28 Minutes Later

[Zaine Martin]

[4:10 AM]

Zaine pulled up behind the club. He'd considered just putting his car in front on the damned sidewalk, but if Midnight didn't know about his actual friendship with Mitzi, then she'd less likely be a target as opposed to someone else. He went in through the back, as usual, and followed all of his normal protocol until he caught sight of Mitzi near the door to the dressing rooms. He reached out with a quickness and grabbed her arm so tightly that she yelped, dragging her back into the dim lighting of the utility hallway.

"Where the hell have you been? You didn't answer your phone at all," he hissed.

Mitzi yanked back, shocked at his behaviour, and found that he released her rather abruptly. She watched him clench his hands, and took a step back. "Whoa, don't you go all Ike Turner on me," she warned, baring her teeth. "We're closing in another thirty minutes. We were slammed tonight; I could barely make heads or tails of the crowd. A lot of those people I'd never even seen before, so we were busting our asses off. I mean, we usually have full houses, but this was ridiculous. The line went around the block," she said, waving her hands at the front room to indicate the volume of people still in despite how late, or early it was.

"What's going on? Why did you need to get hold of me?" Mitzi stopped, tilting her head. "Zaine?"

Zaine, meanwhile, was in a state of shock. They'd had a high amount of people in because 10:1 said Midnight had sent dummies in to scope out what sort of shapeshifters were inside. He was staring beyond Mitzi and down the corridor, where he could still see shapes of bodies moving past the sliver view of the main room he could see. That didn't even speak for what was happening in the private rooms.

"I need you to calmly get your things, get into your car, and go to Onyx. Do it now, and I will fill you in there. Do not stop. Do not talk to anyone," he ordered, turning her and pointing her towards the dressing room. "Do it now, and I will make sure someone fills you in as soon as you arrive."

"What the hell, Zaine? Can't you tell me why?" she protested, fighting him with her weight as he tried to push her to where her things were.

"Miriam, I need you to trust me," he said coldly. He was using her full name, which meant srs bsns.

"I'm going, okay," she said, holding her hands up. She turned on a heel and walked down the hall, no swish in her step as she tried not to run. Moments later, she emerged with a pair of warm up pants and a tank top on over whatever she'd been wearing. Her bag was looped over her shoulder. She walked with Zaine to her car, and he remained there until she was nothing but tail lights at the end of the road. He noticed that she rolled right through the light after checking for traffic, and he turned back and went into the building again, shutting the door tight behind him.

"Mya," he said, taking hold of a beautiful Phasi who had been trying to hide at the dressing room door. "I need you to bring me to Eden, please."

[Eden Cobriana]

It was a ridiculously busy night, and though Eden wasn't complaining, he didn't understand it.  He'd called extra people in just to help deal with the crowd that had practically exploded at about midnight.  Usually, it started up earlier and died down earlier.  They were still going strong, and it was after 4am.  Thus, when he saw Mya headed for him, he was more than ready to direct her somewhere else to help with the crowd.

"Mya, what are you do--oh, hello, Zaine," he said, straightening slightly as his brother's second in Onyx walked up with the Phasi.  "Mya, go help Saffron, please.  Zaine, I'm sorry, but I really don't have time to chat right now.  If you didn't come in the front, I'm sure you're not aware of exactly what we're dealing with here, but we've been threatening capacity for hours."

Yes, the dollar signs that kept popping into his thoughts were nice, but he was getting irritable.  He didn't like running around like an idiot, and as a snake, the sheer mass of bodies in the building was causing his body heat to rise.  He'd shed his blazer at around 1am, so he was down to an untucked, unbuttoned button-up shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows.  He was getting dangerously close to losing that as well, if this kept up.  Of course, the expression on Zaine's face wasn't making dismissing him easy.  Not that dismissing Zaine had ever been easy, but Eden was making an art out of getting rid of people he didn't feel like being around.  Something wasn't right.

"Unless you can make it fast," he added on, already headed for his office and gesturing the other snake along behind him.  The door was shut immediately, and that was actually for the best, he found out a moment later.

