The yoga students had long since filed out and the studio was mostly clean - the mats that had littered the floor during classes had been stacked neatly by the door, towels and empty bottles of water had been picked up and put in the proper receptacles.? The water fountain in the corner of the room was still burbling away merrily and a handful of sticks of Nag Champa incense were sending curling tendrils of fragrant smoke towards the ceiling. Riley sat in the middle of the studio floor, surrounded by piles of books.? In front of her was a legal pad, covered with lines of notes presumably taken from the text of the books surrounding her. She was still dressed in her yoga clothing - loose fitting pants and a t-shirt with the Buddha's serene face on it, her feet bare and her hair pulled back into a braid - but the relaxation she'd gotten from the hour and a half long class had long since fled her body.? Her muscles were tight with tension and stress and she was muttering blackly under her breath as another book was slammed shut and shoved away.

Mesteno made no effort to quieten his footfalls as he approached the studio where Riley taught, and yet still he was more likely to be detected by scent before he was sound. No knocking, he just sauntered into the room as the Jaguar slammed her book shut, and let the groan of the door's hinges announce his arrival.

Catching Mesteno's scent immediately, it still took more than a few seconds for his presence in the room to penetrate to the higher functioning areas of her brain.? When it finally did, she stood abruptly and whipped around, facing him, her body held in a slightly defensive position.? Her nostrils flared delicately, maybe scenting the air for any signs of impending violence, and her eyes narrowed as she looked him over, head to toe.? Whatever she smelled - or perhaps better said, what she hadn't smelled - had her straightening up and crossing her arms loosely over her stomach.? She stared at him for a moment longer and then said softly, "Hi."

Wolf's gold eyes narrowed their focus sharply, swallowed up her posture and its changes, and the mute observation continued past the greeting she made him, to sweep away and over the stacked books as if trying to grasp without being told what she'd been up to. He smelled as he always did - leather, blood, earth and metal, the sharpness of apple somewhere beneath it all, but there was nothing to indicate any immediate need for concern. "That was some nice metal you left on my porch," he told her, skimming smoothly past the social niceties to get to the point. "Unexpected though. David probably wouldn't approve."

"David's my fiance, not my father, not my keeper.? Besides, when did you start caring what he does or doesn't approve of?? And what are you doing here?? I thought you were done with me."

"At that damned Christmas party, he decided to inform me I should pick my friends more wisely. I suppose I started caring when he decided to snipe at my choices." His tone did not suggest complaint at the mild interference, only fact. "But then he would speak up for you. What surprised me most was your change in attitude. Why suddenly apologetic?"

She snorted softly and one corner of her mouth curled in a lopsided smile.? "I think he said that because you've apparently chosen Bjorn, Leo, whatever the hell he's calling himself this week, over me.? And as far as changes in attitude go, you're the one who has apparently decided to...wash your hands of our...truce."? The word was spat at him with bitter intonation.? Obviously, truce was not the word she would have chosen to describe their relationship. Her expression softened, as a previous conversation came back to her.? "I'm sorry, Mesteno."? She was completely sincere in that.? "I had no idea that the...man...would go tattling to you.? I had expected a man who spouts nonsense about honour and ethics to go to the source of his troubles.? But I guess his chivalry is as much a lie as his identity."

"Bjorn Andrews and I are not friends." This he stated flatly, as if it were a strange taste on his tongue, a fact he hadn't yet invested with any particular emotion because he didn't like to think about it. "And he will not harm a woman. It doesn't matter what you say to him, the worst you'll get is words, though we both know they can cut deep enough." He'd made her cry a few days past. She'd sent him riding away gnashing his teeth when they'd left the desert because of that whip she called a tongue. "Losing two friends in as many weeks is not pleasant. I hadn't meant to war with you over this. Just... You place too much value in your pride and I don't know whether you are sorry for the result of the whole mess or that you didn't act differently."

She stared at him for a moment then said softly, "Which do you think it is?"

"If I knew that I wouldn't be here," he confessed, putting his shoulder blades to the wall while he considered her stare. "Why don't you enlighten me?"

He always made her feel slightly vulnerable, like he had the ability to reach inside her head and scoop out her innermost thoughts and fears and then taunt her with them.? Staring at him for a beat longer, as if trying to gauge whether he'd believe or accept her answer, she slowly sank to the floor, curling her legs up into the half-lotus position.? She reached for a random open book, lowering her eyes to the printed page but not reading it.? When she spoke at last, her voice was soft, hesitant.? "I'm sorry that I forced you into a duel with Bjorn.? I'm sorry that you...think less of me now.? I'm sorry that I betrayed your trust."

Intimidation had not been his intent, and he always felt a twinge of surprise when he saw any hint of vulnerability in her, the front she presented showing its cracks. "I don't know you very well," he murmured, "but I don't think you're a bad person. Maybe it was wrong of me to assume your priorities." Saving face, over his request that she stop badgering Bjorn with questions about his past. "He and I would probably have found reason to fight anyway, before long. We were always like that, at each other's throats one minute and watching each other's backs the next. Maybe you've inadvertantly saved me from a vicious cycle." It had never been so vicious as this last turn, but it made no difference now.

She looked up at him, out from underneath lowered lashes, caramel eyes searching his face, as if looking for signs of verisimilitude.? Nodding subtly, she said, "I've had an absolutely sh*tty couple of months.? Lots of things - really, really bad things - have been so out of my control that I just..."? She sighed softly and looked back down at the book open in her lap.? "I just wanted to exert a little control over something and stop feeling like I was Fate's b*tch for a day or two."

