Each night I watch.

As dusk settles over the city, they begin to emerge. They. Still I say 'they.' As if I am not one of 'them,' us. I am though. Do I hate whatI have become? No. Do I envy what I was? Oh, Moreso a No! We are so much more than human. Some of us were once among those headblind creatures. Some of us never were.

The dark shadows are our havens. At least until the sun sets. I am one of those who can walk in the day. We can live among the Norms, if we are careful. The less obvious merge easily, drifting unnoticed, unless they draw attention to themselves.

Like now.

The Norms, humans if you will, are out to have fun. Saturday Night. Date Night. Don't we all want to live a little? Yeah. Even the Vamps would agree to that. I laugh silently to myself. Even after all these years, I can still make bad puns.

 They are oblivious to us. Oh, here and there someone shivers, feeling the eerie chill. I think I was once told it was like "someone walking over your grave". Anyway... Once they pass on by, the feeling is quickly forgotten. Just their imagination, y'know? Just an eerie feeling.

Was I ever that oblivious?

I will have to ask Ian what someone walking over your grave feels like. As quickly as that thought passes my brain, he is there.

Blue jeans and leather jacket, he still looks eighteen and sweet.

I once heard Vamps get an otherworldly beauty when they rise again.

Poor Ian. He still looks like the kid next door. His infectious smile is a dangerous thing. Over four hundred years old, knows just how to avoid showing the fangs, and charms the ladies. Then again, maybe it is the dark curls that beg to be combed. Either way, even avoiding the dark depths of his gaze, the combination is deadly.

Ian walks past me. The fortune cookie from the other night comes back.

"Beware the beauty of man, for he is a deadly creature."

Fits Ian as well as those faded jeans. I guess a Vampire still qualifies as a man, and damn, he is beautiful. I sigh quietly.I can tell by the quick flash of teeth in my direction that he's heard me.

Vampiric hearing is a blessing and a curse. A sigh can be heard yards away, and the sound of pounding blood can mesmerise them.

He circles back to lean against the wall, beside where I sit hidden in the shadows. I hate when he tousles my hair. He knows this, and does it anyway.

"Hey Mutt." Oh, there are times I wish he was still trying to woo me.

"You hunting tonight?"

 I just look at him and he removes his hands from my hair. Ian holds them out, palms up, and tries to charm me with his grin. Doesn't work, but give him points for trying.

"Ian? Tell me something?"

He nods, watching the movement of a leather clad butt. The fact that it is a guy, and not a woman, doesn't bother him at all. I can smell the blood as well as he can hear it. This one has a strong heartbeat.
The blood smells pure too, not something easily found anymore.

Toomany try to find release through chemicals. I can just hear Ian's regular line... 'I know something that feels so much better, and no crash afterwards.' and he wouldn't mean sex.

"Sure, Dearlin'."

The brogue is thick when he is distracted. I think of asking him my question about graves, but pass on it. He's in a flippant mood.

His eyes wander the growing crowd. We aren't far from the concert center of town and it is starting to fill with Norms. I guess he isn't really hungered. He hasn't started stalking anyone. The fact he is here with me is comforting. When I don't ask anything, his gaze brushes over me.

Turning back to the crowd, Ian softly whistles.

"Look at that. Ken ye believe that one?"

A large cat slips towards us and jumps up on a garbage can. Settling himself, he shakes. The black collar glitters with silver charms.

"Vain beast."

The cat yawns. A casual glance shows no one in our proximity. He stretches, and slowly extends muscles into manform. It is a sickening sight, yet strangely awesome to behold. Slicking back his hair, Hans runs a finger across the silver dangling from his collar.

"Ven you got it, flaunt it, mein freund."

His wink at Ian is priceless.

Testosterone, gotta love it.

Ian shucks his jacket.

I sigh again.

They both look at me.

"Did ye find a new lady, Hans?" Ian taunts.

Adjusting the sleeves of his deep red t-shirt, he smirks.

"Jealous, Leibe?"

"Not in the least. Ye just look like a bloody housecat tonight."

There are moments, I hate men. Human and other.