[Mya Shadow]

Mya had seen Mitzi's attention perk at something outside of the crowd, and being the snoop that she was, she followed her, giving her a few feet of distance. Not that it mattered, with the volume of the people in the club. When she rounded the corner, Mya hung back, wrapping her hands around the wall like it was a lover, pressing her cheek to the corner and looking around just barely. She could hear what they were saying, but the Serpiente in Mitzi's company was quick - she ducked behind the corner when he looked up, but she was sure she was caught. When she looked back, they were both gone, and she turned, back pressed against the wall as she sighed a little. Why was Zaine trying to rush her out of there so fast? She inched around the corner and into the darkened space before the lights began.

She made it to the dressing room and was about to open the door when he came in, and she froze. If she stood very still, perhaps he wouldn't see her. She squeaked when he grabbed her arm, then, an undignified thing to do, and looked up at him, bright aqua eyes wide with curiosity. She did her best not to reflect fear, but he was a Serpiente, and she was a Phasi - perhaps not Avian, but still a bird of sorts. She did her best to resist his snake-like hypnotic charm, the same as she managed to do with Whisper, who was not a snake, but still had those dark eyes.

"Of course, right this way," she breathed, smiling slightly. When they arrived at Eden's office, he was rolling through the door, and began to chastise Mya almost instantly until he noticed Zaine.

"I'll... leave you two," she said with a coy smile. She met Zaine's eyes as she departed, and she knew that she needed to make a quick exit before he had a chance to get another moment to corner her.

[Zaine Martin]

Zaine watched Mya literally flee into the crowd. She wasn't running, no, but she moved exactly as Mitzi had - almost impacting the ground twice as hard in her shoes as she walked, a sign of restrained energy. He bet as soon as she got around the corner she'd be bouncing her way down the hall and out the door. He looked back at Eden, and made a face.

"Short version: Midnight's on the move. They're after the guilds, so by proxy, you are not safe. The amount of people in the club tonight were probably here placing bids on your girls before they're taken in to be sold. The girls themselves may even be connected to the guilds somehow, either by family, friendships, or whatever. The point is, we need you to get out of here, now. The girls can come to the guilds; get me a headcount and I can delegate who goes where."

He paused. "If you choose to ignore everything I have said, that's your prerogative, but I'm going to take Saffron and we're walking out that door at five AM, whether you go home after closing time or not."

[Eden Cobriana]

Eden positively STARED at Zaine as he dropped the bomb, and a zillion different thoughts tore through his mind at that point.  His brother hadn't called, instead sending his man to talk to Eden instead.  They wanted to take his girls and throw them into hunting guilds full of stressed out hunters, and they were dragging him and his people into a mess that had nothing to do with them.  Except by proxy.  DAMN IT.

He was fuming, that much was instantly apparent, but anything he might have spit out in anger was kept down for the time being.  He was a businessman, and sometimes biting your tongue was necessary, but this was pretty ridiculous.  "You're suggesting that if I don't accept your offer, me and mine are either going to be killed or enslaved," he clarified, but he didn't need the confirmation.  He'd understood, and he just didn't fucking like it.  He swore under his breath, the words leaving his lips in a harsh hiss and his eyes flashing, but this was a decision he had to make NOW.  They'd already been trying to slow the crowd and attempt a close.  Now, Zaine was putting a time limit on the ordeal. 

Taking a deep breath, Eden picked up the phone on his desk, calling up to Nikki at the bar.  "Last call, make the announcement immediately.  No employees leave until I've given the word, this is the last dance.  I want everyone in the back, around the rehearsal stage, dressed and with their things by 4:45.  Inform Marius and Drake, make it happen," he instructed, and then he called Marius himself, just to be safe. 

"There's a situation, Marius.  No employees are to leave the club, and I need any hunters, including Dante, sent back to me immediately.  The bar is on last call, and I want everyone at the rehearsal stage in back, dressed and with their belongings by 4:45."

