Unveiled Emotions

Rei stood by the wall, waiting for Vicious' return. He had chosen not to bring a bodyguard to the party and Rei felt vulnerable. She knew that if anyone annoyed her, he would be there in a matter of seconds, but at least with a bodyguard she had someone to converse with.

"Hello again," Faye said and Rei looked at her.

"You haven't come for him, have you? Don't take him away from me," she said and Faye smiled.

"Look, I'm not after him so stop worrying. My target is someone else this time."

"You're not going to get in my way of killing the bastard who prolonged her stay at the institution just so he could get more money out of me," Vicious hissed and Faye looked at him.

"We'll just see about that. Where's your bodyguard?"

"Dead. He used his mouth once too often. Your drink."

"Thank you," Rei said and smiled slightly at his silent words.

"Spike is around too, I'm sure."

"Well, I would have much rather preferred to collect the reward all by myself but my ship is in need of repair," Faye said and Vicious narrowed his eyes. He turned away from Faye and walked off with Rei close behind him. He glanced at her for a moment, and then drew back to a corner to scan the room. He noticed Jett; the ex-cop was easy to pick out across the sea of people and looked around for Spike.

"He'd better not try to take this away from me," Vicious said as hercherched for his prey.

"Who are you looking for?"

"The bastard that tried to put one over on me. He prolonged your stay at the institution just so he could get more money out of me."

"You mean I wasn't as bad as they said I was?"

"Right. That's why I'm going to kill him and I'm not going to let Spike take this away from me."

"You get so concerned about me, don't you?"

"He used you to get to me. He will pay for that."

"At least I'm here now. Isn't that something?"

"It is but that still doesn't let that bastard off the hook. Just because you're the only one that gets your way with me, doesn't give everyone else the liberty to try and cross me."

Vicious' gaze darkened when he spotted his prey. He let go of Rei, after running a hand over her inner thigh and took out his gun from his jacket pocket.

"Be careful," Rei said and Vicious said nothing as he walked away from her.

She pressed her back against the wall as she kept her eyes open. She didn't feel safe without Vicious. She wished that he hadn't killed Stinger. At least then she would have had someone to converse with. She gazed at the other party attendees. She seemed to be one of the youngest members there. She supposed it was because the even was honoring the chief of police. She tried to locate Vicious but found it hard to pick him out from the crowd.

"Who did you come with, dear? I don't believe I've seen you before. Are you new to our circles?" an elderly woman asked and Rei looked at her.

"I came with Vicious," she replied and the woman's gaze hardened.

"The syndicate."

"Yes. He's a member. Why? Is that bad?"

"Let's just say I'm not fond of syndicate members. Take my advice, dear and get away from him as soon as you can."

"Thank you for your advice," Rei said and moved away from the woman. How close-minded could one get? She absolutely had no idea about the relationship between the two. She strained to hear Vicious' thoughts but strangely enough, she could not. She ran a finger around her empty wine glass as a terrible thought struck her. Had something horrible happened to him? She searched for Faye then stopped when she saw Spike looking in her direction. Was he the cause of her lack of telepathy? Her ears twitched nervously as she tried to calm herself. She was just too upset to hear him. If she stayed calm, then she would most certainly be able to hear him.

The lights flashed off suddenly and Rei glanced around, her ears alert to any sudden sounds. The woman screamed in fright at the sudden darkness and Rei folded her arms. Cowards. The dark never harmed anyone. The creatures or events that happened in the dark were the real killers.

A shot was fired and Rei instinctively brought a hand to her chest. Someone there had good aim and they had been using a silencer, for even with her Taliban ears, Rei could barely hear the shot being fired. The outfit she wore became moist and she tried to hold herself up by the stability of the wall behind her.

Hands were upon her. Cold, but gentle hands and she knew who held her even without looking. She tried to smile as she made out the outline of his face in the black velvet of the room. Vicious wordlessly picked her up and carried her out onto the terrace, his eyes burning darkly. He set her on a bench and turned away. Drawing his sword, he silently reentered the ballroom and searched for the carrier of the gun a m a missing bullet.

"Vicious-" Rei whispered as she slowly reclined onto the cold, marble seat and closed her eyes. She had to hold on but she felt so very-tired.