a/n: Hey yall! Sorry to keep yall waiting so long for chappy 2 but I've had alot going. Thank you so much to all of my wonderful reviewers who read and took the time to review! Yall are the BEST! As I said at the end of the last chapter this chapter is from Quinn's point of view but I ended up dragging it out longer than I thought I would. Neways, hope yall enjoy the chappy and dnt 4get to review!!!

"Speech"

'Thoughts'

'Soulmate bond'

DISCLAIMER: I dnt own the Night World series or any of it's characters. I do, however, own the evil vamp who I created. Yay! ^-^!

Chapter 2- Quinn

For the last week he'd been undercover in a new vampire cult trying to get information on what they were up to, what they were planning, and if necessary taking them out before they could do something stupid. After the first three days he had determined that there was only one vampire in the group that was actually serious about the threats he made towards humans. It had taken him two days to finally get the him alone and kill him before he could kill some innocent young girl as he threatened he would, and it had taken two days after that to convince the other vampires that vampire hunters had killed him and that they should disperse unless they wanted to be next.

It hadn't been hard to convince them since the only one with any guts in the group he had already taken care of and using the wooden knife that Rashel had given him made it look like it truly had been vampire hunters. He was very thankful to have such a thoughtful and practical soulmate. The knife could appear to be made of all silver and thus make it look like it was a tool for killing shifters alone but when he tripped a switch and the silver sheath was removed the wooden shaft proved a deadly weapon against vampires as well. She had given it to him for his birthday a few months ago and since then he had carried it with him in a special boot sheath everywhere he went.

About an hour ago he had finally bid farewell to the last of the group of vamps and had chained the door to the building shut. He was tired and annoyed and very ready to take a long hot shower and cuddle under the covers with his gorgeous soulmate. Normally he would have driven his 1966 Camaro SS but he had to leave it at home because for this mission he'd been a lowly wandering vampire and the sleek black vehicle would definitely have blown his cover. He toyed with the idea of taking a cab back to the mansion but with the mood he was in and the burning in his throat it would not have been beneficial to put himself alone in a dirty cab with a smelly human male. Thus it had taken him nearly an hour to get to the mansion and he was just about to mount the steps leading to the front door when a terrified cry rang out through his mind.

'Quinn! Help me!'

He recognized the voice immediately but the soulmate connection that she'd contacted him on was cut off immediately after her cry for help. Without a moments pause he bounded up the remaining steps of the mansion while scanning the entire property telepathically to confirm that she was indeed not at the mansion. Making a beeline for Thierry's office he threw open the door and without even a thought to whom he was addressing he began yelling.

"Where's Rashel?!"

"Quinn, I see you're back from your mission but what's all this yelling about Rashel? I sent her on a mission about an hour ago," Thierry said calmly as he regarded Quinn's frantic expression with worry.

"She just contacted me through our soulmate bond but before I could respond the connection was cut off. I've been trying to reestablish the connection but something is blocking me. I know she's in trouble, please Lord Thierry, tell me where she is!"

Thierry's face immediately became grave as he realized something had gone very very wrong and there was a possibility that he could loose two of his greatest fighters; Rashel by the vampires at the club and Quinn by the devastating loss of his soulmate that would eventually lead him to take his life.

"She's at the Black Rose downtown. It was an assassination mission in a highly trafficked vampire bar and it is likely that there are at least twenty vampires in the bar at this time."

Quinn did not waste any more time listening to the information on the bar, he knew where it was and he'd even hung around there a little back in his younger days but now he could imagine nothing worse than a bar full of vampires getting their filthy fangs into his love. He hit the front steps of the mansion at a dead run and leapt past a confused looking Thea and Maggie as he took the entire front porch and steps in one large bound.

Ignoring their questioning yells he took off out the front drive and turning left he headed downtown to where the Black Rose lay nestled in one of the shady alleyways behind a few big skyscrapers. He had been constantly trying to reestablish contact with Rashel through the soulmate bond every since her initial cry and it almost surprised him when suddenly contact was reestablished. Immediately he felt her pain and worry but was relieved to feel that she was alive and fighting.

'Rashel! Rashel what's happened? Rashel!'

Only a moment after he yelled through their link he felt her consciousness slip and an echo of the pain in her head hit him like a kick to the chest. Once again the bond was cut short but now he was more worried than ever. She was still alive before she lost consciousness but now she was unconscious in a bar full of vampires who most likely knew her true identity and were probably going to torture her for information. If at all possible he pushed his vampire body even faster as he sped along the dark sidewalks towards downtown Vegas.