Getting the appropriate affirmative, he hung up and regarded Zaine once again.  "Whoever is willing will be sent to the guilds, but I can't force any of them to go along.  Some are rather close to the New York SWAT team.  Dante is one of yours, so I have no arguments there, and I will go along with you to Onyx," he agreed, though he wasn't pleased about it.  He wasn't going to any of the other guilds, either.  It was Onyx or bust.  He may not get along with his brother and he certainly wasn't the fighter that Lucien was, but he wasn't going to laze around feeling useless in Crimson or Frost.  He could force Lucien to give him something to help with, if only to maintain his sanity.  "I want it understood that my people are there for protection, however, and that they are guests.  The guild hunters are usually very respectful, but I want to ensure that continues when we're on their turf."

He didn't really think he needed to worry, and though he didn't know it, the hunters that were currently rounding their people up for an actual pow wow in various meeting areas of the guildhouses needed only know that the All Hallows people would be there to put out the word for behavior.  Tension could make things unpleasant.

[Nikolas St. Pierre]

Nikolas grabbed the phone with incredible speed as he slid two more drinks down the bar. He nodded to Melisande, who made a face at him that he clearly understood, and turned away from the crowd and stepped half-into the freezer so that he could hear what was being said. "Did something happen?" he asked. He frowned. "You know what, nevermind. I don't want to know." He hung up the phone and jumped on top of the bar, grabbing the loudspeaker.

"Attention everyone, this is last call! Last call! Make your way to the bar, close your tabs, drink your drinks! This is also last dance! Last dance!" he said. He hung the speaker up and then jumped down, trying to find Drake and Marius. He pointed Dante behind the for a few minutes while he did that, thanking his stars the man could mix drinks. If they had another night like this, Nikki might ask for a vacation - and he was a vampire. He didn't get tired! He felt like the energy had been drained out of him, all the same.

"Drake, I need you to and Marius to tag every single girl and let them know as soon as they are done with whatever they are doing, they need to get changed and go into the break room. I will worry about closing bullshit with the rest of the menial floor staff, but I need you to make sure they know not to leave. Don't even let them go to their cars for anything, nothing, do you hear me?" Marius turned away to take a call, and Nikki looked at Drake.

"I don't know what's going on, but I have a suspicion that it has to do with why Mitzi isn't here and why Eden is peering out at us through his blinds with someone in there with him. Listen, I need you to do something for me while Marius does this. Get a head count of all the girls, make sure they're all still here. Can you do that?" he asked. When Drake nodded, Nikki rapped him on the back and then looked at Marius. "I'm going to run back into the private rooms and get the biggest bouncers to start flushing them out like pheasants. Dante has the bar. I will be all of two minutes," he said. He gave him a thumbs up and then vanished.

When Nikolas went into scary vampire-cat mode, it was certainly noticeable in his demeanor. His eyes had become more intense and darker, almost as though they were going to go back to that vampire black he hid so well. He was always graceful, but now he moved with intensity and purpose, though it lacked the severity of someone who was alarmed. Nikki was carefully avoiding it, as he advised the others to do as well.

[Evan Irons]

Drake had been literally chasing people around for the last twelve hours. Sometime around midnight the place had become more crowded than necessary, and he'd had to make sure that the rope outside wasn't being disturbed. Luckily, they had a lot of big guys on the detail of bouncing out the human garbage, so Drake had purely dealt with the alternative, and since vampires didn't tend to get rowdy due to alcohol consumption... All he needed to do was keep his areas in check and make sure that nobody got grabby with the girls. For as busy as it was, things were going radically well, which put him on edge. That many people should have warranted issues left and right, and Drake wasn't so vain as to believe that it was because of luck. Not even on his best day as a Cheetah would he buy that this mass of people were getting along because they thought it was the right thing to do.

When Nikolas approached him at the door, he was honestly shocked, and so was Marius by the looks of it. "I'll get right on it," was all he could say. He'd never seen Nikki so... on the prowl before. He shouted over to another bouncer, a Python named Terrell, who wore brass knuckles for fun. The man was built, but not massive like one might expect. Still, as a Serpiente, he hit just as hard as Drake did - probably harder, actually. His arms were.. well, pythons.

