Ian

"Natalie?" Amy exclaimed as her green eyes widened.

Natalie looked up and nodded, "That's right."

Amy glanced around, "Wh-where am I?"

"In Boston," I responded as I adjusted my collar, then gazed at her, "Where else, Amy?"

"Uh, at Washington at the Smithsonian?" she replied her brows furrowed.

"Oh, yes, sorry about that. But it was an emergency," Natalie answered and smiled innocently.

"Sorry about wha…"

Amy's voice trailed off, and soon, her pretty, peaceful face was replaced by a pretty but angry face.

"You Cobras brought me here after injecting me that liquid, didn't you? You –you kidnappers!" Amy exclaimed, "Why did you do that?"

"Amy, we did it for a good reason," I started. I wanted to calm her down, because for some reason, I wanted to see her happy. But instead, I made her even angrier.

"Good reason? Yeah, so injecting some chemical in my body and taking me here against my will is something good!" she ranted, "What about Mrs. Lloyds, huh? She must be panicking by now! And…and do you know how long I've waited to go to Washington? You just blew it all away!"

"So this is about the museum, isn't it?" Natalie asked her, even calmer than I expected her to be, "What is so valuable in that museum, anyways, that has you so mad?"

"What is so valuable?" Amy repeated, "Oh, I don't know. Just the most important artifacts from history!"

I rolled my eyes, "Amy, you're a relative of the people who used those artifacts."

Amy glared at me, but I could tell that she knew I was right.

"Okay, then…care to explain what is so good about kidnapping me?" Amy asked. She was calmer now, but I could still detect a hint of madness in her tone of voice.

"It's not just "good" it is important," Natalie corrected as she set down her Chanel purse.

Amy still looked mad.

"Maybe I should add that this is about our family?" I asked.

That settled it. Amy wasn't mad anymore, but interested.

"What?" she asked.

I smirked triumphantly, "First, let me tell you about Mrs. Lloyds. Your uncle told us that she was a Madrigal agent and she was hired to protect you, so she knows that you left."

"Protect me from what?" Amy asked.

The smirk vanished away from my face, "Amy, the Vespers attacked you after the hunt, didn't they?"

Amy nodded.

Before Natalie could say anything rude, I asked, "So from whom do you think, then?"

All of the color from Amy's face drained away, "Oh my God…have there been any other attacks?"

I exhaled, "Not attacks, but a threat."

"May I explain now? After all, I just turned twelve. I am almost an adult," Natalie bragged.

I turned to look at her, "And I turned fifteen way before you turned twelve, so who is more mature?"

"Haven't you heard? Girls are more mature than boys," Natalie replied as she raised an eyebrow.

"Well, that fact doesn't apply to you, dear sister," I said.

Natalie scowled and turned her attention back at her nails.

"Anyways," I addressed Amy, who looked more confused and scared than she did back in the hunt, "Don't worry, I don't think it is anything serious. You see-"

"How do you know that? Fiske didn't tell us what the letter said, only who it was from," Natalie interrupted.

I shot her a look, then turned back at Amy, "Yes, my sister is right. But he did tell us that our family's safety was at sake."

I gazed at her when I finished. I could tell by the way her hand was pressed against her cheek that she was deep in thought. After a while, she looked up, with a suspicious glint in her eyes, "There's still some things I don't get. First, why didn't you guys just ask me to go with you instead of kidnapping me?"

"Oh, yes, that one was one of Natalie's brilliant ideas," I answered, "I didn't agree with that, by the way. But you know how younger siblings can whine when they don't get what they want."

Natalie looked as if she was about to throw her shoe at me, "I thought she was going to run away when she saw us!"

"We are not in the hunt anymore, there's no need for that," I replied.

"Ok, ok," Amy said, "On to the next question…why did you pick me up, and not any of my other relatives?"

Natalie stared pointedly at me, "Mr. Polite here wanted to be the gentleman of the day and pick you up."

"Well, at least I don't go around injecting chemicals to other people," I snapped, "And, anyways, we were the only family members who could acquire a helicopter in such a short notice."

"Whatever you say, brother," Natalie murmured.

I quickly looked out the window to prevent Natalie from asking more questions. I'm sure everyone in the limo, including the chauffeur, knew that my given reason wasn't the real one. Except for Amy, probably.

"Well, thank you, Ian," Amy said.

