"Did you see anything on the way here?"

The Asp shakes his head, the tendrils of the shadow he’d just stepped out of releasing their last hold on him, "As far as I am aware, you are fine"

She nods, looking at him as she pushes back from her laptop, standing and stepping forward to accept his embrace, "I am hoping that I don't have to keep this mantle ( Read more... )

She is standing in a dimly lit study, reading a book written in a language she cannot understand. There is a sense of urgency, a strong need to understand what is written, even as she finds herself unable to fathom it. The harder she concentrates on the words, the more the meaning eludes her. She finds herself in a state of panic, breathing hard ( Read more... )

“So….” Reggie says in a façade of casualness, sitting down next to Giuliana as she returns to the table, “do I get to know what that was, or is that privileged information?”

Giuliana looks away and lips her lower lip slightly, “I got some bad news. Unexpected news.”

“Alright….” He rests his chin in his hand, elbow propped on the table, ready to hear ( Read more... )

As Samuel materializes out of the shadows in front of her, Giuliana freezes.  His eyes fix directly on hers, and she realizes that he can see right through her Obfuscation.  He frowns at the stricken look on her face, his hands casual at his sides, an obvious attempt to appear nonthreatening, "Have you lied to me? Or do you recognize that I am not ( Read more... )

Sitting at her table again, Giuliana glances up to see Reggie Maxwell approaching. He smiles at her, sitting, “So, what are you planning to do that has you pinned against a wall?”

“Me? Nothing. Just watching my back. I have been accused of being too Italian.”

Reggie smiles a little, and snorts out a single chuckle, “This is the first time your ( Read more... )

 Giuliana gasps as she sits up in bed, hands out in front of her to grasp at vanishing figures.  The smell of dust and ash invades her nose, and she's pressed up against the headboard before she can stop herself, before she remembers that it's just a dream.

She stills, winning the fight to control her Beast, and one hand comes up to wipe at the end ( Read more... )

The Mekhet walks down a quiet street, the night is still and silent and the trees glisten with chilled rain. The air is misted with a fog which gives the world ( an ethereal sheen... )

( I saw this coming... )

 The Mekhet awakens in the darkness of her suite at Le Dessin Manoir, stretching limbs stiffened by the stillness of daysleep, and rolling over on her side to reach out and lift the small device off of her nightstand and unplug it from it's power source.  Tapping a few simulated buttons on the smooth screen, she quickly accesses her email, going ( Read more... )

The Mekhet steps out of the rental car, absent of luggage, and shuts the door with a sound click before turning to stride towards the manse looming in the darkness before her. She hadn’t taken time to pack anything, not that it matters; she maintains a secondary wardrobe here, among other things.

Stilettos click on the stone steps, and ( the door swings open... )