Hans dangles a leg over the side of the can. I watch the play of muscles under fur. He is the only one of us I have ever seen, who can look human, and still keep enough fur to look like he is dressed in a velvet suit. The rest of us become naked when we revert back
after being bestial.

Suddenly I feel the bloodlust rise and I squash it with an effort.

Lesser or not, he is my friend. Not my prey.

"See something interesting, Leibchen?"

The invitation in his voice reminds me of when we first met, and the wild night it was.

"Only one thing." I growl huskily, watching him swing his leg.

"Oooh? Und vas ist das?" he purrs.

"Your trick of leaving enough fur to look clothed."

He preens, smoothing his hands down furred thighs.

"You like, ja? Vell, I kanst teach you if you vish."
His accent is thick when he thinks he is being sensual.

Sensual is not what I need right now.

I stare into his emerald eyes, His slit pupils dilate as my own iris' fade to amber. I feel the hunger grow as my power touches his. he backs down quickly, and I feel Ian's touch on my shoulder.

"Dace? Shift, ye know he is only baitin ye."

I growl softly, grasping for control of my beast before I lunge at Hans. He watches me carefully, poised for flight. When my eyes become their normal brown, he relaxes, exhaling a breath neither of us realised he was holding.

"Sometimes, Leiblich, you scare the hell out ov me."

"Sometimes, Katze, I scare the hell out of myself."

Hans grins teasingly, but we both know just how close he came to being a meal. I can still scent his fear, just as Ian's constricted pupils tell me he hears the pounding of Hans' heart. Thank the gods we are friends. It helps us keep each other alive.

Alive? Oh yeah, I keep forgetting. Ian's already dead.

Ok... I laugh out loud.

Ian will probably want to know what that laugh was all about. I'll tell him later.

Hans slips off the can and bows. "Spater meinen freunden. Ve vill meet at das Brew Haus, ja? Past Midnight."

We nod.

"Ah gut! Den dat ist a date. Speaking ov dates, I am late to meet mein lady freund. Bis Spater, und I vill teach the partial change."

A kiss blown, and the quick change to cat and Hans is gone. The last we see of him is the saucy flick of his tail.Oh, he'll have a tale to tell later. Damn, can't get away from the puns tonight.

Hans has an addiction, better make that three. Coffee,
women, and telling a great story. He does love to be the center of attention.

Ian watches me after Hans leaves.

"What's wrong, Dace?" The fact he used my name means he picked up my mood.

"I don't know. Got a feeling."

 "Ye do know I don't like evasion, right?"

I frown up at him.

"Maybe I just am tired of it all."

Ian cocks a brow.

"Ok, maybe I just feel like Hans is walking into something he can't handle."

"He's a grown man, Mutt. Ye can't dictate his actions."

"I know. Just a bad feeling."

"I respect yer feelings. Seen the follow up too many times."

Ian runs a finger across his chest and the hidden scars. A reminder of when he and I first met, and the vampire hunting nutcase who was bent on doing him in.

"Let's go get ye a cup of coffee."

I grimace, he laughs.

"Alright, tea. Ye know, yer one of the few Americans I have met that prefer tea to coffee." He ruffles my hair again and I growl.

If he does that one more time, I am going to bite him.

We had walked about a block to the Brew Haus when he decides to bring up the source of tonight's mood.

"Okay Girl. Why'd ye do it? Before any of the others decide I was the reason, I want to know why ye cropped yer hair?"

My hair had been a flowing mane of chocolate brown. Until this morning it had reached to mid back. Now it was a short unruly cap of dark curls. There were several reasons for the cutting.

The first was that it got in the way, and I was tired of braiding it. The second, it disguised me a bit from the crazy shewolf we were hunting. The third. The most important to me. This morning was the anniversary of the deaths of three people who meant the world to me, my unborn daughter, my brother, and my Love.

I touched the shorn locks and bit my lip.

"When Rogue shows up, I will explain."

I knew my sworn brother would do this for me. Except for Ren, I trusted no one else with what I was going to ask.

Including Ren, there was no one, except Rogue, that would do it.

He would be the only one to do it.

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

Being regulars at the Brew Haus, we are greeted by a few people.