Scratch what I said before. Amy also knew.


"Can you believe that with all the money they now have they decided to buy a bigger apartment? Why not a majestic mansion like ours?" Natalie asked me.

I walked through the hallways of an apartment building as I carried my bag and Amy's suitcase from Washington.

"I think it's a good idea, that way, they can keep a low profile," I replied.

Natalie snorted, "Sorry for them, but that didn't work. They already got attacked by the Vespers. And, anyways, you're just saying that because of Amy."

I glared at her. But before I could reply anything, Dan emerged from one of the doors.

"Oh, here they are," Dan said. He frowned, "Where's Amy?"

I turned around, but I didn't see her. I started to panic and think the worst, "I thought she was behind us."

Dan's eyes widened.

"Or maybe she just took the elevator," Natalie said, clearly annoyed, "My bags are pretty heavy."

"What?" Dan and I asked in unison.

All of a sudden, there was a ding, and the elevator doors slid open. A puffing Amy walked out, "Hey, dweeb. Had a good time while I was gone?"

"You asked her to carry your bags after you had her unconscious for five hours?" I muttered.

"I did not ask her. I just left my bags in the lobby," Natalie replied.

I glared at Natalie and walked up to Amy, "Let me take those."

Happily, Amy handed me the bags, and I quickly walked over to Natalie. When I stopped in front of her, she frowned, "What are you-"

I shoved the suitcases at her, "You're an "adult" now, carry them yourself."

Natalie gasped but she grabbed the bags and walked past a snickering Dan. I smirked, and with Amy closely behind me, walked inside the Cahill's apartment.

Once inside, I was greeted by the sight of all my relatives who participated in the hunt sitting all across the dining room. There was Hamilton Holt, Madison and Reagan, whose mouths were wide open in laughter. It took me a while to realize who they were laughing at. They were laughing at Sinead Starling, who had an orange stain on her skirt, thanks to a spilled orange juice glass. Next to her, Ted and Ned chatted cheerfully with Alistair Oh. Sally, Lilly or whatever Dan's and Amy's au pair's name was talked to Jonah Wizard.

"Finally, we are all here," William McIntyre said as he emerged from a room. Fiske Cahill walked closely behind William, "Could you all please take a seat?"

"There are three empty seats next to me," Hamilton said once he noticed us.

I swallowed. Hamilton still scared me, especially because he had become bigger in the past seven months. But once I remembered I still carried my dart gun in my pocket, I walked towards him confidently.

"Hello, children," Alistair greeted, "Amy, Ian…have you two grown taller?"

Amy shrugged humbly, but I replied, "I guess I have grown a few inches."

Natalie cleared her throat and stood straighter, "I am twelve now."

As if being twelve automatically makes you the tallest person in the world.

"Oh, yes, Natalie, you have grown taller too," Alistair said and quickly turned around.

Natalie smirked at me and sat down, leaving two seats in between her and Hamilton. She patted the seat next to her, "Oh, Amy, could you please seat down next to me. I need some teenager advice now that I am twelve."

I frowned, "You are not a teenager, yet."

"Well, she is a preteen," Amy told me, walking past me. She sat down next to Natalie and looked at me expectantly, "Aren't you going to seat down?"

I glanced at Natalie, who had a mischivieous glint in her eyes. So she knows about my fear to be near Hamilton. Well, she wasn't the one who was nearly strangled by him back in England.

I sat next to Hamilton and tried to smile, "How are you doing, Hamilton?"

Hamilton turned around. He punched me "lightly" on my shoulder and grinned, "Awesome. Life's been good with those five million dollars."

Imagine having trillions, I wanted to brag, but in that instant, William cleared his throat and held up a white envelope, "Would you all please pay attention?"


I am so sorry for the delay, I really wanted to update earlier, but I had this competition I had to go too. I spent the whole week practicing, so I didn't really have time to update. A million thanks to: plaincrazysuckup (you get half a cookie for almost guessing :D ), 123fizzi (thanks for the constructive critizism, again), Jaffacake98, desiree31, and splitheart1120 for reviewing. I also want to thank EkatGirl222, TheJazzyDolphin and antonymousgirl for alerting and r0si3e for favoriting.

Review telling me what you think and if you spot any OOCness, grammar mistakes or spelling mistakes, feel free to let me know.