"Hey, T, I need you over here!" he said, waving his arms. He watched Terrell intimidate a group of just-turned-21 kids into running away, and laughed as he stuffed a fifty dollar bill inside his pocket.

"Man, them kids be stupid. Tryin' to slip me a fiddy like I'm gon' let they asses in," he said, shaking his head. He nodded for Drake to go. "I got you man, go on 'bout yo' business. Marius can give me the deets," he added, smirking at the wolf who'd just returned from his call. "By the look o' your faces, shit's about to get really intruh-sten," came his next remark, a frown twisting his features.

Meanwhile, inside, Drake was pulling names of all the girls. Katrina was on stage, so that was a check. He saw Tris on top of a table, one of the few humans who still worked the club. A few more girls were checked off of the list as they came from the private areas, Nikki behind them. He paused when he didn't see Aimee, and then he spied a tuft of her brown hair across the room. She must've sensed him looking at her, because she gave him a smile before turning her attention back to the men she was talking to. After a few moments, he'd accounted for everyone, except two.

"Mya and Mitzi. They're both gone," he said, standing in Eden's office. The other Serpiente stared at him, and it prompted Drake to become concerned. "Who is he? What's going on?"

[Zaine Martin]

Zaine didn't flinch, unimpressed by the conclusion that Eden had immediately gone to. "I'm not suggesting anything, other than the fact that you need to make them aware of the situation and let them know there are places they can go. At this point, it's all on the guilds' collective dime, so if they don't want to go somewhere in the city where it will be safe, we can send them to Nepal. If I wanted to drop the ultimatum that everyone either come with me or wait like lambs for the slaughter, I'd have paged you," he said firmly, keeping his own emotions in check.

"Listen, Eden, this is not about whatever you've got going on with Lucien," he said, making a swirling motion with his hand. "This is bigger than any of us, and we're trying to contain it, but we don't know where ground zero is going to be. We don't know if they're going to use this as an excuse to go wild or if they're going to limit it to the guilds and our friends, but if I were you, I'd be making sure that anyone you care about and anyone they care about is away from the center of the blast site, which is this city at the moment."

  When Eden expressed concern for the guild's possible misconduct regarding his girls, Zaine shook his head. "It's not even an issue. The girls will be taken to the women's quarters. I don't know if you've checked the rosters lately, but Crimson and Frost both have female trainers now, and plenty of trainees and low level hunters can keep them company. I promise, the other recruits won't bother them unless they want to deal with me." They way he assured Eden was comforting in one way, and utterly chilling in the other. Zaine didn't seem to be short on handing threats around that evening. To be sure, he'd like to flay some people, and he was going to do it, regardless of how improper it might seem. He just needed to get his hands on the right parties.

"Your girls that want to go with SWAT, that's good enough for me. I'm positive that someone has notified our contacts with the NYPD, and he's going to let their Chief know. She's an older Mira, and she's not keen on having her feathers ruffled. Between her and the cluster of cats with SWAT, I'm sure the girls will be more than taken care of."

Just then, the door popped open and a dark-haired man came in that was in good need of a hair cut. He looked at Zaine with lofted brows, and Zaine stared back intently enough to make him look away, to Eden.

"Mya and Mitzi. They're both gone. Who is he? What's going on?" The barrage of questions came too quickly after the statement, and Zaine held his hand up.

"Mitzi is on her way to Onyx. I got her out before I did anything else. The Phasi is gone, though, and I just saw her..." he trailed off. He didn't like that girl, and he didn't trust her. She had lying, cheating bitch written all over her, and even though he had no proof of it, he could feel it in her attempts to control her emotions around him. It meant she was scared of showing something. He could taste it. However, since there was still that lack of evidence, he had to assume that she was innocent and that something had happened, at least until he could get his hands around her throat himself.

"This isn't good, at all," he said darkly. If someone grabbed her, they could get her to talk, and she'd tell them that she'd seen him, or Mitzi, or give them information about the club. She didn't look like the type to be able to hold up well under any sort of real torture, though that was true for most of the crowd here. He looked at Eden. "Dania, " he prompted. "If she's confident her family has enough security, given that they are the ruling line of Avians, then you need to get her up and get her ready to go."

