"Kai was on his way. I didn't think you'd get your ass handed to you that fast," Ghost started,"--you didn't kill her--oh. Well, that's just fuckin' great." "That's a hell of a way to apologize, Ghost," she replied dryly, her one eye examining Ghost's demeanor as he slumped in his chair. "Sorry I couldn't help you, Plum," he replied as he held up his hand in explanation. It seemed his claws had become even longer, along with the spreading of fur. "I'd probably have hurt you, too. Regardless, I don't think the La'Feyals will do anything to us..." Plum snorted in disbelief, but Ghost pushed on, "I already had Brie check on their daughter, and I don't think the hospital will have the stuff to treat her, so we'll have to bring her here."<br/><br/>Plum cocked her head to the side some as she listened to Ghost. Something was off---something was...dangerously off. The bite on her neck seemed to heat up all at once and she managed to stifle a yelp at the sudden pain--though it disappeared as quickly as it came. That was odd, she thought. Her attention was redrawn to Ghost who seemed to be spacing out, trailing off in his sentences. "Ghost?" Plum said softly in question. She definitely did not want to startle him, but the sudden heaviness in the room had her nerves on edge. It then occurred to her...It was time for his hunt.<br/><br/>"Shit."<br/><br/>----<br/><br/>Kallista had leaned into Silas' touch without hesitation as he stroked her cheek, "It should scare you, foolish woman..." he replied softly as he pulled her into a hug, "Do you know how my heart would bleed for losing you?" She nodded against him, "I count on it," she replied, knowing Silas would understand what she meant. She was confident in his ability to be able to find her again should they ever be separated in life. "Besides," she continued, "I do not believe he truly wanted me dead...He was angry, for certain--but I think the anger was for whoever gave the order to kill the girl..."<br/><br/>Silas seemed to mull over her words, though not for long. Still holding Kallista to him, he began to inform her of what he had learned, "There are children here," he stated quietly, "They are in no danger, and kept separate from all crime. I..." he seemed hesitant to confess his thought, but continued, "I think this place might be good for Paetra." At that point he pulled away and seemed to look off into nothing--often the look he had when he was trying to process and explain something at the same time, "She has the blood of an elf and a vampire. I doubt she'll be young indefinitely, but she will age far slower than you or I. It is possible she will live to be a millennia old..." Kallista gave a frown, unsure of how to feel about the information. She was happy to live because she had her family...though she knew if she did not have them she would have never wished to live as long as she had. "I think it would be good, for now, to allow her to be among other non-humans, especially the long lived ones," Silas finished. Kallista shifted her weight to the opposite leg and brought her hand up to rub her cheek in thought. "I don't know, Silas. What is it they want? Surely this does not come free? Not only that, but that woman's mark was powerful enough to make me hesitate...I don't know if I want Paetra in an environment where we don't know all the dangers. We've pressed our luck plenty of times---do we really wish to press it with Paetra in the mix?"<br/><br/>Silas turned back to face her with a shrug, "If the woman has a mating mark, we must find the mate. I doubt any normal wolf or dragon marked her." The dark haired woman contemplated the idea for a moment and finally gave a sigh, "I concede, as I trust your judgement. But know that I won't hesitate to maim you in some way if this turns out poorly."<br/><br/>--------<br/><br/>"Tch. You wanted to fuck with a shapeshifter who works for one of the most powerful criminal organizations in Market, and you thought it wouldn't come back to bite you?" Mallow asked, clearly astonished. Cherry shrugged, "It usually turns out fine. Typically it's a game, but I think Kai has something for that human..." Cherry resisted the urge to scrunch her face. "Your life must be a hell of a lot more exciting than mine to convince you of that," the man replied with a sigh. He pulled two attachments from his arm gear and it was Cherry's turn to raise her brow. "When I pull this string," he explained, pointing to a string connected to his ring finger, "This little gun is gonna go off, and it'll make a squealing sound." Cherry's red eyes took a moment to roll themselves, "Oh great. Let's use the most obnoxious noise in the world..." Mallow easily ignored the typical response Cherry gave, "When you hear that, close your eyes, or the flash will blind you," he warned very seriously.<br/><br/>"There are four of them out there, so I think we can make it out just with the Camera. If not, you watch my back and I'll watch yours. We'll go to one of my safehouses. There not a person in Market that knows about this one, so stay as close as possible." The woman nodded in understand, accepting the hand that Mallow offered. He pulled her close--close enough were their noses were almost touching. "This is a poisonous capsule," he began as he smoothly put it in her hand, "I made the poison myself. If things go belly up, take it. It'll look like you took cyanide, and you won't be able to move for awhile. If that happens, I'll come back and get you." Cherry nodded, but she hoped it didn't come to that. She didn't need Raz to stumble upon her paralyzed ass and think the worst. Mallow was looking her in the eyes intensely, "I'll do my best not to let that happen," he stated, as if reading her mind.<br/><br/>"I need to at least give Raz a heads up before we go," she said as she pulled out her phone. She decided it was best to leave a voicemail and mark it as urgent. She didn't have the time to sit there and explain everything--Raz would understand once he heard it, "Hey. Maybe don't open tonight. Doggies are out." She hung up and did an emergency wipe of her phone, leaving it on the table. She didn't need them tracking her.<br/><br/>"Alright, I think I'm ready," she said as she let out a whoosh of meditative breath. She slipped the pill into the locket around her neck and gave a nod of affirmation to Mallow. He nodded back, leading the way out the door.<br/><br/>When the breeze hit her, she could almost feel the power of the wolves that were hiding. Mallow's eyes were subtly taking in the surroundings and Cherry listened carefully for any noises. There was a sudden rustling noise of someone standing and jumping out. Cherry heard the noise that Mallow was talking about, closing her eyes instantaneously. When the bright pink color of her eyelids faded, along with the noise, she opened them. She didn't have long to contemplate anything as Mallow grabbed her hand and yanked her in a sprint.<br/><br/>"Just as they were almost out of the side street, a hand reached out and grabbed Cherry's leg, causing her to fall into a push up position. Without thought she kicked her leg and the hand let go and she stumbled up into a standing position quickly to see that Mallow had paused when he registered what happened. "JUST GO!" she demanded, as she began to sprint once more. It didn't seem like she had to tell him twice.<br/><br/>The distance between them, however, was enough for a disgustingly muscular man to jump in front of Cherry. She gave a strange look, "Eww, gross..." she stated, taking a step back. The bald man didn't seem to thrilled with Cherry's response, reaching out and grabbing her by the hair. "What was that?" He snarled out and Cherry's eyes narrowed, "You might want to let me go," she suggested in a low growl. The guy shook with laughter, but not for long as Cherry launched herself towards him, causing him to let go of her hair in effort to catch himself.<br/><br/>Her teeth elongated almost without her consent and she snapped them into the the man's throat, ripping away a large portion of flesh. The man would heal just fine, as he was a wolf, but he wasn't going to be doing anything for the rest of the evening...and if his friends cared, maybe it would slow them down. The man was screaming as he tried his best to put back the chunk of flesh. Cherry only grinned as his blood dripped down her chin and onto her clothes, "Huh, who thought wolves wouldn't like to be bitten?" She wiped her face with the bottom of her shirt as she closed the space between her and Mallow.<br/><br/>"So, maybe let's hurry before the rest of them regain their wits?"