Night's Omen

He couldn't get Aspen to answer her phone.  There were other issues plaguing his mind, including the trouble he was having tracking that asshole vampire down, but as always seemed to happen, Aspen had his full attention.  As long as his life wasn't immediately in danger (or any of the people he was responsible for), her needs came first.  It could be something as simple as them having dinner plans, and he'd wrap his hunting needs around dinner.  It was just the way they were, and the way they'd been since the moment they'd found each other.  Strange as it was, they both seemed to just accept the feeling that they'd been looking specifically for each other, that they'd finally found one another, and that was that.  It was supposed to be.  Jericho wasn't so sure that he believed in reincarnation or soulmates or anything as meaningful and spiritual as that, but he certainly wasn't denying that their situation was strange.  He didn't have a problem with it, though.  Frankly, he was a hunter, and not a particularly nice one.  He wasn't like Skye and Sitara, who shot their targets from a distance and finished the job quickly and as painlessly as was possible.  He almost seemed to enjoy it too much occasionally, and that was an issue he was going to have to deal with, especially since Aspen seemed too attuned to him and his activities.  He wouldn't worry her more than was necessary.

That was ironic, since he was currently worried out of his gourd about what was going on with her.  He'd planned on going directly to the last location Andrew had been spotted at in the hopes that he could glean some information from it, but he was going to have to risk the trail growing just a little colder to stop at home and see if Aspen had laid down for a nap to explain her inability to answer her phone.  Maybe it was in the kitchen, where she couldn't hear it?  That'd be a good reason, and one he could accept. 

When he walked up and found the front door unlocked, but closed, he was concerned.  It wasn't even just a mild kind of concern, because she absolutely knew better than to leave the door unlocked and this was out of the ordinary.  His worry had increased by quite a bit.  Walking inside, calling her name and getting no response upped his alert level, and then came the final nail in the coffin.

There was a small scrap of paper on the kitchen table, the handwriting neat and blocky. He knew it.  "FUCK!" he hissed, snatching it up and ripping out of there as though his life depended on it.  His might not, but hers did.

No, Jericho was more likely within the realm of Dev, or even Zaine. He was as methodical and careful, but every bit as brutal. The problem, of course, was that Andrew was equal in these areas, but he had the Kendra blood to back him. Perhaps no special or unique ability that ones older achieved, but he didn't need any defining power to make him any less cruel or severe. The keen sort of insanity most Kendra vampires had either before or after their change also added a layer to the disfigured persona that was Andrew, and it made him a very dangerous opponent. He was unhinged, and a vampire that's crazy is the worst kind.

Currently, and for the last few years, he'd made it his personal mission to attack Jericho at every turn. The man had until now never given him ammunition that was so useful as the brunette, but Andrew had made a perfect thank-you note to assure Jericho that it was much appreciated. Aspen was currently sitting in a stern wooden chair with barb-wire precariously positioned so that she would bleed only if she struggled. He'd left a photo for extra sentiment.

  "Tell me what you know about him," Andrew said, sitting in a chair across from her. He wanted to give her the chance to talk before he ripped her head apart.

"I was fucking stupid!  I knew that just getting involved with her with this asshole out there was a bad idea, but I did it anyway!  Now I'm going to lose her, and it's my own damn fault!" he cursed into his phone, driving far too quickly to the address that had been specified on the note from Andrew.  It had been accompanied by a picture of Aspen tied to a chair with barbed wire, and that was really all he needed to see.  Did he really think that Andrew would let her go if he showed up?  No, he didn't, but he knew that not showing up would doom her for sure, and just leaving her to the things that Andrew would do made him nauseous.  He'd been stupid, so stupid, but he was attached, and it made him hurt deep inside to think about losing her. 

"You can't honestly expect to have never formed any attachments, Jericho.  Where are you?" Dev asked him patiently, and it made Jericho want to reach into the phone and rip the man's face off because he knew Dev would display a similar level of composure if it were Indrani that had been snagged.  He envied the interrogator for his calm, even when everyone else knew the man had to be livid.  Dev never seemed to deviate from his cool rationality and ability to think, even in a situation that had Jericho ready to rush in half-cocked.

"I'm on my way to meet with him, what do you think?" he snapped, cursing angrily at a pedestrian he'd nearly mowed down. 

"That is suicidal, and you know it.  Come back to the guildhouse, I'll call Zaine.  We will deal with this, and we will plan it with your survival in mind."

"Yeah, but what about her survival?!  That bastard has her NOW.  Planning isn't going to change that!"

