"Well, look at that," Kai remarked as Victoria strode into his cell. "No Grandpa today? What a shame. The wounds he gave me last time I saw him just finished healing."

"The plan was for him to only come a few times," Victoria told him. "It was the rule that Mom made with him. We tried to make it so he wouldn't come at all, but no luck."

"How are you planning to reward me for putting me through all that?" Kai asked her. "Cause I really do deserve a reward."

"I suppose you do," Victoria agreed. "And I have a secret to tell you. Something I should have told you before, but I was too distracted with Grandpa and everything.

"Oh?" Kai asked and got out of his chair to stride toward her. "What is it?"

Victoria winked and then, after putting a finger to her lips, took Kai's hand in one of hers and then grabbed her key out of her pocket, opening the door of Kai's cell and leading him out. And it was when they were out that his jaw dropped. "Well, that's different," he remarked. "Aren't you supposed to be twelve or something?"

"I did a spell to age myself up a bit." She then grabbed his hand and put it on her chest. "See?"

Kai nodded, his eyes locked on her as he felt her heart beat under her warm skin. "I do. I really do."

He then grabbed her wrist, his grasp tight before leaning toward her, his lips against her ear. "I have to say, I'm very pleased you look so pretty now," he said. "Now, would you do something for me?"

"What's that?" Victoria asked.

"Run!" Kai whispered, pushing her down on the floor. Then, her eyes widened as he began shooting fireballs out of his palms. "How-what…I thought you couldn't use magic!" Victoria cried as she ran. Soon they were out of the cell area and in the office area, Victoria's cries making everyone poke their heads out to see what was going on. Liam looked for a few seconds and then called Astrid to tell her what was going on and then she gave him permission to stop Kai by whatever means necessary. Meanwhile, Kai and Victoria were still just talking amongst themselves, unaware of the onlookers.

"I can't as long as I'm in the cell, you simple girl," Kai hissed and grabbed her by her hair so that she was facing him. Then, he shot another fireball at her as she squirmed and he laughed. It was then that Liam tackled Kai and then tried to help Victoria.

But soon, the fire was put out and he was confronted by her as she approached the pair of them, sooty, burned, and smelling of smoke. "You know I can't die, right?" She asked as she approached them and Liam whispered to Kai, "What the hell have you done?"

Kai's nose wrinkled as he smelled her burnt hair before she grabbed him away from Liam, who made much less effort to save him than he should have, sank her fangs into his neck, and then dragged him back into the cell, laying him down on the floor as she watched him bleed.

"That was some display you made there," she told him. "I hope you're proud of yourself."

"I set you on fire," Kai replied. "Of course I'm proud of myself." Then he told her, "I'm covered in blood right now. Would you mind cleaning up the mess you made?"

"No," Victoria shook her head. "I'd rather just sit down and watch you bleed to death. I mean, I would have helped you before that fireball mess, but now I don't feel like it."

"Oh, boo-hoo-hoo," Kai replied and got up. "Is that supposed to make me feel remorse? Cause it really doesn't."

"I'm aware of that," Victoria replied. "I'm just telling you why I won't help you."

Then he growled in frustration as James poked his head in the door. "Everything okay in here?" He asked. "How in the hell did you get out?"

"She opened the door," Kai replied, a smirk on his face. "I would suggest that you fire her for being so lax, but you and I both know that we'd hate the alternative."

"Yes, we would," James nodded. "No kidding." Then he looked at Victoria. "Don't you let him out again. There's a reason he has to stay locked in here."

"Yeah, I know that," Victoria nodded. "Sorry. I just had to show him the spell I put on myself. I used magic to age myself up five years. I look like this even outside of the cell."

"Well, all right," James replied, not knowing what else to say. "I just came down here to make sure that neither of you were dead."

"And now that you know we're not, you can leave," Kai told him firmly.

"Oh, I'll do that," James assured him. "I don't like being here any more than you do." He left then, locked the door behind him, and it disappeared.

"Huh," Kai said. "The door's always in the same place."

"Yeah, but you can't open it unless you have a key," Victoria replied. "And there's no way I'm giving it to you."

"Oh, I bet I could find a way," Kai told her. "You're not so hard to figure out."

Victoria smirked. "Well, look at you, thinking you're so smart," she said. "Pray tell, how would you get me to give you the key?"

"Let me show you," Kai replied. He pounded on her and tried to get the key, but she managed to keep it out of his grasp, blowing raspberries and saying "Na-na-na-na-boo-boo!"

He then pulled her to her feet and tried to get it that way, but she danced away from him while dangling the keys just above her head.

Finally, he pushed her against the wall, grabbed her, and kissed her deeply, feeling her body become less tense. She didn't respond immediately, but as he pulled her tight against himself, her arms went around his neck and he heard a clink as she dropped the key on the floor. Then he let her go and grabbed it.

"See?" He told her as she frowned at him and rubbed at her mouth in disgust. "I told you I could get you to give me the key. Try a little harder next time."

"You look so tired," Mary said, hugging Liam when he came through the door. "We can skip tonight if you want to."

"No," Liam told her firmly. "Yes, I did have a long day at work, but that's no excuse to let your curse go on."

"Well, what in the world happened?" Mary wanted to know.

"Kai got loose," Liam explained. "He got lose and was attacking the poor girl that James has watching him. I don't know what he was thinking when he came up with that plan."

"So Kai is out and about now?" Mary asked, her eyes wide. "He's loose?"

"No, he's not," Liam told her firmly. "We managed to get him locked up again. You don't have to worry at all."

"Good," Mary nodded. "I mean, I know it doesn't make sense for me to be worried about him, but…you did say he's Edele's kid, right? And Edele had issues with me, so naturally, I have to wonder if those issues were passed on."

"It's smart of you to be cautious about Kai," Liam replied. "If he were to escape, he could come after anyone. Not just you. But it wouldn't be because Edele was killed. She's the one who had Kai locked up, so mother and son didn't particularly like each other. Certainly not enough that he'd want to avenge her death."

Mary shivered. "Can we talk about something else, please? Or not talk at all?"

"Of course," Liam nodded and kissed her as they helped each other out of their clothes. "Not talking would be a very good idea right now." He then pulled her to him to kiss her deeply and then, at her insistence, nibbled her neck a little before setting her down on the mattress and slipping inside her.