DPOV

Arianna was waiting for me when I got home. I didn't want to talk to her at all because I knew in her eyes, I had failed. And when she figured that out…

"I gave you one rule," she said softly when I walked through to front door. "One. Keep your secret to yourself. And what did you do?"

"You were spying," I accused. Of course she was. She was everywhere I didn't want her to be.

"You had to know I would keep my eye on you," she chastised me. "So, obviously you have a death wish for Cassie. Now that she knows, I'm going to have to take her out."

I snarled at her. "No, Arianna."

She smiled evilly, knowing she had me exactly where she wanted me. "Or what? Are you offering up an alternative?"

I swallowed. "What do you want, Arianna?"

"Short term or long term?" she grinned. I could tell she was enjoying playing with me, especially when there was nothing I could do about it.

"Arianna," I snarled, ready to attack. I could feel my fangs popping out.

She laughed. "I want Power," she said. "I was going to kill Cassie either way, whether you helped me or not." Why was I not surprised? "You are still so naïve…" she grinned and walked toward me, letting her finger run down my chest. I took a step back.

"I will not let you end her, Arianna. You're going to have to go through me first." Why was I defending a witch? Why did I even care about Cassie?

"That's a good question," Arianna replied, reading my thoughts. "Why do you care about Cassie Blake? Does she make you feel human again?" She laughed again, mocking my stand against her.

"She doesn't deserve to get killed," I replied softly.

"Well I'm going to anyway. Should I just do it, or should I play with my food first?"

"You should find better food," I told her.

"There is no better food! Don't you understand?" Now her fangs were showing. "I need her. And I'm going to get her. Don't try and go against me. You'll lose." With that, she disappeared.

It took me a split second to decide that I needed to go find Cassie and warn her. I grabbed my car keys and drove back to her house as fast as I could, just needing to know she was safe from my ex-girlfriend psychopath.

CPOV

I woke up to a loud knocking at my door. I groaned and opened my eyes. Diana was still asleep, so I hurried to get the door before she was awoken, too.

Darian was at the door. "What the hell?" I questioned. "Its…2 AM and you're at my door?"

"You're in danger," he told me. "Please, let me come in."

"No," I retorted. Then I thought about my ideas…was he misunderstood or evil?

"Please," he pleaded. "There is someone after you, your Power. She wants to end you."

I had never seen such sincerity in someone's eyes before. I truly believed that he was looking out for me…but why?

"Why do you care?" I asked quietly.

"I don't know, to be honest. There's something about you…I tried to stand up to her and tell her to stop, but she's more powerful than I am. I needed to see if you were alright…"

I nodded. "Fine. Come in," I told him. He sighed with relief and walked into my house. I prayed to God I wasn't making a mistake.

"Who is this threat?" I asked.

He swallowed as if he was making a big decision about telling me. "Her name is Arianna," he said.

"Wait. New girl Arianna? The one you said you didn't know…?"

"I lied. We grew up together…we were turned together. That's a different story. The point is she's dangerous, and she wants your blood. All of it. And she's not going to stop until she gets it."

I nodded. "So. Does fire work on her, too?"

Darian nodded. "Yes. But she'll be anticipating every attack. She probably has whipped vampire minions to do her dirty work." He looked down as if embarrassed about something. It clicked.

"Were you…you were one of her…ohmygod," I said. "No. How can I trust you if you were working for her once?"

"I was working for her until after our date, Cassie. I wasn't supposed to tell you that I was a vampire…I was just supposed to get information about you. But there was something about you…"

"Get out!" I cried. This was not happening. I had just let in a man who was working for someone who was trying to kill me.

"I can't leave you…she'll find you and kill you…"

I conjured a ball of fire in my hand. "Out," I demanded. There way no way he was staying in my house.

His eyes widened in fear, and he stood up. "Ok…ok. Calm down…I really want to protect you. I swear."

"The problem is I don't believe you. So leave," I demanded again.

"Be careful. Please." With that, he disappeared.

I felt the tears welling up in my eyes, and I let myself cry. I was such an idiot! Now he could always get inside my house…and kill me. Oh god, what had I done? I was going to die. I was going to die and there was no way around it.

I was going to tell the Circle everything tomorrow. We had to fight.