"You know where she is? Is she ok?" Larry the bar tender demanded. He knew whom it was Rimmon was speaking to, but he had no clue what either man was. Then again he was still as yet unaware of his own process of damnation, so keen observation was not his forte.
                              
"She's safe. Unharmed. And will be back tomorrow. She pushed too hard today and collapsed, I'm letting her recover." Coyote explained, smiling at Larry's concern. "Please let her friend Belle know this as well. I'm sure she's concerned too." he added in.
                              
Larry stammered his affirmative, unsure as to why this old man had that effect on him. He shrugged it off as believing that it was all due to the old man's reputation as the best fight trainer. That was partially true, but Dumb Coyote was a soul at perfect balance and that was a state of being very few could claim. Those farther along their individuals paths, be it Ascention or Descending, would react to him more powerfully. It was the law of nature to have not just the extremes but a centered state as well.
                              
Rimmon reluctantly followed Coyote out of the crowded bar and into the Coyote's Jeep. He slid into the passenger seat and sullenly stared out at the nightlife he should be out enjoying. "So what is your interest in Lone?" Rimmon demanded, shifting uncomfortably in the seat. For once he had the seat belt on, realizing that with the Indian around he was as mortal as the rest of these huddled masses were.
                              
"She is my protege." Coyote replied simply, the word encompassing more than just her fighting style.
                              
Rimmon smirked and swallowed a snarl. Protege his ass, she was a soul still ripe for the taking. Her soul was no where near centered enough for her to be his protege. But deep in his gut a little worm of worry started to grow; making him wonder, even if only for a second, if it would be as easy to seduce Lone's soul as he originally anticipated.
                              
"You have marked her." Coyote stated into the growing silence. "Do not try and deny it. It is a hidden mark, a brand on her hip." he continued easily. Rimmon stared at him, wishing he could gouge the man's eyes out. "You have been drawing energy from her to create a link between you two so she'll feel compelled towards you. It is a smart hunting move." Coyote pulled up outside a hotel. Rimmon frowned, perterbed that the human was so keenly aware of facts that should not be available to him. The demon hadn't known that any human could see a hidden mark, and as soon as he re-established contact with his bretherin, the fact that this human could would cause quite a sitr. "Stay here." Coyote instructed, the command wrapping around the demon more effectively than chains.
                              
Rimmon snarled and thrashed, seeing if he could circumvent it but to no avail. He watched with dead eyes as Coyote walked up to a hotel room and banged on a door. No one answered and instead of waiting paitently, Coyote did something to the lock and the door swung open. The Indiand disappeared inside for a few seconds and came out with a very groggy looking Angel stumbling beside him. Rimmon chuckled to himself without humour. Of course that blasted Angel had to be involved.
                              
Gavin was chucked into the back seat where he slumped, barely hanging onto consciousness. In fact, it was only the presence of the demon in the Jeep that prompted Gavin to remain alter. His head throbbed with a searing headache and every muscle in his body twitched and trembled with exhaustion. "What is that thing doing here?" he demanded, voice rough.
                              
Rimmon laughed, amused at the Angel's animosity. They claimed to be so much better than their counterparts but the fact was that they could hate just as strongly as the Descended did. "Funny, I could ask the same thing but I'm starting to suspect I already know the answer." Rimmon offered, taking the upper hand in this confrontation. He slung an arm over the back of his seat and looked at Gavin as Coyote hopped in and started to drive. "You look like hell my friend. Rough night?" he asked, smiling like they were best friends.
                              
"Even my roughest night would leave me better off than look like you." Gavin spat.
                              
"Interesting but wrong. Seeing as I've already gotten into bed with Lone, I'm pretty sure that's not the case." Rimmon boasted.
                              
Gavin was no longer tired, instead he was angry and a little reckless. Having the old man in the Jeep with them limited them all to normal mortal standards so he did something he never once considered in his very long life. He grabbed the back of Rimmon's seatbelt and jerked it, tightening it against the demon's chest, then he leaned forward and wet willied him. Rimmon let out a startled yell and jerked his head away, smearing the wet finger down his neck and he wiped at it. He turned in his seat to retaliate and they both froze when Dumb Coyote started to laugh.
                              
"It's amazing either of you have gotten anything done. How is it that you two have both managed to sink your hooks into her soul when you can't even focus?" Coyote asked, startling them both.
                              
"You've touched her?" Rimmon hissed at Gavin, offended and inexplicably jealous. It made sense to the demon, sex was the easiest way to establish a connection to someone. This would also explain why the demon had so far been unable to convince her to bed him, a personal tie ot an Angel would bolster her own resistance to the Seduction. Her father's abuse and incestuous rape of her had weakened her and her patricide had further marked her soul so it should have been easier for her to succumb. The Descended knew she'd had some kind of tie into the Angels but not that it was this firmly established.
                              
"I'm her Guardian Angel you worm!" Gavin growled, once again ready to do violence, even if his body and reserves hadn't actually recovered yet from earlier.
                              
"Silence." Coyote said softly and both were forced into muteness. "You're both killing her." he stated simply and they stared at him. "Unaware that the other was doing the same, you've both been draining her of life. She would have died earlier today if not for friendly interference." Coyote hesitated about mentioning Gabriel's presence yet. Instead he focused on driving them closer to the soul in question, hoping that Lone had either woken up and calmed down already, or that she was still unconscious. Dealing with an awake and irate Lone was high on his list of things to avoid. He debated for a moment about telling them that they'd also been forcing some of their own attributes onto her through their links but kept that to himself for now.
                              
Gavin tapped him gently on the shoulder, indicating that he wished to speak. Coyote released his command of silence and allowed it. "I was attacked today. It was a Descended I had never encountered before. And it wasn't right. Even for a Descended this thing was an abberation." he stated. He didn't want to go into the details of the encounter with Rimmon in the vehicle, but he had no choice once Coyote compelled it. So he told them everything, all the grudging details were pulled from him. And the fact that he could tell even Rimmon had no knowledge of the creature he'd encountered offered him no comfort at all.
                              
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Lone opened her eyes to a dusky darkness, tasting a faint trace of dust and blood on her tongue. She swallowed and coughed, clearing her throat. Her memory of the encounter with Gabriel and Coyote was hazy and left her sitting up in alarm. She waited for the half remembered pain and nausea to overwhelm her but it was a faded echo in her body and mind. Whatever that...someone had done to her had eased the worst of it and she was greatful but confused. A week ago her life had made sense. A tragic, pathetic kind of sense but it was orderly and reasonable. Now though, things were spiraling out of all reality and Lone was starting to question her sanity. Maybe none of this was real and she'd just finalyl slipped off the deep end. Her father had proven that insanity was in hte family so maybe she'd followed suit. Moving out of the bed stiffly, Lone finally notice the letter displayed with her name on it.
                              
"I wake up alone, in a house I've never seen before and there's a letter with my name on it. The only way this could be more creepy was if there was theme music." she mumbled just to have some noise. She looked around just to make sure that she actually was alone, then shuffled over to the letter. Opening it up, she read the conents. Then re-read them. A third purusal did nothing to change the impossible information within and she sat down heavily on the bed, torn between laughter and tears.
                              
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Author's Note: I know some people are offended with the term Indian as opposed to Native American, but Dumb Coyote is the kind of man to flat out ignore PC concerns and call a duck a duck.
                              
Also, I am about tp challenge anyone who reads this: I want name suggestions and a description for a female character. I am not telling you if she is good or bad. I want to have her physicality seperated entirely from her nature.