When I woke up, Adam was gone.

I was actually kind of glad. I stared up at the blank ceiling, kind of wishing I had my old ceiling back. I was going to get so bored here. I already was.

"There's something you need to see," Kale said. His brother and Nate walked into the room, and they went to the mini living room at the other side of the room. Kale lifted up the remote, turning on the television.

"Adam wants you to watch this," Nate said warily, he came around the bed towards me.

I sat up, wincing as my leg stung. Another day and the cut would be scarred, but for today it hurt like hell. Nate helped me up, leading me to the couches and we all sat down as Kale turned on the news.

It was a press conference of some kind. "This has been playing all morning, and it doesn't look it'll be letting up any time soon."

My picture, it was in the corner of the television. An actual picture of me, I don't remember having any pictures taken. It almost like an actual school photo. With the background, the ones you can order and would be on your school ID card. On the other end, a strip said, 'teen guest of Supernatural celebration still missing. St. Delphi's keeping low profile'.

"Ah, shit," I said leaning back with a groan, shaking my head a little.

Then a reporter stood in front of a house I had literally never seen before in my life. A couple, two very familiar people, stood in front of the two story house. "Mara Tarrin, age sixteen, was reported missing shortly after the celebration at the St. Delphi's home. She was seen being led out by several men who are still unidentified. Adam, the head of the coven and home out of Los Angelos told press earlier this month that the young girl was simply a guest and that he had never formerly met the young teen and that she was not the cause of the accident. The last time anyone had seen Mara Tarrin, she was being forced into a black escalade that left the manor after the fire that ended the celebration. Her parents, Richard and Mary Tarrin," a picture of the three of us, a fake picture flashed across the screen.

I rolled my eyes as the picture disappeared and it panned back and then closer to the house and the two people. Both of them worked at the School, they were looking rather distraught, 'Mary' was fake crying. "Richard Tarrin is a doctor at Gregory Memorial Hospital, mother Mary is a kindergarten teacher at their school nearby. Her parents are asking the public to come forward with any information on their daughter. If anyone sees the girl or the escalade they are asked to contact their local authorities, but not to try and make contact as her kidnappers are to be assumed armed and very dangerous."

Then it panned into the couple even more and 'Mary' aka Karen, spoke, sounding all sad, "please, if anyone sees my baby, help us. We love our Mara and we just want her to come home. We just want to know she's safe. Please, Mara is a good girl," I grinned at that. "She loves to read and she wanted to help people and she paints. Please, let her go. Adam, I am begging you, if you know anything, if your coven knows anything, help us. She was at your home last, someone must've seen something. I don't even know what she was doing there. She's only sixteen! Adam, please, tell us if you know anything."

Karen broke down crying and Richard, aka, Derek, wrapped his arms around her. Kale muted the television and we all sat quietly for a moment. "Karen's a good actor, gotta give her that," I said amused.

"You aren't concerned about this? This is a problem, all four of us are wanted for questioning and your School did that somehow. That means government officials are involved in this to some extent. What I want to know is who and how many," Nate said, turning to me.

"Where is Adam?" I asked, you'd think he'd be here to grill me for information.

"Handling this!" Nate, throwing me a scowl, "this is a problem, Mara! I didn't know your military school had these kinds of resources!"

"Adam wont be back for a few days, he's gone to speak to the Council and to set up a press conference with the humans for tomorrow. He's back home in L.A.," Kade explained, glancing at the television for a moment. It was re-playing the news reel again.

"We are screwed if anyone saw us coming here, we already look suspicious keeping such a low profile. Now that you've 'mysteriously' gone missing. I've looked online, your face is all over social media, and about eighty percent of the population thinks we're involved. They think we had you killed for setting fire to the manor," Kale said closing his eyes and raking a hand through his hair, messing it up a little I kind of wanted to play with his hair myself now.

I crossed my arms, leaning forward. "Well, I have an idea, but I don't think you're going to like it."

They shared looks. "This chick is going to get us all thrown into Guantanamo Bay," Kade muttered, him and his brother stared at one another.

Nate had calmed down and he titled his head at me curiously, "what's your idea?"

"Well, I'm missing because no one knows where I am. What if I wasn't missing anymore?"

"You want to be seen," Nate summed up.

"No, Adam said he would handle this, we need to let him do his job. He's a politician, Mara, this is what he does. You might make this worse for us if whatever you're planning goes south," Kade said, throwing me a stern look to back off.

But who would I be if I let them leash me? No one. I didn't play by anyone's rules. This was my fault, I handled my problems and I would handle this too.

"Not if you're all wanted for questioning," I pointed out. "Even if he does go on record saying he knows nothing, he's still going to go back under the radar and you three will still be wanted and I will still be missing. What if someone sees all of us, at the same time, in public," I shrugged, "problem solved. People will just assume I ran away from home. Then I'll be wanted for being an underage runaway, but you guys will be off the hook, and besides, no one will care about some random runaway."

They had thoughtful looks on their faces. "What exactly did you have in mind?"

"Where did they say I was from?"

Nate answered, "L.A. same place where we lived. It would've been too hard for them to explain why you were in the city if you weren't even from there."

"Well, let's start there. Don't you have a movie premiere coming up?" I asked Nate.

"How do you know that? I thought you didn't watch tv," Kale pointed out, eyebrows raised.

"Radio. It said that your movie was premiering tomorrow," I said shrugging.

"I don't think we should take her anywhere. She tried to run last night. Are we all forgetting that? She almost succeeded too," Kade said rolling his eyes. I threw him a dirty look, I hated when people talked like I wasn't there.

"Adam and I made a deal. You guys got one week to find me answers and I'm gone. Can't do shit for me if you can't even contact anyone without having human police all over you. I'm trying to help me more then I'm trying to help you," I said stiffly.

We sat tensely for a moment, all of them staring back at me and I stared back at Kade. If I got Kade on board, I had a feeling the other two would follow.

Kade sighed and I knew I'd won. "What's your plan?"

"For starters we need an internet link that can't be traced back to you along with a dummy account. Nate will go to his premiere and Kale and you will go turn yourselves in, all of which will be around the same time."

"Where will you be? You want to go along don't you? You want us to give you the chance to escape?" Kade shot at me.

