AN: You guys seem to like this :O ... awesome! Glad to please. Let me know what you think! I love hearing from you.

Tori bit her lip and clenched her fist in an attempt to quell the urge to assist Jade as she struggled down the sidewalk; she had insisted upon carrying her own bag and walking without any kind of support and the fatigue was beginning to show. The spirit is willing, the flesh is weak. She mused, noting how a light shined in her eyes despite her physical struggle. It seemed nightfall had revitalized her… or maybe it had been the shot of vodka she'd taken right before they walked out the door. She shifted her duffel bag for the fifteenth time and grunted as it bounced against her tender rib cage."We're almost there." Tori promised, turning her gaze quickly to the passers-by when Jade glared. It didn't help that their trek was through a crowded Brooklyn neighborhood and people kept jostling and otherwise slowing their pace. Their dual presence seemed to be having an odd effect on the densely populated area – all around them Tori sensed internal conflict. She wondered if Jade could sense it too.

Judging by the thin smile that had claimed her lips she guessed she could.

"Up here on the left." Tori nodded to an older building on the corner, one that certainly wouldn't have attracted Jade's attention if it hadn't been pointed out.

"What room?"

"814… That one on the corner. It's got a really nice view of – Jade?" The older girl was gone, her bag having been abandoned at Tori's feet. The Latina frowned and whipped her head around, frantically brushing away the loose curls as they obscured her vision. Where'd she go?

Sudden movement in her room caught her attention – a light clicked on – and Tori squinted into the distance. Jade appeared in the window seconds later, wagging her fingers before dropping the blinds and disappearing once again. Tori groaned and retrieved her bag before adopting a brisk pace to the building, hoping no one had noticed her little disappearing act.

By the time she arrived at her room Jade had effectively made herself at home. She'd kicked off her heavy combat boots at the foot of the bed and draped herself across it, her face buried in clean sheets. "You could have taken me with you." Tori huffed, dropping the bag by the door and pulling off her own shoes.

"Are you kidding me? I barely got myself here. I landed in 714 first and nearly gave the cleaning lady a heart attack." Came her muffled reply.

"If you're too weak to jump why didn't you just stay with me?"

"I was tired of walking… and I'm pretty sure we were about to cause some kind of riot on the street. Did you see that guy break down into hysterics?"

Tori frowned and settled into a chair by the bed, twirling a curl anxiously around her finger. So Jade had been fully aware of the effect they were having on the mortals. "So … you were just projecting for fun, then?" Causing havoc for the hell of it wasn't a good sign.

"No, Vega. Unlike you, apparently, I don't have the ability to rein it in. If you were so worried why didn't you stop projecting butterflies and rainbows?" She rolled over onto her side and stared at her pointedly.

"… I felt like confusion was a better option than a full on insurrection… And what do you mean you can't control it?" She tried to recall back to their days as teammates; the only times she could recall Jade losing control of her empathy was when her mood darkened remarkably, and even then it had little effect on hybrids. "You used to be able to. I remember meditation helped."

"Well, who has time for meditation these days." Jade dismissed.

Tori studied her curiously. "Are you purposefully projecting?" A smirk ghosted across the older girl's face. "You are! Jade!"

"Oh, calm down." The half-demon huffed. "I work in a strip club. Projecting a little recklessness gets me better tips for half the work. It's not like I'm inciting prison riots." She stared at Tori's hands as slender fingers drummed anxiously on her armrest. "But apparently I'm ruffling your feathers. What's wrong, angel? Haven't had the misfortune of being around another chaos demon these past few decades? Losing your grip on your sanity?"

"No." Tori pushed herself to her feet and retreated to the small kitchenette. She ducked her head to search through the fridge and retrieved a bottle of water. "Just trying to figure you out is all."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Irritation laced her voice.

"You used to hate being around mortals… now you're a stripper and – oh, don't give me that look." Jade's nostrils flared and her eyes flashed dangerously. "Now you're giving them lap dances and abusing your powers."

"I've got to make a living somehow, Vega. It's not like I'm suited for an office job."

"You were making a living with us. You had a calling, a mission." She hardly recognized her own voice; it hadn't been that cold, that harsh, in many years.

"Their calling. Their mission. Humanitarianism doesn't exactly run in my blood now, does it? No one ever asked me what I wanted… I had plans, you know? My life was just beginning when someone shoved a demon in me. It doesn't exactly make me want to be a team player." Jade retorted bitterly.