"I'm disappointed that you don't feel as though I'd do everything I could to spare your Aspen any suffering.  I will treat this as though she were mine to love, and we will get her back."

He again felt a surge of envy for that man's confidence, but he supposed it was easy to be confident when it wasn't really your way of life at stake.  What other choice did he have?  He could take the chance that Dev and Zaine could really work a miracle, or he could rush in and guarantee that he and Aspen both died.  "Fine, I'm turning around.  We have to do this quickly."

"Understood.  I will see you soon."

The phone went silent, and Jericho dropped it into his lap to maneuver a quick u-turn that was highly illegal and involved quite of bit of cursing, horns blowing and fingers being thrown in the air.  Jericho didn't care.

Irulan tapped on the door where Dev and Zaine were, a file in her hand. "Indrani keyed me in to what was happening, so I took the liberty of pulling this," she said, holding a manila folder out to Dev as he hung up his phone. "Capricia faxed it to me last night. It's a detailed packet on Andrew - his habits, hunting ground, and more importantly, who he uses for information," she said. "I think you'll get a giggle out of the names you find in that file."

  She moved to Dev's side as he opened it, folding her arms and nodding down at the paper. "Some of the people on that list are prestigious enough that hitting them would be disastrous, but there are two names that stood out to me - one is a young werewolf female - Frektane bloodline if this file is right. Now, a few months ago she was seeing Andrew. He must have been discrete as hell, because I know it isn't something Jericho would simply overlook. We don't have a name for her yet, but we're working on that."

  She looked up into his eyes and smiled. "The other is a name you might recognize - Lucas Elliot. He's a psychic, and he knows both Aspen and Andrew. He'll be easy to locate, too. He's almost always drunk at Hellcat's Hollow, and I have Darren - Connor's cousin - on call to tell me as soon as he gets there. The guy's pretty low on the totem, too - heroin addict, big opiate user altogether, really. Word on the block is that he takes them to dull out his power, which is evidently large and hard to control or contain."

  Zaine nodded emphatically at what she was saying. "Perfect. I'll find out about the girl. It should only take me a few minutes, especially since that photo was taken near All Hallows. I bet one of the staffers there has seen her." He pulled out his phone and dialed Casey. "Hey, your girlfriend works at All Hallows, right? Do me a favour - I'm going to send you a picture with my phone. Can you send it to her and see if she recognizes the girl in the photo?"

  He sent the photo and after about five minutes, his phone rang again. "She does? Okay, does she remember her name, or anything about her?" He pulled out a pen and scribbled something down quickly. "Thanks, Casey. I'll head over there in a few." He glanced back up to Dev and Irulan.

  "Tawny recognizes the girl. She says her name is Kestrel Collins, and that she actually waitresses at the club. Casey said Tawny is at work now, so I'm going to go talk to her there and hopefully nab this little girl before Andrew has a chance to do anything."

  Irulan raised her eyebrows. "Andrew's file is pretty severe. We're working on a short leash with time, but I have one more source, and it's one I want someone to come with me and check. Who's free?" she asked Dev. What she meant was, "Who can you spare that won't get me killed?"

Getting a giggle out of Dev was practically impossible, but Irulan certainly got points for trying.  He was certainly pleased with the information she'd handed him, and he was more than happy that he was working with competent individuals.  It was why he usually enjoyed Zaine and Jericho's company, because they were both usually cool, calculating and dangerous.  The three of them were a very effective group, but this was Jericho's emergency.  He was allowed to be off-kilter.

"You've been extremely helpful," he told Irulan honestly, nodding his thanks and considering his next move.  He had to wait for Jericho to arrive, and then they should probably go find Lucas.  The man was sure to have information for them, if only they could get it from him.  Once he got into Hellcat's Hollow, Dev knew that getting him out would be all luck on their part.  Going in and trying to take him out would be like starting a war, and even Dev didn't want to try that with Ash Leone.  The triste had specific rules governing his place, and the hunting community was expected to follow them as much as the vampires.  He was tempted to go wait outside the place to see if he could snag the man before he even walked in.  Jericho wasn't likely to cooperate well enough for any kind of waiting, though.

Zaine had chosen the route he wanted to investigate, which made plenty of sense, and Irulan had her own lead, so Dev really was left with picking up Elliot, or he'd have just gone with Irulan instead of giving someone else that task.  He trusted himself more than anyone who was free when it came to protecting her, but that was just because he knew his own capabilities.  He was hoping that whoever he sent could stand up to his expectations.