[Dania Shardae]

  Chaos. That's what this night had been. Dania had managed to stay buried in the back doing accounting and other paper-based duties until finally Katrina had come back and begged for her to at least barback for Nikki so she could break long enough to go pee. That was how it started. Dania had her hair in a classy ponytail, but she couldn't deny that her feathers were mottled with sweat, and that she was dying to get into a cold shower. The temperature had gone up, and Avians were already warm. Sticking her next to a vampire who radiated heat only made her feel like the bar itself might combust. So five minutes had turned into twenty, and into thirty, and pretty soon two hours had passed before Nikolas turned around and even realized it was Dania trying to make sure he was stocked.

"Oh my god, no!" he exclaimed. "Go away, before Eden sees you!"

And so she had, thankfully, and had been headed for that back office where all the numbers were. Dania's parents hadn't been particularly enthused about her schooling or her achievements when she did study, so they'd have been unimpressed to find out that she was cutting the time it took to do the taxes for the club down from a week to a few spare hours of work. She was almost there, blotting her face with a cool cloth, when she heard someone say her name. She stopped and turned, looking at the door of Eden's office, which was only slightly opened. That was the thing about his door - it'd been slammed so many times you had to slam it to make it close right at all.

"Get me for what?" Dania asked, slamming the door behind her. She was dressed as elegantly as ever, wearing a white top and a pair of black slacks. She still had that cloth in her hand, and dotted it gently against her neck as she moved to stand next to Eden. She greeted him with a curious smile, and then took the rag from herself and dabbed it against his forehead, where beads of sweat had begun to snake down his temples. The room was obviously tense enough to cause a pitch if she thought she could find a way to nick it with a tuning fork, so she didn't press the issue.

When Eden turned to her, his matter-of-fact explanation caused her to put her hands up to her mouth. "You can't be serious," she said, her eyes narrowing as her voice dropped to a shrill whisper. She looked back up at the motley crew in the office, and by the look on Drake's face that was utterly strained versus the cold one she received from the other Serpiente, she had all the information she needed. One had been the bearer, while Eden and Drake had been the bear...ees.

"Why on earth would -- "

"Proxy," the three of them echoed in unison.

"...I'll get my things," she said meekly. She looked at Eden. "Shall I wait or shall I go now?" she asked pointedly. She didn't like the idea of waiting, but she didn't want to leave him, either.

[Eden Cobriana]

He sure as hell didn't want to have anything to do with this situation, but it wasn't as though he had much choice, did he?  From the sound of things, it was a few connections, like being Lucien's brother and employing Dante, that had put the rest of them in danger.  Damn it.  He was just hoping that he didn't have a massive problem once they were telling the girls what was happening.

Or massive panic.

At the very least, Dania's reaction pleased him.  He knew for a fact that she wasn't going back to her family for safety, and he was also pretty confident that Midnight would hesitate to try taking out the entire Avian ruling family just because one of its daughter was with someone connected to Onyx, but he wasn't actually so sure on his own parents.  They were Lucien's, too, and well-guarded or not, they were still mortal.  It seemed like it would have to be too much effort for too little, though.  With as many hunters and their families as were in the city, why extend your reach so far?  Besides, Eden had an inkling that there were people right here in New York that Lucien cared more about, not including him.

Eden had to assume that, while he never thought that Lucien would give himself enough to care for someone like he cared for Dania, his brother had to have people that came somewhat close.  How difficult was that making this for Lucien?  No wonder he hadn't bothered to show up himself.  If they were at all similar, the Lucien wanted to be there to ensure the safety of the people he cared about.  Eden wanted the same for Dania, though he also didn't want her waiting around.  If he could get her out before the threats that had likely been casing the club got wind that they were on high alert, then she'd be better off for it, but he certainly wasn't abandoning the rest of his people.  He may not have been appropriate royalty for his family and ruling the serpiente, but he was a leader nonetheless.  It was bred into him.  At Dania's question, he looked to Zaine.

"Is there anyone that can escort her to the guild if she leaves now?"  He wasn't sending her off alone, not a chance.  If he took that risk and she disappeared en route, he would never forgive himself. 