Tori didn't reply and the two stared each other down. Jade was the first to break eye contact, returning to her face-down position on the bed. Silence consumed the room and the only sound that interrupted it was the steady tick of the clock on the wall. Tori stared hard at the water bottle in her hands. She had never considered that anyone would have a different opinion other than her own as far as their calling was concerned. It was naive, she supposed. But none of her teammates had ever expressed anything other than dedication to their cause. They were happy to help and many considered it an honor to be chosen by their particular spirit from the void. They welcomed the union and embraced their duties. They were proud of the position they held.

Tori had come from a family of humanitarians. Her father had been a police officer, her mother a social worker. Her older sister had married a man of God; the pair had died on a mission trip to South America. She had grown up helping others, serving their needs. It made her happy and, on the day that wonderful spirit had entered her, she felt as if she'd been given the means to fulfill her destiny.

She had never stopped to consider how it might make someone feel when a Dark entity chose them as a vessel.

She knew very little of Jade's past. She was the oldest of their group by almost a decade and never spoke of her life before being chosen. Not to her, anyway. Not to anyone besides Beck, the youngest of their team. Those two had developed a strong bond almost immediately after discovering they shared a similar lot in life – Beck had been hybridized with an Incubus, a lesser demon, though known for being just as nasty when they walked the earth. He was the only other Dark hybrid in their team, and apparently the only one Jade felt safe enough with to open up to. Though Beck struggled with his primal nature he seemed to handle his calling better than Jade and often acted as a liaison between the irritable woman and the rest of their "family." He was her person she could always rely on to understand her.

And then he was gone.

Tori remembered that moment like it was yesterday – it had been the strongest empathic blast she'd ever felt, no doubt a combination of Jade's ability to project emotions and Tori's ability to read them. The grief had nearly knocked her off her feet. That was the day Jade, normally so guarded and protective of her emotional state, had completely dropped her guard. A torrent of anguish, rage, and terror had washed over her, swallowed her, drowned her. It felt as if the life had been sucked out of her.

It felt like she could never be happy again.

The moment was brief; the feelings disappeared as quickly as they had come, like a devastating tsunami retreating back to the ocean. But it gave Tori an intimate glimpse into Jade's psyche, one she had never admitted to experiencing. In that one moment she developed a strong (unintentional) bond with Jade – part of the half-demon lodged herself in Tori's mind. She had attempted to discuss it with her companion but the girl retreated into herself; she had become practically catatonic when they had dragged her away from the burning building. Tori had poked and prodded at her mind with her own but found it completely impenetrable.

The next morning Jade was gone.

Fifty years later and Tori felt like she was staring at a ghost. She felt the bond she thought to be permanently severed begin to hum and tingle with life within her. She wondered if Jade could feel it too, and wondered if she could use it to better understand the girl that had, for so long, been an enigma to her. Tentatively she reached out with her mind, studying the dark and tumultuous aura that surrounded the half-demon.

"If you don't stop poking around I'm going to pop your head like a zit." Jade threatened. Her voice, though calm, carried with it the weight of certainty. It wasn't an empty threat. Tori retreated and threw up her walls, effectively caging her empathy. With an exasperated sigh she grabbed another water bottle and returned to her chair, rolling the unopened one towards her companion.

"If I can't use my powers you can't use yours. Why don't you try meditating a bit so your sour mood doesn't completely infect mine." Tori huffed, snatching a book off the table behind her and flipping it to her bookmark. "I'm not a client, I'm not going to pay you for making me a little unstable."

Jade rolled her eyes against her pillow and turned her back to Tori, choosing instead to stare at the patterned wall than converse any more with the cranky Latina next to her. They shared no words for well over an hour, with Jade drifting in and out of a medication-induced sleep. An angry buzzing jarred her from her slumber and she grappled for her phone blindly in a frantic effort to stop the offensive sound. She forced a single eye open and groaned in protest when her manager's number flashed across the screen. "Donny, I can explain." She began.

"You're thirty minutes late!" She could hear the clamor of bar behind him.

"I'm aware, but I've got a good excuse this time. I need – "

"I don't care what your excuse is this time. I need you to get down here and shake your ass – Ruby hasn't shown up either and the clientele is getting pissed!"

