Hey guys, I'm amazed at your response to my story! I asked for three reviews and I got three reviews within a couple hours. I'm sorry I haven't posted for so long; I was on a secluded island for three days in the middle of nowhere so I couldn't update. So here is chapter three, it starts out in Aradia's perspective. Oh, and everything nightworld-ish belongs to wonderful LJ Smith. On with the story…

APOV (Aradia)

I walked to the back door spray painted with a black dahlia. My vision showed me that the paint had long scratch marks running down it. I took a deep breath before I knocked on the door, the last time I had walked through these doors it was to say good bye to Thea Harman and though I didn't know it, it was the last time I got to spend with Grandma Harman. I felt tears well up in my eyes and knocked on the door a bit more fiercely than I should have. A girl with shadow black hair looked through the peep in the door and then allowed me to enter. As she bolted the door behind me I walked through the beaded curtain and sat on the linen couch in the middle of the herb shop. This was like an oversize version of our little herb room back home.

"Hello Blaise" I said as the dark haired girl came and sat across from me on a stout wooden stool.

"Hello Aradia" She said holding in tears. I could tell Blaise was still grieving for her grandmother; it was usually very difficult for me to read to her emotions. Now it was like her exact feelings were printed across her forehead. Watching her suffer was worse than suffering myself; I couldn't stand to see her in pain. I looked into her eyes.

"Blaise, she wouldn't want you to suffer. She'd want you to get on with your life and she'd want you to still be yourself." I put my hand on her shoulder comfortingly and at my touch a single glittering tear rolled out of her eye. I smiled gently and then walked to one of the bigger herb shelves. I opened a couple glass jars and pulled out dried leaves of peppermint, sage and lemon balm.

I filled a pot with water and dropped each leaf one by one into the water. I gave each leaf a different incantation. I placed my hands on either side of the pot and pushed gently with my mind. At once the water began to boil and within seconds the tea was made. I poured large steaming mug of tea and placed it in Blaise's lap. She picked up the cup and stared at the swirling green liquid within. Her eyes flicked to my face and then back to the cup.

"Don't worry" I whispered soothingly "it's only a simple calming draught. No unnatural effects." I smiled reassuringly yet I did not look away from her tear stained face until she took one fast gulp.

Immediately the draught spread through her and within minutes she looked refreshed and alive. The dead look in her eyes was gone and the weight of her grief had lessened. You could tell she still mourned for Grandma Harman, but now she look like she had finally realized that life and love do go one even when all else had perished.

"Thank you Aradia" She said as she sipped the rest of her tea thoughtfully "I had just lost Thea and it didn't seem fair that I had to lose Grandma Harman too. But life is never fair"

"Too true" I sighed.

For a moment we were both lost in our thoughts. Life had been insanely difficult for both of us these past few months and we both often wished that life could've stayed the same.

"Oh, Aradia!" Blaise suddenly cried. "I've been such a terrible host. You've been here for nearly an hour and all I've done is cry" She brushed the last of her tears off with her sleeve and straightened up. "I'm very sorry, Maiden" She said bowing to me.

I waved my hand dismissively but I too rose from my seat.

"It is quite fine Ms. Harman" I said and gave her polite nod. Then I was serious. "We have matters to discuss here, and for the moment we are allies, not friends. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Maiden" was her curt reply.

"You may not ask me any questions or tell anyone of my visit. Do you understand this?"

"Yes, Maiden"

"Then fetch me all the proper ingredients to make a healing potion for a human. Take the supplies from where they will be least missed. Do it quickly, before we are interrupted."

Blaise nodded and then pushed one of the shelves to the side so that she could access the secret back room. I tried not to see what she was doing in there; instead I kept my mind blank and concentrated on the dried honeysuckle in one of the smaller jars. I focused my entire attention on the small green leaves until Blaise had safely exited the back room and had slid the shelf back into place. The shelf held a strong enchantment so that now I couldn't look into that room if I wanted to.

Blaise handed me a small leather pouch. It felt quite light which meant it was filled mostly with herbs.

