Drove off into the sunset

As she rode in the front seat, the girl, the beef bag, and Gracie sat in the back. Unfortunately, Ryla knew the beef bag's name and asked him a silly even inane question she knew the answer to already. "Are you willing to give up this rogue business, rehabilitate and be put on probation? One time offer. It comes from on high. Lacy herself pronounced it. I am the only person who can offer it. It is not absolution. It is hard work. A century probationary period. I am also not going to give you time to think about it or ask twice. Now or never."

Ryla's obvious skepticism and cynical tone practically showed on her face, but she was beyond emotions at the moment. This was business. This was war. She had a script she recited and tat was that. She wasn't going to go soft for just anyone who may trick her, bait her, or betray her. She would know if they were lying. She had the ability to feel the electricity that charged each muse. Electricity is the only way to think of it. If she were into mysticism, she may consider it an aura. But, to her surprise, there actually were electrons whiring around each muse. A transfer of those electrons is essentially what a muse does. A good muse infuses. A bad muse defuses. In between, she had been struck by a blast of lightning from her love Dan and ever since could feel the field of force and the pulls of energies. Not life forces, they could not kill. They could certainly tip the scales though. She felt him. She felt Yosef tingling with a chrystalline edge. She wouldn't reveal that part because only four people knew. Herself, Dan, Gracie, and Lacy. She was like Death for the muse race. A mythic figure. Yosef would hardly be missed as a rogue. People would whisper. The real trouble is when a rogue is not entirely off the gird. When a rogue goes rogue they become lone wolves like their past forms millennia ago. They stay off the grid, they stay within hunting range, and they mistrust anyone. However, mistrust does not mean they don't want power. They can align with a guild as a free lance contracted spy. They drain to keep the powerful guilds and their respectively powerful charges busy in the business of interguild rivalry. They were small victories and always resulted with the rogue either caught without trace of guild ties or they are give higher ranks closer to the guilds. Not all guilds refolded the rogue back into their society as it was taboo. But a black market, a criminal circuit, and rogue syndicate are just names of the game learned from humans.

The girl was protected for now, because Yosef had been encased by magic not known to him. Dan had given each Gracie and Ryla the means to switch off all pull and push of power. The girl was healing. She was repairing. She absolutely glowed at her core and Yosef and Gracie knew it. Yosef didn't know Ryla could practically taste it. The girl could easily have been shrouded with Ryla's gift from Dan and kidnapped. That would defeat the purpose of the rouse altogether. The girl wouldn't have made her decision offered in Ryla's ultimatum and would have sought out the drain of a rogue. Yes, she had to be rehabilitated. Her energies would recover over night with a powerful healing muse at the facility they were headed to. Then she would learn what she is and what she means to the muse war on rogues. She would be invited to fight with them or... well there were no other options except house arrest.

Yosef chuckled, "Why do I get the feeling you think I'll deny you?" Ryla did not move or even show she had a reaction. "I'll take your offer. And I'll tell you who sent me. I want in again, half a century. Fine, I'll earn it, but I'll bargain."

"I don't bargain. If you want the deal take it. If not we'll neuter you." She smiled evilly because she knew he'd fold. He didn't know, neither did most of the muse community, that is was possible to give them an existence without their abilities. Being shunned, hunted, and raped of power themselves was the extent of punishment for hunting human charges.

"Neuter? Yeah, right. I'm scared of you? A little human? Let me speak to Lacy now. She'll hear my offer and beg me to tell her. I'll win this at the very least."

"Ha Yosef, nice to see you." Lacy startled him from the back seat appearing from the very air without a whisper. While the muse felt a human energy like it were a frosting on a cake, thick and delicious, they couldn't precieve shifts in the electricity in the air like Ryla and Dan could. Well, and Lacy too, but that is because Dan gave it to her like he did to Ryla. The two women where the only people to know his real form. Not even Gracie knew any better.
"Holy shit!" The large man jumped but recovered his composure quickly. " So? What will you give me to know who sent me?"

"Nothing. Maybe a kick to the head, but I'm tired. Long day." She blew out her breathe showing disinterest and checking her nails without making eye contact. Ryla knew she was mimicking a human behavior because a hangnail would never ever happen to Lacy's perfect figure. So the gesture was even more dismissive. "I'm beyond whom. I know my allies, but I don't trust them. Ryla, show him."

Ryla turned to him for the first time. She reached a hand out passively, almost flirtateously. She looked innocent and calm. She exuded love and that tough edge she always held as a recovering addict, a mark of her recovery and training. He reached out to touch her without thinking. She zinged the very power he had stolen from the girl and lapped it up like a dog on a summer day. She felt exhilirated and knew if she could, she would glitter. He took in a sharp breathe and cursed.

"What are you?" he demanded.

"An ammalgomation. An accident. Fate. Your God. I don't know. Pick one. I can make or break you though and I will if need be. Reform your ways Yosef Aiel." It wasn't a suggestion, it was a demand. "Or I can show you the other gifts the world has given me if you like. They are fun, yet sadistic." She feigned excitement and silliness as she tapped the tips of her fingers together in a sterotypical evil pose. "Like a roller coaster ride. Only you are left barely alive at the end." She was being flashy and sadistic with her power and the threat of her capabilities, an enthusiasm that she faked and it showed.

"Do it again." He begged under his breath looking either on the verge of attack or pining. He panted like a dog hanging his head low in a sickly fashion suggesting starvation and thirst that could kill him or make him kill. Ryla screwed her nose up at the suggestion. He enjoyed it. No one enjoyed it.

"Ahhhh no, no, no, no, no. Lace?" She was losing composure as the bald headed Yosef had creeped her out with a response no one ever had to her ability to steal the electric charge. "I don't do fantasies Yosef. I can save you from yourself though." The last part, though she hated it, was more tender than she meant it to sound.

"Your path spells self annhilation, you just don't know it yet. A time is coming when your kind is given an option much harsher than the one before you. Don't ask me how I know. I know what the future holds much like you do. You know the ball is rolling and you know the clock is ticking."

"The last time I saw anything ahead of me with centuries ago. Nothing changes that much. You are bluffing. It will be as it has always been. An end is not near, but if you think so, prove it. How could you though? Oh yeah, you are human with the freaking power Azella has. Another freaking human bitch-"

"The who? Who has what?" Ryla stammered fully losing her outter appearance of death angel. "Lacy?" She looked to her muse with an asking look.

Lacy's posture alerted Ryla that no one in this car knew what he was talking about. That is except him. He didn't know that yet and didn't see Lacy's look. Lacy pretended to know, though her lack of knowledge, any knowledge needed to be a card she carefully guarded.

"Ryla, there are things I just don't tell you. Why would I reveal something so impossible to you? I would have far too many questions and honey, you are too far down on the food chain to get answers. But now that the cat's out of the bag..."

Ryla's face pinched with worry and confusion, which was convincing enough for Yosef who thought better than to turn back and look at Lacy. Gracie wasn't even listening as he texted away on his mobile device to some unknown cutie Ryla would surely hear about later. The girl was entranced by the entire display.

Without looking up Gracie said, "Azella is the pet to the Maldrid coven of the Essex Guild. She was nothing like Ryla to begin with. She was an oracle they brought back. She's out of her time. She is also very very old. She's easily nearly a hundred and bed ridden. Her usefulness was a powerful tool, that is until she fell into a coma. Not so useful as a vegetable anymore." He never looked up.

Lacy and Ryla were stunned and without words, but their faces lacked the shock that Gracie would know such as thing as so many of the guilds were heavily locked down and non communicato. The Essex guild is run on the east coast in all of New England. The covens assembled therein were not official, they were the black market communities of rogues and muses bound to the power. They were vicious and they cared little for the human. But they were not entirely in violation of any muse rules.

"She wasn't always old and she wasn't always in a coma. I knew her at her peak. Oh the things I could tell you." He was catching on to the gem of information he held despite Gracie's knowledge of who Azella was. "Let me in, 50 years probation, and I'm your man. Truly reformed and all," he said with puppy dog eyes. The attitude wasn't fitting for a giant muscle man bound for some truck stop or bike rally instead of the middle seat of a mini van. The driver of the mini-van was a shuttle service Ryla used often. The driver was deaf and asked very little of her. She paid well, he turned his hearing devices off. Though he wouldn't hear the muse end of the conversation, he'd most likely think she was speaking to her tag. The tag being the girl she snagged for rehab and the driver's knowledge ended there.

Ryla knew Lacy couldn't lose face in front of Yosef so she threw herself down on the gauntlet.

"If I take your terms, I have some of my own. You will follow my lead at all times as I will train you personally. You will answer to myself, Lacy, and Dan, who you'll meet later. You are a flunkie for the next 50 years."