Jade frowned. "Ruby's not there?"

"Did I stutter? I've been trying her cell and it's going straight to voicemail. If you two aren't down here in the next twenty minutes – "

"You won't fire us because the nights I work are your best nights. I'm taking a few days off, dude. I'll call you tomorrow." She disconnected the line before he could launch into another tirade and pushed herself upright, combing her fingers through her knotted tresses as she thought. She should have called Ruby last night after the vampire had been taken care of. She knew there was probably a nest around. She had been so distracted with Tori's arrival Ruby's well-being had completely slipped her mind.

"What is it?"

"Did you see another girl running for her life last night? Blonde hair? Ruby stilettos?" Jade inquired.

"Not that I can recall… Friend of yours?"

Jade chewed on her lip and scooted towards the foot of the bed to put on her boots. She had to find Ruby; it worried her that Tori hadn't stumbled across her last night. Had she even made it home? "Something like that." She pushed herself to her feet and swallowed a yawn. "I'm going out for a while."

"What's going on?" Tori stood and tossed her book onto the bed.

"Nothing, probably." She lied. She just didn't want Tori meddling in her affairs; she was trying to keep the Guardian as far away from her life as possible. "Just need to check on someone."

"Do you need any help?"

"No."

"But you're wounded. If you run into trouble – "

"I won't." Jade brushed past her to click off the lamp on the counter, the only source of light in the room. "It's probably nothing anyway." The pair was plunged into darkness and Jade turned to face Tori, breathing in sharply when she was met with a pair of glowing eyes; she had forgotten Tori was capable of doing that.

"Jade!" Tori was obviously irritated.

"Drop it!" Jade's figure was already beginning to shimmer, she was melting into the shadows. In her final moments in the room she watched the Latina lunge for her and she clenched her eyes shut as she braced for impact.

Gravity suspended around them all too briefly. When it recurred Jade found herself falling backwards, Tori driving them to the ground. The pair landed heavily amidst a pile of dirty laundry with Tori's arms still wrapped around her waist. Tori scrambled off the injured girl, dry-heaving on her hands and knees as she struggled to recover from jump she was woefully unprepared for. Jade groaned and rolled to her side, hugging her ribs and gasping for air. Spots danced before her eyes, whether from the strain of the extra passenger or the fact that Tori had headbutted the wind from her lungs. "I'm – going to – kill you." She wheezed, kicking out with her boot and relishing the pained squeal as she connected with Tori's side.

"I'm going to puke." The younger girl whined from the floor, her chest rising and falling rapidly as she sought control on her bearings. Jade kicked her again for good measure as the spots danced away and the pain in her ribs faded. She pushed herself to her feet with a grunt and ran her hands blindly along the wall for the light switch.

Please let this be Ruby's apartment. Please, please, please. She prayed desperately. This wouldn't have been the first time tonight she'd fallen short of her intended destination. She also hadn't anticipated the last-minute passenger. She wouldn't be surprised if they weren't even on the correct block. She found purchase on a switch and breathed a sigh of relief as the lights flickered on. They had made it.

"Oh my God… did someone break in? This place is trashed." Tori craned her neck from her prone position.

"No… this is normal." Jade stepped over her and deeper into the living room. From here she could just barely make out the couch under piles of clean laundry; there were a few days' worth of empty pizza boxes stacked on the coffee table. Jade lifted the lid of what she assumed to be the newest one, grimacing when the smell of stale cheese and rancid sauce assaulted her nose. This one was a few days old at least. It didn't appear that Ruby had ever made it home last night.

She peered through the curtains in the direction she knew the stripper took from Shocktop's as if she actually expected to see her walking home. The street was empty. Jade briefly entertained the idea that maybe Ruby ran to another coworker's apartment – she knew Jasmine lived in the area. No. She shook her head. If that was the case someone would have heard from her by now.

"Are you worried?" Tori was finally on her feet, looking paler than normal.

Jade didn't reply. "If there's a nest around here one of them could have grabbed her." She mused. Vampires would often cage a number of humans to feed on for a number of days. "Can you sense them?"

Tori shook her head. "This is New York, Jade. There's chaos everywhere. I'm not sensing anymore than usual."

"Then we're going for a walk." She turned to leave the cramped apartment to nearly run headlong into Tori. Her puppy-dog eyes were etched with concern and pleading with her.

