alliycat3101 – I myself like a bit of action. Fighting is also so epic. Though I find it more interesting to watch it in a movie than read it in a book. Sigh. And no worries; Coe is stuck with the group for a while.

BritPit – Lol, I literally laughed at that. Of course no one wins in a head butt. I have yet to try it myself, for obvious reasons, but I'm sure it hurts more than the action movies let on. (:

lindzabeth – No worries! I was just looking forward to more reviews, so I was a little crestfallen. I just have to get over myself. :P And yes, the art of dramatic irony. Makes us feel so much smarter, doesn't it? Besides, Watson may think he's smart, but he's not as brilliant as he believes himself to be! Bad guys never are! Haha (;

fireicegirl16 – Me too! And they're always so much fun to write. (:

Crying Silently – Lol, very rarely have I ever seen someone love the bad guy as much as you seem to. But then again, he is sort of loveable in a crazy sort of way. (:

fighter61998 – Will do!

I am so profusely sorry for the amount of time it took for me to upload. I guess this story just got away from me as I created new fanfictions (some of which I have recently deleted.) I finished four other fanfictions, and am almost done with another DP one. And then so much time had passed that I had to sit down and read this over from the beginning. So I'm really, really sorry. Hopefully, I'll be able to pound out the rest of the chapters – I expect that there will be only a few more until I reach the end of this – and we'll be able to move on.

The Darkest Powers Series belongs to Kelley Armstrong.

21: Arrival

Chloe

"Vance," I repeated. I'd remembered his face, but not his name. Vance was dark-skinned, his head shaved bald, a slight, devious smile touching his lips. The last I'd seen him, I was nearing sixteen. He'd been nice enough, someone that Kit had known back when he still worked with the Edison Group. We'd stayed in a town in southern New York for about a week when we saw him in passing. Kit had recognized him, but before we could run, he'd recognized Kit. I had barely remembered it until Derek said his name.

"Nice to see you two again," Vance said calmly. He didn't seem bothered in the least that he'd just admitted to seeing us long ago, in front of people that had been chasing us for even longer. "I have you say, though, I almost didn't recognize you at first. Twenty years has been kind to you, Mrs. Souza." In the cage next to mine, Derek let out a low growl.

Vance paused by Derek's cage. "How is Kit? I trust he's doing well. He's been off our radar for so long that it's almost as if he never existed." He smiled, his teeth bright white. Vance had to be around sixty, by now. His face was wider with age, his eyes bloodshot and a little yellow. Derek just stood there, glaring at him. When we were kids, we had a few bumps in the road as we ran. One of them had been when Derek's family had kidnapped him in an attempt to keep him away from us other supernaturals, and another time had been when we'd run into Vance. We hadn't gotten far before Vance tracked us down at our motel. He'd gotten word that Kit had escaped with failed experiments in tow, and Vance had threatened to take us in. The only reason we'd gotten out was because Kit had surprised Vance with a knock-back spell, and Derek had tackled him to the ground. We'd left him unconscious in our motel bed, and we were gone. I had honestly never expected to see him again.

He smiled when Derek didn't answer. He even had the audacity to wink at me as he stepped confidently between our cages. If we really wanted to, Derek and I could've reached out and stopped him right there, but it wasn't worth it, not with those guards and their big guns. Instead, we both glared at him as he passed.

"Helena," he said brightly. Even though he was smiling, I could hear the tone in his voice that said he was faking it. Whoever this Helena was, he wasn't happy to see her in the least.

The woman that had escorted me to the shower stepped forward. Her dark hair was pulled back into a severe bun, and her eyes were hard and cold. "Vance," she replied. Her fingers tightened on the gun she was holding. For the first time, I also noticed that there was a pistol on her belt. "I thought you were arriving with Mr. St. Cloud."

My heart dropped. I recognized the name St. Cloud. I was still unsure of what he was really in charge of, but I knew he was our enemy. My heart thudded in my chest. I remembered that name. He was the one that they had talked about after we Diriel tore down the building. It had belonged to him. Goose flesh rose over my skin. I drifted away from Derek, towards the heavy metal door. There was a heavy lock on it. I knew that I wouldn't be able to force it open, and I didn't have a clip or anything that I could try to use to pick it.

