September 29th - Friday - Late Evening

It was late when the fae stepped out of the front door of the Fallen Cross Detective Agency. She had spent most of the afternoon at Dimora playing dress up with Harold and Antonia. Though, she did decide after some admiring, that they both look rather sharp in the outfits they had picked for the Cage Match tomorrow night. Harold in a rather expensive black suit, and her in a elegant black dress, and low slung heels. The rest of her evening was spent back at the office, researching, going over Nick?s notes and such in an attempt to pinpoint where her partner had disappeared to.

The more she dug, the more she looked, the more everything seemed to circle around the party that he had voiced going to. The notes on Mallory, and Eri, and a place called Tartarus, where the party was to be, or something like that. The timelines added up. It made sense, if Mister Adder was anything close to the man she had a feeling he was. Especially after watching the way her sister had been dragged off the stage at the color run she had gone to.

All of it added up, and her intuition was screaming at her (it hadn?t let her down yet). So she would listen, and was rather intent on getting answers and finding her friend. She?. just had to be smart about it so that she didn?t end up in the same situation, because who was she going to help then? Though she hoped the fact that Harold was coming with her, would help her blend in a little more, than just showing up alone.

Distractedly, she dug through her purse for a moment as she headed for her car. By the time she reached it, there was a cigarette tucked between her lips, smoldering from the flame produced by her neon pink baby bic. She took up a lean against the trunk, because she promised herself that she wouldn?t actually smoke in her lovely little ?67 Firebird.

?Ronixi.?

Her name came when she was halfway through her smoke. The rough gravel and smoke that hung heavily in the voice was one she hadn?t heard since the night that the owner had nearly killed her. Would have, probably, had Sain not intervened. Her back stiffened, and tension wormed its way along her shoulders as she pulled away from her lean against her car, and turned in the direction of her name. Two seconds later, her cigarette was forgotten, and that pretty oil slick colored Sigma of hers was out and trained on his grinning face, safety off.. Those near neon blue hues were trained on her, and amusement was ever present.

?It?s a shame your little pet didn?t actually kill me, isn?t it, Doll?? He slowly started making his way closer to her. ?He tried. And he was rather close. But you know me. I?ve always got a trick up my sleeve.? He stopped when he was only about five feet from her, dark amusement clouding his features. ?You got rid of your reminder.? As he spoke, he brought his fingers up to trace along the front of his neck. ?Lovely, tell me that doesn?t mean you?ve forgotten the lesson I taught you.?

She was silent the whole time he spoke, the whole time he prowled closer to her. In fact the only thing that seemed to change was the gun in her hand, and the fact that it stayed trained on his head. ?I haven?t forgotten anything. Including the fact that you felt it right to give my name away like it was nothing to you. Nothing to me, you ****er. I suggest you stay right there.? Her words had more amusement on his features.

Without another word, he took a step closer. With no hesitation, she pulled the trigger. The crack of gunfire resounded through the relatively abandoned streets, and instead of dropping dead like she had hoped he would, his visage rippled, shimmered and solidified. ?Doll.? He clucked his tongue at her. ?Did you really think that I would be that stupid?? There was a mutter of muffled curses. It wasn?t him. It was a projection of himself which meant that he had free reign say what he wished, and she had no way to stop him.

?Well. Y?know. I can?t help but hope that maybe Sain killed a couple of your braincells at some point after I lost track of how many times your foot ****ing connected with me, and all I knew was pain. I?m sad this isn?t the case.? She scoffed, then snapped her fingers at him, while she made busy tucking her gun away since it was essentially useless.

?So. Are you going to tell me what the **** you want this time??

?Didn?t I say that your sister had become a lovely little doll??

?Yeah. She?s a royal ****ing riot. She could have stayed the **** back home. She?s stirring trouble. Maybe you should pursue her. She might be a little more willing to let you paw at her.? It was a lie, but at this point she was so fed up with her blood that she had no cares left to give over the woman.

?Given her preaching, I doubt that, lovely. She?s obviously had a very interesting life after you left.?

She snorted. ?You mean after you dragged me kicking and screaming from my house, so you could take me to your estates and break me down until I became an obedient little doll??

The way she described it made him scoff. ?You were a rather big handful at first. But you tamed down, like all dolls do, lovely.?

?And just where has that tameness gone now?? She smirked at him, and made busy pulling another smoke out of her silver case. The cigarette found her lips and met its smoldering demise with another flick of her lighter. She inhaled heavily, then because he was close enough, blew the smoke in Zagan?s face.

?Obviously, out the window, along with everything else. Much to my displeasure.? A scowl pulled at his features as he spoke. ?Should I manage to get you back, I promise I?ll make short work of your defiance, and rude disposition.?

She narrowed those abyssal hues on him, and sucked down more of her smoke. ?You sure can dream. Now, are we going to keep chit-chatting about stupid bull****, or are you actually going to get to the point and tell me what the **** you want??

?Oh, Doll. There are lots of things that I want.? He gave an amused little hum, and leaned a little closer so his face was mere inches from hers, despite the newest stream of smoke she blew his way. ?You, namely. And that will never change, no matter how many times your guard dog intervenes.?

That?. That made her laugh. Loudly, and right in his face. ?You really do have some wild dream, Zagan. Like hell I?m gonna be your pretty little doll again.?

The smirk that curled the corners of his mouth was unsettling. ?Lovely. Ronixi. I honestly don?t think you should be so positive about that. I think by the time I?m done you?ll be begging to come back.?

There was something about his tone of voice when he said that, which caused the hairs on the back of her neck to stand up. A scowl tugged at her features, and was marred by the draw of another drag. The cigarette was flicked at Zagan?s head, making his form shimmer and ripple as it sailed through before it came back together. ?Highly doubt that. Now if you?ll excuse me.? She spoke the words stiffly, before she shifted, edging along the back of her car, until she was no longer trapped between it and him.

The other fae didn?t pursue her, didn?t try to stop her. Even as she got into the car, put the keys in the ignition and started it. The vehicle growled as she revved the engine then took off, leaving him laughing not unlike a mental patient in a cloud of exhaust and mania.