I exploded, jumping up and glaring at him as I shouted, "I am not your prisoner! And I fucking refuse to be treated that way! I told Adam I would stay with you for a week, willingly, so long as you produced some answers. I intend to keep my word."

Kade levelled me with a hard stare again, but he said nothing.

"Alright, Mara, calm down," Nate took my hand, tugging me back down.

"Nate goes to his premiere, and we go into the station for questioning. I will contact Adam when we reach the police station and tell him to meet us there so he's in public as well. But where will you be?" Kale asked me cautiously.

"I will be at the pier. Well lit, lots of people. I bet there will be a ton of teenagers there too, at that time. Shouldn't be hard to be noticed, everyone is attached to their phones and social media sites. I give it less than twenty minutes before I'm recognized."

They shared looks again. "And what happens if the police nab you first, or the School?"

"What are the chances that the School will be at the pier in L.A.?" I scoffed, "if anything, all of the teams will be back at the compound or watching your properties, they probably think I'd be locked up in the basement the way Carter is. The last thing they will expect is to find images of me in a crowded place alone and unharmed."

I even planned to be a little drunk and make some human friends, but I didn't add that.

"I don't like this plan. If something goes wrong, we can't protect you, we wont even be close by. You can't fight right now, you can't even run," Kade said worriedly.

"My leg will be fine by tomorrow night. I can't run now, but tomorrow, by six-ish. I'll be fine. I have a good feeling about this." Which was a first as of late, I haven't had a good feeling in a while.

"Adam is going to murder us."

That I actually did agree with.

"Don't tell him. He'll just stop us. This is the best way to get the spot light off of you, if you can't even leave here, it's a goddamn problem because I will get further from the truth. I promised Adam I would be a good little hostage for seven days. That's all you get, so make it worth it."

Kade sighed, shaking his head and muttering a swift curse. "Alright. We'll drive down tonight. There's a safe house we can use close to the pier. Once everything takes place, we'll inform Adam of what's happening," he turned to me. "You need to be findable, easy to contact in case someone, even the Council guard, arrests you. Don't forget they want you too and once they have you, you'll disappear, for good. So avoid Other's."

Nate added his own stipulation, one that had me frowning as a weird sensation ran through me, a weird almost déjà vu feeling. "And another thing. You'll have a mic on you at all times. I will need to be able to speak to you and I will be watching social media for you. "

Kade spoke again, "We'll keep an eye on what's being said in the police station. But if were being interrogated, we wont be able to warn you, we'll be a step behind them if they go after you. Only Nate will be able to get to you if something happens, the theatre and the pier aren't close to one another, but we'll get you a vehicle and we'll find some place safe and several rendezvous points for you to wait for us if something goes wrong."

Kale looked at me, a dead serious look on his face. "Mara, I'm sorry, babe, but I have to ask. Are you going to play nice?"

I don't know about nice, but I definitely wanted to have some fun and I had a feeling this would be.

I felt like I was in a fucking mission impossible movie.

I grinned and just asked, "tell me someone made some coffee."

After breakfast, to which I politely refused Nate's dreadful cooking, I went back up to the room I was in to shower. The shower, which was painful, took way too long with the stupid cut down my leg.

When I came out, Nate was watching television. He glanced at me, "there's a duffel bag there. Figured we could just share a bag, we'll only be gone the night. Assuming everything goes to plan."

There was indeed a bag on the bed, which was also folded.

I sat down, with a slight grimace, tightening the towel around my body. "Who made the bed?"

He turned the television off, "I did. Adam was pretty pissed about the kitchen I didn't clean yesterday. Can't have anyone see you here so we have no help with upkeep for now and Adam has officially put me on house cleaning duty until he returns."

I smiled a little, recalling how Adam had shouted after us as Nate dragged me off to the media room. Then I frowned. Does that mean I might end up with chores?

"Can I see Carter before we go?" I hadn't spoken to him since our original visit that first day.

Nate shook his head, "no," he said firmly. "Adam made it clear he doesn't want you anywhere near him until he gets back, especially with the leg wound. You can see him once you're healed and Adam returns."

"Is Kade mad, that were doing this?" I asked him as I made my way to the dresser and pulling out some clothes.

"No, he's worried, not mad. You freaked us all out, when you took off, Adam more than the rest of us."

I couldn't wear shorts or pants, not with the stupid cut, but I did have a dress in here. It was a simple white spaghetti strap, summer dress.

Nate was on the other side of the room looking out the window so I quickly pulled on the bra and panties and then the dress.

When I glanced back, he was leaning against the window frame watching me.

I rolled my eyes and he grinned at me crookedly, coming towards me and holding out a hand for me. I accepted it and he turned me, "let me," he said lowly.

I bit my lip, fidgeting a little. His knuckles slid down my spine and I took in a shaky breath, turning my head slightly. I bit down on my lip even harder as he slid the zipper up, he pulled my hair back and I took a step forward and away from him as I turned back around.

His eyes were a little darker, and he had that intense look on his face, like he was undressing me mentally. I blushed, hard. "Um, so what time are we leaving?" I blurted out.

He didn't answer at first, but when he did, his voice was hoarse. "Kade said we should wait until at least four. It'll be dark by the time we make it to the city."

I gave him a shaky nod, "good. Has anyone spoken to Adam?"

His eyes narrowed on me some, "not yet. He said he would call to check in around ten. He said he was seeing the Council first. He'll let us know what they say when he calls."

"Why does he have to talk to the Council first?"

"The Council has their own resources within the human government, informants and the like. We might be able to find out who was in charge of the press reel about you. Find out who set that up and maybe we can find out from there who you're working for. Whoever is in charge of that place, they'll know what happened to you."

Okay that made sense. I figured as much. "Does Adam need permission to speak to the human authorities?"

I went back to the dresser, grabbing a change of clothes for tomorrow. Nate spoke as I folded them up tighter and put them in the bag.

"Not in the way you're thinking. Adam and I, we both have so much influence in the world. If the humans think any of us are linked to your disappearance, with so many people watching us all the time, there could be back lash on the supernatural world. People like us, were the face of our clans. Humans see the way we behave and assume that all of our kind are the same way. They start thinking were kidnapping or killing teenage girls, and it could shatter the very fragile peace between my kind and yours."

"So he went to them for advice?"

"No," I heard the uneasy tone of his voice and I turned to him. He was tense now and he gave me an even look. "He went to them to inform them of his movement, so that if anything happens to any of us, they know where to look."