Vance shrugged. "He had other things to attend to, and should be here within a few hours. He sent me ahead to make sure things were to his liking. You know Mr. St. Cloud doesn't have time for setbacks." He said it cruelly, as if Helena herself had caused some setbacks in the past. Helena glanced away from him, looking a bit ashamed. I assumed that she had, in fact, been a part of some plan gone wrong in the past. "Where is Dr. Watson? I was under the impression that he hoped to take the position of lead scientist."

"He is. Unfortunately, with this meeting moved up, he is out of town." Helena answered. I could tell that she was trying to sound superior, but we all knew that Vance had the higher position than she did. As it was, he was trusted employee of the Mr. St. Cloud, and Helena was just Watson's lackey.

"Where is he?" I got the feeling that he was just asking to prove that he could, and that Helena would have no choice to answer him. He stepped away and approached the chairs on the raised platform. The one in the middle was probably intended for Mr. St. Cloud. I figured the others were set up as some kind of council.

"He's collecting his next experiment," Helena answered. Her eyes met mine for a second, but then she looked away. Without Vance asking, she began to elaborate. "Mr. St. Cloud has told us about his quest to create supernatural super soldiers. Dr. Watson is attempting to find the answer, the sooner the better. I'm sure Mr. St. Cloud would agree."

Vance looked up, seemingly intrigued. His eyes bore into Helena. There was something in his eyes that said he resented Helena, and nothing she said would ever change that. Vance opened his mouth to reply. Right then, his cell phone rang. He looked at the screen, held up a finger in Helena's direction, and stepped out of the room to take the call.

My back slid down the bars until I was sitting on the floor. My heart was thumping madly in my chest. It suddenly all made sense, why they'd asked for Whitney and Zander's location. They were half-breeds, and while there were probably several others in the world, I doubted that there were werewolf-necromancer half-breeds. Derek's kind didn't connect with other supernaturals, and necromancers weren't all that common.

Super soldiers, my mind echoed. That's what they wanted. They wanted to take my children and study them. Maybe they were going to try to undo their DNA and see what it was that made them the way they were. But I had a feeling that if they captured Whitney and Zander, they'd face worse than I'd had to worry about at their age.

Derek and I managed to connect gazes. I knew he'd come to the same realization that I did. If there was anything that we needed to do, it was to keep them from finding Whitney and Zander. It wouldn't hurt to get out of here before St. Cloud showed up, as well, but if I could only have one, I'd always choose the protection of my children before anything else, even myself.

# # #

Watson

"Sir," one of the men said. "We have been unable to find any Jacob Rigsby in the Utah database. We also searched for Jacob Rigsby as an alias, and were unable to find anything. Sir." He added the last word as an afterthought. I glared at him. Where had these guys come from? They were useless.

When I didn't answer him, he looked at the man standing next to him. "Get out of my sight." I hissed angrily. We'd flown all the way to Utah with the idea that I'd be coming back with two necromancer-werewolf half-breeds in tow. I would be a scientific hero. But instead, I'd been tricked.

I'd been so sure that the werewolf wasn't lying to me. His need to protect his mate should've made him do anything to insure her protection, even giving up the location of his children. To my understanding, the pack came second to the mate. Wolves were social, but they weren't sentimental. "Get back in the van." I barked at whoever was passing. We needed to get back to the airport and board our plane. I needed to return to New York. I would kill the werewolf and his mate myself if I needed to. I had a reputation to protect, and a promotion to obtain.

# # #

Whitney

My eyes were tired and dry. I blinked rapidly a few times, trying to see. It was starting to get dark, and we had just crossed the New York border. Zander was sleeping in the passenger seat, using the window as a pillow. I glanced in my rearview mirror. Coe had brought out a book of all things a few hours ago, and he was still reading even though the light was dimming.

I kept my left hand on the wheel and reached over the middle console with my right, opening the glove box. I had an address book that had Aunt Tori's apartment address and number under the name "Victoria Flemmings," just in case anyone managed to take my address book from me. I tried to flip through it while keeping my eye on the traffic.

Coe reached over and tapped lightly on my shoulder. "Give me the book. I'll tell you were to go," he said.

