I glare at the little blue sports car that blows past me, so not doing the speed limit and ignoring the red light. A chorus of angry horns follows after the dare devil, as well as the sound of locking breaks. My light turns green and accelerate forward, turning off LV Blvd. And making my way to Ann. My trip to Treasure Island had been fairly productive, I went with $70,000 and came away with $280,000... unfortunately, I noticed that one of the security guards had taken an interest in my table and I doubt it was for the view. Which got me thinking... they are going to watch me, see me never lose, and start asking questions... not my goal. So, this is going to be my last trip to the tables, at least on that floor. In a penthouse, closer to the top of the building, there is what they like to think of themselves as "the Elite" where the stakes are high. I figure, they wont notice if I suddenly move up from the "beginners" up to their level... they hadn't noticed me at all.

My plan? Inform Todd of this development and plan to join the big leagues in the next two days.

I turn into the parking area for the apartments, but I don't go to ours, I stop in front of Bonnie's unit knowing full well that she hasn't made it to the office yet. I grab a stack from my winnings and walk up to the door, I knock once before the scrap of a dead bolt signals that my guess was right.

The surprised look on her face as she registers me standing in the doorway dissipates when I raise my hand holding the $5,000 in cash... the first offering that I had paid her with a month and a half ago.

" You really don't have to do this."

I shrug, " I know, but it is nice going without the weekly payment, and don't tell me you like having all that money up front."

She opens her mouth to argue, but I shake my head and shove the money into her grip, " Don't complain..."

I smile warmly before turning away and jumping into the driver's seat of my truck, I cruise to one of the slots for our apartment. It isn't until I shut the engine off, preparing to take my earnings inside, when I notice a black SUV parked in the shadowy slot to my left. Its not big deal, in this city especially, but the man sitting in the driver's seat with a newspaper in a black suit is rather unusual. Looking toward the door of my apartment, I feel like I just swallowed a glass of frozen ice cubes.

What do they want?

Bag in hand, I slip down from the cab and close the door before walking to our unit. The door opens for me before I make it all the way, McKay standing behind the door with a grime expression. I don't falter in my step but I am reluctant to walk to him. Deciding to play it cool, I walk through the door, drop the bag, and greet him with an excited hug that old friends tend to give those they haven't seen in a while. I feel him stiffen under my embrace, but I ignore it.

" What a wonderful surprise, McKay. What brings you here?" I pull back and look him in the eyes, I see him notice my hidden meaning in my greeting, his eyes widen as he realizes that I'm on to him.

He glances over my shoulder, I follow his gaze to see Todd entering the room from the bedroom, he doesn't meet my gaze and the ice cubes turn to one solid brick.

" Faith?" McKay sounds tentative, I turn a suspicious glare on him and he flinches slightly, " I hate to do this, but we have reason to believe that there is at least one more Wraith who survived the last battle. We're having a heck of a problem trying to track him, so we decided to ask the one individual on this planet who can help."

I narrow my eyes, " What am I? Bait?"

McKay looks uncomfortable, " No. Your staying here, in Vegas."

" Why?"

His discomfort increases as he glances down at my stomach, which is starting to show under the shirt I'm presently wearing, " There was a meeting to discuss this, they all agreed that it would probably to best... and safer, for Todd to come with us alone."

I glare at him, " Safer for whom?"

He shrugs, " You, the kids, Todd, the other Wraith, take your pick."

I turn away from him to gaze at Todd who is standing behind me, he finally makes eye contact, " You agreed to this?"

" Yes. From what McKay has told me, we will be on the move constantly. No time for you to feed properly."

I would have asked about him feeding properly, but he just did four nights ago, at least now I know why he took so much. He was stocking up for this... he knew.

" You knew about but you didn't tell me?"

He nods, " You have been stressed lately... I did not want to add to it. I still don't."

I whirl around to face McKay, " How long?"

" I don't know. Like I said, there is at least one other, probably more."

" You don't know in other words..." with a sigh, I turn my head away to look out the still open front door.

" No, we don't. Knowing that this is going to be difficult, for both of you, I made arrangements for as many communications as I could get. It wasn't many though, once every two weeks, if that. Jennifer will come and check on you as the time nears, if we aren't back by then."

My gaze is fixed on the heat waves outside, " How nice of you..."

" I'm sorry." He looks over my head and nods before stepping through the doorway into the hot desert, I turn back around to face Todd.

I stare into his brown eyes, " Don't take to long." I lean against him, he places his chin onto of my head.

" I'll do my best." He pulls back, kisses the top of my head, and follows McKay outside.

" I love you." my voice is nothing more than a whisper but I know that he heard me because a second later, " I love you, too."

His rough voice fades from my mind and I move to the doorway to watch as the SUV pulls away and disappears down the road. I stand there for five more minutes, the realization that I'm alone slowly sinking in. The promise of Keller checking wasn't much to look forward to... I have been a little resentful of her since she screwed up Emily's birth. I mean, wouldn't it be common sense to not enact a c-section on a vampire?

Cursing under my breathe, I grasp the door and slam it into its frame with enough force to cause the window to reverberate in its pane. I glare at it until it still before turning my anger to the room at large. I don't destroy anything except for a wooden chair that I smashed against the wall. The only reason for that being a cautious knock at my door detoured me from wrecking the entire apartment.

I open the door to find Bonnie there, she looks inside over my shoulder like she's looking for something before meeting my slightly wild gaze, " Is everything alright? One of you neighbors complained of a racket in here..."

Rage boils inside me before the rational part of my brain realizes that she just wants to help if needed, so I inhale deeply trying to calm myself down before attempting to explain, " Nothing is wrong. I just had a moment, Todd had to leave on... business, suddenly. I guess I felt kinda abandoned for a second."

" So you took it out on the furniture?"

I smile, " Ya, guess so."

" You going to be fine now?"

I decide to be truthful, " No. I think I need a change, nothing personal but I might move. Find a nice home somewhere in the city."

" I see. If you need any help, let me know." I nod and watch as she walks next door, most likely to inform the tattle tall that everything was fine now.

With that, I decide to follow through with what I said, I think I will move. Buy a nice house, spend money, decorate it to my hearts content, spend money... I like it. And I know just the place... I had seen a for sale sign in front of a nice looking house on my way here... I think it was on Washington.

Suddenly with a purpose, and a will to get out of this apartment, I grab my winnings and get in my truck. I see Bonnie watch from her window as I pull onto the road. It only takes me ten minutes to find the sign in front of the one story house. I park the truck and get out to survey the area... the other houses are rather nice, a little bit the same, but nice. I pull out my cell phone from my pants pocket and dial the number on the sign.

" Yes?" the voice is male and sounds a little harassed.

" Hi, I'm interested in buying one of the houses your advertising."

The voice perks up, " Really? Well, you do know that the houses are on auction."

I look at the sign, yup, sure enough, " Ya, what if I offered you a price and we skip the auction?"

Disbelieving laughter, " It would have to be pretty good..."

" I'd say the house is worth around $80,000, am I right?"

" Pretty close."

" Okay, if I say that I'll pay $100,000, what would you say to that?"

" I'd say we already have that bid..."

I look at the house, thinking, " $125,000?"

" Closer."

" What's the highest bid?"

" $140,000."

I smile, " $145,000. I'll add a ten thousand bonus for you if you do as I ask."

Shocked silence rings on the other end, I smile victoriously.