Back Again

[The Cedar Witch]

"What?"  Rachel squirmed in Damien's grip until he released her.  A rush of fear quenched the heat of her rage, if only for the moment.  A kidnapping so close to their sighting of the demon seemed too coincidental to ignore.

Fuck

"Do you think it's related?"  Her question squeezed through her strained throat, but she was grateful for the lack of tremor in it.  The idea that He was somehow behind all of this  - that the threat of His presence went beyond capturing just her was overwhelming.  What if He was involved with some larger political plot, wrapped up in this whole demons-in-the-West issue?  But what did that have to do with Zoheret?  With the academy?  None of it added up, but she refused to believe it was just a simple coincidence. 

Please, help me find her.

Rachel swiveled her attention to Damien, mirroring Jake's expression in her own way.  "Of course," she answered reflexively before Damien could, voice filled with a renewed sense of determination.  Damien was no stranger to that kind of loss, and understanding in her own limited way how the fledge-sire bond intensified relationships, he had to help Jake.  She would if she had anything to offer in that capacity, regardless of the shit they had going on.  Her role in this was likely minimal, since she'd be confined to the safety of...well, wherever was safe.  A pang of disappointment cut through the defensiveness she felt over her new friend.

[Saiketsu]

Flabbergasted, Damien responded with more emotion than he would have preferred. "No," Damien said firmly with a shake of his head, more to Rachel than to Jake. It was hard to stay calm in a room full of dangerous news. "Rachel, you are not going after anyone." He left no room for discussion in his tone, though he didn't know how he would enforce his decision. It was all too much and an overwhelming pulse of anxiety rocked him.

To follow Jake into action would expose Rachel to danger - he could neither leave her behind, nor take the time to find her a guardian that he trusted upon such short notice, now that her daytime guard was gone. To take Rachel into the search for Sam could have been exactly what Laurent was expecting - all Damien had to do was turn his back for a brief second and Rachel would be gone just like Jake's fledge. There was a tightening in his throat that threatened to control him and Damien had to take a moment to swallow and feel his feet on the ground, floating a hand over onto Rachel's hip where his fingers curled unconsciously into a fist around the bottom hem of her shirt.

"We all need to slow down." Damien turned to Jake stiffly, steeling himself for the storm to come and terrified of the implications around this mess. "How sure are you that whoever called you was actually one of your people and not one of Laurent's? Or Zoheret's? How well do you know who you just spoke to? Would they have any reason to betray your confidence?"

Something wasn't right. Why would Laurent only make himself known to Jake and not take Rachel if he saw her alone in the bathroom? And why would Zoheret work with the likes of a shadow demon on such a low plot, jeopardizing her own stance as District Leader? Such a move would only backfire, considering she was Jake's opposition. She didn't do anything without the pomp and ceremony of her kind. What would be her motivation for taking Sam?

Damien's thoughts raced, flickering between weighing likelihoods of possibilities against other options and suppressing his own rising anger and fear for the people around him, still trying to figure out what to do with Rachel.

[The Cedar Witch]

"So drop me off at the Rabbit and figure it out," Rachel snapped shortly after Damien's refusal, arms crossing over her chest.  She wasn't so deluded that she thought she'd be able to contribute to finding Sam, and felt a patronizing undertone to his No, and reactionary anger that he thought she would want to be so reckless.

Well, she did just make a run for the back door.  But that was besides the point.

Again she moved away from his anxious touch, pulling her shirt from his grasp, and directed her attention to Jake for his answer.

[Black Philip]

Jake couldn't slow down. Sam was in danger. He knew Damien excelled on cool heads, but Jake couldn't possibly honor that right now. As Damien and Rachel debated her involvement, Jake tried to summon her.

Sam, my darling. Come to me.

His power extended outward, and wherever Sam was she would feel a burning desire to be near her sire and would make all haste to get to him. She couldn't resist. Jake knew that if she was being held that her inability to move towards him might cause her pain, but it was a risk he had to take. If she could come to him now, then she wasn't really captured. He felt no reply, no projected emotions towards him. This was bad.

He heard all of Damien's questions, and tried to answer them with a cool head. "The person who called is a loyalist who's been with me for years, and works under her clan leader Benny. She and Sam are also friends. It's why I made that her permanent assignment. Unless she is being impersonated, I have no reason to suspect treachery."

