Daybrea

"You are out of your mind if you think I'll do it."

Zaide stared at the woman curiously as she shook her head at him. It was a rare occasion in which he was told no, and on those rare occasions, the unfortunate being was shown the full extent of his temper. That the one person he needed alive very seriously told him no made him confused. He couldn't kill the human; she was too valuable. Beating her was out of the question because he knew that she would prefer that to what he asked her. "My sanity is not the subject of this conversation."

Charisma narrowed her eyes at Zaide as she shook her head once more. The sight of him confused her; he wore nothing but black, down to his alligator shoes. Only one color was present in his impeccable ensemble - the red tie that enhanced the startling color of his eyes. She didn't know much about the Mordecai, but she knew that his eyes weren't supposed to look like his. They were black, but there were odd red chips within them. If she hadn't been told that his being the first made him different, she would have figured it out on her own simply by looking at him.

He was another looker. Long blonde hair tied back in a sexy queue emphasized the sharp lines of his face and the colors of his eyes. He looked like the kind of man you saw on the cover of magazines, not the leader of soul-sucking demons. "I won't do it."

Zaide let out a small breath of exasperation before he used his powers to teleport two people into the room. The first was a young boy, no older than eighteen, and the second, was someone his precious tool would immediately recognize.

"Nadia!" Charisma took a step forward to embrace her friend but stopped when Zaide wrapped an arm around Nadia's shoulders. Fear coursed through her body, but she found herself calming down when she looked at Nadia. The Daemis looked extremely calm, almost as if she knew that nothing would happen to her. Had this been part of her vision?

"Other than the stench of demon she has on her, she smells lovely." Zaide stopped to press his nose against the redhead's neck and inhaled deeply. "The raw power in her blood is quite tempting."

"Get your hands off her," Charisma commanded. Watching Zaide toy with Nadia sent her into a rage. Had she the power, she would have killed him with her bare hands.

"So there is a way to tame you." Zaide looked to the young boy who stood paralyzed, thanks to his power. "All I want is his power."

"No."

Zaide took another frustrated breath before a dagger materialized in his hand. "I won't ask nicely again." To emphasize his point, he brought the tip to Nadia's neck and pierced her soft skin just enough to draw blood. He was impressed by the woman's silence; she didn't even flinch or cower in fear.

"No! Stop it!" Charisma took a pleading step forward. Nadia wasn't supposed to be caught in the middle. She was innocent and had nothing to do with Zaide's plan. "Stop."

"Give me what I want and I won't kill her."

"And I'm really supposed to believe that?" Not after what he just did. "You're the bad guy, remember?"

"She is of no real use to me."

"All the more reason for you to kill her to get what you want."

Zaide paused for a moment, impressed by her thorough logic. She was right; he could kill his expendable hostage at any time. "You're absolutely right, darling, but you have the power to make her transition to the afterlife painless."

Charisma watched in horror as he used his knife to cut the collar of Nadia's shirt just enough to bare her shoulder. A second later, he bit into her tender flesh. Charisma screamed and tried to rush forward, but found that Zaide used his powers to keep her locked into place as well. She could only scream at him to stop as he drank from a very quiet Nadia. Why wasn't she screaming? There was a demon sucking the blood out of her body and the only thing she did was stare off into space. Charisma found herself quieting the longer her eyes remained locked on Nadia's and before long she felt the tension seep out of her body.

Zaide pulled away from the woman he fed on and pressed a hand to his forehead to calm himself down. Bursts of energy rolled through his body and while the shocks were uncomfortable, they were also extremely arousing and euphoric. "You have the most delicious blood I have ever tasted." He leaned down to lick the drops of blood that seeped from the wounds and took care to close her wounds before she bled out. "What are you mixed with?" When the woman only continued to stare at his gem, he placed his fingers beneath her chin to force her to look at him. "You aren't completely human. What are you?" Still, the woman remained silent. She was terrified; the furious beat of her heart could be heard. He looked at her neck and licked his lips at the arousing movement of her carotid artery as blood rushed through her veins. "She's quite the delectable creature," he said aloud. Zaide looked into the woman's grey eyes and found himself held captive by her stare. Her emotionless gaze made him lean closer to her to better search for some kind of weakness. She held her ground, however, even when her eyes momentarily flashed like lightning. "You'll be worth the pain that comes with eating your soul."

"No!" Charisma shouted again. Tears streamed down her face, but she could not move to wipe them away. There was nothing she could do to stop him, to protect Nadia as she had her. She was completely helpless. "I'll do what you want. Just... Just Stop. Please."

Zaide smiled at Charisma as he moved away from Nadia. "You humans and your hearts. They will always be your downfall."

Charisma said nothing as she took a breath. She wasn't sure if her powers would even work. As she looked at Nadia, she realized that keeping quiet about that was not the smartest idea. "I don't have that much control over it. I don't know if it'll work."