"Desiré Alys was free, the last time I heard," he offered, dialing the younger hunter's number before Irulan could even respond.  He knew that she knew him well enough to understand who he was talking about.  The boy had been a hunter long enough to have earned the respect of the rest of the guild, and if Dev was calling him that was all the proof anyone should need.  They exchanged a few short words, including Dev's instructions, and then the man hung up.  "He is, and he'll be here in just a few moments.  If it were my choice, I would take him with me."

That was all he said, having essentially made the choice, but leaving her to dispute it if she wanted.  She didn't have to, because Dev would find Dez something else to do, but that was his suggestion.  She could take it or leave it.

She had to be honest about how much Zaine had caught her off-guard, first with his phone call and then his question about her girlfriend.  She was almost expecting Zaine to drop some bomb about Tawny being in trouble, and Casey couldn't have really been surprised by it.  They'd have all found out how attached and loyal she was if that were to happen, but the line of conversation he'd pursued once she answered made that unnecessary.  That was a good thing. 

While she wasn't exactly the best at following orders all the time, she respected Zaine and knew that if he was asking, there was a damn good reason, so she did as she was told and reported back at him, then agreed to meet him at the club to talk to Tawny and probably pick the werewolf girl up.  Frankly, she wasn't looking forward to interacting with a wolf at all, considering how much she disliked them, but for Zaine, she would.  If she'd been asked, she couldn't have even explained why she hated wolves so much, except that it was just an old hatred that had been bred into her all her life.  She just hated them, period.  Hopefully, this girl wouldn't be much trouble, so that Casey wouldn't have to get too involved. 

Yeah, because that seemed likely.

Arriving at All Hallows, Casey sauntered in with her typically tight fitting, low-cut attire, her leather jacket only barely making up for the rest, and threw Tawny a brilliant smile.  She was worried that Tawny was worried, so putting her girl at ease was the first thing on her to-do list.  She deliberately ignored anyone else who glanced her way, since she was used to that out of the club by that point, and slid up beside Tawny for a brief squeeze and peck.  "Zaine's on his way, sorry about this.  Apparently, something crazy is going on," she explained, remaining vague just because there were too many people within earshot.  They'd talk more when there was some privacy.

"No, that's fine," she said, her voice holding that accent that so many people loved. It was funny that Rhona had virtually no accent while Irulan sounded like she would start speaking Spanish at any moment - they assumed it was because Irulan spoke it so much more often, but nobody really knew for sure. "I'll call you if I run into any trouble, but somehow I doubt we will," she said.

When he said just a few moments, he really meant it. The younger hunter came in through the door just as Irulan was approaching it to see if he'd arrived. She raised her eyebrows in surprise, and then smiled. "Ah Dez, good to see you again. Come with me, please." And with that, she lead him back down the hallway to the parking lot.

  "I don't know if you're up to speed, but very briefly, Andrew Vida has taken it upon himself to step up the rivalry between he and Jericho by kidnapping Jericho's girlfriend. The long and short of it is that we're going to try and find him before Jericho loses his patience and rushes in there. Dev is going to find someone that should be able to give him all sorts of insight, and Zaine and Casey have gone on another lead, but this one I needed to do myself." She glanced over at him. "Zaine and Dev have a way of... frightening people that I don't."

  She hugged her coat closely to her body as they stepped out into the cold winter wonderland that was the parking lot. She loved being a snake - wouldn't trade it for anything in the world - but New York in the fall and winter months was not her place of choice. "Head over to Single Earth NYC. There's someone there that has information I need on exactly what's going on in that unstable vampire's head right now," she informed him.

  When they arrived at SE: NY, Irulan went through the doors and breezed right past the reception desk. Dez would begin to realize his part as he stared the young girl into sitting back down and staring at her computer screen. He'd come a long way - when Irulan had seen him, he was just a kitten in her book, and now he'd proven he had claws like the rest of them. She continued on into the common room, where a blonde girl sat on a couch facing a large wall to wall glass window that looked out into the city. She had a cast on her wrist and several stitches and whatnot along her arm, neck and a small butterfly stitch on her cheek.

  "Lilyana?" Irulan asked, sitting down on the couch across from her.

  The girl turned to look at the two newcomers, eyes bright and blue and wide with confusion. She was a fox, a genuine Arctic Fox, and since both Irulan and Dez were predatory by the order of the animals in the room, she was automatically worried. Not only that, but Lilyana knew how rare she was - she had been told several, several times by Andrew, not that it mattered now. She looked down at her wrist, which was still healing as though she were human, and then back up. She swallowed hard.

  "Yes?" she asked, confused.

