. His skis, which he had had transmutated into his car. He will rue the day he ever told Jime his secret, and his old name. Ullr.

To this day he didn’t understand what had gone wrong with Jime and he. She hated him.

He had proposed to her, so sure she would fall to her knees with gratitude, he was so crazy about her, he would have forsaken everything by giving her the honour of his hand… but she had said no. With a straight face she had rejected him like he was nothing. It hurt deeper than he ever had thought possible.

And then she had had the audacity to go on about her undead life like nothing had ever happened. The nerve of that woman!

He would never forgive her, could never… AAHHHH!!!! Jack rubbed his face and stood up. The problem was inaction, he needed to move. He needed to hunt.

He would find her, and then they would have it all out in the open, he could not go on feeling stuck in one place while she moved on. He would make her explain herself. By force if necessary.

In the meantime, he had had fun poking into her business, she had mentioned the All-Delivering Potion in between drunken giggles to one of his bar’s patrons, who in turn had told him the bit of information. Jack had then mentioned it in passing to Zeus, it did concern him, after all it was a greek potion. Jack had no idea why she wanted the thing, but he couldn’t wait to find out.

When he had been informed Jime and her niece Suri had left and the Dragon Warlord Toren had followed he knew he had to keep taps on her. That woman was dangerous. Too bad he hadn’t been at the bar, otherwise he would have followed too.

It didn’t matter, he was sure the dragons would contact him sooner rather than later. And then… watch out Jime, your number will be up.

*********

Suri and Jime found themselves sitting inside Jack the car once again. Breathing with relief.

“All in all, we came out pretty good with our audience with Zeus, right?” Jime tried to be positive.

“Fuck that, we could have ended up like so much space dust and you know it!” Suri, the ever-realist yelled.

“There was nowhere to go but onwards! We couldn’t avoid it.”

“Yes, we could have! By not gone looking for the All-Delivering Potion in the first place!” Suri tried to calm down, “The time has come Tia, be truthful with me, what the hell is it and what do you want with it?”

Jime looked at the scroll in her hands, putting her thoughts together, while Suri waited expectantly for an answer.

“I don’t know what words I can use to express the importance of the following so I’m just gonna go ahead and say it in the simplest way” she breathed, “I want to see the sun again, the potion will make that a reality.”

Suri absorbed that, realizing the unsaid truths behind it. Jime had been falling in one of those mind traps all the old ones fall into, she was obsessed with the sun, all the clues finally fitting in, the wistful looks, the little comments, the freaking sunglasses at night. There was just no way to make her un-obsess with the sun. Suri resigned herself. With a half growl half sigh she relented, “Ok. Fine, you and I against the world it is. So what are the tasks, or ingredients, or whatever says that scroll?”

Jime slowly unrolled the scroll.

Zeus’ Excellent Dodekathlon Adventure!

If you want all your girly wishes come true you must complete the following twelve tasks!

1. Steal one Golden Apple of the Hesperides (recycled, I know, but it’s gonna be harder this time! They didn’t like them getting stolen that other time!).

2. Obtain one kilogram of Dragon scales.

3. Obtain one Feather from each of the following: Phoenix, Hippogriff, and Snake (Yes, this is a 3 in 1, so sue me).

4. Capture a Kage Inu Yokai.

5. Obtain one cup of a Cockatrice’s saliva.

6. Capture the Naga that guards the Ganges River.

7. Obtain one ball of a Mountain Troll’s hair.

8. Steal a fairy’s underwear.

9. Obtain a First Edition of George R.R. Martin’s A Game of Thrones hardcover book, signed by the entire cast of the HBO series by the same name (don’t forget the girl that plays Daenerys Targaryen’s signature!).

10. Harvest an entire corn field in Iowa while wearing bikinis (By yourselves, by hand, no cheating! I’ll be watching!).

11. Obtain one white hair off of Hera’s head.

12. Steal one Alien artefact that works out of Area 51 (I got this one out of a cartoon, but it’s still relevant! So DO IT!).

The crickets could be heard all around the still night.

Slowly, Jime and Suri looked at each other and said “Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat?”

Sunset Coven 9

2011-07-20T21:05:00.001-07:00

Tia!!! I lost my wallet in LA. T_T But I had a great time so that's okay.

This part is short. I'm going to have to let you go. No matter what I wrote, I just can't seem to come up with anything. Maybe if you continue on for a bit more I can figure something out. Gomen.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

River crossed his arms, his arms bulging in the fitted leather jacket he wore at all times. He stood there, leaning against the desk, a very bored expression on his face. He wasn’t one to mingle, especially with those ‘others’ who appeared to be mere mortals but weren’t. They may have been able to hide from everyone else, but River always knew there was something off. That was why he was second in common, despite what he was.

Staring into the eyes of the man sitting across from him, he wondered how Toren ended up dealing with the Sinn-Jammers. He wasn’t surprised that Toren had connections with the man. Not by a long shot. He’d been by his leader’s side for 346 years, 235 days, and some hours in counting, so he knew that he had various…friends, for lack of a better term. More times then he wanted to count, he walked with him into the lands of wolves, shifters, sirens, and unfortunately witches. Still…the Sinn-Jammers? He shook his head. That was a whole new level.

