These characters belong to the brilliant Karen Marie Moning.

Thank you so much for sticking with me. I'm sorry it's taken me so long to get back to this story. But I've left you on worse cliffies so hopefully you can forgive me ;)

Big huge thanks to my reading/writing buddy TraderMare who whipped out her red beta pen and fixed this so you could read it.

Enjoy!

"Feck!"

Jo was beyond frustrated. She scanned the ground again. She'd been walking in circles desperately looking for her glove. Yes, it was silly to be upset over a glove, but they had matched and she'd grown tired of losing little bits of herself all over Dublin.

She was almost back to her apartment when she heard what sounded like metal being crushed. Jo had been looking down, going over every inch of the street, sidewalk and shop doorways, which is why she didn't see it until she was practically on top of it.

In front of her apartment, a giant Unseelie was smashing things, including her car!

At over nine feet tall, it was the largest one she'd ever seen, if you didn't count the hunters. It had a large prehistoric looking, crested forehead with several black horns that stuck up out of it at odd angles. Matted brown hair clung to some of the horns and hung down over its face. It's skin was gray like many of the Unseelie castes, but never in her studies or real life had she come across one like this.

She was just about to do something incredibly stupid like yell at it to stop beating up her car when it swung its massive head towards her, opened its large mouth and roared. Jo froze. Its yellow eyes focused narrowly on her. Slowly she started to back up as the damn thing advanced on her.

Holding out her hands as if that would make it stop, she spoke to it. "It's okay, you can have the car." Jo motioned toward the mangled auto hoping it would go back to tearing it apart rather than looking at her like it wanted to tear her apart.

It stopped a few feet in front of her and roared again. Cowering, Jo covered her face as it shook its head, spittle flying everywhere. She watched in horror as huge canines protruded from its upper row of teeth.

Gulping, she watched it while it watched her. It licked its lips like it was planning to make a meal out of her. Jo wanted desperately to run but knew it could outrun her. Frozen in place she was out of options.

Blinking, she realized the beast was wearing a coat that looked very similar to the long leather duster Ryodan often wore.

"You son of a bitch, what have you done to Ryodan?" She threw her lone glove on the ground and took a fighter's stance. Jo was going to die but she was going to die fighting.

The beast stopped, glancing down at the glove on the ground. Snorting, it tilted its head and sniffed the air. Just then everything started to make a funny buzzing sound.

"JO LOOK OUT!"

The beast's eyes went wide as Lor came rushing down the street. Then it turned and lunged for her.

Lor's shouts shook Jo out of her frozen trance. She turned to run, but before she could make it even three steps, she was knocked flat to the ground, her teeth clacking as everything went black.

Lor waited until he was sure the immediate danger had passed. Lifting his head cautiously, he shook off the ice fragments that covered his body.

Petting Jo gently, Lor spoke in what he hoped was a soothing tone. "Jo, it's okay, I've got you. You're going to be safe. Everything is going to be fine."

Shaking his head he banged it repeatedly on the ground. "You. Fucking. Owe. Me."

Lor turned his head and yelled directly at the beast. "DID YOU HEAR ME? JO IS FINE AND YOU FUCKING OWE ME!"

The beast rose from its crouched position, ice fragments falling off its body in chunks. It was about to pounce on the girl when its brother knocked her to the ground and covered her with his body. Strange. Inhaling deeply it realized the girl was covered in his scent. It backed up several paces, clutching its head in great pain.

A strangled cry tore from its body as it willed itself to regain control. Change back, change back. Groaning in agony, the internal struggle began. It dropped to the ground, its body convulsing as the change continued. The horns receded, arms and hands returned where there had been claws and talons. and finally the skin changed from a hideous gray to Ryodan's usual ruddy tan. He was breathing heavily from the effort. It was always hard to come back so quickly once you'd gone that far. He looked at Lor, who was staring daggers at him and nodded his head.

"Why?" Ryodan said hoarsely.

"Because one fucking mute around here is enough, boss."

Lor got up, brushed himself off and walked away.

Ryodan got up and knelt over Jo, turning her so she was on her back. He pushed the hair from her face then patted her cheek to rouse her.

"Jo, are you alright?"

She opened her eyes hesitantly, probably afraid of what she might see.

"Ryodan?" She clutched his arms. "What was that thing?" She sat up too quickly and he could tell she was dizzy. "I thought it had gotten you and-"

"Shhhh, its' okay, I'm here, it's gone and you're safe and no one is ever going to hurt you again. Understand?"

"Yes, but-"

He slanted his mouth over hers. She was here, she was alive, she was safe. He held her tight.

Jo pulled back to look at him. "Ryodan, are you okay?"