It hit me. This was about more than the press reel, this was about the consequences of all of this negative attention. "You think the humans might attack you. That's why Kade was so against this plan. The humans might attack you, and the First Blood's might attack me."

"If it were just us, it wouldn't matter. But, we have you to consider, to protect," Nate came up to me, brushing the hair behind my ear, giving me a small smile. "We have you now, we can't lose you and this is a big risk all of us are taking. A lot could go wrong. We'd never forgive ourselves if you got hurt because of us."

"Not really your fault we have to do this in the first place though is it?" I said guiltily. This was all my fault. All of it. Adam might lose the chance at having a Council seat. Nate might not be able to make movies if people think he's dangerous. The entire coven, maybe even all of the First Blood's, might have the world turn on them because of me. I totally blew the entire assignment, my face all over the news coming off of Adam's property as his house went up in flames and then going 'missing'. And they would suffer the consequences because of the School and I.

"Hey," Nate's hands gripped my hips and I tensed a little, and then even me as he pulled me towards him, his hands interlocked and holding me to him. "Everything that has happened, your blood, Carter, the Other's that were eliminated. You may have been the smoking gun, the catalyst, but it's not your fault."

I stared up at him mutely. "You don't believe me, do you?" he said quietly, kissing my forehead and pressed his to mine as he sighed. He pulled me to him even tighter, so that our bodies were pressed together. "None of this is your fault, babe. And you know what? We'll deal, we've been preparing for something like this, you're unexpected, but, we'll deal. It'll be okay."

And suddenly, I remembered something. Last night, when I asked Adam what had happened when he bit me, what this was between all of us, he said he would tell me. He didn't, he distracted me and never told me anything.

I pulled away, pushing off of him and backing up. "Why am I here?"

His jaw clenched as he stared back at me, a wall slamming down in him and a rip slowly began separating us. "Nathaniel," I said coldly, "why am I here?"

I saw his fists clenched and my eyes narrowed. "You aren't going to tell me. Who am I to you people? I-I don't even know you. I don't know any of you. I tried to kill you, you were going to kill me, so-," he cut me off.

His voice was harsh, "we weren't going to kill you!"

"Well you thought about it!" I shouted now, glaring. "Why am I here? What do you want from me? Because if this is some kind of sick game, you picked the wrong girl!"

He glared back now. "You know why you're here. We need to know what is going on with you and you aren't safe."

"You know that's not what I'm talking about! Why did you come looking for me after the celebration? Why did you take me from my home-," he cut me off, yelling at me as he jerked a step forward, "-that was not your home!"

"What do you think is going to happen here, Nate? Do you expect me to stick around after this week is up? Because sorry to disappoint, I wont. I'm a hunter. That's all I am and it's all I will ever be. Even if the targets I had weren't evil. I'll keep hunting the ones that are and I wont keep associating with you guys, I wont write, or email or call. If you can't find answers, I'm gone."

"We'll find you," he promised coldly, eyes black now. He was pissed. "If you leave. We will stop you. If you do succeed. We will find you, we wouldn't rest until we did."

"Then I'll kill you!"

"You can't kill us anymore then we could kill you!"

"What the fuck do you want with me? Why am I here?!" I screamed at him, breathing hard.

"You know why, were connected, you can feel it," Nate said with a low threatening growl.

"That doesn't mean shit to me! Who cares, everyone out there eventually meets someone that makes them feel! Your vampires and I'm a hunter! That isn't enough to make me want to stick around, it means nothing to me, it's physical, it means nothing!"

"Well it means everything to us," he snapped.

"Why!" I shouted. I kept shouting, I don't think it made my frustration any clearer and I doubt it was helping, but it made me feel a little better.

We stared at one another, and then slowly, he backed out of the room, slamming the door on his way out.

I let out a low growl, turning and throwing everything off of the dresser. I held myself against it, burning in anger and confusion. I was so frustrated. I got it, there was something between all of us. A connection, but it didn't mean anything, not really. It was just physical. There had to be a logical explanation for the way they made me feel and the way they didn't make me feel. There had to be a way to turn it off.

I would find out sooner or later. And if that stupid way they made me feel was the only reason they wanted me around, if they felt the same way, it didn't matter. They were vampires. I was a hunter.

I didn't like being weak and that was how they made me feel, weak and out of depth. I didn't like feeing breathless and jello-legged every time they came around me. It didn't even seem to get better, just more intense.

I was sixteen. They may have just been early twenties, physically, but they were centuries older than me. I wasn't a toy and I wasn't a piece of meat. I wouldn't play this game with them. Especially since all I seemed to do was cause problems for them and I hated that.

I mean, I hit Kade over the head and knocked him out! I kept bruising up Nate's face in a fight, Adam was probably in more trouble with the Council then he let on and I knew Kale hated all of the inner turmoil.

Someone knocked on the door, I glared at it, lifted a fallen piece of glass and whipped it at the closed entrance. It shattered, glass exploding everywhere.

I heard an irritated sigh and then whoever was there, left.

Good, they wouldn't lose any body parts.

I didn't care if we were connected. We were mortal enemies and we would stay that way, forever. That would never change and it really bugged me.

When Kale came to get me at quarter to three, he didn't say much, just, "time to head out. You good?"

I gave him a stiff nod. "Let's just go."

The car ride was quiet, and kind of awkward, so I leaned between the front seats and turned the radio up. I looked out the window most of the way. Turns out we were outside of Santa Maria. Not very far from L.A but far enough. The area they lived in at the beach house, it was incredibly secluded. I hardly saw any driveways or gates, and I recalled one of them saying they owned most of property around this spot.

I must've been fidgeting because Kale's hand wrapped around mine and I looked over at him. He looked concerned, but he didn't say anything. He tugged my hand away from my lap, intertwining ours together and gave me a smile.

I returned it, before looking back out the window and watching the trees fly by.

Someone was carrying me, that was how I woke up. I blinked tiredly, surprised to find we had arrived at the safe house. Kale was carrying me into the house, and Nate was turning lights on, Kade was carrying several bags in from the driveway.

"First things first, no one leaves until tomorrow night," Kade said, dropping the bags down in the foyer. Kale set me down on the couch, kissing my cheek before turning to his twin. "And we should keep the blinds and curtains closed, lights off. We don't need anyone spotting us, especially since all four of us are together. The last thing we need is to have this whole idea blow up before we've even put the plan into action."