[Evan Irons]

 Zaine hesitated. He could take Dania with him and Saffron, he had intended to stay for a few more minutes to brief the staff on what they'd need to do in order to see this through smoothly. Drake raised his hand slightly, and looked from the Mamba to the Cobra. He seemed reluctant to talk when they were, which was probably a good thing. The new man was imposing, even if he wasn't hulking.

"I can take her, if you need me to. I can take she and Saffron," he offered, brows raised.

"No," Zaine said. "If Mitzi's already gone, and Mya is missing, taking two more will begin to look suspicious. No, Saffron can stay until I leave. Eden, if it's alright with you, he can take her now." He paused. He focused on Dania in particular. "How confident are you in your Royal Flight?" he asked.

Dania frowned a little. True, that female Falcon had gotten through them, but then again, from what Dania knew of Falcon lore, she would wager that one female against all of Midnight. "Very." She set her jaw, and then looked from Drake to Eden, waiting for where she needed to go.

[Eden Cobriana]

This was beyond just 'tough'.  He was seated behind his desk, hair still sweat-slicked from the temperature out in the club combed back because he'd run his hands through it to keep it out of his face, leaning back in the chair and trying like hell to manage a decision that would resemble something intelligent.  He wanted to send Marius with Dania to Onyx, then let the vampire return to finish helping with the others, just because Marius was older and stronger than the others.  Nikki was a good choice as well, younger, but strong for his years.  The problem was that sending either of the vampires with Dania was being selfish and protecting a single person that he cared far too much about instead of worrying about the other lives he was responsible for.  Marius and Nikki were both needed to keep his other girls safe. 

Damn it.

He leveled his red eyes on Drake for the moment, almost appraising the cheetah and his abilities.  Drake had always worked well for him, always been an asset, but he was rare.  Sending two rare shifters out there, a cheetah and a golden hawk, seemed suicidal, but if they got out before the red flags went up out in the club, they should be alright.  Finally, he sighed, wiping his hand over his face for a moment and sat up.

"Drake, you go with Dania to Onyx, Saffron can go with Zaine since he has such a specific request," he agreed, glancing at the mamba.  He had an idea why Saffron was so important, that idea having crayon red hair and being one of the individuals that Eden had approached with employment prospects in the past, but he didn't bring it up.  "Dania, please keep in contact with me so that I know you made it there in one piece.  It's not a long trip, so you should be there long before we even leave."

His eyes softened some when he regarded her, a strange thing to see out of the normally cunning, sharp snake, but he was finding that he was falling into some twisted retelling of past events where she was concerned.  Cobriana and Shardae.  He'd worry about that when she was safely at the guildhouse, though.  For now, he had others to deal with.  The question was how.

"Alright, Zaine, you have my ears.  How do you propose we get so many people out without drawing a mass attack?" he asked.  He was considering having Marius and Nikki transport as many as possible at a time directly from the club to right outside the guildhouse, but he knew that would wear the two of them down quickly, and that was risky.  If they went in normal vehicles, there weren't enough fighter types to really make it work, were there?  Marius, Nikki, Zaine, Dante.  He wasn't even sure he wanted to count himself, since his training had been insisted on by his brother, and had been limited.  He'd try, but it wasn't his strong suit.  He had some weaponry hidden in his office that he guessed some of his girls would be willing to take their chances with, though.  Aimee, if she didn't go with her SWAT boyfriend, would be an asset with a gun.  He was confident that she had the guts to protect others if she was put in charge, even without training, and he personally was a decent shot. 

Still, it sounded to him like a caravan waiting to get picked off. 

[Zaine Martin]

Drake took Dania and, after she stopped to give Eden a kiss - a real kiss, mind you, not any of that Avian bullshit, they vanished. Zaine had given Drake exactly which roads to take and which to avoid, and he was confident that the man could do this one thing - if nothing else then the fact that the failure wasn't an option for any Letotse, ever, regardless of how insurmountable a task. Once they had gone, he looked at Eden, brows furrowed.

