Hey all! So here's the third to last chapter!! It's long, but action-packed!! (This is personally my favorite chapter of the whole story!) We're getting to the good part now! Review if you want more!!

~wwsadd

New Plans

I spent the rest of that day trying to decide just how to best set up my little counterattack. It was harder than it should have been, with Seth breathing down my neck. I was thankful that Chase was planning on Tyler's birthday for this to go down. The others would already be so preoccupied, they wouldn't notice me as much, and then the next day we could all celebrate being alive together at Ty's party.

It was obvious that I would be able to push him enough to get him to lose control of his Power- the hard part would be to continuously make him think he had a shot at killing me while staying back enough that that wouldn't happen.

Thankfully I was quite fast when I needed to be, and the pain in my ribs was already going away, although the large purple bruise wasn't fading. Kate said that it would take at least a month to heal. None of us had that long and it didn't matter anyway- I would work with what I had.

Sarah was great at distracting Seth, who still believed we had time- he didn't think anything had been decided, and my friends were good at keeping him occupied. He told them the pack legends, stories about my parents before they had me, and stories of me growing up in a house full of vampires.

The girls found it all fascinating, which seemed odd to me. I would have thought they would be running away screaming, but I guessed that with what had happened the previous year, it took a lot for something to reach "scary" status.

The worst part was that I had to distance myself from Reid. It hurt more than I thought possible, I finally understood the phrase 'broken heart'. I cried more in that week than I ever had before in my life. But I was adamant; they were not going to find out. Sarah and Kate tried to comfort me, they believed that we should leave them out of it too; no one wanted a repeat of last year.

They weren't happy with my plans, still insisting that there was probably a better way. But no one could find it, and with Tyler's ascension growing closer, they were willing to try anything that didn't involve the Sons. Not that that kept them from complaining whenever Seth wasn't around. I heard the same arguments enough that I could basically have them with myself.

"Are you sure you're faster than him?" Sarah asked for the three millionth time, four days after I had fought with Reid and Tyler had promised to keep everyone diverted. The girls had all but stopped speaking to their boyfriends, they were so afraid to let something slip. Kate, being the best liar, was fairly good at keeping Pogue from being suspicious, but she still spent most of her time in our room.

We were walking back from Tyler's swim meet, he was the only one we still spent any good amount of time with since he was good at not asking questions, and the others hadn't been able to make it to his competition. I looked around swiftly, letting my senses tell me if there was anyone within seeing or hearing distance.

I rolled my eyes, and took off, clear up the street, turned back, and raced toward them. I could tell that I had gone a good mile and a half in less than a minute. "Convinced?" I asked, and both of them nodded speechlessly.

"You do know it's really disconcerting when you do that, right?" Kate asked lightly. I admired how good she was with all this stuff. I imagined that my mother was like that when she found out Dad was a vampire.

I laughed. "Vampire, remember? Well, sort of anyways. So stop worrying so much. He won't catch me. And he can't throw those little energy –ball things at me, cuz it won't work. And neither will his creepy little spells." I added, remembering the more detailed story I had gotten from Kate about spiders.

"So I just have to keep him going until he exhausts his body. The more power, the faster the burnout. It really shouldn't be that hard you guys." I said, trying to convince them more than myself. I had spent too much energy trying to convince myself, and it just didn't work.

Instead of concentrating on the bad stuff, we all tried to focus on Tyler's party. I had called in the big guns on it, taking more than one page out of Aunt Alice's book. I even invited her and Jasper to the party, it had been too long since I had checked in with them, and I hoped that by inviting them, they would be less likely to show up before then to check on me. Besides, the danger would be over then, one way or another.

"Too bad he won't be picking out our outfits." Sarah said, throwing clothes from her closet to her bed.

"We should totally go all out though. Like, mix and match previous dumb outfits to make some seriously funny costumes. You know he would get a kick out of that." I said, likewise going through my overstuffed closet.

She agreed, and we modeled for each other, both ending up looking like a Halloween costume party gone bad. She had on my boots with hot pink tights and faded jean shorts. Her top was also pink, with a large black skull and crossbones. Fear Me was scripted underneath. We both laughed at the irony.