The thing Casey always failed to remember, or perhaps chose to ignore because she liked for Tawny to be comforted by her, was that Tawny didn't actually worry as much as people thought. Maybe it was that she always had that wide-eyed look on her face that gave people the impression, but she was a bit more calm than they all believed. Still, it made people dote on her, and Tawny liked attention - especially the kind from Casey. She gave her a kiss back, much to the enjoyment of Nikki and Marius, who had posted up by the bar to gawk.

  "You know, staring isn't gonna make me straight," she said to Nikki, flicking a cherry stem at him. They all shared a laugh and Tawny sat down next to Casey while they waited on Zaine. She glanced at her, reaching up to smooth down a wayward strand of hair. "So, what's going on? I admit I'm a little confused, here. Kestrel's shift starts in about an hour and some change - I can't believe you've never seen her in here before," she said. "Well, I take that back. She only started recently." And, of course, Casey didn't just hang around the club like some people did. She was a little more classy than that - Zaine only came in through the back to bring Mitzi lunch, and then he was gone again - that was more Casey's style, it seemed, too.

  "She in some sort of trouble?" she asked, her brow furrowed. "I can't say I'm terribly fond of her, but I managed to get her drunk one night on the good stuff and con her story out of her," she said. Oh, here comes the gossip. Yes, Tawny was as female as it got. "Turns out she was changed against her will, and now it makes her a little - " Tawny whistled and made the crazy symbol with her index finger around her ear. "She's a few crayons short of a box, but not in a bad way. You can just... tell."

  Just then, Zaine walked in. A girl wearing a tiny bikini-like outfit with heels, cat ears, and a tail pinned to her bottoms came from the crowd and linked her arm around his. Mitzi grinned as she lead him to the bar area where the others were sitting, and then made a display of leaving glitter all over his black shirt before she dashed back and dove onto the stage. She was taking the cat thing too seriously, but then again, she was a feline.

  "Casey, Tawny," he said with a nod. "Thanks for meeting me here. Tawny, can you tell me anything else about this girl?" he asked. When Tawny told him what she'd just told Casey, Zaine frowned. "This guy seems to be into basket cases. Luke, Kestrel - Jericho's girlfriend isn't precisely stable, either, but I know that's not even for the same reasons as these two," he remarked quickly. He liked Aspen, even if she was fucking crazy. He knew she couldn't help what she dreamed or what she saw no more than he could help who he hated.

He probably wouldn't have much appreciated the kitten comments, but knowing that Dev and Irulan both trusted him enough to join in on this situation was a nice boost for his confidence, not that he ever gave anyone the impression that it was necessary.  In all honesty, he'd have probably been better off not ever getting involved with this, but he wasn't going to refuse them.  Neither of them called for assistance all that often.  Yeah, he was in.

"Before Jericho loses his patience, right," he agreed, inwardly wondering exactly how long the man could hold out.  If it was him and Dawn?  He didn't think he'd have made it this far, though he liked to think that he could keep himself under control when it counted.  Jericho had never struck him as being out of control, not like Verde, but the man just didn't have the cool calm to him that Dev and Zaine did.  Dez was betting that Jericho losing his patience wasn't so far away as they'd have all liked.  He didn't envy Dev trying to deal with that, but then, there was a reason that Dev was friends with him.  They must work together in ways that Desiré didn't understand.  However that happened, it didn't matter to him.  Irulan was his concern, and he was taking that seriously.  He liked her.

It was apparent very quickly that he was purely an escort on this particular job, driving her out to Single Earth and ensuring that nobody got in her way.  He didn't look like he was armed to the point that any of the Single Earth members might freak out, but he'd eventually reached the point that he didn't have to look like a walking armory to get his point across.  That was obvious on a lower level when he intercepted the receptionist that might have otherwise tried to stop Irulan on her way in, and he did it without a single threat or even too hard of a look.  It was just a blatant stare, one that suggested this wasn't her concern.  It worked, and he trailed after Irulan to ensure that there were no other interruptions.

He didn't think that the girl in the room with them would be much of a problem once he saw her, but he was interested nonetheless.  He didn't recognize any of the smells in the room, and he'd been getting better about that.  He was smart enough not to comment at present, since this was Irulan's show, but he was definitely curious. 

Chloe was caught in the middle of a huge problem - and like everyone else, that problem's name was Andrew. He'd always had a way of being charming and suave, but the mask was very quickly yanked off of his face when his adoration was not returned. She would have never known, but his little sister was always a step ahead of him, and she'd gone to warn Chloe herself. Chloe still didn't know the full story, but she knew that Laura was as serious as a heart attack when she told her to stay as far away from him as possible, so she'd packed her things and she'd run.