I handed it back to him without arguing. We hadn't talked much since we got back into the car. When we were driving our stolen van, it had felt like there was no room for talking. We were all too panicked to say anything. We'd just barely escaped. We'd had to fight our way out tooth and nail, and even then we weren't sure if we'd make it back to my car before the Pack caught up with us. When we managed to get into my car, it was all about getting as far away as possible as fast as possible. And then Zander had fallen asleep, and it still didn't feel right to talk about the fact that I'd been scared for him, or that he had ultimately saved me.

I gnawed on my lip, looking in between my rearview mirror and the road. The road was a bit crowded as I braked for someone going twenty miles under the speed limit. "Look under Victoria Flemmings," I told him. I could practically feel his confusion. "It's the codename for my aunt. Half of those addresses aren't even real." I added. The only real addresses in the book were for my Aunt Tori, Uncle Simon, my grandpa, and my friend Jaime. All of the others were ones that I had just made up. It was supposed to be smart, and that was why I'd told him. But then I realized that it just made me look like a shut-in with no friends.

And then again, it wasn't like Coe had a huge friends list.

"Right." He said, flipping through the pages. "That's smart." He added as a comment. It would be a lie if I said that I didn't feel a rush of happiness when he said it. Apparently, our mind tracks were pretty similar. The moment I thought it, I turned away from him, determined not to show him that I wanted to look back at him and smile. First of all, my dad had warned me away from werewolves, and I didn't need him hating Coe for any reason. Second, I'd only known him for a while. Even though he had saved me in that time, and we'd decided to go on some wild adventure together, it didn't mean much of anything.

For a moment, all I heard was the sound of Coe flipping through the pages in my address book. "Okay," he said suddenly, "I found it." I looked back to catch a glimpse of him in the rearview mirror and nearly jumped out of my skin. It didn't stop the girlish squeal that escaped from my mouth or the way my fingers tightened on the steering wheel. Liz gave me an apologetic smile.

"Sorry," she whispered, running her hands through her long blonde hair. I realized that her socked feet were propped up on my center console. She was sitting on top of my duffel bag and Coe's backpack. "I was worried that you were a lot farther back. You've made good time."

"Yeah, well," I said, giving a shrug. Coe's eyebrows drew together. "I sped most of the way, to be honest. And no bathroom breaks were allowed." I added. Liz gave me another amused smile. "Is Uncle Simon still at Aunt Tori's?" I asked. I looked into the rearview again. Coe still looked confused. "It's Liz," I told him, and he mouthed "oh" and nodded briefly before looking around, as if he was going to be able to see her.

"He's still there. And he's not happy about you driving up here." She answered. "If I remember correctly, your friend here was supposed to keep you from leaving the house."

"Coe made a promise to Uncle Simon?" I asked. I had already sort of guessed that, but it was different to have it confirmed. And honestly, I didn't feel too upset about it, like I thought I would've. In fact, I was a little flattered that Simon had asked that of Coe, and that he'd agreed. And even though he made the promise, he didn't stop me from leaving because he knew it was impossible.

Coe looked away, and in the dimming light, I thought I saw his face flush a little bit. "Oops," Liz whispered. "I don't think I was supposed to say that."

"It's fine." I told her. "I already guessed it, honestly." She nodded, but she still seemed a little embarrassed at letting that little piece of information slip. "Hey," I said to her, "do you think you could help us get to Aunt Tori's."

"Sure," Liz said, perking up. I had the feeling that all she really wanted was to help others. It was admirable. I didn't think that if I was murdered I would be all that willing to help other people, even if they were my friend's kids. Liz leaned forward, folding her hands over the curve of my seat. If I thought about it hard enough, I could've sworn that I felt her breath in my hair. Twenty minutes of silence passed, and she said, "Take the next exit." I did as she said, flipping on my blinker and pulling across two lanes.

I'd never been to New York City before. Aunt Tori had always come down to Florida to visit us. But I had always wanted to see the city. I wasn't really sure what to expect. But it was grander than anything my mind could've thought up. There were lights everywhere, even though we weren't that far into the city. It felt like there were a lot of people, but I knew that there were more closer towards the center of the city.