Jake thought Rachel's question was very wise, and responded directly to her as an equal. "I don't know, but these two events happening so close to one another leads me to suspect that these incidents were coordinated. We won't know until we have more information."

Jake's hands trembeled, and a tear ran down his pretty face. "She's all I have Damien. She is my entire lineage. There is nobody else. I have to go look for her, now."

He rose to leave. "I won't force you to come with me. It would make little sense to find my captured loved one only for yours to be taken, but... I need your help Damien, not as my campaign manager but as my friend."

He avoided pleading in his tone, but his eyes said it all. Help me.

[Saiketsu]

The look on Jake's face only accelerated the thoughts that were racing through him and if he had a beating heart it would have been hammering in his chest. Rachel's rejection of him and her snipped tone shook him and he let his hand fall by his side. He looked between them, discomfort leaking into his expression, not from being asked to participate in the search for Sam, but for the mistrust of anywhere in the world keeping Rachel as safe as by his side.

With Laurent on the prowl.

He frowned and looked at Jake steadily, sucking on his teeth absently behind closed lips as he thought. He could summon Pierre to the house to watch over her. But Laurent had already taken a shot at Pierre and won, something Damien wasn't keen to forget. How likely was it that Laurent would avoid Pierre then if he set his mind to Rachel's capture in Damien's absence? There was Odessa to consider, but she hadn't been right since her return from the bottom of the ocean. While he was positive the Ancient could protect Rachel from most enemies, he couldn't be sure that Odessa was whole enough to protect Rachel without also trying to harm her or feed from her. The thought brought him a significant amount of guilt, but he moved past it. Jenella, Finny, Nadia, even. All of his options had too many loose ends except...

"Are you sure that no one could take her from the Rabbit?" He demanded truth from Jake, but an echo of worry undercut his serious tone. The White Rabbit, he knew, had been protected by magic to prevent anyone from committing something heinous against anyone else within its limits. But all Rachel had to do was to be taken just outside those doors for the protection to be null and void. He hated the idea of abandoning her there, forcing her to hide in the depths of the club while he chased ghosts through the city.

[Black Philip]

Jake frowned, and began moving towards the door. He couldn't waste any more time here while Sam was Cain knows where. "I can't assure anything," he said. "Lisa-Joe will want to look for Sam, but she should be able to watch Rachel, and is powerful enough to defeat Laurent if it came to a fight. I'd pity him in fact."

Jake reached the front door, and turned to them. "If you can't come, I understand, but I need to go. You must understand why I can't wait."

As soon as Damien responded, Jake ran to his car, and began heading towards the carnival.

[Saiketsu]

A decision needed to be made. Damien hesitated once more before reaching for his cell phone. "Go then," he said evenly to Jake, releasing him from the house. "Keep your phone close. I will call you when I am done and I will help you find her." He flicked to his contacts dialed his first fledge and held the phone to his ear. The line picked up after two rings and Pierre said some greeting that Damien was in no mood to catch or react to. French flowed from his mouth as he instructed Pierre to meet him at the White Rabbit as soon as he was able, and that Laurent was back. There was a moment's hesitation from the younger vampire before a reluctant, but serious, agreement. The call ended and Damien looked down at it.

He wished he could have had Pierre's help instead. He wished that he could just leave Rachel in her home with the protection of Delilah. He wished that this night hadn't happened at all and that it had been nothing but a boring evening spent alone in bed with Rachel at his side.

He wished a great many things and put them away before they could be truly lamented. There was work to be done.

"Rachel, gather your things. We leave in five minutes."

[The Cedar Witch]

Everything happened so quickly.  "Good luck," Rachel called softly to Jake as he left, and then turned her attention to Damien.  With lips pressed tightly together, she gave him a quick nod before scurrying toward the stairs.  She didn't know what to gather, didn't know how long she'd be staying at the Rabbit or what she could possibly need.  Mechanically she packed a change of clothing and a cellphone charger into a small bag, her head feeling floaty and distant, eyes unfocused.  She didn't need five minutes and was back downstairs in less than two.

"Okay," she murmured, making a move toward the door to the garage.