When he was about three blocks away from the bar a large group of human gangsters approached him from all directions. He was already at a dead run and the terror and rage he was feeling right now pushed him onwards as he shoved his way through the gang members and ignored as the bullets whizzed by him, grazing his arms and leaving bloody gashes that healed moments after they were inflicted. Making a sharp right turn he left the gang in a jumbled yelling heap.

Now he could see the battered and graffiti covered west wall of the Black Rose. At this range he could feel telepathically the pain being inflicted upon his soulmate and that there were only eight living vampires in the club meaning that Rashel had taken down a few before they'd captured her. He could hear a last thought from her just before he slid to a screeching halt in front of the door to the bar and it scared him more than anything else had in his entire long life.

'At least I won't have to suffer through any more of the bastard's torture. I'm just sorry I couldn't say goodbye to Quinn before I go……He's going to be alone again…'

"RASHEL!!!"

His yell had every once of fear and anguish he felt poured into it as he kicked in the front door and moved immediately to slam his fist into the vampire that had just been trying to squeeze the life out of his soulmate. His fist collided viciously with his jaw and he could feel the bone break beneath his fingers and it gave him a great amount of satisfaction.

Glancing back at Rashel for only a second he could not prevent the fierce snarl that ripped from his throat as he saw the horrible condition she was in. Moving his body swiftly between Rashel's beaten and bound body and the group of vampires in front of him he crouched slightly an sent a glare that sent chills through the spines of the smaller vampires in the group and made the larger few much more weary.

"W-what are you waiting for you id-idiots? He's just a Daybreaker s-scum! Get him!"

His eyes did not move from the group in front of him to their pathetic leader that lay sprawled across the floor beside the bar to his right but instead watched as they looked between him and their leader before taking a deep whiff of the blood in the air and deciding that it was worth it to attack. BIG mistake. Just like the bumbling group of idiots that they were they attacked him in one jumbled mass and he grinned savagely as the first one approached him.

In the flash of an eye he drew the knife while flicking the switch to leave the silver cover in his boot sheath. A gleam of light reflected off of the silver hilt and guard as he quickly dispatched all of the charging vampires with either a quick stab to the heart or the head. He kept track of the movements of those behind him telepathically and within a minute they all lay shriveled on the floor around him. In a half a second he determined that the leader had fled and the in the next half he was beside Rashel getting a close look at her numerous bleeding wounds. Her head was hanging limply now and a thick curtain of curly black hair obscured his vision of her face.

"Rashel? Rashel! Please answer me baby!"

Gently he moved his hand up to cup her bloody cheek and grimaced as he felt her jolt at his light touch. He could tell that it was a struggle for her to lift her head to meet his eyes and as soon as her emerald green eyes met his he knew that she wouldn't last much longer in this condition.

"Oh Goddess Rashel I've got to get you back to the mansion," he said as he carefully broke the metal cords that bound each of her wrists and ankles with his hands.

The cords had dug deeply into her flesh and were slick from being covered in sticky wet blood. He took great care in crushing the metal between his fingers and then slowly removing it from her wrists and ankles. He could feel her pain through his telepathy even though he was too preoccupied to open their soulmate bond and feel the true depths of her anguish.

"W-what about the b-bastard?"

Her simple question infuriated him beyond anything he'd ever felt before. He clenched his teeth to prevent his fangs from emerging from his rage. He knew that the one that had hurt her the most he'd let escape and he would love nothing more than to slowly torture him until he died of starvation.

"He got away but I promise you I'll hunt him down and I'll make him pay for what he's done to you, but I've got to get you home first."

As much as he desired to rip the still beating heart right out of that bastard's chest Rashel was his top priority right now and she wouldn't last much longer without medical attention. He once again thought that if she were a vampire then he wouldn't have to worry so much about her but no matter what happened he would not force her to become a vampire if she did not want to. Pushing that thought aside in order to worry about the present tragedy he was potentially facing he gently lifted her from the chair and into his arms before making a hasty walk to the exit.

When he exited through the now busted open doorway he saw that Nilsson was waiting in a black Dodge Charger. He was incredibly grateful that Lord Thierry had the foresight to send someone after him in a fast car. Wasting no time he quickly balanced her in one arm and threw the door open before sliding into the back seat. His body was pushed back into the seat as the powerful V8 engine roared to life as Nilsson floored it and the door swung shut from the instant acceleration.

"H-how did y-"

"I heard you call me through the soulmate bond. You sounded so desperate," he said as he sorrowfully looked at her various wounds, "I was almost back to the mansion from my mission by then and when I heard your scream in my mind I immediately found Thierry and he told me where you were. I ran ahead and apparently he sent Nilsson in the car."