The place is owned by a woman who was more than aware that her customers were not all humans. The others are supposed to meet us here after midnight. It was only ten now.

Ren and Rogue will be early, as usual. I was counting on that.

Zora Karenia Tocharez is American born, but of Gypsy decent. Her black waves are usually caught back in a band or scarf, and her skirts are always a carnival of colors and patterns. Tonight's top is a t-shirt which asks "Are you in love or lust?" She waved us into the farcorner, where I can see the dark clad Rogue sipping a cup of his usual brew.

Zora is one of the few who can see us as we are. She can see the colors that surround us in life. Ian's lack of aura had her slipping him a note the first time he walked in. It had read "No Hunting Here." and was signed with a glyph. He had tried to charm her and she offered to stake him herself.

His next visit, he brought her a gift that now hangs above the bar. It is an oversized wooden stake carved with the words, "Zora's Peace Keeper".

Ian orders for us both as I head back to Rogue.
Slipping into a chair next to him I ask where Ren's hiding. He just smiles quietly. His solemn eyes tell me something is up.

Rogue reaches over and tugs a curl, shaking his head.

"I warned Zekay we may leave suddenly." Zekay is his nickname for Zora.

Of all of us, he is the most ambiguous, and she adores him. Says he is Phal Piko, Brother Spear, and she owes him a lifedebt. I had asked her once what this meant. She told me he is a deliverer of justice. If not for him, she would be magherdo, unclean. He had kept her from the streets after her beloved family had been attacked by a rogue shifter, had kept her from hunting it down herself.

 She is alive today for one reason only. She had been away at college. Zora had come home the morning after the attack. Rogue had arrived only a few moments after she had turned off her car. They were the ones that found her family. Zora knew Rogue, since he had befriended her older brother years earlier. Rogue's grief was enough that he had taken it upon himself to hunt down the Amriya Beng, the cursed beast. Now, Piko is Vitsa, family.

I asked why we were not all Amriya Beng. She said not all shifters go crazy with hunger. This one had become a "cursed devil". Others, like myself, are not Rom, not Gaje, we just are.

Rogue tugs a curl again.

The look he gives me is half speculation, half regret. His emotions roll with anger and sarcasm. Did I forget

to mention he loved my long hair?

I just give him a blank face, and an emotional wall. The shadows beside him ripple in agitation.

"Chill the shadows, Rogue. People are gonna notice."

 "Tell me why, first." I know he didn't mean his shadows. He was staring at my hair, frowning slightly. I touched my curls selfconciously.

"Stop them, Rogue." I glance at a woman a few tables away. She is staring. You would think she never saw living shadows before.

Rogue grins wickedly. He does have a strange sense of humor. At my sigh, he stills their movements.

 "There are times," he tells me, "that you are no fun."

I shrug.

Ian sets two mugs on the table. He slides my earl grey across to me and slides into a chair. I do so love watching him move.

Lifting his own mug, Ian inhales the scent of his coffee. He never drinks the stuff, just inhales the aroma.

My lips twitch, edging on a smile. He once told me he never could stomach the stuff, even when he wasliving.

Rogue turns cold eyes upon Ian. He holds up one hand, gracefully cutting off Rogue's comment before he opens his mouth.

"Ye think I wouldn't have stopped her, man?"

Both men turn their examination back to my hair.

I fidget slightly, and both grin wryly.

"Trust me. She did this before I rose."

Did they forget I am here?

They exchange one of those purely male looks.

Damn, I hope Ren gets here soon. The testosterone here is driving me crazy. Bordering on making me hungry, too.

Zekay slips a note to Rogue. He is on his feet in seconds.

"Let's go," I sigh, already regretting the tea I never even tasted.

The guys are weaving through the tables as I get to my feet.

Zekay notices my glance at the full mug and smiles. She'll have a mug waiting the next time I come in.
"Hurry Belle', Leo is waiting."

Leo. Something in his scent raises my hackles. Always has. Maybe it is the inherent taste of violence on his scent. It's not that I distrust him, it is more I taste his instabitlity. But he is one of the few humans Ren trusts with her immortal being. Most of the street residents are background to me. Leo isn't. Ex-military, he couldn't take civilian life. More like it wouldn't accept him back. Nam had done things to him best left alone.

