Rise of the Night/Run of Night

Lyla woke with a violent start, gasping and looking around in panic. She had flailed into the corner where the bed meet the wall.

Bed. Wait.

How did she get on a bed?

Still breathing heavily, she actually looked around. She was not in the room where the man who had tortured her had been keeping her.

Jon Pierce.

He'd told her his name when he'd returned to the little room. The second man who came in with him hadn't been named. Pierce had seemed unhappy that he was even there.

"This is her, huh?" The second man had said. "Smaller than I expected. Aren't the lupus usually bigger?"

"Manners," Pierce had chided. "I think she's lovely. And you'll do well to keep her that way."

"Has she talked yet?"

"Regretably, she is tougher than she looks. My little bird has not sung for me yet," Pierce had touched her face again and she'd jerked away. He smiled, crouching in front of her again.

"Only one good way to break a woman, Pierce," the other man said, grinning at her as he eyed her up and down. "Give me ten minutes and we'll stop wasting everyone's time." Lyla had stared in horror, her wounds suddenly forgotten. The other man laughed. "See? I don't even have to fuck her and she's already shaking. You ever had a magi, bitch?" He asked, coming closer to her.

"Now now," Pierce said, putting his hand out to block the other man. "I do believe I was hired for this one, not you. Our benefactors have no need of your particular skills."

"Hmph," he grunted. "I'll still have her when you're done. If you leave anything."

The other man's phone rang then and he stepped out to take the call. Pierce smiled warmly at her.

"Don't fret, sweetness," he said softly so the other man couldn't hear. "I don't intend to share you. We'll spend plenty of time together first." Lyla couldn't help but whimper softly. She was in shock at this point, the blood loss and pain too much for a body unaccustomed to either.

"Shit! Pierce!" The second man shouted from the doorway. "Front guards are saying they're taking fire and some bat outta hell is cutting them down."

Pierce frowned. "Go call the council."

As the second man turned his back to his partner, Pierce waved his hand at him and suddenly it was like there was a second Pierce. Lyla looked back and fourth between them, confused. The other man didn't seem to even notice. Pierce must be a magi too.

"A simple illusion, but it will be effective nonetheless," he whispered to her. "Now it seems our time together is being cut short. A pity, I'm sure you'll agree. But allow me to leave you with a parting gift." She felt a prick in her arm and looked down to see that had was injecting her with something. Almost immediately, she felt light headed. "I'll be seeing you again, I promise," Pierce said before he suddenly disappeared before her eyes. She'd drifted away as she heard the second man saying something about a freak.

Now, she was here?

Then she noticed Shadow laying down near her. She stared. Was he dead?

She began to move towards him before she hesitated. What if it was a trick? If Pierce could make someone else look like himself, what would stop him from looking like Shadow?

Frowning, she crawled towards him slowly. Then she noticed that her injuries were gone. The wrist was fine and all that remained of the angry wound on her arm was a thin scar.

What the hell is going on here?

She pushed Shadow onto his side and shook him roughly until his eyes slowly opened. He looked exhausted.

"Lyla?" He said weakly. "How are you fee-"

"What did I give you when we were 12?" she asked, frowning.

"What?" he looked confused and struggled to sit up.

"Answer. The. Question," she growled.

"You talked to me," he said, rubbing his face. "You hadn't talked to anyone but Congo. Why?"

Lyla threw herself into his arms, dragging him back down onto the bed. She found herself sobbing and shaking all over again. Shadow held her close, running his hand over her hair.

"Sshhh, it's okay now," he whispered. "I'm here, you're safe. You're safe, Lyla..."

She sobbed in his arms until she stopped shaking so hard. They lay in silence for some time, Shadow still running a hand over her arm, back, or hair. She did feel safe with him. And at the moment, all she wanted was to lock out the world and stay here.

"I didn't think I was going to get away," she admitted softly. "I thought... I thought I was going to be stuck there forever. I-it was awful, Shadow. Just... Horrible." She hugged him harder for a moment. "How did you find me?"