as we pass through arrangements of shadows

[shreds]

Comments

[tramplemain]

It won't help, but it was across the street in that hotel. Between two of the rooms. Like I said, it's not cloaked, it's gone.

( And no, he doesn't know if Barnet is still in that building, or this one for that matter. )

I'm just the exploited. An alp that found gainful employment. Barnet is Icarus.

[transientem]

[She rolls her eyes because of course an alp wouldn't understand magic (15).]

Just because magic is gone doesn't mean it's gone. There are traces. Clues, even.

[But that's not the point. She tips her head to the side.]

What does a nightmare eater want with an asshole like Barnet?

[witchaffinity]

( "It's the new millennium. Even an Alp has to adapt. How can I consume the nightmares of the insomniatic? People who'd rather stay up all night and party and then pass out into a dreamless sleep only to wake up on Monday, work late, pop their Adderalls...

Hopelessness is a new currency, kid. And Barnet has been dealing in it longer than me. He just needed a conduit. He said it wasn't hard to adjust everything, but I'm not the whackjob witch."

Wherever her phone happens to be, her phone rings with Kol's picture lighting up on the screen. )

[transientem]

[She looks down at the phone in her hand, before looking back up at him again.]

I'll be right back. Don't go anywhere.

[Then she steps away to get out of his earshot, but staying within Jackson's. Then, she takes a breath and answers the phone.]

Yeah?

[witchaffinity]

( Jackson sits like a bodyguard, watching for a sudden move.

Kol - well, he does what a vampire does when they don't breathe. Words don't come. )

What does your brother look like?

[transientem]

[She doesn't respond at first, not wanting to ask the question that first comes to mind because Kol found something. He obviously found something if he's calling asking for a description of her brother.

So since she can't say anything without opening the deluge of demanding answers she just goes into her phone, pulling out the most recent picture of the two of them. Probably from the last time they saw each other.]

[witchaffinity]

( She doesn't say anything to him, either, as he watches Davina step up onto the truck bed. His phone vibrates with a message and swipes out of the call. His skin goes white as he brings the phone back up. )

We have him. He's in the parking lot. White van.

( He hangs up.

Jackson half turns, still watching Alan Parker. But, he heard. What shoudl he do? )

[transientem]

[There's a small wave of relief that comes with those words, even though she knows it's not that simple. There has to be something wrong if Julian isn't calling her himself.

Kieran, while she did come here to fuck up someone's day if they got in her way, only really had one objective. She wanted to get her brother back, and it seems as though they've done that. She hangs up the phone, before turning back to Jackson.]

Let's go.

[illtempered]

What about the alp?

( Does he drag him along with them? )

[transientem]

If the alp knows what's good for him, he'll stay out of my fucking way.

[Because she's not in the mood.]

And if he ever so much as licks his lips at my brother's nightmares, I will give him something to have nightmares about. Understood?

[illtempered]

( "Racist," he says, but doesn't do anything else. Jackson gives the Alp one more look before getting up to follow her. Her brother was found so at least they got half a story. )

You okay?

[transientem]

[She flips the alp the bird, before turning to head out of the room. She waits until they're outside in the lobby before answering Jackson's question:]

Not really.

[But with that they will head out and rejoin their friends.]