I had back on the green corset top I had worn my first night at Nicky's, but I went theatrical, and borrowed a ruffled black-lace tutu from Sarah that seemed to be somehow medieval when matched with the top. Faded ripped skinny jeans went underneath, and green platform sandals completed it.

"What is that?" I asked, folding the clothes up and putting them in a drawer until the party. She had out a pad and was drawing with a felt tip marker. The small five-point star was encircled, and there was writing around it, Latin I assumed.

"It's a protection symbol; I saw it in one of Caleb's family's books one time. I'm getting a tattoo of it." She said, pointing to her left hip. "Kate wants one too- we're thinking about going this afternoon. You wanna go?" She asked.

Seth would be in the library all afternoon- he was convinced that we had missed something. Suddenly I had a pressing urge to take Sarah up on her offer. I wanted to feel like I really was part of this close, loyal group. This tied them to the boys- and I needed that too.

"Sure, I'm game. I think it's a really good idea, actually. Maybe they really do offer some protection, couldn't hurt." I joked.

It did hurt, I supposed, a little. My skin was harder than theirs was, and I had a much higher pain tolerance. The black was sharp against my pale color; it seemed to me like it nearly glowed.

I wondered if it really would shine if there was some needle that could pierce a true vampire's skin. Ever since I had given up hunting, I had become much more human. I still looked like a vampire, but I wasn't nearly as strong as I had been the first years of my life.

This thought occurred to me as I was tracing the outline of the black circle, that half stuck up over the edge of my jeans. I didn't feel any need to hunt, but with Tyler's birthday in two days, the question was, should I? The idea actually sort of sickened me, as human as I had become.

I wasn't venomous, and I hated to admit it, but if I could hunt without killing anything, just taking a little, for strength's sake, might be a good idea. Of course, I would never ask for Sarah or Kate's opinion on that- but I did resolve to ask Seth what he thought.

"Seth?" I asked timidly, pulling myself up on the desk where he was pouring over another book on New England myths. He looked up, curiosity evident on his features.

"What's up Ness?" He asked, sliding a scrap of paper into the binding of the book and closing it.

"Uh… would you…go hunting with me?" I asked quickly, just wanting the words to be out in the open. His eyes widened, he had tried to convince me for months after Jake left that I should go with him, my parents, anyone. I had refused, training myself to go without.

"You want to hunt?" He asked, dumbfounded. "Why?"

"Because I'm tired of feeling weak. Please go with me? I'll go alone if you don't want to, but I'm going." I said resolutely, deciding in that moment that it was important.

"Of course I'll go with you. Let's get out of the area; do you want to go tonight?" He asked, gathering the books into a pile.

I shook my head. "Sarah and Kate and I are going to get Ty's birthday present tonight. Can we go tomorrow night? I have class till four, but we could leave just after that. Go camping up North maybe?" I asked, making it up as I went. I really just wanted it to be as soon as I could before facing Chase.

"Sure sure. Sounds like a plan. You're sure you're okay though, right?" He asked suspiciously.

I mock punched him. "I'm fine. I'd tell you if I wasn't." I said, and realized sadly that as true as it used to be, it was now a blatant lie.

The next day flew by, and it was a mere twenty four hours before I put my plan into action. I was painfully aware that I hadn't seen or spoken to Reid in a whole week. I realized that since the day I had met him I hadn't gone twenty four hours without at least talking to him. If I failed, then I would never get the chance to explain, to apologize. That thought was more painful than the thought of Chase actually killing me.

Seth drove my Porsche out into the wild Appalachians. By nightfall he pulled off to the dirt road, into a secluded clearing. "You're sure you want to do this?" He asked, opening my door for me, and offering me his hand.

I grinned, but it was off. "What, afraid I'm going to beat you?" I asked, watching him assemble the small tent with extraordinary speed.

He snorted, and seconds later he was no longer the large, ripped Indian that had been one of my father's best friends since before I was born. He was a gigantic dark wolf, towering over me by feet. I laughed, kicking off my flip flops. We took off into the forest, side by side, and this time I lowered the only wall I had ever put up in my own mind.

