"...And some eggs, stack of three blueberry pancakes, orange juice, coffee." Tyler set his breakfast out on the TV tray in the living room with satisfaction. As usual, he was up before everyone else and eating alone in the silence, but he didn't mind; that was how he liked it. At least until the silence was broken by several thuds and a squeal.

He looked over to the nearby staircase and saw a still body face down at the bottom of the stairs, red hair everywhere and obviously too big sweat pants around their ankles.

"My gosh!" He cried, swallowing and going to stand by the prone body, reaching out to help the young woman up. "What was that? Are you okay, Sis? Nice panties, by the way. However, the point of pants is for them to stay up."

"Oh I know that," Tara replied, gesturing at her new body. "It's just that I woke up like this and I have no clothes of my own that fit, so I had to take whatever I could find, regardless of it fit or not."

"Well, that makes sense," Tyler replied and instructed her to pull the pants up again so he could use his magic to adjust them. "Would you like some breakfast? I made pancakes and eggs and stuff."

"Sure," Tara nodded. "Thank you." She turned to face him. "Do I have any bumps on my head that you can see?"

"Nope, you're definitely a knockout," he grinned.

They reached the kitchen and Tara served herself. "So...what's up for you today?" She asked through a mouthful of eggs.

"Gotta go visit the devil," he said and held up his phone, which showed he had several messages. "I guess it's about time I obey at least one of his highness' summons."

Tara's eyes widened at the number. "Wow! What would make him so desperate to see you?"

"Well, his daughter and I will eventually have a thing and it's upset him that she likes me so much and is throwing a fit because he banned me from his house." Tyler heaved an exaggerated sigh. "Oh, it'll be so fun to see the look on his face when I show up and save the day after all his going on and on about how Isabella doesn't need me and that he never wanted to see me again."

"If he's that against it, do you really think antagonizing him is a good idea?" Tara questioned. "It might not be smart to cause trouble like that."

"What he thinks doesn't matter," Tyler said firmly. "Isabella is what matters and she needs me now so I'm not gonna let her down!"

"Good for you!" Tara told him, even though she was still skeptical about how well his attitude would make things turn out for him. "Since you put so much effort into this, I hope it pans out for you."

"Oh, don't worry," Tyler assured her. "It will."

"I have question," Tara asked her brother. "Would it be weird if I said I have memories of Lucifer's house, I think? A big room with books...and a guy..."

"A guy?" Tyler raised an eyebrow. "If you'd like help remembering who it is, you have to be more specific. There are many guys in that house."

"Oh, I'd know him if I saw him," Tara replied. "So can I come with you and hunt him down?"

"Sure, if you want to," Tyler shrugged. "But before we go, we should probably tell Mom and Dad that you've grown up."

"I'm surprised my falling down the stairs didn't bring them racing down here," Tara admitted. "I was waiting for it. And since they didn't, I'm kind of hurt!"

"Oh, don't be," Tyler shook his head. "Mom thought I was a burglar and tried to get Dad to run me out of the house!"

"You're making that up!" Tara said. "Mom wouldn't be that nuts. She'd take everything in stride."

"No she won't," Tyler shook his head. "Just wait."

They then looked up as they heard Amy yelling through the ceiling over their heads.

"Klaus! Something happened to Tara! She's not in her crib! She's been kidnapped!"

"See?" Tyler raised a knowing eyebrow.

"What should I do?" Tara asked, feeling as panicked for her mother as her mother was for her. "Do you think I should go upstairs and show myself?"

"Not until Dad has Mom calmed down," Tyler urged. "I know it's hard, but just wait."

"All right, Amy, love, calm down," came their father's voice. "Tyler probably just took her downstairs with him when he went to have breakfast. She wasn't kidnapped."

"Right," came their mother's voice, followed by some deep breaths. "Right, you're right." Then awkward laughter. "Of course. I'm being silly."

A few minutes later, their father was leading their frazzled mother downstairs. Tyler gestured Tara who rose to her feet as he murmured, "Surprise!"

"I grew up last night," Tara got out as her parents stared and her mother started to cry. "I hope you're not too disappointed."