Nate was in the kitchen area, at the back of the house, when he spoke up, "that is going to be a problem brother. There is no food and Mara hasn't eaten once today."

They all turned to stare at me in disbelief, Kale looked confused now, "I've hardly seen you eat, actually, I haven't seen you eat once, why is that?"

I shrugged, "I eat when I'm hungry. I'm not hungry."

"We could order something, but well, it's a little tricky because none of us can be seen," Kale said to Kade.

"Oh, I vote pizza!" Nate said, coming and sitting next to me on the couch.

"I'm game for pizza," I said looking up at Kade hopefully.

He sighed, "fine. Pizza," he glanced at me, smirking now, "the last time we ordered pizza it ended in a fist fight because none of them could agree on what to order. Nate got locked in the pantry."

I glanced at Nate's scowl, "because you two locked me in there."

"You were whining like a five year old!" Kale said rolling his eyes.

Nate turned to me, looking defensive, "I wanted Hawaiian and they said that didn't even count as pizza cause of the pineapple. How stupid is that?"

"You guys realize you can order pizza with two different kinds on each half right?"

They all looked at one another in surprise.

I burst out laughing. See what happens when you don't actually need to eat human food?

When the pizza came, we were each having a beer and when the bell rang, Kade went to it, turning the foyer light off. He shouted through the door, "put the pizza down and turn around and face the street!"

I snorted, rolling my eyes and shaking my head in disbelief. "Kudos Kade," I said as he opened the door, threw the money out and lifted up the pizza. "Way to not draw attention us, that's not weird and criminally suspicious, not at all."

Kale was watching out the window curtains, and he nodded at Kade as he set the pizza down. "Delivery kid is gone."

"Probably thinks we broke in here or something," Nate apparently agreed with me.

"That was the-," a cellphone rang and we all turned to Kade.

"It's Adam," he said, checking the screen. In other words, 'everyone, shut up'. He answered it, putting the phone on speaker. "How'd it go?"

"Why didn't anyone answer the land line?" was Adam's greeting.

We all shared looks.

"Were all outside, Mara wanted to go for a walk," Kade explained.

"She can hardly move without being in pain, why would she want to go anywhere?" Adam sounded incredulous.

"Down the beach, she said and I quote 'if I don't exercise and stretch I'll get lazy, I don't have supernatural bodies that burn fat'," Kade said smirking at me when I scowled. I did not say that, and I didn't sound like that either, I didn't care what I weighed or what I ate. Besides, the constant adrenaline rush burns off any extra calories I may have.

"What did she say about the news?"

"Just that, that must've been how the School thought they could locate her. They probably thought we'd be found or she would be seen with us and it would be reported," Kade said evenly.

"And how is she now?"

"Fine. I think she's getting tired, the walk wore her out really fast."

"Good, keep an eye on her tonight. She seems like the kind of person to keep her word but I don't want to risk it. She's highly unpredictable," I rolled my eyes. Then he opened his stupid mouth again, "and she's kind of a spaz."

"Son-,"Nate's hand covered my mouth suddenly and he threw me a look at the same time Kale and Kade shared amused looks.

"Oh don't worry, I'm sure she'll be on her best behaviour," Kade said grinning now. "What did the Council say? Anything?"

Adam went quiet now and a bad feeling took root and I pulled Nate's hand from my mouth. "Most of what they said in regards to her, we already assumed. They want her interrogated which is just another way of saying tortured, to locate the other hunters if she's found first. They also made it abundantly clear, hunters will be annihilated regardless of the press. They don't care that she's only sixteen and I tried to hint that she might be mislead, they don't care. Any humans that killed our kind have always been eliminated and they plan on keeping to tradition."

"And they have no idea who runs the school, who set up that press conference? Did you tell them it as faked?" Kade asked warily.

"I couldn't tell them it was faked without explaining we've actually had a face-to-face with Mara that didn't end up in a fight. They have no idea that were hiding something, I don't want them to get suspicious. The other two First Blood leaders will be with me at the press conference tomorrow afternoon as a show of support."

"And her blood?"

"I spoke to my friend, I mentioned her blood had looked weird during the fight. He's never heard of tainted blood, but he'll look into it. Should know more this weekend, which is when Henry will be coming to the house."

"What are we going to do with Mara? Henry doesn't have the senses, but he is a psychic," Kade said.

"Have you or Kale been able to read her mind?" my eyes widened, my jaw dropped and as I started to say something again, Nate's hand covered my mouth once more.

Kale stared at me and I glared back at him as Kade answered, "no. Still static-y. Sometimes when she's mad or upset we can almost hear her, but it's still not clear."

I relaxed.

I didn't know they could read minds. What the hell? You'd think I deserved to know something like that. Sheesh.

"Alright, there heading back to the house, I'm going to go catch up," Kade said after a moment of silence. "When will you be back?"

"Saturday, before Henry gets there."

"Okay. Be careful."

"You too. Keep her out of trouble."

I grinned as Kade sighed, "easier said than, brother."

He hung up the phone and I lifted the beer taking a long pull from it. As I set it down, I said the first thing that popped into my head. "You can read minds?!"

The night was relatively calm. I had a bit of cabin fever when I crawled into the master bedroom upstairs. It was only a three bedroom, but I don't think they were all planning on sleeping. I was kind of drunk, but I could've sworn I heard Kade saying something about each of them having a shift to keep guard.

I didn't care.

I thought they were kind of going overboard, so I just dropped down onto the bed, still wearing the same clothes as earlier and promptly passed out.

I had nightmares last night again, and I woke up screaming, a pale faced Kale was on top of me, holding me down. I guess I'd been moving or something. Neither of us had said anything at first, but Kale fell off of me, both of us breathing hard. I realized I was covered in a cold sweat, and I pulled the dress off, rubbing my face tiredly.

When he pulled me towards him, I didn't resist or argue. I just curled up against him and let his breathing lull me back to sleep.

The next day, everyone was tense and edgy and I could see that Kade was on the verge of calling off this little mission.

When eight thirty rolled around and everyone began preparing, I was waiting.

He said exactly what I predicted, "We shouldn't do this."