Letting my senses take over, I rushed ahead of Seth, deeper into the forest, hoping for a mountain lion, or a bear. Something that would put up at least a decent fight, I had a lot of pent up stress. Within ten minutes, we had both caught our prey. Even in wolf form, I could tell Seth was put out that my bear was bigger than his.

I let the warm liquid fill me, trying my best not to kill the bear. When I felt him start to weaken, I forced myself to stop, taking a step back, and letting the animal stumble away. It was unbelievable how fast my strength returned. I felt like I could pull one of the giant trees out of the ground with one hand. I probably could. My sight and hearing, and smell were all heightened considerably.

This was going to save my life, I realized. I couldn't run from who I was, not completely.

"You sure turned into a human." Seth teased later that night, as we curled up inside the tent. "You couldn't even finish off the bear."

"Why kill anyone or anything unnecessarily? I'm no more human than you, I just understand them better." I said, falling asleep quickly, full in way I hadn't been in a long time.

For the first time since this mess had started, I had a dream that had nothing to do with Putnam Barn, or the Sons finding out what we were hiding and rushing out to fight Chase. There was a weird quality to this dream, like it was a memory. It didn't occur to me until later that I was subconsciously letting my gift pull images from Seth's mind into mine.

"Leah, we have problems. Big big problems." Dream Seth said to his cell phone, in a back corner of the library.


Her voice crackled back over the receiver. "What else is new? What is it this time Seth? You know I don't know where Jake is. Every time we phase all we get from him is dark cold nothingness."

"Well we need to find him. Now. It isn't an option Leah. Renesmee is in trouble, life or death trouble. She won't listen to me, she won't do anything but rebel against her parents if we tell them. Jake is the only one who could possibly talk some sense into her before it's too late." He said, seriously but quietly.

"I'll do my best. Stall her, I'll run down the coast and track him down. Last time I got anything from him was four months ago- he was in South America. Fighting, as usual, he doesn't get that it's a lost cause. We can't win against this, we're all screwed, and I wish he would just come home and spend what time he had left with us. The pack is falling apart." She said desperately.

"I know. I'm going to phase and see if I can get through to him that way. He's ignored the bond between them for too long, if he doesn't hurry, everything is going to go to hell. Literally. Call me as soon as you can. And Leah?" He whispered.

"Yeah?" She asked, and it only just dawned on me that she sounded exhausted.

"Be careful." He said, hanging up the tiny cell phone and sticking it back in his pocket.


Far away, a wolf howled. The images sped forward, landing on my best friend, fighting against something that seemed to be pure shadow. It was cold, and dark. All I could tell was that he wasn't winning.


Suddenly he froze, and a look of apprehension crossed his face before he snarled, turning from the shadowy monstrosity and taking off into the rainforest. The shadow, to my horror, chased after him. It literally picked up my indestructible protector and flung him into a group of large trees. He slid to the ground, and I sub-consciously cried out in horror. He had just gone from being the attacker to being the attacked.

I jolted awake, the weak sunlight struggling to warm the ground outside the open tent. Seth was no longer inside, and I angrily untangled myself from the blankets and pushed my way outside. "Seth!" I yelled.

The large whimpering werewolf was pacing back and forth. I closed my eyes and let the images flow over my mind. Jake was trapped. He needed help, and I had less than fourteen hours till Ty's ascension. He wasn't going to be showing up to come to my rescue. It hit me hard that in the back of my head and deep in my heart I had been counting on him to save the day.

"Go Seth!" I cried, pointing south. "Help him!" He looked at me incredulously, and I remembered that he didn't know that I could do the reverse imaging thing yet. "Jake needs help, it's your job to help him, Jesus Seth, get moving!" I yelled, my voice cracking when I said his name.

Without another glance at me he leapt clear over the tent and took off faster than I had ever seen a werewolf move in my life. I put it out of my mind. There was no way I was getting to Jake; I had to save Reid and his brothers first. And there wasn't enough room in my head to worry about both.