It pained him to see the small bloody smile she now wore on her face. Looking at just her face he could see that she had a black eye, a busted and bloodied lip, a large gash across her right temple, and a huge bruise across the left side of her face. He was about to more thoroughly examine her wounds when her voice broke through his thoughts via the soulmate bond.

'I knew you'd come. I love you John.'

His eyes immediately moved to her throat and to the large black and blue finger shaped bruises that went almost all the way around her throat. Carefully he brought his fingers up and delicately touched her neck with the softness and control that only vampire reflexes could give you. His eyes were on hers as he gently grazed one finger along the delicate skin and he did not miss the flash of added pain that shot through her eyes at his light touch.

'I love you too Rashel. I'm just sorry I couldn't have gotten there sooner. You nearly died because I didn't get there fast enough.'

A wave of sorrow washed over his entire being as his eyes moved slowly between her various injuries and her pain filled emerald eyes. Out of all the horrible things he'd done in his life he regretted nothing more than allowing this to happen to her. He should have been there for her. He should have finished his stupid mission earlier so that he could have gone with her! He should have…

'You couldn't have gotten there any faster even if you could fly John. It's not your fault. I should have been able to handle ten lowly vampires by myself but I guess I'm getting sloppy.'

The sorrow he felt was almost immediately pushed to the back of his mind as anger and annoyance at her statement took precedence in his mind. For her to believe that she was weak after she'd just taken down four vampires with only two small wooden daggers and endured a violent beating was infuriating to him. He was about to give her a piece of his very frustrated mind when the Charger came to a screeching halt in front of the mansion and Nilsson was beside the door opening it for him.

'Don't think this discussion is over. We are going to continue this after the healers make you better.'

He stood quickly but smoothly from the car but after only a step he could feel her breathing change and her muscles tense as a wave of pain hit her like an electric shock. Suddenly she was gasping for air and clutching tightly to his shirt as her emerald eyes clenched shut and their connection severed against his will.

"Rashel!"

Horror that he was going to loose her now, when they were so close to the safety of the mansion, hit him and he immediately began sprinting up the steps and into the mansion. He saw Thierry, Hannah, and a few of the other Daybreakers grouped in the main lobby of the mansion and they all immediately gasped at seeing Rashel's condition. Thierry and a small witch he knew to be a healer immediately set up the tall staircase and he followed without breaking stride.

It only took him a minute upon stopping and getting out of the car to get her to their second story bedroom and lay her down softly upon their bed. The healing witch was immediately beginning to administer some of the medicine she'd made knowing what she was probably going to have to treat and so to get out of her way he moved to the other side of their bed and held gently but firmly onto her cold hand. He watched her face intently for any sign of pain and he saw when her eyes cracked open the slightest bit and landed upon him. Her soft voice in his head warmed his heart and comforted him slightly.

'I love you John.'

He could feel that she had slipped into unconsciousness and he was greatly relieved for most of the pain will have passed by the time she awakens but he still felt the need to answer her declaration of love with one of his own.

'And I, you, Rashel Jordan for forever and all eternity.'

After that he merely sat and watched the healing witch work for the next two hours before she left saying that there was nothing more she could do and that the bruising would have to go away on it's own. She assured him that Rashel was now stable and would make a full recovery but it did not sate his restless mind. He would only be able to rest when she opened her beautiful emerald eyes and smiled at him once more. Even then, only after he slaughtered the bastard that had done this to her would he truly rest beside her as he had only a week ago.

He was incredibly grateful that she had slept through most of the healing process as some of the things the healer did made even her unconscious muscles tense in pain and at least this way she was unaware of it. Now it was nearly dawn and he was exhausted from his weeklong mission, his unbelievably fast rush to the bar, and a thirst that he had yet to quench in the last two days but he refused to leave her side for even an instant to take care of his own needs. He estimated that he had another half a day before he would have to feed but if she did not awaken by then he knew that he would not leave regardless.

"You're thirsty, I can tell."

The scratchy voice that reached his ears sounded better than a chorus of angels singing as his eyes flew to the face of his soulmate who was now awake and looking at him through slightly drooping lids. A small knowing smile was on her face and in that instant he felt as if a thousand tons had been lifted off his chest.

"Your fangs always push out on your lips just a little bit when you're thirsty. You should go feed you silly vampire."

He leaned his head down and gently kissed her hand before smiling his own rouge-ish smile. The fear of losing her had finally past and he could breathe once again. Not only that, she was already playing with him, proof that she was feeling better as well as a testament to her strength.

"Well that may be true but I can't because I have to stay here and nurse you back to health."