I rolled my eyes, tying the top half of my hair back. I'd purposely tried to stay still and only moved around when they weren't looking or in the room. My leg hadn't healed yet. It was still pretty bad and it still hurt. I didn't want them to see because I was looking forward to this.

"Brother, were already here," Kale said sighing. Apparently, I wasn't the only one who'd been waiting for him to start second guessing.

"You're not the one that's going to get stabbed by our coven leader. Adam leaves me in charge because he trusts me to have a level head. We should've told him what we were doing."

Nate and I shared looks, both of us looking at Kale next. If anyone knew how to handle Kade, it was his twin. Nate came over to me, a black twirled wire in his hand. "This will let us communicate, it'll only last a few hours, less depending on the distance. I estimate two and a half hours of life, I just tested them so their fine. When we split up, we'll turn them on."

I put the earbud in, sliding it under the halter top. I still had bite scars and I figured the halter top was the best way to keep the old wounds hidden.

Kale and Kade spoke quietly, heatedly in the kitchen and Nate grabbed up a gun from the coffee table, passing it to me. I took it, turning the safety on and off, then taking out the clip and making sure it was full before putting it back in. I slid it under the back waist band of my jeans and Nate passed me two blades next. I didn't have my usual sheaths, so I settled for sliding them into my boots, they had inner sheaths that would keep them from cutting me.

Nate put his own weapons away and the twins returned to the living room. Kade looked edgy and Kale gave me a nod. "Alright, all of our phones are charged. Text every five minutes to 'okay' your situation in the group conversation we made. If anything happens, phone or text one of the safe words," which was 'funky town' in case the School found one of us. 'Holy Moses' was a problem with the humans or for me it would be Other's, and for the Council guard it was 'cheese and crackers'. Don't know why that was the safe word, but whatever. If something is happening, I don't know how they expected me to say 'cheese and crackers' without it being weird.

"At exactly nine o'clock, we show, were in public, not a moment later, understood?" Kade said sternly. He turned to me as we all nodded, and enunciated his words, "stay out of trouble."

I saluted him with my middle finger. I was getting real tired of being treated like a child just because I was a little immature. I knew adults with less maturity and I was a sixteen year old assassin.

Kade gave me a dry look, "let's go."

They all headed to the door and I got up and followed as evenly as I could.

If Kade found out I could still hardly walk he would call this off. I wanted to go to the pier. I kind of wish one of them was coming, but I would go alone because I had to.

We all climbed into three separate vehicles and took turns pulling out of the driveway.

I was the last to leave because I only needed to park. I didn't have to get into place the same way they did.

I don't know why I was so nervous about this. It could've been any number of reasons so I decided not to try and figure out which was to blame.

I parked, and saw the time. I still had a couple minutes to wait and then I checked my phone. Nate told me to turn on the mic. I pulled out the wire from under my shirt, and hit the bottom button. Immediately, a sharp whirring exploded in my ear and I gasped, yanking the wire out.

Glaring at the thing I lifted it closer, hearing the static and strange loud beeping. I called Nate, it took three tries just to get it through. Even the texting took a couple tries, geez I thought Nate was a techy, these phone services sucked.

"Turn your mic on!" he nearly shouted in greeting.

"I did," i said as I pulled the phone away. I just had that thing blow up in my ear and now he was yelling in it. Douche. "It's not working, it's just static and this awful loud sound."

"It was working ten minutes ago, is it ripped anywhere?"

"No! I didn't do it either. Look, I'll text you every five minutes. But I gotta go. It'll be fine, just go to your premiere and keep your phone on." I hung up and climbed out of the car. I tossed the wire down onto the seat and pocketed the car keys.

I looked around at the city night life, smiling a little. It had been a while since I'd had some actual alone time. When I was with them, I felt like a prisoner, even though Adam assured me I wasn't one anymore.

I was basically free right now. So why didn't I feel like it?

I should run. I had very little reason not to. I was hurting the coven more than anything. Other than the physical connection we all had there was no other reason to stick around.

So why didn't I want to take off?

Nate texted me, telling me to be careful. It was a private message. He hadn't told the twins that the ear piece wasn't working.

I reached the pier, and realized that it was closed. Yellow police tape covered the entrance. "What the hell?" I muttered, glancing past it.

All of the lights were off, no one inside, no rides or music. Just dead and kind of creepy. Damn. What the hell do I now?

I turned, looking around and saw two girls walking in some slutty dresses and ridiculously high heels. "Hmm," they were more or less sober, which told me they were probably going to a club or a bar.

That would work.

I followed them casually, and eventually after about a five minute walk, saw them near a club. I caught up quickly, getting as close as possible and smiling as the bouncer waved them into a club, pretending I was with them.

We entered the room, and thankfully, it was a human club.

I brushed past them and went to the bar.

I got a drink, sitting down and looking at the bar. So far, no one recognized me because technically I was a teenager, so what would I be doing here, right? Wrong. Definitely the place to look for an assassin who seemed to be growing a conscience.

I debated how to go about this. I was hoping just a random sighting would do the trick. But, people were drunk and not looking for missing teens.

Girls would probably be my best bet.

I saw a group sitting at a booth in the back, two girls and couple of guys. They were all mostly sober, but they all had their phones out.

When one of the girls got up, I went in that direction, trying to seem distracted and bumped into her. We apologized at the same time and she looked up, I gave her a smile. "I'm sorry. I'm just so clumsy," I said giving her a little laugh.

"I-It's fine," her eyebrows furrowed, "do I know you? You look so familiar."

I shrugged good naturedly, "oh, probably not. I don't live in this area. I'm Cassie," I held my hand out.

She shook it, still looking confused, then looked around us, "are you here with someone? Maybe we went to school together?"

"Maybe, and no, I came alone. I had a rough week, needed to get away."

She gave me a bright smile now, "come hang out with us!"

"Okay," she took my hand, leading me to her table.

"Everybody this is Cassie, she's all alone and needs some awesome people to chill with," she said, sitting me down next to the guys.

I gave them a small, almost shy, smile as Michelle introduced me to everyone. And everyone at the table seemed quick to make nice with me.

Thinking to myself, that was pretty easy. Wow, alcohol, if I ever need some quick friends, I might do this again. They all were staring at me now, trying to place me. "What's your name again?" one of the guys asked, Mark, I think his name was.