The problem was that Andrew wasn't the type to give up so easily. He had instead taken the post who Chloe most cared about - the person who probably most cared about Chloe, in fact, out of all of the miserable people he'd encountered, and he'd intended to get what he wanted out of him, which involved the whereabouts of Chloe.

 "Uncle Lucas?" she called, rushing into the sparse apartment. Things had been thrown... they were everywhere. Tables, empty soda cans, beer bottles. A garbage can lay tipped in the corner against the wall, and the kitchen was littered with several broken dishes. There were holes in the drywall - clear evidence of a struggle - and there was a mass of clothing wedged between the two couches that formed a 90 degree angle. His television had a hole through the center of it, and when Chloe walked around the room to investigate, her picture reflected a thousand times in the glass on the floor.

 She gasped when she saw him huddled behind the couches as far as he could go in the corner, head covered by his hands. There was blood everywhere - she didn't know how much of it was his, either. As she lunged forward to reach for him, he gruffly commanded her to stay back.

 "What happened? Did one of your dealers do this? Uncle Luke, let me help you," she said again. She knelt down and slipped her jacket off, setting it on the couch. She held her hands out to him, intending to pull the pain off of him. She'd learned - she'd learned how to control it. It was some form of healing - her own bones would break and repair. Of course, Chloe could still die - but from absorbing someone else's pain? Not an easy task. If she got hit by a car, of course, it would be different. The healing seemed to work on the charity of her own power. It was for others; not for her to abuse.

 "No," he hissed. "That's exactly what he's looking for. Get out, Chloe. Run."

 Chloe rocked back onto her heels from the kneeling position she was in. "He, who? Don't be retarded, you're in bad shape. Let me just -- "

 "Andrew, Chloe. He's on the rampage. You need to run. Now!" he barked.

 Her eyes widened as she realized what had happened. The pieces fit together slowly - and the scent of burnt human flesh became widely obvious as she leaned in closer. She reached out forcefully and caught her uncle by the arm, over his shirt, of course. It caused him to look up - and when he did, she almost wretched. Andrew had -

 "Took a blowtorch to me, fucker did. Did it for a while, too. Don't know why I'm not dead yet. It's my thing, I guess," he said bitterly. His thing - to always be in pain? "He went through my head. I had better shields than he thought, I suppose, because it took him almost breaking me to do it. He found what he wanted, and I think it's you," he warned her. "He knows where you're going, because you told me. You need to go somewhere else, now. Let me handle this," he warned her.

 Chloe pressed her lips together. "Don't be stupid. I can't leave you here like this. Jesus, you're going to bleed out," she said, judging from the blood already on the floor. It was on her jeans now, but she ignored it. "Let me help you," she said softly. Before he could pull away from her, she grabbed onto one of his severely burned hands, ignoring the yelling of pain as she did so. Quickly she began to absorb all of his injuries, and her face became blanched and then began to show burns getting progressively heavier into her skin. Over her arms and chest other wounds opened, including a gaping one in her side from a piece of chair that he'd jammed into her uncle. Chloe managed to keep utterly silent through the process, but it took a lapsed time of about ten minutes to do. She was enduring about three hours worth in ten minutes from beginning to end - it was amazing she didn't die from sheer shock. It must have been why Andrew wanted her - perhaps he thought he could steal her power, or use it for his own creepy and sinister plans.

 When it was finally over, there was still a mess, still blood stains and still that disgusting scent, but neither Lucas nor Chloe had anything more than a scratch or two between them. Well, Chloe actually had a nosebleed, but she quickly got up and went to get a paper towel before Lucas had seen it. Her power took a great toll on her body - sometimes she thought her brain was hemorrhaging, but it healed itself before it ever got worse. She just got a nosebleed sometimes.

 "He didn't find me, though," she said. "Are you sure I was what he was looking for?" And it was such an innocent question, but at about that time as he was breathing normally again, two men appeared in the open doorway, and they had guns drawn. Chloe instantly jumped over the low counter, putting herself between her still-recovering uncle and whoever these two people were. They DID look like drug dealers.

"Whatever he owes you, I can pay for it. Just tell me how much and I'll let you take me to get it," she said quickly, standing in front of him enough to hide him from view.

Lilyana made a sharp movement as she jumped off of the couch, moving behind it. She looked like a mouse running for cover, and it was all because Dez had made the slightest motion with his hand - probably not even something he'd noticed that he'd done. She had placed their scents as best she could - cat, maybe a tiger? Or a cougar? She didn't know, she couldn't tell, but he was a cat, and big cats ate foxes. The woman was a snake - but weren't they all - and snakes ate foxes, too.

