"I'm sorry Eve, I can't tell you where she is right now, but… But I can say that I've seen her with my own two eyes and she's alive and well." I silently slipped int the kitchen while Fin was talking to someone on the phone. "I don't know when, but…" He jumped slightly when he turned back to his coffee on the kitchen island and found me on the other side of it. "But, I'll do that as soon as I can… Yes, I promise… Alright, but I need to go…" He laughed softly there. I had never witnessed Fin laugh like that before just now. "Yes, patrols. Alright, talk to you soon, Eve. Good night."

I pulled a piece of bacon off the plate beside his cup of coffee. He watched me start to nibble on it as he asked, "How did you sleep today, Cora?"

"All things considered, pretty good."

He chuckled as he watched me pull another piece of bacon towards me. "So? On the phone? Was…? Wat that…? Umm… Were you talking to my…?"

"Yes, it was your mother," he interrupted as he reached out and gently gripped my forearm. I shook my head sadly prompting him to ask, "Cora? What…?"

"She isn't my mother," I quietly explained over the rest of his question.

"Cora? What did you say?" He asked as he squeezed my arm.

I realized then that I was staring at the counter and mumbling, so I forced myself to look up at him. When our eyes me, his face fell and all of the humor in his features instantly disappeared. After he placed his coffee mug on the island, he abandoned it there to move to my side. He gently turned my chin in the cup of his hand so that he could look me in the eyes more easily.

His expression softened as we stared into each other's eyes. "Cora? What has caused this gloomy look in your eyes?"

"She isn't my mother."

"Cora!" I almost laughed at the scandalized tone he used. But I was feeling too numb to properly react. "Why would you say such a thing?"

"Not saying, just repeating what I was told."

"Repeating? Wow… I think we should take our coffee out into the garden while we talk. What do you think?"

"I think… I'll follow you."

I picked up my oversized coffee mug that he had prepared for me and moved out a side door onto a small patio. I called this 'The Night Garden' because he had worked with his gardeners to ensure that all of the plants in this area of his yard were nocturnal. On the lattice that lined three of the four sides of the sitting area were fragrant angel's trumpets. They hung down gracefully and almost looked like a cascading waterfall in the moonlight.

The patio was also lined with planter boxes that were filled with evening primrose, moonflowers and tuberose. When you sat out here on a clear night under a full moon it felt like you were sitting at the most prestigious garden tea party. He knew that I always felt more at ease when I was surrounded by vegetation, so this had quickly become my favorite places at his home. (The other was his gym but that was mostly because he had the best equipment or any type of workout you would ever want to do, all in one room.)

I let my eyes flutter closed while I took a long drink from my mug and inhaled the scent of all the flowers around me. I felt the turmoil in my soul start to settle just like my thoughts did whenever I sat out here with Fin. Which was probably why he suggested we come out here in the first place.

With my eyes still closed and a soft smile spreading across my face, I asked, "Is this one of your abilities?"

"Actually," he started as he reached out and touched the bare flesh of my forearm. "Yes, it is."

My eyes drifted open as I turned to look at him. "You can calm people down with a single touch."

He slowly released my arm replying, "I can help people feel a sense of calm during a crisis, yes. But, Cora? This truly is the first time that I've ever used it on you, I swear."

"I know," I stated almost automatically. When I had my eyes fully opened and focused on Fin, I more insistently said, "I know, Fin. I've always felt a weird sense of calm out here in your garden, but tonight feels different. Tonight, I feel like nothing could upset me. But you did that on purpose, right?"

He gave me a shy smile as he answered, "You know me too well. So, you've had some time to think… Do you think you can tell me what has caused it?"

"My hiding?"

"Yes, if you don't mind. Does it have anything to do with the information that you were merely repeating to me in the kitchen?"

I took in another slow, deep breath to take in more of the floral scents surrounding us. "Yes, it has everything to do with it."

"I'm sorry," he stated in a painfully sincere tone.

"It's not your fault," I replied with a warm smile.

"None the less, I'm very sorry someone said such ugly lies to you. Do you mind me asking who it was?"

I stared at him for a second because I wasn't quite sure what to say next. He truly believed that someone had lied to me just to hurt me, but I knew those words were the truth. But how could I tell Fin that? How could I make him understand it wasn't a fabrication or lie?

Just tell him the truth.

"Fin?" I started slowly. "I wasn't just some random person who said that to me, it was my mom who finally told me the truth."

"Your mom? Really? Are you sure?"

His truly befuddled tone made me laugh. "Yes, Fin. I'm VERY sure."

He blushed then asked, "Would you mind telling me what happened? Because I'm having a hard time picturing how this all went down… Because Eve has been beside herself worrying about you and where you might be right now."

I snorted derisively and didn't care how impolite my tone sounded when I retorted, "Yeah… right."

He gave me wide eyes and replied in a calm tone that he needed to patent and put up for sale, because he was the only person I knew that could sound so forceful without being patronizing, "Yes, that IS right. She has spent the last five nights at Sanctuary hoping to catch a glimpse of you."

"What? She… she only likes going there for special occasions. Why…?"

"Because she loves you."

"NO. She doesn't," I stated in a finite voice.

Fin looked shell shocked at my response. He took a second to collect himself before he asked, "How did you get here, Cher? What did she say to you? Can you please tell me a bit more about that?"

I tried to take in a couple of calming breathes but I ended up still letting out a quiet sob as I spoke, "It all started when I got home the day after I helped you. She was waiting for me at the door and started to lay into me about being lay for so long. I thought she was teasing me, so I started joking around with her, but then… then…"

My sobs threatened to over take me, so Fin stood up and wrapped me in a hug. Once my tears subsided and my breathing evened out, he started to step out of the embrace. I wrapped my arms around his waist because I wasn't sure I could make it through this without his calming aura.

To his credit he didn't continue to try to get away from me. Instead he eased himself onto the arm of the chair where I was seated and made himself comfortable. I rested my head against his side as he started to stroke my hair.

"I thought she was just joking, but then she told me that if she knew that she was going to raise a Hunter-Bunny she would have told Acheron to take me to someone else to raise me." Fresh tears started to fall then but I somehow managed to keep my tone somewhat even as I continued. "I know everyone talks a lot of shit about our friendship, but I never thought she'd be one of them. I thought she knew how committed to being a Squire I am and that you've been instrumental in helping me train. I never… never thought she'd call me a whore for doing the job I was born to do."

"Your mother?" He questioned. "Eve Christianson?"

"Yes, her," I replied trying not to sound overly exasperated.

"I'm sorry Cora, I'm not trying to frustrate you, but that doesn't sound like the woman I spoke to last night."

"Okay, this is where I have to ask you to explain."

"While I was doing my patrols las night I ended up speaking with Dev. He mentioned that Eve had been spending her evenings there, so I went in to check on her. She practically dragged me to her table and she was almost in tears when we spoke. She truly did look like she was sick with worry about you."

"I don't know why she would be, not after what she said to me."

"I know, that's why it doesn't make any sense." He paused there and squatted down in front of me so that we could look each other in the eyes while we spoke. "I was thinking maybe you should talk to Acheron and find out if what she said is true."

"I don't know. What difference would it make?"

"Well, if it isn't true then maybe there's something else going on."

"Something…? Are you saying you think that someone was impersonating my mom? Why would someone do that?"

He shrugged. "I don't know. All I can say for certain is that what you've described sounds kind of like a possession to me. Demons don't really seem to ever have a motive, they just like to cause chaos."

I stared down at him while I gave his words some thought. The person I had been speaking with sounded like a stranger to me, but I thought it had been wishful thinking. I had never thought I'd ever hear my mother say such hurtful things, especially not to me, so I had tried to convince myself it wasn't her. But, if Fin was thinking the same thing then maybe it wasn't such a crazy thought after all.

Fin's face contorted into one of questioning horror when he saw me start to break down in tears again. Thankfully he didn't say anything, nor did he try to get me to speak. Instead he stood up and wrapped me in a tight hug. It didn't take long after that I started to feel myself calm down.

As I reciprocated his hug I finally said, "I thought the idea of her being possessed was too ludicrous, so I didn't say anything. But if you think it might be true, maybe it isn't so crazy."

"Because it isn't. So? Does that mean…?"

I pushed out of his embrace so that I could look up into his face when I answered, "Yes, please call Acheron."

After he made the call, Fin left the house to do his nightly patrols. We didn't really discuss that part at all and yet we seemed to have silently come to the consensus that this was something that I needed to do on my own. But as he left he told me no less than three times to call him if I needed him to come home, to which I promised I would each time he repeated the instructions.

While I waited for Acheron to arrive, I curled up on Fin's couch and tried to relax. Key word there is 'tried'. I couldn't get my thoughts to slow down or turn off. I knew that the conflict I was having with my mother was causing this turmoil for me now, but knowing that fact and knowing what to do with that information were two completely different things.

Even though Fin spent little to none of his waking hours at his house, he still paid for all of the specialty and movie networks. I had asked him about that once because it had seemed like such a waste to me. He replied that he never knew who he might be expected to entertain at any given time. Since e couldn't go outside when the sun was out, he wanted to make sure he had something to keep his guests occupied, especially if they were human.

Well today I was thankful for that logic. That meant I had a bunch of channels from which I could choose to watch. But all that I really ended up doing was flipping through the channels without really paying attention to any of the shows that flickered on the screen. Instead, I just kept thinking about Fin's theory of my mother being possessed and what that could mean for the veracity of the information said to me.

If she was possessed then the dome was probably lying, right? He said they like to cause turmoil for no reason. What better way to screw with my had is there then…?

My thoughts were abruptly interrupted by the sound of the doorbell chiming. I stared at the TV for a couple of breaths before I turned it off and forced myself to get off the couch. I don't know why I was feeling so reluctant to open the door because at least I'd find out the truth from Ash, even if it wasn't what I wanted to hear.

It felt like it took me an eternity to get to the door. In that time, I somehow managed to work myself up a bit. I could feel tears gathering in the corners of my eyes, so I paused with my hand on the door's handle while I tried to will them away.

All of that must have taken longer than I had thought it would because I was started out of the breathing exercises Fin had taught me by the sound of he doorbell. Ash was one of the most patient people I had ever met, so it took a bit to make him show some form of annoyance. The fact that I had done that just by taking too long to answer the door seemed really funny to me.

A bought of laughter started to bubble up through my chest as I started to open the door. I guess it would be better to be laughing than crying while I talked with my boss.

Once I had the door open, Ash tuned back to face me. There were so many things about him that fascinated me; his height, his beauty and his silver swirling eyes to name a few. But what had me the most transfixed when I was near him was the undeniable aura of sadness I could feel around him. Outwardly, he could look happy and content, especially when he was with his wife and children, but that sadness was always there. I asked my mom about it once when I was younger, and she had no idea what I was talking about. I seemed to be the only one who could sense it.

He smiled down at me, but before he could speak, I let out a loud sob and practically fell forward into his chest. Poor Ash, he had no idea why I was such a mess, but he still took it all in stride. Without a moment's hesitation, he wrapped his arms around me and cradled me against his body. Although everything he was saying and doing was quite comforting, I son found myself crying uncontrollably in his arms.