I took another drink of my cup, finishing it off. "Cassie, my name is Cassie," I said and Jake, the guy next to me, reached for the pitcher of beer in the center of the table. He filled both of our glasses.

"She looks so familiar doesn't she?" Andy said to the group.

They all nodded their agreement. "What, were you in a Justin Bieber music video or something?" Jess asked me.

I tilted my head, "who?"

They all shared disbelieving looks and I said, quickly, "just kidding," clearly that was someone I should know, "no, I wasn't."

I gave them a nervous chuckle.

They started talking about Justin Bieber, who I realized was a famous singer. I didn't follow the conversation very long, and noticed that two of them had their phones out and were typing on it. "She's the missing kid!" one of the girls exclaimed, showing everyone the school picture of me, with the word missing beneath it.

They all turned to stare at me in shock, and I smiled, "no, I'm not. I've been mistaken for her before though. Real shame about her though. I read that she was quite the girl."

"You-You could be her twin!" Jake said in shock. "You look just like her, isn't she sixteen? How old are you!"

"Twenty one," I said evenly. They wouldn't honestly believe that would they?

"No, look, the missing girl looks all uptight and stuck up," Jess said, shrugging.

"Yeah, you are definitely hotter," Andy said in agreement now.

Jake turned his phone on, "take a picture with me!"

I mentally rolled my eyes, well this was turning out pretty easy. I leaned into him as he draped an arm over my shoulder and Andy was suddenly on the other side of me, pressing into me and I grinned a little as Jake snapped a picture of the three of us, captaining it, 'Missing teen, Mara Tarrin's look-a-like found!"

I grinned, watching him post it on a site called twitter and snap chat. I gave them a fake name, mostly because I didn't want to get arrested too soon. I wanted to have another drink before the cops were called on me.

I gave it an hour before it was circulating enough. Which meant I had an hour to enjoy myself and hang out.

I finished off the beer, talking with them a bit, keeping quiet when I didn't understand some of the mainstream stuff I had never heard of. I figured out that most of the group just met. Jake, Andy and Mark had never met the girls before. The girls had been here a while, Michelle and Jess had been here dancing when they met the three guys from out of town.

We finished off the pitcher of beer before ordering a second and when I checked my phone, an hour and a half had gone by. And it was blowing up with messages and missed calls.

The last three, were from Adam.

Uh-oh.

I grimaced, and was about to answer the next call that came through when Mark grabbed it and turned it off. "Whoever just called totally bumbed you out. No more phone for you," he pocketed it and I laughed. Adam was going to kill me.

"Come on, let's dance," Jake said, grabbing my hand and tugging me out of the booth.

We hit the dance floor and he pulled me to him. I found I kind of wished it was one of the St. Delphi's holding me, but quickly dismissed it. This was normal, these were humans. I could control this, drunk or not. I didn't feel so out of my comfort zone, I didn't feel stripped bare when these guys touched me because they were nobody and they were human.

I let him dance with me, I kind of enjoyed it too. After a while, I felt Mark join us and I mostly ignored the growing warning in my gut. The St. Delphi's couldn't find me and the School couldn't. I was in a freaking club right now!

After another hour the lights went out suddenly, not just the lights, all of the power. Aside from the confused and irritated shouting from drunk dancers, it was silent.

I realized who was here instantly.

The School.

I swore, turned and began stumbling drunkenly through the partiers for the front door. It opened and Beta team was illuminated by the light from the street

I backed up hard, stumbling and hitting the ground. They zeroed in on me instantly. I scrambled up, and I knew the other exits would either be locked or watched. I threw myself into them and we crashed into the sidewalk.

Breathing hard and half-drunk I righted myself and ran down the street. They were on me in seconds, Matthew grabbed me and swung me into the alley and I hit the ground with a groan.

The world spun for a moment and I nearly threw up as it did. A tranq gun was lifted up and I rolled as quickly as I could and dove to the side of a dumpster. I grabbed up a tin lid, standing with it in front of my face. More darts hit it and I turned it and whipped it at them. It got Bentley and he went down.

But when I turned to run again, one of them crashed into me. We went down and I was hit hard in the cheek and then again in the other side of my face. I threw my arms up, and suddenly they went flying backwards as if I had thrown them like a beach ball.

I sat up, backing away as I watched Michael land on the far side of the street with a sickening crack. I stood up, heart pounding and world spinning. I felt like all of the energy had been zapped from me, or as though I had drank those two pitchers of beer to myself.

I looked down at my hands, my totally normal hands and heard a click. I looked up, throwing my hands out to cover my face as darts flew at me. Until nothing happened, I swayed, seeing the darts two feet away floating in place. I swayed again, and they hit the ground in front of me.

The three soldiers stepped forward, arms dropped until they were two feet away. We all stared one another, not a single one of us understanding what just happened. Matt raised his arm, and as he reached forward between the space, well, he didn't. His hand went maybe a few inches before it met some unseen force. He pushed, and then Jeff threw his fist out and I felt it. It was like a hammer into my head. I gasped, swaying for the third time.

Jeff and Matt shared looks, "she doesn't know she just did that, look, she's getting weak. Hit it again," Matt ordered.

Jeff did just that, he punched the force once more and I jerked back, keeping my hands up and trying to hold onto the force that was keeping us all apart. But when he lifted a gun, not at me, but aimed at the invisible wall and slightly to the side, he pulled the trigger.

I groaned now, feeling something warm and wet slide down my nose, my head was aching and my breathing had gone shallow. What just happened?

Why didn't those darts hit me? Why couldn't they touch me?

The world spun and I sank to my knees when my legs gave out. I wiped my nose, seeing the blood on my hand.

Someone crashed into me, throwing me back onto the cold wet ground.

A dart gun was pointed at my face and I froze wide eyed.

"She's drunk and her power has been exhausted, just hit her once," Matthew ordered from above me.

Jeff didn't get the chance to even pull the trigger. Something hit him, too fast for me to catch, and then whatever it was came back and Matthew was thrown across the alley, getting knocked out. I scrambled back, breathing hard as a First Blood appeared in front of me.

I didn't recognize him.

But I did.

Who was he?

He stared down at me, hard and cold features, black hair and just as black eyes. He seemed so familiar to me.

"Who are you?" I breathed.

He helped me up and I fell back against the brick wall half-conscious, I was so tired, watching him wearily. "I am Kylar," he said evenly. "You're the new St. Delphi."

