They laid together for a while after that, wrapped in each other's arms, not saying much.

Questions still spun in Stiles' mind, of course. What had just happened? Where had their so-called control gone? For now, Stiles couldn't care. His body was still warm and wanting her. It was perfection.

He could have stayed that way forever, but suddenly, a pale, slightly luminescent form materialized in Stiles' bedroom.

Erica.

She looked the same as ever — the usual sadness was there in her cat-like eyes, but Stiles could see something else: Panic? Frustration? Fear? But what would a ghost be afraid of?

Stiles sat up and so did Malia. She gave him a puzzled look. "What's wrong?"

"Do you see her?" Stiles whispered.

Malia followed his gaze and frowned. "Who?"

"Erica."

Erica's troubled expression grew darker. Her mouth opened. "They are coming," she said, very faintly.


"Stiles..." Malia called carefully.

Stiles didn't move. Erica was saying something else — or trying to. Her mouth was moving but no sound was coming from it.

"Who?" he asked. "Who's coming, E?"

A look of frustration crossed her face. She pointed off toward the window behind them.

"Tell me," Stiles said, his frustration mirroring hers. Malia was patiently waiting.

There was something here. Something big. Erica opened her mouth again and after several agonizing seconds, she managed to speak. "The Cold Ones are here."

Stiles and Malia got dressed really fast and rushed out of that bedroom. The whole world was still. The night seemed quieter than usual. Even the wind had fallen silent.

Malia and Stiles saw the Vampire at the same time, but Malia was closer. It swooped toward them, but Malia was just as fast and nearly as strong. She had her stake — a real one — in her hand and met the Vampire's attack. Malia's hand snaked out, plunging the stake into the Vampire's heart. The red eyes widened in surprise, and the Vampire's body crumpled to the ground.

Malia turned to Stiles and there was a look he'd never seen in her eyes. "Stiles. Run," she said. "As fast and as hard as you can back to your dorm. Tell the guardians."

For maybe the first time in his life, Stiles didn't argue.

"Tell them buria."

With a brief nod, Stiles ran and didn't look back. He didn't ask what she was going to do because he already knew. She was going to stop as many Vampires as she could so that Stiles could get help.

For only a heartbeat, he let himself worry about her. If she died, he was certain he would too. But then he let it go. He couldn't just think about one person, not when hundreds of lives were depending on him.

There were Vampires in Beacon Hills. It was impossible. It couldn't happen.

His feet hit the ground hard. He burst in through the doors, feeling like his heart was going to explode from the exertion. The first person he saw was Adrian Harris, and Stiles nearly knocked him over.

"Stilinski, wha—"

"Vampires," Stiles gasped out. "There are Vampires on campus."

Harris stared at him and his mouth dropped open. "W—what?"

"They're out there! They're out there, and Malia is fighting them alone. You have to help her." What had Malia told him to say? What was that word? "Buria!" he shouted. "She said to tell you buria."

And like that, Harris was gone.

Things moved too fast from there. Every guardian in the dorm was in the lobby in a matter of minutes. Calls were made. Chris joined the group and was sending out parties throughout campus. Some were sent to secure buildings. Some were hunting parties, specifically seeking out Vampires and trying to figure out how many were around. As the guardians thinned out, Stiles stepped forward.

"What should I do?"

Chris turned to him. "Get the other novices," he ordered. "Stay here in the dorm though. No one can leave — the whole campus is under lockdown. Go up to the floors you live on. There are guardians there organizing you into groups. The Vampires are less likely to get up there from the outside. Watch them, Stiles. Keep people from panicking." Chris reached inside his coat and handed Stiles a silver stake. A real one.

Stiles went from door to door calling the novices and directing them to the upper floors. Most were terrified, which was perfectly understandable. A few of the older ones wanted to do something, anything to help. Stiles pulled a couple of them aside.

"Keep them from panicking," he said in a low voice. "And stay on watch. If something happens to the older guardians, it'll be up to us."

Their faces were sober, and they nodded at his directions. They understood perfectly.

Stiles went to the second floor and patrolled one of the windows, desperate to know what was going on. How many Vampires were there? Where were they? Stiles realized then that he had a good way of finding out. Still keeping an eye on his window as best he could, he cleared his mind and slipped into Scott's head.

Scott was with a group of other half-breeds on an upper floor of his dorm. There was a bit more tension among them. Boyd was near Scott. He looked like he could single-handedly take on every Vampire on campus and Stiles was grateful he'd been assigned to Scott.

Scott, on the other hand, was terrified. But his fear was for Kira and Stiles.

"The little guardian is fine." Scott glanced over at Lydia. "He can take on any Vampire. Besides, he's with Tate. He's probably safer than we are."

"But Kira..." Scott choked in his words. He and Kira had wanted to meet alone and talk about all that had happened — Mana, Lydia, the queen. They'd been supposed to sneak out and meet in the chapel's attic. Scott hadn't been fast enough and now Kira was alone out there.