"I also added a vile of cactus gel and dried Aloe Vera. There's a pearl in there for power and protection." She smiled a watery smile and I couldn't help but smile back.

Suddenly a vision crossed my mind like a lightning flash. A man was walking down the street and everyone he passed fell unconscious within seconds. Then he wiped mild sweat off his brow revealing six black horns. After running his long ebony fingers over his horns he stared right at me with a challenging look and I saw him knock on a door with a black dahlia on. At the same time a polite knock sounded on the door.

I realized how dangerous the situation a moment too late, I forgot that Blaise couldn't see the same things as me and the next thing I knew Blaise was looking through the peep hole at the dragon.

"May I speak with Aradia please?" Asked the gentle voice of the dragon.

Blaise glanced back at me and seeing my startled expression she turned back to the dragon. I felt like I was frozen, my lips couldn't form the words SAVE YOURSELF or GET OUT OF HERE; I could only sit numbly on the couch wishing that I could somehow warn Blaise.

"Um, no?" Blaise said twisting her words into a question. She couldn't figure out how this strange man knew that I was here.

"Let me in please" The man urged.

"No" Blaise said stiffly, and then she squared her shoulders and slammed the peep hole shut. What happened next happened too fast for the eyes to follow. One moment Blaise was shutting the peep hole, the next moment there was a flash of black and then Blaise was lying on the ground unmoving. I couldn't feel her life force, it had simply disappeared. With a shock I realized she was dead.

"No" I whispered. That was when I noticed the dark shape looming in the door way. An evil smile spread across the dragon's face and then his skin was peeling off and he became a horrific dragon with black scales, black horns and pitiless black eyes.

I stepped in front of Blaise's body. I didn't know what dragons did to their victims, but I wasn't going to let that dragon anywhere near Blaise. I knew it was stupid and I probably should flee, but Blaise was my sister, we were both daughters of Hellewise, and I knew that if the situations had been reversed Blaise would've protected me.

"Hello Aradia" He said casually throwing a ball of dark energy at me.

"Hello…" I searched for his name in the back of his mind "Black Birch" I said forcing his black fire back by shoving all the power flowing through my veins at him.

He waved my attempt to attack away with a flick of his wrist.

"My, my. This is who Circle Daybreak's legendary Maiden is? Give me a-"

I sucked the energy from some herbs on the shelves and mid sentence I struck him. This time I aimed for his horn and as I caught him unaware I managed to slice off the tip of one of his horns before he went back to playing defensive again.

"Here me out, okay?" Said Black Birch raising a dark shield of energy around him. "Circle Midnight has a message for you."

"Yes?" I spat throwing orange fire at him.

"The message is" He said leaning against the concrete wall. I glared furiously at him. Here I was battling my heart out and he was just standing there!

The message is that The Crone's dead, and soon you'll be dead and when I'm done with you I'm going after Mother Cybele. Circle Midnight says to put up a hell of a fight because you aren't going to have a chance any other way.

He was speaking in my head trying to get through my mental barriers; each word he sent was filled with hate and evil. I felt my first barrier crumble to dust.

Now that he was inside my mind, he was pouring tons of black energy in by the second. The darkness was clouding my sight and seeping into every corner of my brain. I felt my legs start to go when I had stroke of brilliance. It was these strokes of brilliance that had given me the title of 'Maiden'. I projected his thoughts into the barricade of the secret room. Only a Daybreaker or Wild Power could enter that room. His dark energy unwillingly tried to force the barricade open but it wouldn't budge, instead there was an audible click, which was the sound of a silent alarm being sent to Circle Daybreak Headquarters.

"What was that?" He hissed. He glanced around expecting some sort of attack and I lurched forward and burnt off two of his horns with an inferno of orange fire.