"Not much of a problem," he replied as he moved forward to place his hands on either side of her face. Zaide stared into her eyes and concentrated his focus on her control. Within moments, her problems were solved. "Now give me his powers."

Charisma looked over to the young boy frozen in place and murmured an apology before she brushed her fingertips over his cheek. A cold burn sizzled down her spine as his powers flowed into her. She felt uncomfortable and bloated, as if she'd eaten too much and her body wasn't working fast enough to digest.

"Come to me," Zaide commanded with an outstretched hand.

She looked at him for a moment, considering her options. He only stared at her in challenge, daring her to defy him. If she did as he said, he won. But if she tried to fight, he'd kill Nadia, and possibly the boy. He'd win that way as well. With a frustrated sigh, she walked to Zaide and placed her hand in his. Within seconds, the cold burn left her body and she no longer felt uncomfortable. Zaide's face reddened for the briefest of seconds before he let out a satisfied breath.

She wanted to kill him.

"Very good," he praised. After teleporting the boy out of the room, he walked to the red headed woman and touched his fingers to her forehead. What he saw only served to amuse him. "Interesting."

Charisma did not like the look of the cruel smile that had taken over his face. She was tempted to ask him what he saw and what power she'd given him, but she knew that the move would have been useless. Zaide didn't say the things he said because the filled the silence in a room. His words were deliberate, calculated. His goal was to weaken his opponents before he shattered them.

"I'll let you rest for a bit before we continue the transfers."

"Wait, I thought this was supposed to happen during the full moon."

Zaide tilted his head curiously as he stared at her. "What made you think that?"

"Your demons. They kept saying that you needed me before the next full moon."

"I do."

"So what's the rush?"

Zaide only smiled as he said, "I said I needed you before the next full moon, Darling. Not for it."

* * * * *

It took every single one of the men in the house to restrain Andraemalek. His rage at learning of Nadia's kidnapping was enough to worry them; though he was usually hot tempered, Andrae had learned to control his emotions. Now, he was a walking instrument of fury which meant that no one was safe.

"You have to calm down, D.," Slade pleaded. Getting angry wouldn't help them get Nadia back.

"Do not tell me to calm down, Slade," Andraemalek replied. His hands shook from potent fury and he knew the second he laid eyes on the bastard that took her from him, he wouldn't be satisfied until he had blood on his hands.

"Leave him be," Alexis cautioned. He paced the length of the room as he tried to figure out what to do next. "D., I need you to stay here until we figure out how to get both Nadia and Charisma out of there safely."

"I'm going to get her out, Lex."

"Not until we have a plan. Just give me a minute."

A minute turned out to be ten seconds, for as soon as Alexis finished giving his order, another note materialized out of thin air. Before Andraemalek had a chance to reach for it, Alexis had it opened and read the contents. "It's a formal invitation," he announced.

"An invitation to what?"

Alexis shrugged at Roman's question as he allowed Andraemalek to snatch the paper from his hands. "It says that Zaide requests the presence of two of us to take part in some sort of celebration."

"The fuck-head thinks he won," Liam scoffed.

"Why only two of us?" Draco asked.

"Easier to mind-fuck two," Liam guessed.

"I'm going," Jameson said.

"Yes, I figured you would want to go," Alexis said with a nod. He wasn't a fan of what was to happen, but he knew it was the best way to get the women out alive. "D. will go with you."

"Damned right I will."

Alexis held up a hand for silence as he said, "Have Euan track you by air so that he can give us your location. We'll find a way in, get the captives out then come back for you."

"We'll be fine," Andraemalek said. An army of demons was not enough to keep him from getting Nadia to safety.

Draco looked at Jameson, who seemed surprisingly calm. "You ok, bro?"

"I'm fine," was all Jameson said. In truth, he was just as upset as Andraemalek, but his anger was focused on himself. Had he not been the idiot to willingly allow himself to become captured, he would have been able to prevent Charisma and Nadia's capture. "We'll get them out."

"This is one hell of a trap," Slade stated. There was no other explanation for the formal invitation to whatever Zaide had planned.

"I don't like it," Alexis chimed in.

"That's the point; we've got no choice but to play along," Jameson replied. He'd play, but his goal was to win. Zaide would pay for taking Charisma from him. "He knows he's powerful enough to subdue us and is stupid enough to think that his army is enough to keep all of you out. This is a game to him. He wants us to pay for getting in his way and most likely make examples out of us."

"Ballsy," Draco sighed.

"We have to concentrate on the captives," Alexis cut in. They were wasting too much time talking about trivial matters. "D., Jameson, you two go on. It's better if you two don't know exactly how we're going to get in, just in case Zaide can read minds."

"But you just said what you have planned," Jameson interjected. He waited for his brother to explain himself and only sighed when he received a pointed look. "Fine. Just don't get yourselves hurt. I have enough to worry about."