Ghost watched Plum patiently as she stumbled in and collapsed into a chair, forcing himself to stay rooted where he was.<br/>"Kai was on his way. I didn't think you'd get your ass handed to you that fast--you didn't kill her--oh. Well, that's just fuckin' great." The werewolf slumped in his chair.<br/>"Sorry I couldn't help you, Plum." He held up a hand. The jagged claws that had sprouted were long, now, almost as long as his fingers, and his hand was beginning to show snow-white fur. "I'd probably have hurt you, too. Regardless, I don't  think the La'Feyals will do anything to us. 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/>He could hear himself talking, but Ghost was elsewhere. His mouth moved on its own, while his mind began the slow shutdown that heralded his Hunt. Ghost would soon lose himself to instinct.<br/><br/><br/>Silas raised an eyebrow at his soaking wife, then smiled and shook his head, reaching up to move her wet hair out of her face, and stroking her cheek. "It should scare you, foolish woman. Do you know how my heart would bleed for losing you?" He pulled her into a hug, to talk lowly into her ear. "There are children here. They are in no danger, and kept separate from all crime. I...I think this place might be good for Paetra." He pulled out of the hug and looked into the distance. "She has the blood of an elf and a vampire. I doubt she will be young indefinitely, but she will age far slower than you or I. It is possible she will live to be millenia old." Silas' own life expectancy was close to 5 or 6000 years, but Paetra could easily live ten times as long, depending on exactly how their genes had activated within her.<br/>"I think it would be good, for now, to allow her to be among other non-humans, especially the long lived ones."<br/>Turning back to his wife, he shrugged. "If the woman has a mating mark, we must find the mate. I doubt any normal wolf or dragon marked her."<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 said, eyebrows raised. "Your life must be a hell of a lot more exciting than mine to convnce you of that." The thief sighed, pulling two attachments for his arm gear. One was a switchblade mounted on a firing mechanism, the other looked like a gun. As he attached them, he gave the vampiress instructions. "When I pull this string," he said, pointing furtively to the one connected to his ring finger. "This little gun is gonna go off, and it'll make a squealing sound. When you hear that, close your eyes, or the flash will blind you. 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's not a person in Market but me that knows about this one, so stay as close as possible."<br/>With that, he stood, offering a hand to Cherry. When she took it and stood, his fingers entwined with hers, and he pulled her in close. "This is a poisonous capsule. I made the poison myself. If things go belly up, take it. It will 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, and Mallow looked her in the eye. "I'll do my best not to let that happen."