Hi!!

I sent out a notification after the last update saying that I was thinking about updating twice a week. Well, I thought about it and here it is. Yay!! Mondays and Wednesdays, fingers crossed that I remember!

Enjoy 

xxM

******

I never sleep well when I'm worried. Every noise made me wake, I had to check to ensure that no one was creeping into my room. Twice I got up to check that the door was still locked and that no one was hiding in the wet room. If I'd known that this was going to be my day, I would have taken the vehicle and braved the world outside this base.

But we can't change the past, so I endured a horrible day of sleep and woke feeling like death warmed up. As much as it pained me not to shower, I dressed and packed my bag quickly, eager to get going. Also, I wanted to see if anything had happened to my drunken friend.

Emerging from the room, I was surprised to see a lot of people standing around the doorway to the guest accommodation. It was a curious situation, given that I feared for my life. Had something happened?

Blyth was struggling to make the crowd disperse. When his eyes lifted, I saw genuine shock. It was a good shock, not what I was expecting.

"Oh Dahlia," He sighed happily. "I'm so glad you're okay. When I knocked on your door, I was surprised to see Captain Wells answer it. He had no recollection as to why he was in the wrong room."

Blyth frowned for a moment, glancing down at my bag.

"Is everything okay?"

"Not really. I'd like my car thanks."

"Of course."

He gestured to the stairs, we walked down them together and quickly moved towards the car park.

"Is there anything that I can do? I don't understand."

"No, there is nothing that you can do unless you haven't given me all the information I require or if you've said false things."

He hesitated, and I knew that Blyth knew more than he was telling me. Grabbing him by the lapels of his shirt, I slammed Blyth against the wall.

"Where is he?"

"Oasis," Blyth whispered. "He's been there the entire time. He just wants to be left alone."

"So, he's a man that doesn't care what his worried family thinks, that's rather horrible don't you agree?"

"It's not for me to think Dahlia. Please, let me down, and I'll give you more."

With another thump, I backed away. Blyth rubbed his neck, huffing softly.

"I didn't want to lie to you, please understand that, but Silas insisted that his location was not revealed. He said that he would call his family and talk to them and not to worry about him. This place sends everyone mad, you've not experienced even a full day here, and I'm sure that you've already figured it out. The king wants to do grand things, he wants a good future for his people, but that bridge is dangerous. I think Silas realized that when he got halfway and the alpha's started hanging around the other side. They were waiting for the bridge to be finished, waiting for us to give them a free and open door into this land. Silas didn't want that to happen, so he stopped all works. The bridge is wired with explosives, one whiff of the alphas getting too close and we have orders to blow it up."

"But surely they realized that the bridge would always attract the alphas? What level of stupid do you guys have up here?"

"Clearly too high," Blyth muttered. "But the alphas are subdued at the moment. The lookout keeps them occupied with regular feeding and the betas,"

He paused, glancing at me then weakly shrugging.

"That's another subject in itself. I have no doubt that you will find Silas and when you do, you make sure he tells you about the betas."

No need, I've met his nephew's wife.

"There is one final thing, Dahlia. Do you know the king's family history?"

"Pieces of it." I lied. "I tend to move around a lot and don't care about politics. Bit of a snore fest, really."

He hummed softly, almost disagreeing with me.

"The king's parents were murdered. First, it was his father, his mother was wounded to the point where she fled to the safety of her brother's house. Silas helped her birth her children. Imagine what Silas would have endured in those few days. His sister turns up on his doorstep, hours away from death, in labor, sobbing that her husband, their king had been murdered by a man that he should have been able to trust. Silas helped her through the birth alone because they feared to ask for help. They couldn't trust a single person in this world other than themselves. Then after he brought his nephew and niece into this world, he had to watch his only sibling die. Left with two newborn children, no mother to raise them, no guidance in this world, no help. He raised them knowing that they'd been robbed and that there was nothing that he could do to give them their parents back. He raised them knowing that no amount of revenge would stop the heartache."

Flicking the fob, Blyth unlocked a car further down the path.

"I could speak until I am blue in the face, asking, begging, bargaining. I'm sure that it will make no difference to you. After all, you're the Nighthawk. You have a flawless track record which makes me realize that I'd be wasting my breath."

True.

"However, I will say this to you, Dahlia. Silas is a broken man. He's done his best to raise his niece and nephew, and he believes that they are good vampires, but there is a part of him that believes that he has failed them too. They want to know that he is safe and he appreciates that but at the moment, he'd rather stay away."

Blyth opened the door and put the key into the ignition, turning it over. I remained firm, but internally, I was freaking out, worried that there was a bomb attached to the car. I'm sure that it wasn't connected to the ignition, probably the odometer or speedometer.

"He knows that the Nighthawk is searching for him, but if it's any consolation, he has no idea who the Nighthawk is. Like many of us, we've been led to believe that you are male so I'm sure you'll use that your advantage. Be gentle, Dahlia."

"Did you know that I have hog-tied someone just to make them do what they're supposed to?"

Blyth stared at me.

"I have no qualms doing it again either."

"I'm sure you don't."

I smiled as I walked my fingers up his shirt, stopping when I got to the neckline. Pulling it down, I earned a gasp.

"If he runs, if anything you've told me is wrong or leads me to a dead end, I'll come back and tell you about it. Then you'll get to see my rope skills first hand."

Tossing my bag onto the passenger seat, I slid in behind the wheel and closed the door. Blyth stepped back, still a little stunned. Maybe I was mistaken. It could be relieved to see me leave or fearing my return.

Pulling out of the base, I made my way through the abandoned streets. The nearest city was quite some distance away, even then it was hard to call it a city. It was the town that I'd flown into, not a grand city but a country town with a grassy patch large enough to land a light aircraft on. I was surprised that aircraft were still used but, in this case, it was necessary. I didn't want to spend days getting here.

There were also a lot of issues for those who wanted to fly. Ordinarily, it was dangerous but for those within the provinces that the king owned it was relatively safe. The flight paths were kept within the areas that he had control over, there was no risk of the humans shooting us out of the sky.

As for the metropolis of cows and horses, it was about an hour's drive with the sun lowering behind me. It was easier to get to this place of an afternoon which I'd realized yesterday when I'd arrived, thankfully the sun was low enough that it didn't pose a problem.

I wasn't looking forward to returning to dullsville. Hopefully, Silas won't put up a fight and do what I ask. It was a long shot given the recent events. He didn't want to return to the base and fair enough, but he should say something rather than hiding.

I found it infuriating, to be honest. His family was worried enough to engage my services, and I wasn't a cheap girl. The king didn't bat an eyelid when I offered my price. I got half upon acceptance and the other half when I delivered Silas. It was a standard offer that I made to my prospective clients to ensure that they were okay with the situation. Many didn't like to hand over money without seeing results but understood that I wasn't prepared to work for free and risk not getting paid at all.