It took what felt like forever to get into the general area of Aunt Tori's apartment, and even longer to find a parking space that didn't have a meter. I reached over to wake up Zander, who jerked away from me and whacked his head on the window before pulling on his shoes. Coe got out and handed Zander his bag, and then gave me mine. He slung his backpack over his shoulder, and I triple-locked my car doors.

"Don't look anybody in the eye, Tori told me. You don't want anyone to recognize you or anything." Liz said, hovering by my shoulder. I relayed the information for Coe, and we all kept our heads down, trying to appear normal despite the fact that we were travel worn and carrying our bags with us. Maybe anybody that saw us would just think that we were a group of homeless people that had banded together and were trying to find a place to sleep for the night. The chances of that actually happening was slim, but it made me feel better.

Liz directed us to Aunt Tori and Uncle Rick's apartment. I hadn't seen either one of them in a long time, though I sometimes talked to Aunt Tori on the phone. We stepped into the lobby and tried to avoid the look over the night guard behind the desk. He was dozing, and we didn't know if he would ask for our names and the person we were visiting, so we tried to be quiet as we quickly made our way to the stairs. Zander had wanted to use the elevator, but Coe and I had agreed that we didn't want to wait for it in case the guard woke up, and I had a fear that he would hear the ding of the elevator doors when they opened and catch us trying to sneak up. Though I wasn't really sure if it mattered all that much; Aunt Tori's apartment wasn't one of the really expensive ones.

We climbed up four flights of stairs, and by the time we reached the top, I felt like I was out of breath. I must've been more out of shape than I thought. Thankfully, Zander was huffing and puffing right next to me. Coe, though, was either not bothered at all by the quick workout or he hid his exhaustion well. Liz wasn't breathing any harder than she had been before. She led us directly to the stairwell door and pointed us in the right direction.

I hadn't really been panicking about showing up at Aunt Tori's apartment until I was standing a few feet from the door. Before, it had all been a matter of reason. I was going to Aunt Tori's because I needed to go to Aunt Tori's in order to find my parents. Now, though, with Liz's warning that Uncle Simon wasn't amused by our antics, I was worried that he was just going to tell us to get back in the car and return back to Georgia. I didn't know what I would do, then. I could beg and plead all I wanted, but I could only go against him for so long before he took me back himself, or worse, decided that he wasn't going to take part in my parents' rescue.

I held my breath for a moment as we stood in front of the door. I half expected Liz to pop in to tell them that we were there, but she waited by my side, as if she could feel the inner conflict. "Simon might be mad," she said to me softly, "but Tori understands. She's been telling him this entire time that the three of you are able to handle yourselves. I want you to know that we all believed in you, but we still think that your presence isn't wise."

"Thanks," I answered. I lingered for a moment longer, and then raised my fist to knock on the door. I could hear the sound of someone coming to the door, and the sound of the little eyehole door sliding to the side. I forced a petty smile on my face, because I knew that they wouldn't be glad to see me. I could hear the locks being undone. Coe surprised me by reaching out to take a hold of my hand. He only squeezed it once and then he let go, but it was something.

The door swung open wide. Uncle Rick was standing on the other side, smiling at me. "Hey there, Whit," he said brightly. He had always been really nice, but he always seemed a little naïve. I think it was because Aunt Tori said he had anxiety, so she usually only told him what he needed to know, leaving out enough details that the truth was kind of blurred. But Uncle Rick didn't seem too bothered by it, which was probably why their relationship worked out so well. "We've all been waiting for you for a long time."

"Whitney?" I heard my name from within. It didn't take long for Uncle Simon to appear around the corner. He looked beyond mad. He glared at me and then Coe. "The three of you are in so much trouble."

Short chapter, but I really wanted to get something out to you guys. I intend to work on the next few chapters and will hopefully have them out in a reasonable time frame. As I mentioned before I have now finished four of my nine fanfictions (one of them being a Darkest Powers oneshot, so it doesn't really count. Bleh.) finished, and I'm trying to finish this one and one other Darkest Powers fanfic. Check back soon to see if there's an update.

Thanks for reading. You guys are awesome for sticking this out with me, even though it's nearly been a year since my last update. You're flat out fantastic. Please leave me a review. You guys know how much I love them. Peace (: