Thanks all for the reminder about the spelling of Alek. I realized after I'd posted the chapter and was just too tired to go back and edit the whole thing. Also, apologies for the handful of typos. I'm bad about not having the patience to have my stories beta'd. But thank you so much for the reviews! This next chapter will be from Alek's point of view. Oh, and there's a bit of language. I imagine Alek can get rather creative when he's stressed and he's VERY stressed in this chapter.

Standard disclaimers apply. I own nothing and only play in ABC 's sandbox.

Alek

Brother. That word kept ringing in my head like a pealing bell. Every time I thought of it, the same questions came tumbling behind: Was it possible? Was he just trying to psych me out?

I shook my head, trying to clear my thoughts. I didn't have time to focus on Zane and I wouldn't have any answers anytime soon. Those words were the only ones he'd uttered before I'd attacked him. The fight was short. We were evenly matched in strength, but the zealous light in his eyes concerned me. Zealots were frequently more powerful than they should be simply by the strength of their convictions. I'd managed to maneuver us towards the panic button hidden in the kitchen. As a leader, Valentina had always accepted that she was a target and was pragmatic enough to prepare accordingly.

With ears as keen as my own, Zane heard the alarm and immediately disengaged, backing towards the balcony, kicking Jasmine's legs aside as he did. I lunged again, but I was too far away. He smirked and went over the edge. I knew without a doubt he hadn't given his life to whatever cause he served. There were plenty of other balconies well within reach. He was gone.

I was giving CPR to Jasmine when the other Mai arrived. They immediately swarmed the scene, healers taking over ministering the only real family I had. For just a second, I was alone on the sidelines. I wanted to scream, to hit something, break something, kill someone. But then the questions started, the requests for direction, and I didn't have the luxury of giving in to emotion.

It was inevitable that the Uniter was brought up in the swift debriefing session. I couldn't think of her as Chloe right now. My emotions were too raw. The Uniter had to be protected and it had to be assumed that the plot to assassinate Valentina and Jasmine was somehow linked. Given the pictures that had been taken of Chloe only days before, it was very possible that the Order was trying to take out the Uniter's support and protection in order to get to her.

My phone ringing in my pocket startled me. I pulled it out to see Amy's number flashing on the screen. I silenced it and went back to the briefing. I was no leader – yet – but until Valentina's senior commanders arrived, everyone looked to me. The phone rang again. I ignored it again and continued to make plans. Valentina and Jasmine were taken away, both apparently still clinging to life. I wanted to go with them so badly that my muscles cramped up, but I knew I couldn't. Plans had to be finalized to protect that Uniter and her mother. We'd learned quickly that Chloe – the Uniter quickly became intractable when she felt her mother was in danger.

After the fourth call from Amy, I called back, ready to lay into her for calling me for some undoubtedly childish reason. "Amy, this isn't a good time. I've got an emergency—"

She cut me off, her voice high and shrill and terrified. "And Chloe just died and Brian is dead and we don't know where to go or what to do."

I had thought things couldn't get worse. How laughably wrong I was. My heart froze in my chest as everyone around me went silent, listening intently.

"Chloe … is she …?"

I could breathe again when Amy confirmed that the Uniter – Chloe was alive. I would have to analyze my feelings later. The only thing that mattered was getting Chloe to safety. I had done all I could for Valentina and Jasmine. They were in good hands. Chloe was my focus.

I directed Amy to a safe location and organized teams of Mai before setting out with Valentina's most elite hunters to retrieve Chloe. There would be no further chances taken that might leave us open to ambush. The days of living even a semi-normal life were long over. War was the name of the game.

We were waiting when Paul screeched to a halt and practically tumbled out of the car. He looked like hell. The hunters surrounded the car as Amy came out, pulling Chloe behind her. Paul ran over to help hold Chloe up.

I took a step forward, then froze as I saw Chloe's face. She was the color of a corpse and her eyes … her eyes were glazed and unfocused, as if Chloe – her fiery spirit – had fled, leaving a lost, empty shell.

"You were right," she whispered, her lips barely moving. The words hit me like a ton of bricks. With those three words, I knew how Brian had die. The pain was shocking. Pain, because I knew Chloe had kissed him; pain because hurt for Chloe. I'd become mostly immune to the shock and horror of death. Chloe hadn't had a chance to develop that sort of protective barrier. Her life had been too charmed up until a few months ago.

I couldn't deal with those issues in the moment, though. Bastet willing, there would be time later. For now, I had to get Chloe to safety and find out what the hell was going on.

Amy looked more than frail herself, but I mercilessly peppered her with questions, horrified at each revelation. Chloe had kept so much from all of us. She'd lied about and omitted so many things. Fury surged bright within me, and I clung to it. That fury would give me the strength to do what needed to be done without letting the weight of everything that had happened crush me.

Still, I cracked just a little when Amy asked who the casualties were, snapping out my answer in as cold and callous a manner as I could manage.

Chloe's scream shattered the night.

Was it possible for events to happen in slow motion and fast forward at the same time? I couldn't have said, but it felt like time was warping around me. Chloe seemed to drift towards the ground when she blacked out, her scream still ringing in the air, but I was there in a blink, faster than I had ever moved. I made it just in time to keep her head from crashing into the pavement.

The too-large jacket she was wrapped up in – Paul's, by the scent – fell open and exposed another nightmarish detail that had not been mentioned.

My head shot up as I pulled Chloe against my chest, my eyes searching out Amy and Paul. "Why the fuck didn't you tell me that she'd been shot?" Chloe was covered in blood and I counted at least three bullet holes, possibly more.

"But … but does it matter?" Amy asked tremulously. She sounded near tears, but I couldn't have cared less.

"Matter?" My voice was hard and incredulous. I knew they would have no way of knowing these things, but my fury needed an outlet. "Yes, you idiot, it matters! If the bullets don't go all the way through, then they either work their way – which can cause much more damage – or become a massive infection. Either way, she could easily go through the rest of her lives trying to survive this. We've got to get her to a healer immediately."

Amy threw herself into Paul's arms, sobbing, but it didn't move me in the least. My whole world narrowed down to Chloe. Not the Uniter, but Chloe. All the arguments, all the hurt over her indecision, it all burned away in that moment. Chloe had to live. I had to make sure she survived.

I cracked out orders without thinking. Amy and Paul were to be taken home and watched over. I vaguely noticed they went without protest. Still unconscious, Chloe hung limply in my arms as I carried her to one of the Mai vehicles. No one spoke as several hunters piled in around us, a formidable guard as we sped through the night.

I gently rocked Chloe in my arms, but I dared not speak, knowing the others would be privy to even a whisper of sound. Instead, I closed my eyes and spoke to her in the privacy of my thoughts.

"Come back to me, Chloe. I'm still here. Don't you leave me, too."