I left the camp stuff. There wasn't time. I jumped in the Porsche and pressed the gas pedal down. I think I may have broken the speedometer, I was going over 120 miles an hour, the trees flashing by until I made it into Ipswich.

Passing Nicky's I sighed. I promised myself that I would get to be there again, be a kid again, when this day was over. I threw the car into park when I got to the parking lot. It was disconcerting to find the room empty, until I saw the note on Sarah's desk.

'Ness, big problems. I'm so sorry; I let something slip to Caleb. We're going to his house, meet us there, please! They're all going berserk, and Kate and I are at a loss, we can only keep them occupied for so long. We didn't tell them about Chase, only that you know about them. They're fifteen minutes away from coming after you. Just hurry, please, and leave Seth if you can- I don't want anyone to get in a fight.


Sarah.'

I groaned. "Shit." I muttered to myself. Tyler did not need this right now. Instead of getting back in my car, I took off for Caleb's on foot. It would be faster anyway. I didn't bother to knock; I just strode in, and made my way to the stairs.

I could hear yelling, and I braced myself.

"Knock knock." I managed to say lightly, opening the door to the downstairs, and effectively halting all conversation. Caleb actually looked angriest, though it seemed that anger was directed inward. And Reid looked like he was close to having a breakdown. Kate and Pogue looked like they wanted to kill each other, and that was probably the scariest of everything. Although the helpless look on Tyler's face came in a close second.

Sarah crossed the room quickly to throw her arms around my neck. "Sorry." She said desperately. I nodded.

I walked into the center of the circle that they seemed to have inadvertently formed. "Let's get this over with." I said, looking between all of them.

Caleb looked possibly too mad to speak. "How much do you know?"

I turned his words around, something I found myself doing a lot lately. "How much did you keep from me?" I asked. He flinched, and I regretted it. "Look, its okay. I swear, it's not the worst I've ever run into." I said, trying to keep my tone light until it was impossible.

"That's hard to believe. And how did you find out anyway?" Pogue snapped. Kate glared at him, and he returned it equally. I could see he was blaming her, and she was mad that he would trust her so little.

"That's a long story." I said shortly.

Tyler got up from where he was sitting. He came to stand directly in front of me. "Cliff Notes version." He said, giving a half smile that was sad and sweet at the same time.

I sighed, wondering if we would all even make it to tonight.

Reid cut in, and I saw how close he really was to falling apart. "Why are you even here?" He asked. Tyler looked like he was going to hit him, but I heard the meaning in the words. Why did I even bother? He thought I hated him for keeping this from me, and that was why I was avoiding him. I put my hand gently on Tyler's arm for a minute, before walking over to where Reid was seated on the high marble counter.

I kept back a couple feet, but faced him alone. Out of all of them he deserved the explanation. "Because, you weren't the only one with a secret that was too dangerous to share." I said, lightly opening my hand, inviting him to take it. He didn't seem convinced, but I begged him silently, and he finally laid his hand in mine.

I showed everyone, but I concentrated on the hand that held mine. Again, as with Sarah and Kate, I started at the beginning. I sped past images of my parents, and my childhood. I ended at the day Reid and I first danced at Nicky's, not quite ready to share the rest. Jumping ahead I showed them what happened when I had asked Jasper about them, and his answer, leaving out the part where Chase threatened me in my car. Skipping far ahead, I made slight alterations to to why exactly Seth was here, but showed them that I was defending them against the werewolf that clearly did not like them.

Opening my eyes, I looked everywhere but at the boy in front of me. I didn't want to see revulsion. He had, after all, spent the last month making out with a vampire-girl. I tried to pull my hand out of his, back up so I could focus on the others, but his hand was tight around mine. "Reid, let go." I said, tugging away.

Instead of releasing it, he used it to draw me in to him. "Not a chance." He said shortly, and bent his face down to mine. I couldn't believe this was happening. How could he want his face anywhere near mine? But I reacted as I always did, winding my fingers through his blond hair, pulling myself up so I could reach better.

A few sweet seconds later, I heard someone clear their throat, my guess was Caleb. I pulled back and turned around, but Reid wouldn't let me go far. His arms stayed around me, and I never wanted that feeling of absolute safety to go away. "Want to explain what exactly that was?" Caleb asked, his face and voice both softer now than they had been minutes previously.

I shrugged. "That was me. Where I came from, how I found out about you guys. Why you don't scare me." I teased, elbowing Reid lightly. "My uncles are all way scarier than you lot." I taunted.

Pogue scoffed; apparently everything was okay now that he believed that Kate hadn't exposed them. Kate still looked angry though. "Right. We could probably take them." He said.

"Let's not test that theory, I'd really hate to be the reason the Sons of Ipswich ceased to exist." I laughed, but the girls caught my double meaning. Sarah shot me a look.

"How did you do that?" Tyler asked, looking excited. "That thing where you showed us your life."

I grinned mischievously. "My dad can read minds, and my mom works as like, a shield. She can reverse the effects of other people's mind tricks; I guess you could call them. Somehow I just have the ability to show people things. I've been able to do it since I was born."

"Wait a second…" Kate started, something occurring to her. "Can you do the reverse? See things other people are thinking?" She asked.

I smirked. "Well that is for me to know and you all to never find out." I said with a snicker. I felt Reid stiffen, and Pogue started laughing. "I don't do it unless I'm upset though, I'm not a big fan of privacy invasion- when my emotions get out of hand it's harder for me to control." I said, leaning back in his arms, glad when I felt him relax.

"So then, about these giant wolves." Caleb started. Sarah flinched; she hadn't exactly mentioned that Seth had been sleeping over. "What's their deal?"

"My best friend in the whole world is the leader of the Quileute werewolves. Right now he's in some serious trouble down south. His, I don't know… second in command? Seth- is the one he sends to babysit me. That's why he was here. He doesn't really like you guys… but I think I have him convinced you aren't bad people." I explained.

Reid sighed. "I'm sorry I didn't trust you." He said. Everyone stopped breathing for a moment. Apparently they had never heard Reid Garwin apologize before. I giggled at the look on Pogue's face.

"It's okay, I forgive you." I said simply, smiling even wider when he kissed me lightly on the cheek. Suddenly everything seemed okay; no matter how much was still so wrong.

"So… where is Seth now?" Tyler asked, as if realizing suddenly that I had arrived alone.

It was my turn to stiffen. Reid's arms pulled me closer in comfort. "Jake just went from bad to worse, fighting some, I don't know, shadow thing. Seth took off in a hurry- trying to make it before it's too late." I said, willing myself not to get emotional. I couldn't stop myself from shuddering slightly.

Sarah's eyes suddenly filled with tears, and Caleb automatically pulled her closer. "I'm so sorry Nessie." She said.

I swallowed hard, keeping on top of the panic. "It's going to be alright. Seth is going to make it in time. I have to believe that." I said resolutely, tightening my grip on Reid's arms that were still around me. The comfort of having his body so close to mine still astounded me.

"Shadow?" Caleb said sharply.

I nodded. "I didn't have a chance to ask Seth what it was, and I'm pretty sure he didn't know anyway. Jake was pretty good about keeping it all under wraps, even from the rest of the pack." I needed to change the subject. "So, about tonight… I'm confused. What exactly is going to happen?" I asked, reaching for Tyler's hand, and dragging him over to me.

He shrugged self-consciously. I could see the fear, though it was well hidden. No one spoke. "It's really that bad?" I asked, becoming worried. Still, no one said anything. "Uh… is anyone going to clue me in?"

Caleb ran his free hand through his hair. "It's going to be fine. It's not as dangerous as it seems- you're going to do great." He said, speaking to Ty now.

Pogue cut in, for once dead serious. "It's just… really painful." He said, his voice going hard. "There are… large amounts of electricity involved." I shivered, shrinking into Reid's chest as much as I could, not wanting to think about it. Changing my mind, I broke out of his grasp and threw my arms around Tyler, who automatically hugged me back.

"Hey, it'll be okay." He whispered. "I'm stronger than I look." He joked. I nodded, unconvinced.

"So, now that almost everything is out in the open, who wants to get some lunch?" Sarah asked brightly.

Caleb quickly turned to stare at her. "Almost?" He asked shortly. Sarah's face fell, Kate slapped herself in the forehead.

"Damn it Sarah!" I groaned.

"Oops?" She said.

"Oh joy. What now?" Pogue asked, looking between the three of us.

"Nothing." I said adamantly. "Nothing anyone needs to worry about now."

"Seriously." Sarah added. "You all don't need something else to freak out about."

"Sarah, shut it. You aren't helping." Kate warned. I closed my eyes and pinched the bridge of my nose. This was not happening. I felt a hand tugging on my arm. I looked up, and Tyler's face was inches from mine.

"Just tell us, I'm pretty sure none of us can be more stressed out than we already are." He said.

"Wanna bet?" I asked. But the look on his face was clearly a no-bullshit one. I knew I wasn't getting out of it. Sighing, I lightly placed my hand on his shoulder. I showed him Chase, just in the car- leaving the rest out.

He stumbled back. "You have got to be kidding." He growled.

"'Fraid not." I said shortly. "But I totally have this one under control." I added.

He gave me a dubious look. "The hell you do-"

"Vampire, remember?" I cut in.

"Why don't you share with the group?" Reid suggested, hopping down from the counter and coming to wrap his arms around me. The separation must have been as hard on him as it was on me.

"Because the group doesn't want to know." I muttered. Tyler nodded in agreement, or so it seemed.

"Trust me, guys. You really don't." He said. "So let's hear this brilliant plan of yours, if you're so sure you have everything handled." He challenged. Sighing, I reached out to grab his hand, showing him my plan. Chase withering away quickly from trying too hard to use Power that didn't work.

"It doesn't work on you?" He asked sharply, looking up. I shook my head. His eyes flashed with fire, and suddenly Reid was leaping at him.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" He roared. I grabbed Reid and yanked him back before he could injure his best friend. Pogue had also started forward, Caleb looked furious.

I was taken aback by the black that all their eyes had turned to. "Everyone cool it, okay? Geez. He knew it wouldn't work, he saw it." I snapped. That brought them up short.

"How did you know it wouldn't work? How did you figure that out?" Caleb asked suspiciously. "None of us have Used on you." He said, his eyes returning to normal.

I nodded, entirely sick of the charade. "None of you four Sons of Ipswich have. But there aren't four Sons, are there? There are five." I said shortly.

All hell broke loose.

Caleb finally took charge, after five minutes of pure pandemonium. "Chase." He specified, trying to get the situation figured out. I nodded.

"That first weekend we met. He told me to tell you that the game was back on, and it seemed like a bad idea at the time to just play into his hands like that. Then, a month later, the night we went dancing…" I trailed off, looking quickly at Reid, who had murder written all over his face.

"He showed up in the room. Told me I wasn't very good at following directions- ranted at me a little… said I was 'something', and went on about how he didn't want to have to kill me, he wanted to keep me, apparently I'm amazing like that. Until I hit him. … Well I guess he thought that was pretty funny actually.

"Then, when I left here that afternoon, took off without saying goodbye, it was because Seth found out about you all. I ran into Chase again in the forest… that's when he flipped out and Used. And it just didn't work." I explained, giving up and showing them the moments in the forest, starting from when Sarah called.

"Sarah, I'm kind of in the middle of-" I started.


"Nessie! Where are you? We got back to the dorms like, two and a half hours ago, and we've been trying to call you! We need to keep tabs on each other at all times right now. Plus Caleb totally suspects something is up now. When you took off earlier he definitely didn't buy our excuses. You need to get back here before they do- they'll be here in another couple hours, can you make it?" She asked, rambling to the end of her question.


I groaned. "I'll do my best Sarah, but seriously, I can't talk right now. I'm dealing with… our problem." I said lamely. "Chase says hi." I added.


I heard her gasp. "Chase? What? Please tell me you're in a public place." She pleaded.


I laughed humorlessly. "I'm not sure where I am. I can tell you I haven't caught the scent of another person in the last forty minutes. I'd say I'm a good hundred miles from the nearest town. I'll get back as soon as I can, let me just get rid of this idiot." I said.