He looked at Ren as his angel. Rogue said he was one of her cases years ago. He was one of the reasons she stayed here. She didn't want him reassigned.

The guys are out the door before I can catch up. That is my own fault. I hate letting others know I am no longer human. Being fast enough to catch them would have raised a few eyebrows.

Not all of Zora's customers walk in shadows.

They are waiting for me at the corner. Leo is leaning against a wall, talking to Rogue. His eyes are focused on Rogue, but he misses nothing around him.

Is it the streets or his military experience that makes him so unconciously aware? I'll never know, but then again, it is because I'll never ask.

We all have our secrets and horrors.

Rogue is one of the few people I have seen him talk openly with. But Rogue is a shadow walker and more than a friend to Ren.

Two points in his favor, I guess.

He knows when I am close, acknowledges me with a bare nod.

"She awaits, Shadow Man. Something about the one the shapeshifters are hunting."

That has my immediate attention.

My blood races.

Leo stares at me as if he knows I am close to changing.

"Follow me."

He is around the corner and down an alley almost before we move.

He may only be human, but he blends well with the crowds and shadows.

I would have lost him if I lost sight of him.

Leo knows the city maze better than many. It has been his home for more years than most. Many streetpeople don't survive this long.

Rogue shrugs and catches up with Leo.

Ian takes my hand and we follow, keeping a small distance between us. I grin at his attempt to seem casual, but ARE still following them. Then again, it may be Rogue's shadows.

It is hard to tell in the darkness what is a living shadow and what isn't.

Ian hesitates when he gets too close to a questionable darkness.

Sometimes I think he fears to step where Rogue does, but I have seen him step into that realm of his own free will. Me, I have no qualms about that. Rogue's cloak has enveloped me many times. Some have said he shows you your worst fears when he embraces you. I wouldn't know. I have lived through mine and survived.

Ian is so somber. I can't resist teasing. I squeeze my hand in his, running my thumb over his palm.

"Love you too."

He grins that fang baring grin, the one that means I have gotten to him. One day, I may even let him bite me. I look at him and smile.

Ian grins back. There is a gleam to his eyes that only the inherent thrill of a hunt puts there. His dark eyes are tinged with a bloodred light, changing the beautiful rich chocolate brown into something more like the fluid auburn brown of cola.

For those few moments I wonder if I would survive his bite. Right now, I don't want to risk that.

Leo and Rogue have emerged onto a main street. Rogue's shadows shrink in close around him as Ian and I close the gap. As soon as I see Ren, I sense the
walls. Someone is being sheilded by her. I can only sense her worry and elation, not the thoughts of the other person.

Did I forget to mention I was an esper before growing furry?

Ren turns to greet Rogue. Her ebony feathered cloak spreads wide to envelop him in her embrace. Anyone watching would think her a dramatic goth. Anyone
watching couldn't miss the passion between them.
There are such things as enduring love.

If I remember right, they are both older than this country. Both had lived through darker times in Europe. There story is their own to tell. Their love is something of legends.

I sigh.  Ian clasps my hand tighter. He knows I find love painful.

From behind the darkclad lovers, a man emerges. If not for Ren's warding, I would have sensed him before this.

He stands unsteadily, breathing deeply.

Shaggy hair brushes his chest and he flips it behind his shoulder with a negligible gesture. His voice is rough from disuse, but still a sweet tenor.

Shyly, he asks, "Did you miss me?"

 I stand still for less than a breath, and then it is he, who is breathless.

Nothing like having 195 pounds of impact hug the air out of you.

"Jacque!"

Tears fill my eyes. I haven't seen him in almost a year. My last memory was of him standing over the body of his brother, telling me to catch the bitch who had gone wild. I had tracked her this far south.

The Canadian wilderness seems so far away. That moment, like it just happened.

I touch his chin, still crying, stroking over the short dark beard gracing his face.

"I like this." His grin is worth every moment that I have missed him.

"You look so much older with it."