"What?" Jade groaned. She slapped her hands against her thighs in frustration.

"Are you sure you don't want to sit this one out? I could do a sweep of the neighborhood for you."

"You don't even know who you're looking for." The pale girl snapped, stepping around her.

"No… but we know what may have taken her. If you're hell-bent on going would you at least take precautions? Do you have any holy - …" A steely look from her companion silenced her. "Of course not. Can we please just gather some supplies? It's not smart to go in unprepared…" Her voice trailed off, her implication clear.

Pale eyes flashed angrily. "Wait. Here." She seethed, slapping the light switch and disappearing into the shadows. Tori blinked and rubbed her eyes to acclimate them to the darkness. By the time she opened them again Jade had returned, an old backpack slung over her shoulder. She shoved it into Tori's arms and ripped it open, retrieving a stake and bottle of holy water which she proceeded to shove in her tall boots. "I'm not doing anymore of that tonight. I'm not a damn dog playing a game of fetch." She felt nauseas, dizzy. She just wanted to sit down and pass out. Her powers were effectively drained for the evening.

But Ruby might be out there, and if she had been taken into the nest her life was hanging in the balance.

"Are you okay?" Tori frowned.

"I'm fine. Just keep up."

Tori's skin tingled, her senses were on overdrive. She did her best to control her heart, to prevent it from pounding in her ears. She knew it interfered with her ability to hunt and sounded like the dinner bell for anything that would potentially want to feast on her. She glanced sidelong at Jade, her radiant eyes casting a faint glow on her struggling form. She was limping, and her forehead shined with a thin layer of sweat; she was hurting. Stubborn. Tori huffed absently, returning her gaze to the alley before them.

"Do you have to do that?" Jade hissed.

"What?"

"Fog-light eyes."

Tori blinked, the glow fading before ultimately extinguishing. "But I can't see."

"I can." Tori frowned. Without her "night vision" giving everything and orange hue she could see Jade's silvery-blue eyes glimmering in the darkness. She had always thought them beautiful. Just like sapphires… She realized Jade's stage name couldn't be more fitting. "We're already easy targets. We don't need to draw any more attention." Tori blinked again, stirring herself from her reverie, and returned her attention ahead of them. She struggled to make out shapes in the night, ultimately choosing to let Jade be her eyes. She instead focused her energies on listening for presences around them and sensing for darker entities. She felt more anxious than she had in some time as she walked blindly next to the Rogue half-demon; it was nerve-wrecking, she realized, to entrust her safety to someone she hadn't seen in a half-century, someone who could very well be leading her into a trap.

They continued on in silence as they weaved through the alleyways. Some time passed by the time the girls noticed a faint glow shining through a basement window of an abandoned brownstone. Tori glanced up and studied the old building – the windows were all boarded up and it appeared no one had lived there in some time.

Jade dropped to her stomach and crawled towards the dingy window pane, motioning for Tori to remain watchful to ensure they weren't surprised from behind. "What do you see?" She whispered.

Jade replied, craning her neck to get a better view. "Two girls in the corner. Tied up. Can't tell if they're alive or not. Looks like three vamps… I think they're… Seriously?" The older girl scowled.

"What?" Tori's eyes flashed nervously and she made no attempt to extinguish the light. Jade's vague report was making her nervous. "What is it?"

"They're playing Playstation. Is nothing sacred anymore?"

"Times are a-changing." Tori breathed a sigh of relief. "I think the days of the tormented and brooding vampire hiding away in his mansion while he pines for lost love are behind us…"

Jade glanced up at her. "You've been watching Buffy I see." Amusement danced in her eyes.

"… It was a good show. And that's not the point! Is there anything you see that we can use to our advantage?" Tori's cheeks burned and she crossed her arms defensively, returning her attention back to the alley. A few seconds passed before a thought occurred. "How would you know what I'm talking about if you hadn't watched Buffy too?"

"Shh. That's not the point right now." Jade dismissed, waving her hand absently. Tori rolled her eyes and huffed again. "This is the only window. There's one door in and out of the place it looks like." She pushed herself to her feet and brushed off her front.

"What are you thinking? Bait-and-kill or storm the castle?"

"A little bit of both." Jade's tone was indecipherable.