"There's no good way to do it. We might be able to get SWAT escorts, if you think we can pull it off. Half of SWAT, according to my source, is furry now, so I don't really know how willing they'll be to put themselves this close to the line of fire. You two vampires that I've seen under employment, and they can each take a few at a time, but I don't know how many before they wear themselves down. They're a good line of defense, so I don't want them to fall victim to exhaustion and get harmed," he said with a low voice. He folded his arms. No, there really was no easy way this could work.

He couldn't help relating this to some post-apocalyptic zombie survivalist feeling. "The best thing I can think of to do is that the strongest of us bait them and that gives the girls time to run." He paused. "I'm a valuable target, and I can get a handful of hunters here who can move like I do." The dolls were who he wanted. Rachel and Lilyana could pass for targets as easily as the other women, and they were programmed to hit until their limbs were torn off. He hated to tell Eden that he was willing to deal with collateral damage in order to get the majority of them out, but it was realistic enough. He sent a message to the fox's phone, telling her where he needed she and Rachel to be.

"You are a valuable target. How good are you with a shotgun?" he asked, tilting his head. Zaine was going to hand them out like candy. Some had slugs; most had buckshot. It wouldn't kill from far away, but it would sting; close-range, not much could survive the blast.

[Eden Cobriana]

Eden was more than a little unsettled with the idea of Drake taking Dania out, but he was trusting the man, and he made that clear when he shook his hand and told him to watch her.  As if they all didn't know already, Dania emphasized the fact that she was IMPORTANT to him with that open-mouthed attempt at drinking up his soul that she managed before she left, and he returned that kiss just as desperately.  He hoped that she wasn't thinking about it, but the chances that he would make it as far as Onyx were looking slimmer than her making it, so there was the distinct possibility that, despite what he'd said about seeing her soon, he wouldn't be.  He was going to try like hell, though.

The instant she was gone, it was back to business with a firm, grim line to his jaw.  He knew this wasn't good.  As soon as Zaine mentioned SWAT escorts, Eden nodded and put out a call for Marius to see if Aimee and Melisande's boys were up for escort duty to get the girls safely to the guildhouses, that Midnight was on the rampage. 

"They may not want to put themselves this close to the line of fire, but their girls already are.  Those boys won't risk their women, not if I know them," Eden argued, shaking his head.  If they could get the SWAT boys to help, that would be good muscle to get his girls out of there, but a distraction was still going to be necessary.  He saw the wisdom in the idea, however much he didn't like it.  Valuable targets, right.  He recognized himself as one before Zaine mentioned it, and had already understood that he was staying behind. 

His head shot up when Zaine asked about a shotgun, one eyebrow cocking up as he pulled a .45 out of his desk and popped open the front of a faux filing cabinet to reveal some added weaponry.  He was ALL FOR handing out guns like candy.  "It's a shotgun, you don't have to be good with it.  Point and shoot," he responded, standing and slipped the handgun into his pants just because he didn't feel like he had time or cared enough to bother with a holster.  He had one, but he wasn't a hunter.  He just wanted to be able to blow some holes in some vampires if they tried to take his girls.  "Just tell me what you need me to do, and I can.  I'm not my brother, but I don't intend to be helpless here."

[Narkisa]

Outside of the club, Narkisa had a fine time of logging who wanted what to go where and when. She was really only there as a controller, not to directly dive into the melee, but she knew that Marius would pose a problem, and she wanted to ensure that he was handled. Raphael would be along later, but for now, she was just observing. What she observed was a young Phasi coming out of the back as quickly as her stick-like legs could carry her.

"One headed your way, Cerberus," she said into the radio, stretching out on the fire escape where she had a perfect vantage without getting too close. She had binoculars, though she hadn't needed them. She had found a spot close enough without being downwind or immediately visable. Points for her.

"She looks pretty," she added. "Drug her, hand her off. Damn, you can always recognize the peacocks by their body language. Everything they do is self-righteous and entitled," she laughed into the black contraption in her hand. She idly wondered how much she would fetch on the block, and smiled a little. There were so many men who would pay just to disfigure that pretty face of hers. What a fate.

Mya should have stayed with Zaine.