There is no longer that young boy innocence. Now he looks like a man.

He sighs. "I am older I think."

His laugh is tinged with regret. I know he can sense my next questions as he shakes his head.

"No, Jean-Marc is fine. Bears scars, but is alive. He sends his affections. Liz has been nursing him."

He hugs me hard.  "I have missed you too, ma chère."

His gaze sweeps over Ian.

There is a bristling in the air.

Rogue turns, sensing it as well.

"Jacque?"

Feral eyes meet Rogue's emerald greens, then slowly they lower, regaining humanity. Jacque sighs deeply, kissing the top of my head.

There are times I hate my height.

He whispers against my hair almost noiselessly. It is the only way not to be heard by the others.

"He is vampire. Not one of us."

Like I don't know that?

I turn into his embrace and whisper against his chest, "Bigot. We are not like that. We are friends, and comfort. And he cannot die on me. He is already dead."

Jacque shrugs around me. "But... he is... Vampiric."

"Let it go, Jacque. "

Stubborn puppy. Now who does he remind me of?

Oh yeah. Me. Sigh.

He hugs me once more, then draws away his hands reluctantly.

"I can't stay. Ric is already on the move. I joined him about two months ago. She struck again last night. But this one hurt her."

He hands me a silver claw ring.

"This has her blood, but she has run on. We found this not far from here."

I raise the ring to my nose, scenting. The scent of silver is bitter to a shapeshifter, metallic death just for us. There is her scent.

My hackles rise, and Jacque puts a little distance between our bodies. But he lays a hand on my arm.
There is another scent, one not as dominant. This one
scares me. It is a hunter's stink. It has a feeling of familiarity. Ian's scenting is as strong as mine. I pass the ring to him.

He breathes in the scent, tasting the aura surrounding the piece and goes pale. He looks stunned, shaken as I have not seen him before. His liquid brown eyes meet mine with the first bit of fear I have ever seen in them.

"This has touched Hans."

Everyone was suddenly alert.

"He was blooded by it. I can't place the scent inside the ring though."

Ian and I had seen Hans earlier this evening. He had seemed his same flirtatious self. Then again, Ian had told him he seemed more domesticated.

Ian touches my arm, drawing my attention.

"His collar."

Suddenly that scent is all too familiar.

Ren catches the thought from my mind, sharing it with Rogue. Jacque emits a low growl.

"Who is Hans?"

I place my hand against his chest.

"Down boy."

He glares at me.

I guess humor isn't gonna help.

"Hans is one of us. A pain in the ass sometimes, but a good guy."

Ian snorts, Rogue chokes. Men!

Ren makes a motion with her black painted nails, and we all step back out of the light.

Someone is coming up the street. Since there are so few people on the streets, we would draw a few stares.
Rogue raises his shadows to hide us.

I hug Jacque tight.

"Tell Ric," I stumble on his name, there are so many memories of pain between us.

"Tell Ric, I will follow as soon as I make sure Hans is not into something more dangerous than he knows."

He kisses my cheek gently, holding me tight.

Pushing back, he smiles.

I know that smile well. He is about to say something bratty. He hasn't changed that much.

"I will."

He reaches out and ruffles my curls. I snap at him, teeth closing on air.

"I like. Much better than the mourning braid."

I can feel the shock hit Ren and Rogue.

They had forgotten today's date.

One year ago tonight, I had felt my only blood brother scream as his heart was torn out of his body. One year ago tonight, I had held my fiance's hand as he died. Died because there were too many people around and he would not change. He would not let Norms know we were different. Gods, how I miss them. We WILL catch her.

I smack the flat of my hand against Jacque's chest.
He smiles down at me.

From a pocket I pull out the braids. There are six, each tied with ribbon.

I hand Jacque two ending in sapphire blue. One had the ribbon woven through the hair.

"These are for you and Ric. I was going to ask Rogue to deliver them. They are promises...This," I touch the one with a bottom tie only. "is yours. I will kill her for the loss of your kin."

I caress the woven one.

"Ric will understand about this. His loss and mine are entwined, and he is of my faith. "

I kiss Jacque on his bearded chin. "

Go, you Mangy Mutt."

