The lackey quickly backed out of the room, bowing and hoping to escape before the storm started. The maid kept fussing with Ryan's hair, seemingly oblivious to what the messenger had just said. Ryan however, was most aware...
"I can't believe she would dare to show her face here." Ryan wheeled on the maid, who looked back at her quite calmly for the amount of rage spewing from her mistress.
"Here!! Of all the places she would follow him, she would come here! Insane." Ryan spun back around and bared her fangs.
"Doesn't she know what we're capable of? How can she not know I'll destroy her before I'll let her take him away from us?" In utter fury, she smashed the closest object to her, the long useless mirror, and then stalked from the room, her skirts swishing around her and her hair still hanging tangled around her face.
As the door slammed behind her, the maid's vacant expression slowly changed. Lithia smiled slightly at the sound of furious footsteps racing down the stairs, as she slowly moved to the dresser below the shattered mirror. She gently drew a finger through the shards laying on the wooden surface, ignoring how they seemed to stick to her fingers, catching other shards and pulling them along.
She pulled her fingertips from the dresser, and gently flicked them at the broken mirror. There was a soft flash and a small clinking sound.
The flare faded away, and there was the mirror...perfect, whole and more beautiful than it had ever been.
Lithia traced a finger across the glass surface, and with a sudden gleam in her eyes, slipped out the door.
Ryan had made it to the door. The footmen were smart enough to read the furious footsteps they'd heard and the door was opened and the car was waiting. As she stalked by, the men looked at each other, surprised. While she had her occasional scary moments, the queen was always very composed. The stomping was unusual, and the fangs bared in an angry scowl was something totally new. Once she'd slammed the car door behind her, Ember turned to Even.
"Lace must have done something." Even started laughing.
"He's the only one who ever gets her worked up like that. Wonder why?" The brothers shared a look, but said nothing and went back to the weapons room, wondering what had happened this time and just what kind of mood Jet would come back in.
"Jet, go to the club. Now." He wasted no time, throwing the car into gear and speeding into the night. Ryan started jamming the last few strands of her hair into the clips, not even noticing the pain when she slammed the pins into her scalp several times. That finished, she slumped back against the seat, the fire in her eyes still burning viciously.
"She's crazy if she thinks she can take him away from us." Ryan started muttering, watching the city go by the windows. "I've waited my whole undead life to end this, and I will NOT give up the perfect opportunity to some, some freak who wants to 'help' him." She slammed her hand down on the seat. "I won't. I'll kill him first." Her moody eyes shifted back into the car. "I swear I'll kill him first."
In the front seat, Jet grimaced. It was going to be a long night.
The car skidded to a stop in front of Blackened Red, and before Jet could even open his door, Ryan was out, her skirt swirling around her as she slammed the door and headed for the stairs. Jet swore under his breath, jumped out, threw the keys at the valet, and ran after Ryan. He caught up to her as she was climbing the stairs, obviously heading for Lace's office.
"Lady Ryan, wait..." She completely ignored him, stalking onward. In that moment, Jet lost his temper. Grabbing Ryan's arm, he threw her back into the alcove just behind the stairs and slammed her back against the wall. Anticipating her strike, his arm blocked her fangs from his neck. He winced for a moment at the pain, but shoved it away, ignoring the canines stuck in his arm.
"There is a reason you have a bodyguard, Ryan. And the people who seem to be following the man you're visiting are that reason. Do NOT try to pretend I'm not here. Let me do my job. Do you hear me?" She looked at him, fury radiating from every cell, and then she closed her eyes and her mouth slipped away from his arm. He felt her relax and half melt towards the wall. He caught her gently and leaned close.
"I'm sorry to be insubordinate, but I care about what happens to you, Lady Ryan. I could never forgive myself if something happened to you." He let her go, and slowly stepped back. She straightened up, wiped his blood from her lips with a finger, and opened her eyes.
"Let's go, Jet." She waited for him to start for the office, and followed.