"I don't think I like the sound of this." She frowned as Jade grabbed her shoulders in a crushing grip and backed her towards the building. "Jade?" A smirk was tugging at the corner of her lips and Tori suddenly felt like she had made a grave mistake.

"I was, essentially, bait last night. It's your turn." She explained simply before pecking the younger girl on the forehead. "Good luck, I'll be right behind you." Before Tori could protest she felt herself being shoved forcefully backwards. She struggled futilely to regain her footing before her heel caught the slight edge of the raised curb and she tumbled backwards into the window. The glass shattered upon impact and small shards sliced and bit at her tender skin. She landed ungracefully on her rear-end, dazed and winded, in the middle of the vampires' lair.

"Uh… hey, guys." She stammered. The room was completely silent, interrupted only by the sound of the video game. There was a cartoonish whistling on-screen following by a loud explosion. She couldn't help but feel solidarity with whomever or whatever had just met its untimely end. "Do you have a moment to talk about Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior?"

The seconds that followed were a hellacious blur. Tori yelped shrilly as the three men charged towards her. She targeted the closest one and smashed the heel of her hand into his nose, cringing as she felt it crack and crunch. He bellowed and clutched his face, his forward momentum carrying him headlong into a wall. The Latina ducked through the break in the line and forced her way through the tangle of hands and arms, knowing she couldn't allow herself to be cornered.

Her next contender was the largest of the group, easily towering a foot over her. She searched frantically for the stake she had previously shoved in her belt to find it missing. "I don't know who you are, but I'm really glad you graced us with your presence. You're the prettiest dinner I've seen in a while." He reached for her and she blocked with her forearm, stepping back as he advanced.

"Can't we talk about this? I was just looking for a friend. Stripper that goes by the name of Ruby?" Tori pleaded as she continued dancing just out of reach. He dove for her again and she attempted to jump back only to find her feet tangled hopelessly in some unknown obstacle. She flailed and again landed heavily on her backside, moaning and pushing herself up on her elbows to discover that she had unknowingly backed into the Playstation cables. This never would have happened at Angel's mansion. She wailed internally, turning her gaze to the three hungry vampires bearing down on her. Their eyes blazed with amusement and she couldn't help but wonder if this was the same look lions gave a cornered gazelle.

A sound interrupted their triumphant growls, one that Tori had once hated but now considered to be a heavenly chorus. The tip of a wooden stake thrust through the giant one's shirt. He exploded into dust and Jade burst through the cloud, grabbing the prone girl by the collar and hauling her to her feet. "You dropped this on your graceful landing." She shoved Tori's discarded stake into her hands.

"Well maybe if you had given me some warning!" Tori snapped.

"I was working with the element of surprise." Jade countered, unscrewing the lid from the holy water and splashing it in the face of the vampire whose nose Tori had just broken.

"We needed to surprise them, not me!" She cried.

"Well I did both. What can I say? I'm an overachiever." She glanced at the other girl and winked; the brief moment of distraction allowed the remaining vampire enough time to catch her off guard and drive her into the wall.

"Not exactly the place for a lovers' spat, little one." He growled.

"We are not together." Jade snarled viciously, eyes flashing.

"Guardian." He hissed, his eyes narrowing. "I'm going to drain you dry and – "

"Yeah, yeah. We've heard it all already." Tori interrupted, impaling him through the chest. Their gazes met through the cloud of ash and something unspoken passed between them; they were working better as a team now than they ever had. Tori wondered what had changed, wondered who had changed. Something was different about Jade's fighting these days and she couldn't yet pinpoint it.

As the lone surviving vampire slammed into her she realized now probably wasn't the best time to worry about it. Her head cracked against the concrete floor and stars danced in her eyes. Frozen hands closed around her throat and made breathing impossible; he was choking the life out of her. Jade appeared again and dispatched him effortlessly, using his distraction in her favor. "Two-one. I'd say that's game, loser. Better luck next time." She smirked, tossing her weapon to the ground and spinning on her heel to tend to the women in the corner and leaving Tori to recover on her own.

