When the cats away the mice will play.

Yet when the Summer Queen was running the Court, the Winter Born would wield her freedom from the Sidhe realm with a worn edge. The Summer was always the worst for Tierney.

Still she was there, pushing the key into the lock as the chimes sounded sweetly above the frame.

"No angels getting wings tonight I'm afraid."

Absently with a rueful grin as her thoughts briefly drifted to the conversation she had earlier with the other Sidhe. The first of her kind that she had seen save for her sisters and the High Court of Puck, Ai'nati and Auberon.

It gave her the bitter reminder of how much she missed the companionship of her own kind, how much she missed their touch.

Like a sweet burn the kiss he had left upon her hand remained. One name was still on her tongue that was not his own but the one he hunted for. Sevier Bane.

The one she shared that touch with, they both had gone without names.

Perhaps it was better that way, Words held weight and power, names more so.

The lights were flickered on as she looked around the abandoned state of Cloud Nine and began to clean up.

Someone had to run the business while Spade was away.

With Jacinta now claimed in the duties as new Queen of the Summer Court and Roisin bound again to the one she had shared every life with, the task resorted to Tierney.

The chill picked up in the air as she flicked over the sigh to reassure that the business was indeed open once more.

Sighing a hand shoved through the winter crystal white of her hair as those artic blue eyes went distant.

Sidhes that she craved the touch of... and the distant wandering of thought to a Beast.

Still... she was Frozen.

No one could melt her heart. No one would see...

~The Longest Winter~

"You were bound to be the winter wolf of our Wild Hunt, Tierney. You take after me, I recognized it as soon as you came of age.. you were destined to follow in your father's footsteps."

"But what of the daughter destined for the Dark Court."

"She is nothing close to what she needs to be to run and lead the Wild Hunt. Eventually there will be a time that I will no longer exist in this world and one will need to take my place."

"You would find me then as the proper choice as the Gabrielle of her own Hunt?"

"I would Tierney, I would. Look... already your Steed claims you."

Ruthless, Cunning, Indifferent, Cold. A trained and skilled fighter and hunter. These were the things found in one of the Wild Hunt if one was to lead. The Gabriel... or Gabrielle had to be a leader. A strong and smart one at that, who would do what needed to be done in order to bring the unjust Sidhe to face their justice. Judge. Jury. Executioner. That's what the Gabriel Ratchett's had come to be, and the blood of the Gabriel Ratchett ran through the veins of the Daughters of Donovan.

Tierney had always been the cold one, the detached and indifferent one that regarded life with a cool disposition and a quiet observation. Born with hair as white as virgin snow and eyes of artic ice her nature left her one that didn't submit to any possibility of imperfection. Everything had to be perfect and precise or it was not satisfactory by any means. Tierney found that throughout her life that very philosophy led her through her relationships. The constant brittle rose that was more violent, vicious thorns of her words and personality then soothing, soft petals of heart and spirit.

Impossible and Detached, Unobtainable and Heart Destructive they had called her so many times that she had lost her passion to argue with any of them. The mere acceptance of their assumptions was far easier for her to tolerate, let them think as they would, Tierney cared not.

There at Cloud Nine the reflection of the past and the conversations she had with her father would come back to her as she looked around the business. A calm evening with just a handful of customers and most of them in a rush to leave the chilly interior of the room.

Most likely they missed Sidonie's exquisitely intoxicating personality and vibrant shine. All night desires and star shine was Spade, unlike the hard facet of Tierney's rough exterior and frost born way.

Winter Born.

That is what he had called her. The Beast without a name.

The thought of him had her lips twisting into an expression of frustration and confusion even as she pulled the door open to Cloud Nine after flipping over the sign to show the place was closed and the lights snapped off.

Sometimes she felt like she was being watched in the night, it left the artic blue of her eyes sharp and wary as she looked down the road and returned to her 'Steed', which at the moment had decided to form itself into a sleek Ducati Monster.

Blue Ice that Steed to match the Rider. Only an ounce of affection was ever granted to the Steed she had nicknamed "Hoarfrost" as she stroked the side of the motorcycle before easing astride the beast. A roar of the Monster and a tear off into the night even as one look was cast back over her shoulder to a dark alley, wondering if it was only her imagination... or if something was truly waiting for her in the shadows.