“What exactly can I do for you?” River asked, his deep voice rippling through the air like a stone thrown into calm waters. Cool and soothing he could be, but his voice held a sharp, lethal edge to it. Something along the lines of, ‘I won’t rip you apart, if you don’t give me a reason to, so play nice.’

Jack shifted in his seat, the picture of total self-control. “I came to see the Warlord.”

“He’s not here right now.”

“It’s important that I talk to him immediately.”

“Why don’t you tell me what’s so important, and I’ll decide if you’ll talk to him or not.” River already knew the answer to be not. He hadn’t lied when he said that Toren was busy. What he wouldn’t say was that he was busy picking himself up. It’s his own damn fault.

Jack had never been a rash and foolish man. He wouldn’t walk into the home of someone whose alliance wasn’t set in stone. “Rumor has it that he was last scene with a certain witch.”

River’s didn’t speak. He didn’t even arch a brow to ask what the point was. He just stood there, a wall of boredom.

“I need to find that witch.”

“What for?”

“Find the witch and I’ll find the vampire.”

River’s eyes narrowed. Jack Jammer’s of the Sinn Jammers was leaving something out.

River had been at Jack’s bar a few weeks ago. He’d seen the red hair vampire and Jack. He’d heard the rumors as well. Whether they were true or not was another story. The point was, if anyone could locate the vampire it was Jack. So what was it that Jack wanted truly? “And when you find the vampire?”

“That doesn’t concern you,” Jack replied leaving no room to further the conversation. Fine, he can have his secrets, River thought.

River unfolded his arms. “Sorry. He can’t help you find your vampire, or the witch for that matter. Why don’t you try elsewhere? Perhaps to the witches home.”

Jack cleared his throat, a clear expression of how foolish that idea was. River almost laughed. No matter how much the Sinn-Jammer wanted to find his vampire, which had to be pretty damn bad if it brought him into the hells of the colony, he wasn’t so desperate to knock on the dark mages door.

“It’s important that he lets me know anything.”

“I’ll tell him that when he’s free.”

Jack stood and escorted himself out of the room.

River let out a deep breath. Being around the Sinn-Jammer put his scales on edge. Something was off about the guy. Whether it was a good thing or not, he didn’t know. He was just happy the Sinn-Jammer had always been a reasonable guy. Except where that vampire was concerned. River could detect the hiding rage Jack concealed. What pissed him off so?

River waited until word reached him that Jack had left the ground completely before leaving the house him self to venture down below ground to the nest where all the dragons lived. Their numbers were dwindling. The last thing they wanted was for someone to find their living quarters and try to exterminate them completely. Not that it would be an easy mission, but the risk wasn’t worth taking. That was why all meetings conducted were held in the house above.

Smoke, fire, and ash, things people unfamiliar with the dragon’s nest, did not fill the air. What kind of environment would is that to raise the few hatchlings they had. The nest was like a miniature underground city. Tunnels enormous enough to accommodate the size of the largest dragon in the colony plus some twisted and ran through the entire compound, some leading nowhere, others leading to family homes.

River took the tunnel that lead to Toren’s house. He slipped inside, nodding to the few people who were inside, and entered Toren’s room. He sighed upon seeing his lord sitting on the bed, a mass of bruises and peeling skin. The peeling would stop in a few hours. A dragon couldn’t really be harmed by dragon fire. It was the gas that damaged him. The bruises would also vanish within a day. But he would definitely be sore. There was no way around that.

Toren peeled a patch of skin from his arm and tossed it on the floor. “What did the Sinn-Jammer want?”

River wanted nothing more than to scold his friend, tell him to lay back and allow his body to properly heal, but his concern would be wasted, same way as any other time. He would do whatever he wanted to anyway. Might as well give him what he wanted and save the headache. “Your witch.”

Steam and fire flared out Torin’s nostrils. River shrugged. He was pass warning Toren about his actions. You reap what you sow, right? “Don’t flame me. I told you to stay away from her and the vampire. You choose to play with fire and got burnt. Black magic? Really? You sure know how to pick them.”

Once again steam flowed from Toren’s nostrils, this time a warning. River held his hands up in surrender and controlled his rolling eyes.

“What did he want with her?” He tossed another patch of skin.

Disgusting, River thought. “To find the vampire, of course.”

Toren grunted. He pulled the tattered T-shirt over his head and threw it.

River’s eyes locked on his neck. “Where’s your necklace?” he asked although he already knew the answer.

Toren hesitated. “She has it.”

This time, the steam came from River.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Suri burst with anger. “Awww, hell no!”

Jime stomped on Suri’s foot, not even bothering to cover up her action.

She wanted to laugh at how dense she had been to not know he was Him. Instead, she settled for rolling her eyes at the horrible joke that he made. “Of all the sex jokes in the world, you settled for, ‘I’m growing’?” Is that the best you have?”

“I’m done,” Suri said, resigned. “That’s it. I’m going back home. Vampires I can handle, even stinking wolves and sparkling faeries, but gods? No no no no no. Even I know when to cave in.”

“She’s a submissive one,” He commented. “Just how I like them. Why don’t you come over here and I’ll show you what real submission can feel like.”

“How about not,” Jime commented before Suri opened her mouth and landed them both in hot water. “The view is perfect over here, so much naked gorgeous warm flesh.”

“Don’t be a spoil sport La Reina.” He said blissfully. “Come. Join us.”

Jime felt her limbs lock. Damn.