The last few feet passed quietly, Jet ignoring the blood dripping from his arm while scanning the club for danger, and Ryan following him with an odd look on her face.
Jet knocked on the door, and after the muffled voice called them in, he waved Ryan past, and followed her in.
Lace was sitting behind his desk, paper strewn everywhere. A quick glance convinced Jet that he'd been working on finances, but he appeared to be having problems. Lace stood up, and stepped around the desk.
"Ryan. What a surprise." He gave her a quick hug that seemed fake. Ryan said nothing, but sat down in the chair in front of his desk.
"We need to talk, Lace." He arched an eyebrow, and sat on the edge of the desk, directly across from her, ignoring the fact that their knees were almost touching.
"Talks with you never seem to go that well, Ryan. Or have you not noticed someone is always bleeding?" He shot a glance at the silent bodyguard. "What happened, Jet?" Jet shrugged.
"Someone got a bit cranky. Nothing I couldn't handle." Lace looked at him for a moment, and then nodded and looked back at Ryan, a half smile crossing his face as his eyes rested on her lips.
"I see." A fraction of a blush seemed to cross Ryan's face, but it was quickly followed by sudden fury and she launched straight into her planned tirade.
"Lace, you can't be letting that winged freak follow you around or talk to you, or anything. Do you have any CLUE what she could do to you??" The smile on Lace's faded quickly
"You're worried about my safety now, Ryan?” His lip curled up in a nasty sneer. “Last time my safety was in question, you left me standing on your rug gushing blood while you and your little...elders asked me lunatic questions you already knew the answers to. You swore to me that you'd leave me alone. And now, yet again, you're trying to run my life." Ryan sprang up out of her chair.
"You don't understand, Lace. You CAN'T go with her. You can't!" Lace raised an eyebrow.
"Why on earth would she ask me to go anywhere, Ryan? And even if she did, why would I go with someone who could kill me before I could twitch?" Ryan looked at him, a tiny glimmer of uncertainty crossing her face. Lace stood up, his face now barely an inch from her face. "You think I don't know that this is odd, Ryan? That some angel shows up at my sister's grave, tells me that she has something to do with my life, and then starts randomly popping up everywhere I go? You think I'm stupid enough to not think there is something bigger going on?" He was furious now. "Just because I don't agree with some of your council's lunatic ideas doesn't mean I'm a fool, Ryan Alice. Don't assume anything about me. You know nothing about me. You know nothing about my life. You have no clue about any of this." She took an involuntary step back at the venom in his voice, but then caught herself.
"You can't talk to me like that, Lace. I'm..." He cut her off.
"Jet, get her out of my office. Now." Lace walked back to the other side of the desk and dropped into the chair. Ryan's mouth dropped open.
"Lace..." Ignoring her, he looked straight at Jet.
"Get her out of here now, or you'll have a bigger mess to deal with than that bite." Jet nodded curtly, and stepped to Ryan's side.
"Lady Ryan?" Ryan dragged her furious gaze from Lace and turned it on Jet. He didn't even bat an eyelash. "We do need to be going. You have another appointment this evening." She took a deep breath and looked back towards the desk.
"Don't think this over, Lace." He looked suddenly amused.
"Is it ever, Ryan? You'll never control me like you do them, like you do Jet. I belong to no one. And because you can't let anyone be free, you'll always come back to me." He smiled, flashing his fangs. "Until next time, sweetheart. Please show yourself out." He turned back to his paperwork, completely ignoring them as they left.
The drive back was very quiet. At the driveway, as she stepped out of the car, Ryan laid a hand on Jet's arm before he could close the door behind her.
"I'm so sorry I hurt you, Jet." Her eyes seemed troubled as she looked up into his face. "I didn't think." He covered his sudden tremble by moving his arm and reaching to squeeze her hand quickly.
"I'm fine, Lady Ryan. Thank you for your concern." He dropped her fingers and bowed his head. "Have a good evening, my lady." He quickly walked back around the car, desperate to hide his face, desperate to get away.