"You are still an angel, no matter how you flatter me."
He grins impishly.

Ren laughs.

She is the Angel, not me. Her wings may be black, and she may be stuck here, but she is an Angel all the same.

We both smile at him. He shrugs and winks.

Jacque hands me a pouch, undresses and packs his clothes. Securing the braids within, he begins the painful change we all go through.

In moments a large caramel furred wolf raises his head and I slip the pouch around his neck.

"Be safe, little brother. We will dance in Luna's light when we next meet."

He gives me a long sopping lick, winks impishly, and is gone.

Keeping to the shadows he will be back to Ric in no time. I wipe my cheek, grimacing. Brat.

Ian is laughing. "I think he likes you."

I smile sweetly, as I wipe my hand on Ian's red t-shirt.
"He swore kinship with me. We are Packmates. Closer than blood."

Ian smiles, baring fangs. "Nothing is closer than blood."

Yep. He's right.

A door opens up the block from us. I stiffen. The ring has raised my senses.

A woman strolls down the street, dressed for fun.

I look at Ren and she shrugs.

That means she still has the need for us to be here. She has no idea why.

I have learned not to question her feelings.

An Angel is never wrong about time and place. A Fallen Angel is never wrong about dark intentions.

Death will come here soon. All we can do is wait.

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

Wait.

That is what we do best. We wait and we watch.

Ian and I are settled on a set of steps, half shrouded from the street. Anyone else would not be able to see down the street, or into the alley across the way. But we are not anyone. Our night vision is excellent.

Ren is sitting in the busstop, reading.

Rogue has gone for coffee.

 Rogue steps from the shadows behind us. I hate when he does that. Every shadow touches every other. He needs only to step into one here, will his point of destination, and is stepping out there, in moments.
This time, he has paper cups from Zekay's.

Mine has Earl Grey tea, bless him.

Ian takes a cup and inhales, smiling.

He does love the scent of coffee. Too bad he can't abide the taste.

Rogue steps back into the shadow and is stepping around Ren's bench in the next moment. Settling next to her, you would never guess they were not Norms.
Gothic lovers, lost in each other, oblivious to anyone, anything, Right? Wrong.

Ian stiffens slightly. He closes his fingers around my hand, trapping me. Whatever alerted him cannot be good, if he plans on keeping me from moving.

Sudden laughter sends a chill down my spine. I don't recognize the voice, but I do the tone.

Someone intends on being very bad tonight. Painfully bad.

I keep my eyes focused on Ian, knowing he can easily see them as they step out of the alley.

Something about the scents is muted, blurred. As if there had been a sharing of each other already.

I try to seperate the tones, slowly rolling them through my mind like a fine dish savored on the tongue. So familiar, but changed. And then I catch it.

Hans.

The laughter I hear isn't his light teasing or even his more intense sexual chuckle. It is a woman's. The sound, malicious pleasure, pure and simple. The taste of the scents and Hans' passiveness is disturbing.

Hans is a lover.

He should be more vibrant, I should hear his usual flirting. It's not there.

I stare into Ian's face as he watches the alley. His eyes tighten. A snarl draws lips back over his fangs. He leans in close.

"Kiss me. Now. And make it look good, lass."

 Startled, I lightly kiss him, careful of the fangs.

Ian whispers against my lips.

"Hans is nae ever drunk. Not in all the time I've known the bloke. Can ye scent alcohol? Ye have a better tune to that than I."

Pulling back, I curl into his embrace like a lover, my back to his lean chest. I need the breathing space because I can't distinguish anything with his vampiric
essence overwhelming my nose. I can just see two figures embracing at the mouth of the alley.

Hans is leaning against the wall and she is tight against him, arms around him. Looks like a pair of passionate lovers, but as I scent, I know different.

There is a drugged bite to his personal smell. A lethargy that I know is not natural.

She is clean scented, but a taint of old blood disturbs the image.

Old blood... and silver.

"They've had sex already. It blurrs the rest of the scents. But..."

The words are softly spoken to Ian, but I can feel Ren touching my mind.