I frowned, I didn't like how he said that, "what? No! I-I'm Mara, I don't know the St. Delphi's. Other than crashing their solstice party."

He smirked, stepping towards me and leaning down so we were face to face. I swallowed hard, turning away as he inhaled along the side of my face. I wanted to push him away, but I also didn't want to touch him, I feared what would happen.

He chuckled, and I looked back up at him uneasily. "Adam hasn't told you anything, has he? If you don't recognize me or know who you are, you must not know much at all."

"Wh-what does that mean?" I asked breathlessly. It's a good thing I was leaning against the wall already or I would've fallen over.

Who the hell was this guy?

Oh right, Kylar.

"Ask Adam about The Claiming," Kylar said, backing up a step. "And about the sire you killed."

What? That I killed?

"Who are you?" I demanded again, more forcefully.

Kylar was suddenly in front of me, his mouth slamming down onto mine. A sensation ripped over me, so familiar and twisted that my legs gave out. He wrapped an arm around my waist, pulling me against him and deepening it.

And I let him.

I let him kiss me more intimately then I'd ever let anyone kiss me before. When he pulled away, I collapsed, sliding to the ground in a daze. "I'm family," his voice was harsh and his teeth were elongating hungrily. But he didn't attack me, the opposite.

He was there one minute, gone the next.

I blinked, staring at the spot he been in, wondering if I was hallucinating. I brought my hand up to my mouth, touching my lips. I could still feel his lips pressed against mine, devouring me, his desire to touch me inside and out. I could still feel how he made me feel, how good he tasted, how good he felt touching me.

Just like the St. Delphi's, I didn't feel that urge to kill him either.

I felt thrown, like I was airborne and about to free-fall. No safety net to catch me. I would just keep falling and falling until one of them touched me and I was caught. I didn't want to be caught. I wanted to land on my own two feet like I'd been trained to.

Half out of it, I used the brick wall to stand and I went back towards the street. I had completely forgotten the School was here until the rest of Beta team appeared.

I paused, as they all lifted the dart guns. I couldn't fight these guys, not as partially drunk and totally spent as I was. "You guys wouldn't possibly be willing to reschedule this little tango, would you?" I chuckled nervously.

"Sorry, Mara, we have orders," I grimaced.

Arms wrapped around me and there was a crash of metal and as Adam spun us, darts flying past us, his back to them now. I glimpsed some kind of machine crash down in an explosion of wires and metal and plastic, forcing Beta team to dive out of the way.

A car pulled up and Adam took my hand and yanked me around the machine. Kale and Kade dropped down from the roof of the club and we all piled into the car.

As the car lurched forward, I watched Beta team speak into some kind radio. I turned back as Adam's grasp on me started to hurt.

"Jesus, would you-," Adam threw me a pitch black glare that shut me instantly.

I tugged my hand from his tightening and painful grip.

Everyone was quiet and tense as we drove back to the safe house.

As soon as we got there. Adam started yelling. "What the fuck did you idiots think you were doing?" he shouted, mostly at Kade.

We all sat down on the couch, tensely. "It was a good plan Adam," Kade said evenly, arms crossed.

"She can hardly walk! Or did none of you notice her inability to stand without flinching! How she managed to fight that team from the School is beyond me!"

They all looked at me now, "sorry," I said to them, I turned to Adam, "I should've been fine by now. I don't know why I'm not and I didn't let them see that I wasn't."

"Adam it was a good plan. She was supposed to be at the pier," Kale said, throwing me a glare.

"Pier was closed," I said simply.

Nate who was beside me, slowly turned and stared at me in confusion. He took a deep breath, before asking me, "Who were you with?"

"What?" I asked, bewildered.

Nate leaned into me and I backed up a little as he inhaled more deeply along my collarbone and shoulder.

His eyes widened and he turned to Adam, "there's a First Blood scent all over her. Someone was touching her!"

What a tattle tale. Wait.

A bad feeling hit me, and as I glanced around at everyone's blackening eyes and the growling that filled the room. I realized why.

Not good. The danger level just went up about a hundred for me.

Adam grabbed me, slamming me against the wall, holding my arms against my back tightly. I winced, letting out a pained breath. He inhaled along my shoulder and hair and his growl got more volume. "When did he touch you and how?"

"I-," I gasped in pain as his grip tightened and I pressed into the wall, squeezing my eyes shut. "H-he saved me!" I cried out and Adam released me abruptly.

I fell to the ground, and chest heaving I looked up, seeing that Nate had pulled Adam off of me. Adam, who looked like he was about ready to attack me. "Explain to me how that means he gets to touch you," Adam seethed, trying to push past Nate.

Kale came over to me, helping me up and setting me back down on the couch as I rolled my now, aching shoulders. Kade stood between all of us, facing Adam and I realized they were really worried about him actually hurting me.

Guilt filled me.

I was the shittiest hostage in the world. I so nearly laughed at that thought. Nearly.

"Beta team," I said staring passed Kade to Adam. "Beta team was there. They were about to dart me, that guy came out of nowhere and separated all of us. He pulled me up and shoved me back when they nearly darted me again. You said it yourself, I can hardly move without being in pain."

They went quiet, but Adam was still pissed off. "No, this wasn't him helping you up. He's all over you. What did he look like, what was his name?"

I scowled at him, "I don't know, he didn't stick around to chat! I got the impression he was just passing by and thought they were kidnapping me. I don't know who he was."

Not really anyway.

"And the club? You think I didn't see the video of you dancing with those two men?" Adam snapped, taking a menacing step forward. "They were all over you Mara, they wanted to take you home! They would have and I saw how drunk you were!"

The other three turned to stare at me and I blurted out the stupidest response, "there was a video?"

Kale lifted out his phone and I leaned over his arm, and then less than a minute later, there I was. Dancing, sandwiched between those two men. It wasn't that obvious I was drunk, especially with the dancing.

I grimaced, backing away from Kale as I felt the fury rising in him. He tossed the phone at Kade and then Nate was next to him and I heard the obnoxious high quality club music. This was about to blow up in my face.

Kale was growling at me now and a moment as the video ended, the other two were too. Adam wasn't anymore, but his eyes were still black. I glared at Adam, "that's what this is about? You saw the video and that's why you're all pissed off! And you say I'm immature, you controlling douche!"