There was no guile there to be seen in the passive expression he wore. If he'd attempted such a thing it would have been plainly apparent. "And what has our good mistress been throwing at you to make you feel this way? I thought you'd have been too busy stunning the crowds with your ballet to have worked your way into some trouble." Subtle, but there, the slightest hint of a tease.

She snorted and shook her head.? "Well, let's see," she said, her voice dripping with wry sarcasm.? "First, my fiance was kidnapped and replaced by an evil doppelganger with designs on godhood.? Second, well...? just the fact that David asked me to marry him is frightening.? I don't do well with long-term relationships; men I love sorta drop like flies around me.? Oh, and third, remember the man I told you about?? The guy who lost his memories?"

"You're still alive. And so is this Rhys. And if you managed to survive them when you were separated, what makes you think you couldn't again?"

"Hell has nothing to lose now, Mesteno.? They've managed to kill one of us, they drove me here, and they erased all of Rhys's memories."? She looked up at him, fear swimming in her eyes.? "I...? I can't lose David.? I can't lose everything I've built here for some stupid fight that I'm not even involved with anymore."

"But Rhys' memories are returning, or have returned, you said... The damage they did him isn't permanent. They must feel that you're a threat of some sort, or they wouldn't have followed you out here." He shifted position a little, one knee angled up to play prop for his arm. "What's the plan then?" he asked, reaching with his other hand for one of the books, curious over the title. Was Riley studying the occult?

She handed the book over to him.? Curiously, it was not a volume about Faerie or demonic lore, but a copy of the California state criminal code.? "The plan?? The plan is to first keep David alive, and second, not die myself."? She shook her head.? "Honestly, I'm still reeling over the fact that Rhys showed up at the Inn the other night.? I thought...? I thought I was done with that part of my life, you know?"

A glance at the title was all he required, before he set the volume down on the floor beside his knee. Not a convenient reach for her, but at least it kept her from fidgeting with it. "You make it sound like you're not pleased about him showing up. He meant a lot to you, didn't he? Soul mates. That's what you said he was."

She blew out a deep breath and dragged a hand down her face.? "Him being here...? It's confusing, frightening."? She shook her head, not wanting to give away too much to someone who just days ago had skewered her to the floor with his words...and worse yet, had made her cry in public.

"I know what you mean," was all he said to that. He'd been through something similar lately, and the joy he'd have expected over appearances had quickly evaporated in the face of the trouble attached. "Well then. You need to take out the bad guys before they get to you," he pointed out pragmatically. "Don't waste time sitting 'round being scared, while reading books on law. Be pre-emptive. Be offensive."

"Even though I've got Faeries and demons on my trail, I still need to make money and take care of my clients."? She snorted.? "The biggest problem is I don't know where to start.? I mean, I know how to drive off the Fae and keep safe from them, but...? Demons don't figure heavily in Buddhist mythology."

"Taking care of the clients is as good as procrastinating right now. If you don't take care of the demons, they'll come kill you and the clients won't matter anyway," he pointed out stoically. "There are angels in RhyDin. They're the best source of knowledge for things like this. I was wi...hmm." Oh, how he scowled over his own confessions! "My old lover, Tanziel...he was from up there," he jabbed a finger skyward. "We did a lot of work together, with various figures within the church, and so long as you have the demons' names, they tend to be able to dig up some useful weakness to exploit. I wasn't so big on the research side of things," he shrugged simply. "Try the church, and any friends you may have of the angelic variety."

She arched a brow at him.? "What am I supposed to say?? 'Excuse me, Mr Priest, sir?? I don't believe in your god or any of that other nonsense, but I need your help anyway?'"

He outright snorted at her! "You're part of a holy trinity and yet you don't believe in it? No wonder the other side kicked your collective asses." Harsh! Still, he mused over her answer enough to have taken it seriously. "The church will help, if there is a demon to be taken care of. Faith doesn't matter. The clergy in Rhy'Din aren't as defenseless as you'd think." They wouldn't be here in the first place if that were the case. "I'd talk to Tanziel for you if I thought he wasn't busy playin' at bein' human. His old Father Stahl died recently too so anyone I know in their hierarchy that didn't think I was an evil sack o' sh*t is gone."

One corner of her mouth curled up at his self description.? "One thing I'll say for the Church - they can read people pretty well."? She shifted a bit, stretching sinfully long legs out near his left knee and crossing them at the ankle.? "I'd like to just...not deal with any of this.? I feel like...? It's not my fight anymore.? I don't live on Earth anymore.? Honestly, if I brought my parents here to Rhy'Din, I wouldn't care what happened to the rest of the planet."? A lie!? A big, bald-faced lie!?

"Well it's too bad, because it looks like they're gonna keep after you whether you wave the white flag or not. And face it, cara mea, if you thought the rest of the planet was screwed and you didn't care, you're be a bigger ass than me." Like she'd ever let herself fall so far. Wrapping a hand around her ankle, he leaned forwards to flash her a grin. "Sometimes this sh*t turns out to be fun, you know? Y'ain't really living if you haven't got something crazy and deadly going on."

She, too, leaned forward into him, matching his grin.? Then she reached out and gently flicked his earlobe.? He'd worn his hair loose and it fell about his shoulders and back like a mantle, the ends of it snaking against the floor behind him. It was difficult to find his ear through the mass of it. "You're insane.? You know this, right?"? She sat back, squashing down the overwhelming urge to plunge her fingers into his hair and see if it felt as alive as it looked.? "I have an idea.? You go poke the demons in the eye and tell them I died and was reincarnated as you!? That way, I'll be left alone and you can go have fun with the crazy, deadly stuff.? Sound good?"

He rumbled a quiet growl - not angry, almost playful, and shook his head. "No member of any Holy Trinity would ever poke around into the things I do. Just face facts, you're going to have to take them out. Won't David help you?"