It was Boyd who offered the words of comfort. "If she's in the chapel, she's fine. Vampires can't get inside holy places, remember? She really is the safest of all of us."

"Unless they burn it down," said Scott. "They used to do that."

"Four hundred years ago," said Lydia. "I think they've got easier pickings around here without needing to go all medieval."

Scott knew Boyd was right, but he couldn't shake the thought that Kira might have been on her way back to the dorm and been caught in the middle. The worry was eating him up, and he felt helpless with no way to do or find out anything.

Stiles returned to his own body, standing in the second floor hallway. The half-breeds didn't know anything that could help. And Kira...! Finally, he grasped the importance of guarding someone who wasn't psychically linked to him. And though he wouldn't have admitted this to anybody, he was worried about Kira. It was an entirely different game when he didn't have a bond — and it was a scary one.

Stiles stared at the window without seeing it. Kira was out there. She was his charge. And even if the field experience was hypothetical... well, it didn't change things. She was a half-breed. She might be in danger. Stiles was the one who was supposed to guard her.

They came first.

Stiles knew it was wrong, even as he opened the window up. He was exposing himself here, but he had conflicting instincts. Obey orders. Protect half-breeds.

He had to go make sure Kira was okay.

Chilly night air blew in. No sounds from outside revealed what was happening. With a quick prayer to whoever was listening, Stiles climbed out of the window, holding onto its sill with both hands and letting his body dangle as close to the lower ledge as he could. He counted to three and released his hold, dragging his hands along the wall as he dropped.

He hit the ground, barely noticing he'd skinned his hands. He moved cautiously as he set out toward the chapel. He had the cover of darkness, but Vampires could see in it even better than he could. He could hear screams in the distance.

Halfway to the chapel, he saw someone move out from behind a tree. Stiles spun around, stake in hand, and nearly struck Kira in the heart.

"God, what are you doing?" he hissed.

"Trying to get back to the dorm," she said. "What's going on? I heard screaming."

"There are Vampires on campus!"

"What? How?"

"I don't know how, Kira. You have to go back to the chapel. It's safe there."

"Are you going with me?" she asked, surprised.

Stiles started to respond when he saw something moving behind her. "Get down!" he yelled. Kira dropped to the ground without hesitation.

Two Vampires were on them. One of them slammed Stiles into a tree. His vision blurred for half a second, but Stiles soon recovered. He shoved back and had the satisfaction of seeing the Vampire stagger a little. The other one — a woman — reached for him, and Stiles dodged her, slipping out of her grasp.

Stiles feinted toward the male Vampire, and then struck out as fast as he could toward the female one. His stake bit into her heart. It surprised both of them. His first Vampire staking.

He'd barely pulled the stake out when the male Vampire backhanded him, snarling. Stiles staggered then leapt out and kicked him. The Vampire knocked Stiles to the ground, pinning his arms. Stiles tried to push him off, but he didn't move. Saliva dripped from his fangs as he leaned his face down toward Stiles. Stiles felt the fangs against his neck and then the Vampire jerked back and dropped to the ground moving like a fish out of water. Kira electrocuted him until his body was set on fire. There were a few strangled screams before he grew silent. He twitched and rolled before finally going still.

Stiles turned to her, who was crouched on the ground. "Wow," he said, helping her up.

"No shit," she said. "Didn't know I could do that." She peered around, body rigid and tense. "Are there more?"

"I don't know. Let's just get back to the chapel."

Kira didn't move. A strange, speculative look was on her face. "Stiles... do you really want to hole up in the chapel?"

He had a bad feeling about that. "What do you mean?"

"We just took out two Vampires," she said.

Stiles met her eyes, the full impact of what she was saying hitting him. Stiles could stake the Vampires. Kira could burn them. Together, they could do some serious damage.

He shook his head. "I can't risk your life..."

"Stiles," she said. "It's worth risking one half-breed life to save everyone else."

Putting a half-breed in danger. Taking her out to fight Vampires. It pretty much went against everything Stiles had been taught. But he could save so many others. Stiles had to save them. And he would fight as hard as he could.

"Don't use your full power on them," he finally said. "You don't need to put them on fire. Just shock them enough to distract them, and then I'll finish them. You can save your power."

A grin lit her face. "We're going hunting?"

Oh man.

Stiles was going to get in so much trouble. But the idea was too appealing, too exciting. He wanted to fight back. He wanted to protect the people he loved. Scott had a bunch of people with him. Others weren't so lucky.

A third Vampire appeared out of nowhere and grabbed Kira right before Stiles' eyes. But she'd been ready for it. Waves of electricity wreathed the Vampire's head. He screamed and released her, trying keep his head from blowing up. The Vampire never saw Stiles coming with the stake.

The whole thing took under a minute.

Kira and Stiles exchanged a look of pure wonder.

"Yeah," Stiles decided, at last. "We're going hunting."