Kale grabbed me by the throat, slamming me down onto the couch and I gasped, gripping his arm as he squeezed. "I promise you, if anyone so much as lays a hand on you, we will make you severely regret it," he seethed, grip tightening before he released me.

I wheezed, blinking up at the ceiling, stunned and kind of scared. Okay, I was more than a little scared.

I sat up, and the first thing I did was snap my fist into his face. He fell off the couch and then Kade and Nate were pushing us apart as we surged for one another. "Tell me what to do and that concern Adam had of me being unpredictable, I'll make it your biggest fear!"

Kale growled at me, lunging as Kade grabbed onto him, shoving him back. Nate was glaring at me fiercely. Adam spoke, voice harsh, "well Mara, if your plan was to infuriate us all, it worked. Yyou managed to royally piss us all off. Congratulations, the spot light is off of us and you're listed as a wanted runaway. Now go to bed."

Oh fuck did that ever sound familiar.

Slowly, rage filled me, burned in me. I turned, eyes burning as that red haze burned to take over and made me ache to lash out.

"Uh-oh," Nate said, watching me wide eyed, he actually backed up a step. I knew, physically, I couldn't fight for shit, but I could end this quickly.

I lifted a glass pane from the coffee table and whipped it at Adam. He ducked and I over turned the table and they all had to jump back as I rounded and took off out the side door.

I climbed into the car before they could catch me, leaving the driveway and going down the street.

I slammed my palm into the steering wheel.

A tear filled cry left me now, the red haze had faded. I don't know why I didn't try to attack them. It made more sense than running away had. But a slicing had cut into my heart just throwing that pane at Adam. I truly couldn't hurt them, even when I wanted to, even when I tried to.

I hated being treated this way. What the hell would it take for people to treat me equally? I was a teenager, yes, but I didn't deserve this. I wasn't just a kid and I had proved that over and over again. It hurt me, deeply, that people treated me like this. You'd think I deserved a little more respect.

I parked a couple blocks away, climbing out and entered a darkened children's park. Trees surrounded the area, thick ones.

With a sigh, i entered the sandbox, going to the swing set and dropping down tiredly.

I knew I'd be going back, but I was upset and I needed a moment to calm down.

I looked up, despite the pain I started to push myself back and forth a little, leaning against the chain as I gripped it at the seat's edge.

The moon was full. Maybe that was why I was going so crazy. I was always a little wilder during the full moon. Come to think of it, I never had any in the field jobs during the full moon. Was this why? Did I have some weird hormonal thing during the full moon?

Maybe I wasn't human after all. It would explain so much. How some force appeared as Beta team came at me. How I was so fast and could land on my two feet as I dropped five stories, my senses and strong intuition. Maybe I never had been human.

I didn't know.

I felt like I didn't know anything anymore.

I took a deep sad breath, and then felt them.

Two of the St. Delphi's were here.

I didn't show any indication that I'd heard or felt them.

Someone gripped the chains and I smiled a little as one of them pulled me back and let me go. I flew forward, unable to hide my grin. I saw Kale take the other swing and sit down. I knew who was pushing me then. Kade.

He pulled the swing back even further and I held the chains at my shoulders, content to just enjoy the ride.

After about half an hour, Kade stopped.

I pouted, but eventually smiled a little more calm as I turned to Kale, who I'd mostly ignored during my impromptu swinging session.

Kale had been watching me, I could tell by the fond, slightly content smile on his face. "You look kind of happy. I don't really see that on you much," he admitted, leaning forward and brushing the hair from my face.

"Who am I to you?" I whispered, ready to jump right into it again.

Kale's hand dropped and I watched, for what felt like the hundredth time, as the wall slammed down on him. I reached forward, taking Kale's hand and facing him steadily. "Who am I you?" I asked, voice even lower.

He held my hand in his, looking down at them. Mine was so small in his. I was so small compared to them. I couldn't be the only person that they've felt this intensely with. "You aren't," he said quietly, looking back up, eyes darkening slightly. "But you're the only one that has ever touched our souls without trying to and that makes you everything to us."

I blinked, surprised. "What does that mean?"

Man, did I ever talk out loud too much when I drank. I didn't even think the alcohol was still affecting me. Maybe it was something else. Maybe I just let my guard down around them.

"You're one in a million Mara, more, even more rare then that, one in a billion. We've met millions of people. You are the only one in all of our lives that in addition to the way you make us feel, managed to touch us, each of us," he raised his other hand, his hand pressing against my chest over my heart as it picked up, "in here."

"This thing we share, the connection, it is not just physical. I know you want it to be, and I think a part of you needs it to be, but it isn't. I know you want to believe that it is just that, flesh, a sensation that can only manifest on your body," Kade was kneeling down next to me as he spoke, reaching up and cupping my cheek as his thumb padded along beneath my right eye. "But it's not."

Kale spoke again, and I turned back to him, even as Kade left his hand against my face, where it slid down to cup the nape of my neck. "The bond we share, it will only grow, it will only get stronger the longer we are together." Kale tilted his head, giving me a sad smile, "And baby, It doesn't care that you are a hunter, one sent to kill us. It doesn't care about what any of us desires. It is what it is. I know that isn't what you want to hear and we didn't want to tell you this because we knew how you felt."

My eyes watered, and a tear slid free, but I stared back at him through the blur as he spoke softly, "We didn't tell you to treat you unequally. We didn't tell you because we knew that this isn't something you wanted. It is primal, Mara, it is beneath all of our differences and histories; in our souls. It will always be there, and if we separated, it would take us straight back to you. Babygirl, it's forever."

Tears slid free and I squeezed my eyes shut, pressing my face to my free hand gripping the chain. "I didn't want any of this."

"I know," Kale said sadly.

How am I supposed to give into something that I was taught to hate on principal? They still had yet to tell me what it meant. But for now, I don't think I wanted to know. Finding out it wouldn't be going away and it would only get worse, crushed me.

More tears fell.

Kade pulled me off of the swing, holding me in his arms as I trembled as though I was cold. I leaned against him, laying my forehead against his shoulder. He rocked us back and forth, comforting me as though I were a small scared child and I let him. Because, at this moment, I felt like I was a small scared child and they were my family. And for a moment, I wanted it to be just that.

After a while I drifted off, letting my heavy eyelids slide shut and succumbed to sleep.