  "What are you doing here?" she demanded, cradling her wounded arm. She was thankful she had the couch between them, but she wanted to keep going. She wanted to just run. "Did he send you to finish me off?" she hissed.

  Irulan held her hands up as non-threateningly as she could. "No, no!" she said quickly. Shit, this girl was already a nervous creature by nature, and now this? She inwardly groaned. "No, my name is Dr. Flores. I'm just here for some information about someone you know - I'm not here to hurt you, calm down,"she said, easing that gentle tone into her voice. Too bad Irulan wasn't a Cobra, she could just hypnotize her - or was that just a myth? She lowered her hands, and gestured to the couch.

  "Please, sit down Lilyana. My partner and I just need to ask you some questions, that's all," she said.

  "Like what?" she demanded, still behind the couch. "I'm about two seconds from screaming, and then this room will be full of people and you'll have to leave," she threatened.

  "It won't take him that long to silence you, Miss Winter, I assure you," she said, her tone taking an icy overture to it. "Now please, have a seat and nobody has to get hurt at all. I need to ask you a few questions about Andrew Vida," she said.

  Lilyana froze. "Andrew?" she asked, her voice barely a whisper.

  "Yes. He's kidnapped a close friend of mine and I'm trying to get her back without any harm coming to her," Irulan said. "I know that you were close to him once, I just need to know what you can tell me. Even if it seems stupid or trivial, anything will help," she said. She gestured to the couch again. "Please, sit down."

  Lilyana thought about this, and then slowly walked back around the couch. She sat even slower than she'd walked, and then she still seemed to sit upright, her eyes nervous and darting between Dez and Irulan. "So, he didn't send you?" she asked, her voice still shaking.

  "Miss, do I look like someone that he would employ?" Irulan asked, arching a brow.

  "Well, yes - I mean, I don't know. He's so... he makes you believe that you're so important," she said, frowning.

  Irulan motioned for Dez to sit down. "Tell me exactly what you mean," she told the fox, clicking the on button to her vocal recorder.

Casey wasn't often nearly as interested in all of the attention that Tawny liked, enduring it silently, though she was far more reserved.  Every move she made was that much more subtle, and if you didn't know how much trouble she could really be, you'd probably have never guessed it.  Part of her charm was that cool confidence and mischief she had going on, but only her friends and Tawny really understood that.  Nikki and Marius?  They got little glimpses of interactions that were meant to look as though Casey was trying to sneak them, however rarely that was actually the case.  She wasn't about to full-on grope Tawny in front of them, especially not right there in the club, but she slid her hand down to rub the pads of her fingers over the inside of her girlfriend's knee.  Neither serpiente or coyotl were all that worried about PDA, so she wasn't going to avoid doing something just because it might make the boys in the room blush. 

Tawny had barely finished her piece on Kestrel when Zaine walked in, and she repeated it for his benefit before Casey actually got to answering her question about the sort of trouble Kestrel could be in.  She glanced at Zaine briefly before opening her mouth, not willing to lie to Tawny about anything, but also not sure if he'd wanted to drop the explanation when she decided to just go for it. 

"Kestrel's not the problem, it's someone she knows.  Zaine, do you have a picture?  The guy's name is Andrew, and he apparently has a serious grudge against one of our guys.  Grabbed his girlfriend," she explained, squeezing just a little on Tawny's leg.  She couldn't imagine how pissed off and worried Jericho must be.  He was unstable and so was Aspen, but Casey would have been tearing up the town over this.  It was one of the things that worried her about Tawny, though she hadn't yet run into a vampire that cared enough for a grudge or lived long enough to form one.  Tawny, for all Casey could tell, wasn't at all concerned, which wasn't encouraging.

Devraj was prepared to endure the frustration that typically accompanied an attempt to do a long-term job in a few short hours to avoid the death of someone they didn't want to lose, but that didn't make it easier to force Jericho to be patient.  The man's sense of urgency was contagious, to the point that even Dev, who was as detached as he could make himself at the moment, was feeling a little testy and rushed.  Jericho's sweetheart didn't have long before Andrew lost patience with her and started chopping her up, that much they all knew, and when they hit the Hellcat's Hollow and Dev stepped up to the bar in front of Connor's young cousin, he knew they had to play it carefully.  If Darren didn't want to cooperate, Dev was fairly certain that Jericho might break the Triste's rules.