The annoyed glare he got from her made him laugh slightly as he once again kissed her hand. He ached so badly to kiss her lips but the once plump pink lips were now bruised and busted and he did not want to cause her anymore undue pain. At one time he may have been worried about being so close to a human with so many open and bleeding wounds when he was this thirsty but this was his soulmate and he would never drink her blood without her consent even if he was suffocating.

At that moment a knock on the door sounded and Quinn called for the person to come in. He was not surprised to see Keller stick her head in through the door and he smiled at her to show that she was welcome to come in. With a nervous smile she made her way fully into the room and shut the door quietly behind her. When her eyes made their way over to Rashel he could see the spark of rage that immediately lit in her eyes as the smile fell off her face.

"It's ok Keller I'm fine. This is no big deal, I'll be back to normal in no time."

His eyes moved back from Keller to Rashel but he did not miss the low growl that came from his soulmate's shapshifting sister. He had reacted similarly and he knew that Keller could appreciate the anger he felt at seeing her in such a condition. The fact that she was trying to brush it off as "no big deal" did little to help his foul mood. Her throat was still raw and no amount of fluid could ease the scratchy quality in her voice. She was far from "fine" but he soothed himself by rubbing his thumb gently along her hand.

"You are not fine Rashel! From what Lord Thierry told me you were on the brink of death last night when Quinn brought you in. Now I warn you, if I catch you outta this bed in the next few days it takes for you to heal then I will personally drag you up here and tie you to this bed myself!"

Rashel stared at her sister for a few seconds before a letting out a raspy laugh that soon lead to a coughing fit. He leapt up from his position in a chair beside the bed and quickly grabbed a cup of water and handed it to her. She managed to control her coughs long enough to take a long gulp of the water and allow her throat to be sated slightly. Sighing deeply she looked up at Quinn and Keller for a moment before her busted lips quirked slightly.

"That really didn't help my case did it?"

"NO!" "Nope," they said simultaneously.

"Well it's all settled then I'll stay and bed and be good ok? Now Quinn you go get some blood before you start to get really thirsty, Keller will stay with me and I'll be fine."

As loathe as he was to the thought, the fact that she had reminded him about his aching throat seemed to somehow make it throb more to remind him that he was indeed very thirsty. He looked down to see a smile on her face but a stern look in her eyes and decided that it would be best if he did what he was told for once. Leaning over to place a gentle kiss on her forehead he stood before motioning Keller to follow him to the door.

"I assume Lord Thierry told you that the one that did this to her got away," he paused for a moment as a hard look came to her face and she nodded sternly, "Then you know that I'm not going to leave her alone until I find the bastard and kill him. I'll need you to stay with her when I'm out searching but I won't leave the mansion to look for him until she's at least up and walking again."

"I understand Quinn. Whenever you get back from feeding I'll head down to the Black Rose and see what I can find and I'll let you know. Until then don't worry because I won't let anything come within twenty feet of her, I swear to the Goddess."

Smiling at the fierce grin she wore on her face as she swore to the Goddess he looked back at Rashel one last time to see that she was glaring at them contemptuously for talking about her so quietly that she couldn't hear. He smiled and turned to leave the room but as soon as Keller shut the door behind him he opened the soulmate bond and left her with one final thought.

'I love you Rashel and I would die for you at a moment's notice. I'm going to find that bastard and make him suffer but I won't search for him until your better so just try to rest please.'

'Ok John, I promise I'll rest as long as you promise you'll be careful when your out hunting for him. There was something odd about that vampire that I don't like and I don't want you to get hurt because of me.'

'I promise.'

As he left the mansion to hunt for a worthy target within a few block's radius he glanced back up at the window to the room he and Rashel shared one last time before turning and walking off into the darkness. If he hadn't been so worried about leaving her he might have noticed the scent of an unfamiliar vampire hiding in the bushes on the far side of the mansion's outer gardens that was watching his every move.

Dark brown eyes shadowed by the bushes and the coming darkness of the evening watched as Quinn looked back up at one particular window in the mansion before walking off towards the city. The brown eyes glared fiercely at his departing figure before moving up to the window that Quinn had just been staring at. Mentally marking that window the vampire let out a low growl before melting back into the shadows and vanishing from the property in the blink of an eye.

a/n: Well there you have it. This chappy was super long but I enjoyed writing it and I didn't want to leave yall at the same place as last chapter so I had to draw it out a little. Yall will have to know whose point of view you like better or if I should go narrator POV or switch between the two each chapter. Just leave me a review letting me know what yall think and I'll be sure to take that into account when I'm writing the next chapter.

PLZ READ AND REVIEW!!! ^-^!