He smiled at her. "I thought," his voice trailed off and he looked away from her.

She touched his face gently. "You thought what?"

"I didn't know where you were Jo. I thought you were upstairs."

Her eyes went wide with understanding. "Ohhh, I'm sorry Ryodan. I couldn't find my glove."

"Your glove?"

"Yes, I was putting things in my car, and it's so bloody cold and I realized I had forgotten to wear my gloves."

He moved the hair out of her face. "Did you just say bloody?"

Jo's cheeks turned the most adorable shade of pink as she pursed her lips and looked up at him. "Maybe."

He laughed, pulling her into his lap and sitting with her in the middle of the street. "Continue."

"Well, they weren't upstairs and then I remembered I took them off at the bakery so I went to get them."

"And Lor went with you."

"Actually, I didn't know where he was, and it was only a block away so I... went by myself." Jo winced as she finished the sentence clearly realizing how mad he would be about that.

Jo spoke so quickly he could barely make out what she was saying. "Ryodan, I'm sorry. I just wanted to finish packing so I could come home and-"

He captured her lips again and kissed her deeply, holding her so tightly she was having a hard time breathing.

Ryodan rested his forehead against hers. "You stubborn woman. Thank god you didn't listen to me. Don't ever do it again."

"You're not mad at me?"

He ran his hands up and down her body. "Jo, if you hadn't left your apartment, then we wouldn't be having this conversation right now."

Jo was confused. She sat up straight, looked over at her car and gasped. "My car got iced? I didn't even notice. That thing was so big and I thought for sure it was going to kill me. What was it? I've never seen that kind of Unseelie before."

"Definitely one of the less common ones. Lor has dispatched it. It will never hurt you again."

He stood up and pulled Jo to her feet, brushing off her clothes and checking her over to make sure she wasn't injured. "Are you hurt anywhere?"

"I don't think so. Are you?"

He looked down at himself. His clothes were slashed and stained with blood. Naturally she'd assume he'd been injured. Ryodan shook his head and chuckled, pulling her tight against him. How long had it been since anyone had worried about him? Jo melted into his touch.

"Come, let's get you home."

Jo smiled at that word. "But what about my stuff?"

"I'm sorry Jo. I don't know if any of it is salvageable."

"Oh." Jo looked down. Of course she'd be sad but he would find a way to make it up to her.

"Jo, what's wrong? I'll replace everything you lost. You'll want for nothing."

Jo nodded. "It's okay. It's just that, I didn't have much, and now I have nothing." She shrugged her shoulders. "I'm being silly. I should just be grateful you and I are both alive."

Ryodan pulled her in for a hug, resting his head on top of hers. He was so screwed. He nearly lost it when he thought she was dead. It was careless and emotional of him to transform in the middle of the street but the thought of losing her... He held her to him while she pretended to not be upset over her lost items. She could be so stoic, his brave Jo. He was about to do another stupid thing today.

"When I'm sure it's safe I'll send my men in to see if there is anything of yours left."

She looked up at him, her eyes glassy as she blinked at him. Yes, she was probably wondering what the hell he was doing as well.

"It's okay, Ryodan. I appreciate the thought but you were right, it's just stuff."

He grabbed her chin and held it. "Your grandmother's hope chest, while hideous, is not just stuff. It's important to you."

"Hideous? I'll have you know that has been in my family for-"

"For way too long. Jo seriously. It's got to be one of the ugliest pieces of furniture I've ever seen. Those carvings are-"

"Her father's family crest. And it was handed down to the oldest girl for ages before it was given to my grandmother."

Ryodan slid his arm down onto her shoulders. He turned her and began walking away, his arm holding her close to him.

"I've been meaning to ask, what are those carvings? Some kind of animal? They look like snakes."

"What? No, those are roses covered in ivy."

"Ivy, really? The artist must have been blind."

She punched him playfully in the arm but stayed close to his side. Her smile was so wide he couldn't help but match it. Pulling her tighter, he wrapped his arm around her throat, his large silver cuff a warning to anything that might be watching that she was his.

The End!

I hope you enjoyed my little foray into this side of the post-Fever world. I've learned a lot and have enjoyed comments from so many of you. As an aspiring writer it's always fabulous to get reader feedback. If you haven't left me any comments yet, I'd love for you to take an opportunity to do so now.

Speaking of writing, the lovely TraderMare and I are working on an original paranormal novel. (It was part of the reason I was so late in getting this chapter to you!)

You can find us at redhotbluewrites . blogspot . com

We'll keep you posted on our progress and hopefully post some snippets.

Thanks again for being so fabulous and taking the time to read my story!