"Mr. Liten, I have a few questions for you, and I sincerely hope that you simply answer them and let us go on our way," Dev said softly, dropping a large bill on the counter and sliding it over to the bartender.  It might have seemed cliched, but there was a reason that it was mentioned so often in movies.  It worked.  Usually.

"Listen, mister, I'll talk to you, but if you're putting that out, I'm probably not going to help," the leopard warned, and Dev could feel Jericho tensing up beside him.  Darren obviously noticed as well, since his chartreuse eyes narrowed at the younger hunter, then flicked back to Dev.  He seemed to steel himself for whatever might be coming, fight or flight on his mind.  Dev could see the thoughts running through his mind, whether it was worth it to stand and fight, or if he should withdraw to safety and back-up.  "This is Ash's place.  Remember that."

"I've said nothing to suggest violence, kitty-cat," Dev murmured, well aware that the leopard would hear him.  He didn't want everyone to, however, so he was keeping his voice low.  "This is a serious matter, and a girl is going to die if you won't help us.  If she dies because you stalled us, I can promise that you won't die, but will wish you did."

The leopard's eyes narrowed further at the threat, and though he didn't follow what looked to be his instinct to strike first and fast, he didn't back off, either.  "You have no right to come here and make threats.  What do you even want?"

"Lucas Elliot.  He has information we need, and we know he spends most of his time here.  You know him, where is he?"

"Yeah, fuck you.  I know him, but I'm not handing him over to you.  The last thing he needs is a new set of assholes beating his ass," Darren spat, and then displayed the reflexes he naturally possessed and had honed further in Crimson when Jericho spazzed out just enough to fling a glass at the cat.  They were both faster than Dev had expected, and he hadn't been able to see Jericho move from behind him, but he grabbed the man by the wrists before Jericho could make another move.

"This is the triste's place, my friend," he said in his low, calm tone.  "We will not get the information we need if we break his rules."

"Doesn't look like we're going to get anything out of this asshole, anyway!" Jericho hissed back, glaring back at Darren, whose hands were beneath the counter.  Dev wouldn't have been surprised if he had a weapon.

"Shh.  Let me talk to him, and be silent," Dev insisted, and only when he was confident that Jericho wasn't going to lose his shit did he leave the other hunter at a table just out of earshot so that he could continue the conversation.  "Mr. Liten, I don't think you understand.  I don't wish to harm anyone, but we are running low on time.  If we find Elliot on our own and don't have the time to talk calmly with him about this, we will have to hurt him to get our information more quickly.  I would rather that no one be harmed.  Do you understand?"

He gave off such a sincere vibe, what with the open expression and the tone that suggested that it was just silly to refuse him.  He wasn't asking for much, was he?  Just a little address, just a talk with Liten's little friend.  The leopard still looked too suspicious for his tastes, which was Jericho's fault, but Dev could excuse it.  He'd worked with more serious handicaps before. 

"Who are you really looking for?"

"Smart cat.  We are looking for Andrew Vida, but I doubt you can tell me where to find him.  I'm sure that neither you nor Elliot will mind it if we hurt the vampire, will you?"

"Not particularly.  I'll tell you on one condition."

"Really?  What's that?"  See?  Progress.

"You don't hurt Luke, or anyone else there's even a chance I like."

"I told you, I don't with to hurt anyone other than Mr. Vida."

"Yeah, well, I don't believe you.  You reek of pain, and your friend is a walking time-bomb.  I want your word that nobody other than Andrew gets hurt, or I don't tell you shit."

"You have my word that we won't hurt anyone other than Andrew as long as we receive our information in a timely manner.  You're taking too long."

"I don't have to tell you.  I have your scent, and I have his," Darren reminded him, nodding his head towards Jericho.  "I have friends, too, and I know your smell from one of them.  You hurt someone I'm friends with, and it'll be you that'll be hoping you die before this ends.  Got it?"

Dev smiled, not because it was terribly funny, but simply because he admired the boy's fire.  "I welcome the challenge, little cat.  Tell me what I want to know."

Darren hesitated, obviously still not sure, but what else was he going to do?  "Here's his address.  You gave your word, remember."  He wrote it down on a beverage napkin and slid it over, snatching up the money in the process.  "Tell Sitara I said hello."

"I will, and if you would ever like to learn something more than self-defense, ask her for my number," Dev returned, the smile turning into an actual grin before he returned to Jericho.  The other hunter didn't look pleased.

"So glad you're making friends.  Did you get anything?"

"Come with me, Jericho."