I have not looked at the couple since the first glance. My eyes are closed as I lean back. Ian keeps his arms down and around me, keeping his personal scent out of my awareness, but still keeping me from going to Hans.

I slowly explain the scents, and the wrongness. Ren perks up when I mention the smells of old blood and silver.

She mentally reminds me of the ring.

Yeah,I know. That had crossed my mind. I hadn't forgotten it, or the taste of Hans on the ring's clawed tip.

Ian nudges me gently and I open my eyes. We are sitting deeper in shadows, invisible to the street.
Rogue's doing, I can tell.

Good thing though, for the woman and Hans are coming this way.

Ian drifts us back just a little more.

Hans staggers past our steps.

He should have scented us by now and given us some type of recognition, a wiggle of the brows, a sly grin, a wink, anything.

Instead he leans heavily on her, stumbling.

A glance at the bus stop notes Ren and Rogue missing. I can feel the touch of her mind. They too are amongst Rogue's shadows.

Hans and his friend pause by steps leading down to someone's basement.

She draws him into a narrow arch between the building where Ian and I are waiting and the house next door.
They are close enough that I can hear her murmurs
of affection.

I want to gag.

The aroma of Hans' drugged state is nauseating.

The taste of silver is very strong, too strong for the amount of jewelry she is wearing. The little bit of silver Hans is wearing isn't enough to burn my nose this much.

Ian loosens his hold, but squeezes me in a reminder to stay put.

She is laughing huskily. it might have been sexy, if her words weren't so chilling.

"You are so sure of yourself, aren't you. At least you were."

She runs a hand along his chest.

"Such a handsome man. So sexy a voice, the only
thing that ruins you is what you are."

She cups him, rubbing herself along him.

My skin prickles.

Hans moans.

I am not sure he is aware of what she is saying, only of her body against him seems to be having any effect.

"Well, Sweetheart, you won't be infecting anyone else when I am done. Will you?"

She draws one of her rings down his cheek, drawing blood.

Hans groans.

She chuckles and takes a step back.

Light glints on someting between them.

It takes a moment for it to register in my mind. I can feel Ian tensing and I am out of his arms.

 I can taste the pure silver blade as acid on the back of my tongue.

In shock I watch the knife slide into him. A growl rises from deep within.

Much as a pain in the ass he can be, Hans doesn't deserve this. Too far away, too lateto stop the thrust, I still can't let him die.

She shoved deep, starting to pull up on the blade. If she hit the heart, punctured it, Hans would be gone.

I must have changed as I jumped the porch railing. I can't remember, but my jaws snap around her arm, forcing it down. I growl deeply, warning, and bite harder, not yet breaking skin.

Her scream is so very satisfying.

Hans falls away from her blade as she turns to sink her claw rings into my muzzle.

Pain lances through my face, and I shake my head, worrying at her wrist.

I hear Ian's hiss as he knocks the blade from her hand.

One of his lean hands grips her throat, lifting her off her feet. Power incarnate, he glows.

"Ye are not worth the moment it would take to bite ye."

His lips are pulled back, revealing his fangs. Gone is the beautiful undead boy. Here is something to strike terror into even the deepest nightmare.

His grip tightens and Ren is suddenly there, calming his temper.

"No. This is not the way."

Ian holds her at arms length, coldly looking her over.

She still has my muzzle in a death grip and I growl in pain.

Ian shakes her like a rag doll until she releases me.

I snap at her feet as he lifts her higher still.

"Ian, you are more than this. Put her down."

He grins at Ren, that light of wicked humor warns his intent.

"As ye wish, Me Angel" and Ian drops her.

There is a satisfying crunch of bone as she hits the ground.

Whimpering in pain, I shake my head, trying to ease the burning in my muzzle.

Ian falls to his knees beside me, running his hands over my muzzle. There is a sharp jab of pain and he shows me the broken claw from one of her rings.

Ian turns back to her, reaching. Ren steps between them.

"See to Hans."

Ian stares at her. His eyes narrow as he looks past Ren, at the woman cradling her arm. Her look of hatred is enough to know this isn't over.

He snarls.

Ren takes a step backwards, closer to the woman.