"You won't last that long human, so what then? You don't have the strength to overcome me." But his last words were strangled from him as he doubled over and the air is sucked from his lungs and his fists grasped his stomach. The exhalation of power surged from him to Ryla.

"Oh, and not only will I personally train you and keep you under a close watch, you will disclose all and any knowledge of your past guild experiences, forays, or stints. You will have an apartment in my complex, so don't cry yet. You will do body guard service in your time as a time bound creature to make a human wage to pay for your way and to support our cause. You will commit to our guild in full. And listen to me when I say I will destroy you if you cross me, us, or our guild." Ryla was serious beyond her years with the knowledge of the heart ache ahead. "I know what is to come. I foresee you as a useful player."

"Again," he gasped. "How would you know anything about what's to come if you are stuck to time like I am?" His question was valid but one that Ryla couldn't explain to most and wouldn't dare for many. She had to trust him and that just wasn't going to happen soon.

"Short version. I'm not entirely a human woman as you would believe me to be. I have history, experience, and gifts that make me a special weapon or a special tool for fixing the challenges that are racing straight for us like a speeding train. I am, like I said, your god. I can make or break you, so how would it surprise you or make you feel any better to know more than that. I can see the future because I say I can. And rule number one is don't ever question me. I will reveal what is necessary. The other options include stripping you of your energy for good or feeding you to the wolves we both know other guilds are."

"You aren't just black mailing me and threatening me. No. I see what is going on." He was a happy person for such a miserable looking figure. His abuse from Ryla seemed to make him glow with anticipation and her offer was not yet refused. Though confused, Ryla knew he'd accept if only to pursue what seemed to be his weird masochistic fetish. She could also see it in his energy and even a bit in his eyes he was weary from the lonely prowl of a predator. Thing were escalating and aligning with a power guild meant he would be protected. His energy felt desparate and even a little sad. He was lonely. Being a social pariah is tough.

"You are offering me a position. You are actually recruiting." Bursting forth with laughter at the look of consternation on Ryla's face, Yosef was smarting than he looked. Damn. Sure she'd always planned there to be a heist or a capture of the rogue as a tactic to startle and scare them into submission. No one ever guessed she'd been filling her ranks of an army of ex-rogues with rehabilitation, an education, and a chance to start new. Like she said, she foresaw his usefulness and he was a key player for her side. Seeing as the future was never set in stone, which would make sense considering Ryla and Lacy had teamed up to prevent every possible terrifying future scenario from materializing, than she may be wrong about Yosef.

The car slowed to a crawl, and the scowl that drilled into Yosef only made him smile more. In fact he was wriggling with fits of laughter. Lacy was rolling her eyes. Gracie's eyes never left his texting. The girl, whose name was incidentally Ally, was checked out. Ryla's job wasn't over yet. She was a girl going into withdrawl very soon and lots of plans to enact for her as well.

"And you?" Ryla asked the girl. She was stupefied and beyond responding to the situation in front of her. If she were anything like Ryla, she'd have a nervous break down and be admitted be to a mental health institution by night fall. Ryla's first go with the muse thing resulting in her hospitalization, memory loss, and encountering one of the most powerful and devious rogues. The rogue was one of the original nine sisters, a mousia, a pierides. She was Ellafayathin, or Elle. She was siphening from Ryla the most intense surges of energy ever known. Why? Ryla held more charge than any human ever had before. She's beat all thresholds and created an ability to recover quickly from the drain. Though siphening resulted in a terrible head ache, it generally was relieved by drinking. Ryla's addiction was a manifestation of her victimhood. That and her loneliness after her husband left her. These memories were even a bit lost in the haze of her recent past as she had been here, there, and everywhere in the aftermath of some pretty fateful events that shock her world.

The girl flinches as she thought. Underneath the filth of a drug addicted exterior of living home to home and from dealer to the family she leeched on for money Ryla knew there was beautiful sweet girl with a blonde flow of hair that shined around her pink face and long lashes. She'd have a gorgeous smile that bespoke innocence known and innocence lost, but a hope for some innocence still remained. She wasn't broken. She didn't know that yet because her state was low and fragile but Ryla found her before she was targeted by some rogue really bent on doing damage. To siphen her dry would have been a victory for the wrong side. The problem? The rogues had lost the ability to see the cost of their actions. Those power hungry muses that would prey on the rogue lack of foresight are bent on the goal of creating, of finding new sources of power, and destroying the calibrated system of the muse universe that currently was pretty evenly balanced between good and evil.