Here's the next chapter, and sorry if it took forever to update. The last part of this chapter is from the book, but the words are slightly altered.

THE RETURN

Grubbs felt the breath knocked out of him as he slammed against a hard, wooden floor, and heard a faint grunt from Merlin landing beside him. He could see a golden window hovering inches above his head, a cold breeze issuing out of it tickling his nose. With a soft snap, the window disintegrated and returned to nothingness.

Grubbs lay sprawled on his back, breathing hard.

"Grubbs?" came a stunned, hoarse voice, a voice he recognised instantly, the familiarity sweeter than honey.

"Dervish!" Grubbs cried, leaping up at once and running into his uncle's open arms. Dervish ruffled his ginger hair and chuckled.

"I thought the worse had happened to you, Grubbs." He looked up and glanced over Grubbs' shoulder, and his face broke out into a soft smile and he added "And you, Merlin, dear Come here."

Merlin's gloomy expression brightened at once and she joined the two of them. "Group hug!" she said, and they all laughed.

Grubbs was home! The feeling was warm and relaxed, and he relished taking in the furniture and architecture of the house his eyes usually passed over without appreciation. He took the ordinariness of life for granted sometimes, and only after battling Demon is hellish parallel worlds did he fully understand how lucky he was to live in a Demon-free universe.

A few hours later, after a good meal and wash, Grubbs, with Merlin sitting subdued beside him, was explaining to Dervish what had happened in his absence. At the part when Patrick was tricked into passing through a window, Merlin muttered something like "I'm tired, I'm turning in early", even though it was only 6pm, and she'd already had hours of sleep the previous day.

As Merlin trudged up the stairs, one miserable step at a time, Grubbs whispered anxiously to Dervish "D'you think she's gonna be OK?"

"In time," Dervish replied. "I know of Patrick Steel. Used to be an archaeologist or something before he realised he had magical abilities and joined the Disciples." Grubbs never thought Patrick had been an archaeologist once upon a time, not in that neat suit and immaculate hair and teeth.

"Only met him once or twice, only a few years back" continued Dervish. "But he's a good bloke. Shame, to lose him."

"But he might not be dead," suggested Grubbs. "He could-hang on." A dark realisation dawned upon him. "If you only met him a few years back, and you knew what Merlin was, does that mean that," Grubbs gulped drily. "That Patrick told you I had a sister, and you never thought to tell me!?"

"That's not true," his uncle shot back. "Well, it is, but," he added hastily and raising a hand before Grubbs could shout something at him "there's a reason why I couldn't tell you."

"And why's that?" said Grubbs through gritted teeth.

Dervish sighed and said quietly "For all these years, up to a few months ago, Merlin wasn't exactly, er, what you would call civilised."

He paused at Grubbs' confused face.

"Let me elaborate. Most of the time, she was feral, wild, almost demonic. If she encountered a human, whether she was transformed or not, she would surely tear them to pieces. Of course, she would have regretted it later when she regained her mind. Patrick met me a couple of weeks before you moved in with me. He told me about that your sister was still alive, that he saved her from her kidnappers and an early death, and how ferocious she was."

"But how come Patrick was able to go near her for about fourteen years?" snapped Grubbs.

"Patrick has a rare talent," explained Dervish. "He has a way of taming wild animals-"

"Merlin is not an animal" Grubbs hissed protectively.

"I know, I know, but that was how it was. Anyway, Merlin was less inclined to attack him whenever she had one of her mood swings, but that didn't mean he didn't get hurt."

"I guess I see now" said Grubbs glumly. It must have been horrible, weaving in and out of insanity. But Grubbs was still feeling hot-headed and sad that all the time he'd lived with Dervish, he never told him. Grubbs suddenly had the urge to speak to his half-brother, Bill-E. He needed someone close to talk to, someone else who could understand the family and the Demonata. But before he could ask Dervish whether Bill-E was around, his uncle interrupted him.

"Meera's heading off for pastures distant, might not be back this way for several months, and I want to say goodbye in style."

"In style?" smirked Grubbs, his rage draining away at the mention of Meera. "Are you and Meera finally going to get it on?"

"Don't be ridiculous, we're just friends. You know that."

"That's what you always tell me…"

"Well," his uncle huffed. "It's true. I've never made a pass at her and I don't intend to start now."

"Why not?" asked Grubbs, his interest sparked.

"Grubbs" he says softly whilst taking on a strange expression. "Remember when I told you that your das was Bill-E's dad too?"

"Yes?" Grubbs says slowly.

"What I didn't tell you was that your mother…well, Meera…"

Grubbs gawps at the man with his jaw almost reaching the floor. Then a sly grins curls across Dervish's face, and Grubbs roared "You son of a jackal!" and aiming a swat at his head.

"I don't want to lay it on heavy, but I've got something to tell you and I want you to pay attention."

"Now what?" said Grubbs with a moan.

"This house has already been wrecked once already, I don't want it destroyed again. I don't want it destroyed again. Keep your freakish little friends as under as much control as possible. A certain amount of wear and tear is unavoidable, I accept that, but they'll only run wild if you let them. Lay down the law and they won't cause too much damage. And for heaven's sake, don't let them into my study. Remember that it's guarded by spells, so if anyone wanders in uninvited…"

"What are you blabbering on about?" demanded Grubbs.

"You're a bit slow today aren't you?" said Dervish with a frown. "I'm going away." He tapped Grubbs on the forehead. ""You'll have the house to yourself (second rap), it's the weekend (a final, harder rap)."

Then it struck him like a hammer hitting a nail.

"Paarrttteee!!!" the two of them chorused.

"Brilliant" Merlin muttered darkly from her bedroom, where she had heard every word of their conversation.