"Thank fucking God," the man muttered, standing and heading for the door in a single fluid movement.  That's all Jericho was at the moment, just sheer desire to move, and Dev intended to give him the room to do it to his heart's content as soon as possible. 

Elliot's home wasn't the intended place, but there was something wrong with the area from the start.  Jericho actually picked up on it before Dev did, which was a surprise, but Dev hadn't been stalking this vampire for years.  Jericho had.  "He's been here.  Fucking hurry!"

He rushed forward, leaving Dev to cover him in the event that Andrew attacked from the shadows.  Dev didn't honestly think that the vampire was still there, but anything could be possible.  When they busted into the apartment, he almost expected the vampire, given the state of things.  Instead, it was a young girl in front of a man with the longest hair Dev had ever seen, claiming that she would give them whatever money Lucas owed them.

"We aren't who you think, calm down," Dev told her while Jericho scanned the room with his firearm, ready to shoot the shit out of anything that he didn't like.  "Are either of you injured?"

Chloe stared at them, not believing when they said they said it, and especially not liking the way the pale dark-haired man kept his eyes trained like he was about to blow her head off. "Well, you don't know who I think you are, so that doesn't really help me any, does it?" she snapped. Still, they didn't act like the skeezy dealers that she'd seen pushing her uncle around, either, so maybe they weren't lying.

  She remained right where she was, sorry that she didn't have any sort of real weapons. Then again... her entire body was a weapon, and she'd just taken in a massive amount of pain. "No, we're not hurt. Not anymore, anyways," she said. She was aware that her white tank-top was blood soaked, like she'd been stabbed, and the blood was still fresh. She didn't move as though the wound hindered her in any way, so it was strange to behold. The room still smelled like blood and burned skin, so there was no doubt something had happened.

  When Lucas staggered up to a standing position, his hair was blood soaked, but he, too, had no injuries to speak of.

  "Sit back down," she said, voice determined. "Sit back down and stay there until I tell you to get up."

  If Dev admired Darren's fire, he'd be impressed by Chloe, too. The difference was that Chloe didn't have a scent to give her away; there wasn't a way to declaw her. Her adrenaline was thundering, and she was waiting for someone to get close enough to her. She had that innocent, scared girl appeal down to a science, because it was mostly true - the fact that she had poison in her veins was just a sort of bonus.

  "Whatever you want from him is going to have to wait," she said. "Leave. Now."

  She had her eyes locked on the one with his gun drawn. "We have nothing to give you. Get out."

  Her puffy white jacket was still on the counter, and in the inside pocket was her cell phone. She wanted to call Darren and tell him to get Danielle, badly. She'd taken a shine to the Witch; she knew if she'd called, Danielle would have come. She had to believe it was true, anyways. Danielle was hard to read, but Chloe was just a girl, and she needed heroes, even if she picked the worst ones.

Kestrel was in for one hell of a surprise when she got up and got into work, that was certain. She went in through the front instead of the back like so many of the girls had advised her, mostly because she had a small crush on Marius and she liked to stop and talk to him. It was fairly obvious that she did, but Marius had already made it clear she was only a friend. It didn't stop her, anyways, much to the jealousy of Tobey. He was more of a brother to her now anyways, or that's what she told him. Marius was a vampire, though, so it kept Kestrel at a safe distance most days. She had dated one of those once, it hadn't ended well.

When she saw Tawny and Casey sitting by the bar, she went over to say her hellos. She didn't know Casey much and she had a funny feeling that the girl didn't like her, but it was well enough - Kestrel didn't like her, either, but she didn't know why. She wasn't rude, she just didn't know why she didn't like being around her. She did like Tawny, though.

  "Hey ladies," she said, putting her arm on the bar as she came up beside Tawny. She didn't know Casey was a Coyote, so it was funny, her aversion. It was purely instinctual - the one thing Kestrel wasn't a moron about, it seemed. "Hey Casey," she said. "You never visit here, what's up?" Sure, she was cordial. She didn't DISLIKE Casey, not in the way catty girls don't, anyways. She tried to be friendly, and it was usually a 50/50 as to whether the female would follow suit or not. Tawny told Kestrel that it was just Casey's way, and Kestrel had accepted it.

  Zaine eyed her up and down, and it was odd, because Kestrel (a) thought that he was with Mitzi and (b) he'd never given her so much as a glance before. She didn't blush, because it was too weird to make her blush. "Um, hi Zaine," she said pointedly, holding up her hand to give him a wave. She continued with that hand, pushing her long, long brown hair away from her bright blue eyes. "What's, uh, going on?" she asked nervously.

  They were all staring at her now.