Ian advances, still snarling.

"Ian, reign it in. Shifter isn't hurt badly. Hans can be saved. You need to help Rogue get him to Claudia. She is the only doctor we know who treats shapers.

He is too far gone on that drug to shift, and he'll die if he isn't treated."

Ian hisses past Ren.

The woman flinches, but still glares at him.

"If he dies, I'll be back for ye."

She laughs. A high strained sound.

I shake, rippling my coat. That sound chills my soul.

Ian turns away, taking Hans from Rogue.

He holds him so they can try to stop him from bleeding to death.

Most wounds would stop quickly, but these were caused by silver and won't. They needed to get to the clinic soon.

Ren sighs and looks at the woman. Judgement can be seen in Ren's eyes. I can feel the sad thoughts running in her mind. But I can also feel the rage behind the calm exterior.

Turning her back, she examines me, and screams.

Pitching forward, Ren catches herself on her hands and knees.

The silver knife protrudes from her back.

One look at the hilt leaves me cold.

I step around Ren, growling.

Each stalking step taken backs the woman up just a
little more.

She is more afraid of me than Ian.

Good.

I bare my teeth, uttering a low snarl.

She scrambles back into the archway, and chokes.

Her body topples forward, throat cut.

Leo steps out of the shadows, a bloody piece of glass already falling from his hand.

He stares down at the body at his feet and rolls it over the toes of his shoe. A grim smile touches his normally blank face. Tears slip down his cheeks as his eyes seek out Ren. He wipes them away, trailing blood across his face.

Leo touches my wounds gently. I away blood from his
hands. He smiles sadly.

"What's a little blood between friends, Lady Wolf?"

He slips past me and gently pulls the blade from Ren's back.

His voice is gentle, soothing as he talks to her.

"My turn to protect you, Angel. Shadow Man and I will get you to that doctor. The shapers will take care of the thing that hurt you. I sent for them."

I will myself back to human form as Rogue and Leo help Ren stand.

Rogue rummages in his pack and finds a pair of sweats for me to put on.

Good guy to call brother. Always prepared.

Searching the porch I find the remnants of my jeans. I have 3 braids I need delivered before the night is over. I'll never get there now.

But Rogue can.

I slip them in one of his pockets.

"Bro? Please? The red ribbon to my mate's grave, the yellow to my brother's, and the pink to my dad's?"

I clutch the last, bound in red and black, in my hand. Rogue nods. I know he won't forget.

Three promises made a year ago. I still haven't caught the crazy shewolf responsible. Three promises rededicated in the mourning braid sacrificed.

My baby's braid, I tuck back in my pocket.

Rogue calls his shadows. They writhe open, showing a glowing path through the darkness.

He and Leo help Ren walk. Ian hesitates a few moments before following.

"Mutt?"

"Yeah?"

"I'll find ye. We will catch up to ye."

He knows I will be gone soon, back on the trail that brought me here.

"Ren or Rogue will be able to call me, mind to mind. I will be with Ric and Jacque."

Ian nods.

"Mutt." Ian pauses, licking his lip,"Dacey, Look for me. Ye know I won't be long behind."

He shudders as he strides after the others.

"Don't ferget, Girl. I'll be there as soon as I am able. I promise."

The shadows close again, as if there never was anything but the dark.

I sigh, rubbing at the itching wounds in my cheeks.

A sound alerts me to the others.

One of the city's ratmen tells me to forget anything happened here.

There will be no evidence.

They pick up the body and disappear into the shadows also.

A young woman shifts to a black feathered form and launches into the air.

She wheels above me, caws, and merges with the night.

Alone, I wander back up the street, lost in thought.

May the gods keep the damn cat alive long enough to reach Claudia.

My feet find their way to The Brew Haus, and Zekay.

A steaming cup of Earl Grey greets me, along with Zekay's warm embrace.

Zekay winks as she flashes me a smile.

I have to smile back.

Our local Crow raises her cup to me from across the room.

"A little bird told me to have a cup ready for you."

I cross the room, cup in hand, and join her.

"I've been watching you." she says.

Like I said earlier tonight, we are watchers.

©2005 dma