He screamed at me and then something other than sound was flowing from his mouth. Great flames taller than the room spread and suddenly the entire room was on fire. I used my own magic to protect myself and Blaise against the flames but I knew it wouldn't last forever. My energy was draining and since all the plants in the room were on fire, I had nothing to borrow energy from. The dragon had his slimy hands on either side of my face and he was sending every ounce of dark energy he had straight into my body. My skin started to burn but I kept fighting. While he was burning me I realized the thing I had to do to be able to survive. I was using a lot of energy to keep Blaine's body safe and in order to have enough energy to attack the dragon I needed to let her go. I felt tears well up in my eyes and slide down my cheeks, when they ran over the dragon's fingers he pulled away his hands as if my tears had burnt him. His stared at his hands before attacking me with every bit of power he had. I let go of Blaise and struck back. I burnt him and froze him and tried everything I knew and I managed to cut off three more horns before I was sure I was going to die. Just as I felt consciousness slipping from me the dragon turned and bolted. As soon as he was in fresh air he rose into the air and flew away with great speed. I hit the ground and heard something snap but I was too far gone to notice. I was a failure, Blaise was dead and soon I would be dead. Suddenly strong arms caught me and lifted me up. I was being cradled very gently and when I looked up it was into the wise face of Lord Thierry Descoudres. I tried to say something but my lips could only move a little so Thierry shushed me and told me to lie still.

He laid me down carefully in his limo and drove quickly to his mansion. There he laid me on the couch, because the beds were all upstairs, and called for Gillian and Thea. They both came down, anxious to see what was troubling Lord Thierry, and gasped when they saw me. The both rushed forward and immediately began doing the things I had been doing to the human girl this morning. They dabbed oils and pastes and my face and muttered so many incantations that after a couple minutes I gave up trying to count. The pressed compresses on to my peeling skin and then held a handful of fresh chamomile under my nose. I breathed in automatically and felt myself start to black out again. That's right, I remembered, chamomile helps naturally knock someone out.

"NO!" I screamed and used every ounce of my will to stay awake. "Thierry" I whispered "I need to tell you how I got like this. You need to listen to me."

Thierry stared into my blind eyes for a moment analyzing me before getting Gillian to drip a single drop of styvia extract onto the inside of my wrist which would hopefully wake me up. As soon as I gained possession of my mouth I began talking at rapid speed.

"I was visiting Blaise when he came. The dragon. He had six horns and he said that he was sent to kill me and Mother Cybele." Just then something popped into my mind and I mentally smacked myself. "He was the one who killed Grandma Harman." I realized. I took a deep breath before I continued. "I managed to destroy five of the dragon's six horns but he fled when he sensed your presence, Lord Thierry. I don't know where he's gone"

"Where's Blaise?" Thea asked sharply. I guessed she had been curious about Blaise since I had mentioned her before, but I hoped I wouldn't have to be the one to tell her Blaise was dead.

"No!" Thierry cried. Thea, Gillian and I all jumped. I felt myself collapse internally; Thierry had been reading my thoughts.

"Yes" I whimpered.

"What are you talking about?" Thea screamed angrily.

"Blaise is… Blaise is dead" Thierry said. Thea gasped and looked about ready to cry. All of her anger had drained leaving her with only grief and sorrow. As Thea began sobbing Thierry turned to me.

"Where's Nicholas?" He asked gently.

"At… at the… safe house… you picked, sir." I stammered.

He nodded as if he had been expecting this answer. "And you're sure the Circle Midnight will continue to hunt you?"

"One hundred percent, sir" I said trying to make the tears go away.

"Then you can't go home, can you Aradia?" Asked Thierry smiling sadly.

"I can't go home? But what about Nick? What about the mission? What about-"

"You'll write him a note and he will complete the mission without you" Said Thierry cutting me off. "Do it now, you may use my study"

I scrambled down to his office and flung the door open. I grabbed the prettiest piece of parchment I could find and tried to write the letter without bursting into tears.

Dear Nicholas, I wrote feeling as if I was tearing my heart in two. As I lowered my pen to write some more when I heard a door being quietly opened behind me. I turned around with orange fire ready to see a teary-eyed Thea holding her hands up in a sign of surrender.

"I heard that you have to leave Nick. I'm sorry" She muttered awkwardly, and then we were sobbing in each other's arms. Her sobbing for the loss of a cousin who had been like a sister to her and me sobbing for the brother I would never see again.

Goodbye, I thought sending my thought in Nick's direction, I love you.