Chase clapped a hand over his heart. "Oh, Rainy, that hurts." He sneered.


I heard Sarah's intake of breath as she heard his voice reverberate over the phone line. I stuck my tongue out at him. "I'm an honest person, get used to it."


"Maybe you should try not to anger him Ness." Sarah suggested desperately. I rolled my eyes.


"Well you know what I think? I think he's just a big coward that's all talk. He keeps threatening me, but besides pushing me down that one time, I haven't seen anything extraordinary." I said shortly.


"Nessie!" I heard her cry. "Do you have a death wish?" She yelled.


Chase was suddenly growling, his eyes a deep, soulless black.


"Not particularly." I said. "I'll talk to you soon. Tell the guys I had a family emergency, and tell Reid I'll call him if I don't make it in time." I requested, hanging up and turning back to Chase.


"Bad decision Rainy." He snarled, and made a motion with his hands. "What?" He screamed, making the motion again. Again, nothing happened. "Impossible." He growled.


"Well… I'd love to stay and play, but I've got places to be, you know how it is." I said sweetly, edging away. Unfortunately, as immune as I happened to be to his powers, he could still use his physical strength against me.


He lunged, his hands closing around my neck. "How!?" He screamed. "What are you?" He continued to screech, throwing me back into the tree. I saw stars, and it took all the strength I had to keep from sliding to the ground.


"I don't know what you're talking about." I managed to gasp.


He jumped at me, but I slipped out of his way.

I brought everyone back to reality.

Pogue flinched. "Ouch." He muttered. Kate nodded.

"Cracked two ribs, at least." She said matter of factly. I glared at her. She shrugged. "What? Cat's out of the bag now anyway."

There was fire blooming in Reid's midnight black eyes. I quickly reached up to put my hands on his face, trying to calm him down. He was visibly shaking, and I concentrated on showing him all the good things I could remember, the first night at Nicky's, the night at the Dells, the night we argued and ended up making out against my car door, and the night we went dancing. Slowly his eyes faded back to the piercing blue I was used to.

"Damn it." Caleb muttered. "Of course he would show up again when we've all got other things to worry about."

I nodded, not taking my hands from Reid's face. "You're all weak right now. He thinks he has a better shot at killing you." I said bluntly.

"I can't believe I got you dragged into this." Reid mumbled, pulling my hands from his face but using them to pull me into his arms. "I swear to you I thought this was over."

I kissed him lightly before turning back to the others. "It's not the worst situation I've ever been in. Trust me, I've seen worse. There's a long list of people that want me dead, so Chase is just going to have to wait in line. You guys just focus on tonight- I have a plan to keep Chase otherwise occupied." I said, with a quick grin.

Reid's grip on my waist tightened. "Hell no." He said shortly. He glared at Caleb. "You said he was gone." I sighed.

"Seriously you guys. The plan I have will work. Then he'll really be gone." I muttered.

"If the three of us can't beat him, what makes you think you have a shot in hell?" Pogue asked.

"Well, first of all, he doesn't want to kill me. He wants me to get to you." I said, poking Reid in the side. "So don't take the bait. And second of all, I can do this-" I slipped out of Reid's arms and leapt across the room, clear over the pool table, and then ran as quickly as I could, skidding to a stop right in front of them. "I'm wicked fast." I said, giggling at Tyler's agape mouth.

There was something like chagrin in Caleb's eyes. He looked like he wanted to trust me, but he reluctantly shook his head. "We can't let you put yourself in that kind of danger against our enemy Rainy. He wants us."

"But he's using me- so why don't you play that to your advantage? He doesn't know what I am, he doesn't know what I can do, and believe it or not, I'm stronger than I look too. We're on a team together now, this is my fight too- get used to the idea." I said, echoing Caleb just a few days before, when he had told me to get used to his over-protectiveness.

"Over my dead body." Reid said, angry again.

I groaned. This was going to be tricky.

preview of next chapter!!

"So… are you saying if I… will my powers to Chase, it will cancel his out?" I asked slowly.

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