Tori wheezed and rubbed her throat – this seemed like the Jade she remembered, the callous, unconcerned teammate who never could summon enough compassion to ensure her well-being. At least the immediate danger had passed, she reasoned. She just needed to lie here and rest for a minute…

"Ruby." Jade breathed, simultaneously thankful that she had found the young girl and newly concerned that she might be dead. Her throat and chest were stained with dried blood, her skin had taken on a sickly pallor. If she was still alive she was clinging to it by her fingertips. "Hey, kid, wake up." Jade shook her gently, biting back a smile when her pale eyes fluttered open. "Oh, thank God." She released a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding and turned her attention to the ropes binding her wrists. They had rubbed her skin raw as she struggled and the open wounds were angry and inflamed.

Jade crouched and cradled the injured arm gently in her lap as she picked at the blood-stained knots, doing her best to ignore the overwhelming copper scent that assaulted her olfactory. It had been a long time since she'd gotten into a battle like that; she could feel the demon within her clawing at its prison. It wanted more – more destruction, more mayhem, more carnage. It called to her, begged her to release it and realize her full potential.

Part of her loved its presence. The demon was powerful, uninhibited by any kind of moral compass. It operated at will and sought only for itself. It lived for chaos. Whenever she got worked up like this it was tempting to release it…

That's when she had to take a step back and realize what she was considering. Her humanity was at stake – every day since her summoning she had waged an internal war against the demon that had set up shop in her soul. Despite the tainted pleasure she felt by having it around, it was frustrating, exhausting, to deal with its presence on a daily basis. It was especially tiring when it started tearing at her resolve.

Now was one of those moments. Though not a blood-drinker, Jade was naturally inclined to feast on human flesh. Ruby was injured, weak… the perfect meal, really. She felt her mouth watering and swallowed hard, trying to swallow the darker impulsions as well. This was Ruby. Ruby was her friend, not her dinner. You're a vegetarian now, remember? She chastised herself. The demon within her grunted in frustration. "How are you feeling?" Jade inquired, finally working her way through one knot.

"Hungry."

The word registered a second's fraction too late. Ruby used the now-slack rope as a weapon, wrapping it around Jade's throat and driving them both to the ground. She wound it around her fist a few times, tightening the pressure around Jade's throat. The pale girl gasped for air and struggled to shove the newly-dead girl off her to no avail; the fledgling was too strong, Jade could see muscles rippling under her pale skin. She should have checked her pulse first – she knew better than this.

Jade's struggles weakened as blood and oxygen failed to reach her brain, her hands lost their grip and fumbled awkwardly against her attacker. Ruby leaned down and nuzzled Jade's ear, nipping the lobe with pointed fangs but not quite breaking the skin. "This is wonderful, Jade." She breathed, the moist heat sending shivers down the hybrid's spine. "Everything feels so … vibrant. The sights. The scents… the tastes." She licked along Jade's throat, over the recently closed wound from her last vampiric encounter. "You taste so good, Jade… So, so good."

Ruby tore gently at the puckered skin and the simple action caused blood to flow freely. She lapped at it hungrily and giggled. Jade closed her eyes – she used to love that sound. Ruby only used it around her, and only when she was particularly pleased. Now it had been perverted by the monster wearing her friend's face.

Suddenly the giggling was interrupted by a gasp of pain. Jade opened her eyes just in time to catch Ruby's gaze as she disintegrated into ash before her. A brief pout claimed her features and she cursed one last time – the sound lost as her vocal cords drifted away in the slight cross-breeze. Tori appeared in her line of sight and quickly loosened the noose around her neck, face grim as she dragged them both away from the remaining unconscious girl just to be safe.

She wordlessly hauled the injured girl into a sitting position and clamped a hand over her again-bleeding throat. Chocolate eyes studied her, searched her for signs of deeper injury. Jade averted her gaze and stared at the spot where Ruby had just been; not all the dust had yet settled and she watched what was left of her friend fall like snow to the ground.

Something rumbled within her. Old fissures were reopening.

"Jade?" The girl in question glanced back towards her younger companion, suddenly angry at the face etched with compassion. When she didn't reply Tori cocked her head, forcing a grim smile. "That's two-two. We tied."

Jade hardened her gaze. It didn't matter that Tori was trying to cheer her up, she wanted to rend the girl limb from limb. "… Let's just get you home. Come on." She sighed, hooking her under the arm and dragging her to her feet. The pair limped out the door without looking back and, as the door slammed shut behind them, Jade felt a pang of guilt, one that gnawed at her just as much as the demon inside her.

She'd failed to save another friend.