"Of course we're not disappointed, " Klaus assured her. "We knew this would happen. It's not like it's your fault."

"Yeah," Amy sniffled. "I mean sure I'm losing my baby girl but I get to know my big one now!" But this was mainly for Tara's benefit and as Amy dissolved into tears again, Klaus suggested his youngest daughter go upstairs and change.

"It looks like your brother adjusted what you're wearing but I'm sure you'd much rather be in something nicer," he said. "Go on to your mother's closet and pick out some of her things to wear, and then later we'll take you shopping for a wardrobe of your very own," he told her.

"Right," Tara nodded. "Okay." She strode toward the stairs and paused, turning. "Mom?" She got out as a tear-stained Amy looked up. "I love you."

Amy's jaw dropped as Tara then ran upstairs, before Klaus helped her to a chair and poured her a big cup of regular coffee.

"Oh, how I've missed this," Amy breathed and shut her eyes as the hot liquid trickled down her throat. "That's the one bright spot in everything I suppose. I don't have to be as careful about what I drink or eat because I don't have a baby for it to badly affect anymore."

"Are you sure you're okay, though?" Klaus got out.

"Yes," Amy nodded. "I'm fine. I'll get used to it."

Once everyone was clear on this fact, Klaus turned his attention to Tyler. "So...what's on the schedule for today, son? Going to cause more trouble for the devil?"

"Well, he wants to see me," Tyler replied. "Quite urgently. Apparently, Isabella is having troubles and I'm the only one who can fix them so she'll be in a good state of mind when the photographer comes to do their family portraits."

"And you better fix the trouble you started," Amy remonstrated. "It's the least you can do."

"What if it's not a mess?" Klaus asked. "What if Isabella genuinely likes him? It's not bad if she misses him!"

"She's a toddler!" Amy pointed out. "You make a funny face or a certain type of noise and they giggle for hours. The fact that she acts kindly toward him doesn't necessarily mean what you think it means."

"Don't listen to her," Klaus told Tyler firmly. "I'm sure Isabella truly likes you. It'll all be fine."

"Thanks, Dad!" Tyler told him. "Once Tara's dressed, I'll leave and take her with me so I'll be able to walk out of his house alive." He then poured himself a cup of coffee and waited for Tara, who came downstairs in a pair of tight fitting dark blue jeans and a white lace top under a black leather jacket.

"Wait," Klaus looked her over. "Are you telling me you found that stuff in your mother's part of the closet?"

"Yeah, toward the back," Tara nodded. "It was hidden pretty well. I had to try hard to find it."

"Well, when you take that stuff off, along with those shoes..." his eyes flickered down to the stiletto heels she wore, "Put them in a more visible spot in the closet, would you?"

"Yeah," Tara nodded as Tyler rose to his feet and Amy rolled her eyes. "Sure will, Daddy."


"Any more ideas to make her be quiet?" Lucifer yelled at Ellie over Isabella's wailing. "We've tried everything. She even threw her bear on the floor!"

"I know," Ellie shouted back and cuddled her daughter. "I was standing right here when she did it."

"No need to get snippy," Lucifer returned. "That doesn't help anything. If you can't be helpful, don't say anything at all."

"What do you think is wrong with her?" Ellie asked. "Maybe she's about to grow up. The other kids got crabby before it happened to them."

"Oh, don't be silly," Lucifer waved this aside. "It's much too simple of an explanation. It's obvious that it's his doing. He put some sort of spell on her that's making her suffer!"

Ellie scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Why are you always so melodramatic all the time? There is a very simple explanation for this. I bet if we gave her more blood in her diet, this fussiness would all go away. I'll take her to see my dad later and see what he thinks."

"Or we could acknowledge what's really wrong and get it fixed here and now," Lucifer countered. "And since I know I'm right, I invited him to come fix the problem."

"You did what?" Ellie asked, her jaw dropping. She nearly dropped Isabella but the little girl hung on tight as she continued to wail and cry for her boo boo. "You go on and on about how Tyler is the problem and now you want to bring him here to possibly make it worse? I can't believe you yelled about how my idea to call your mother was stupid and then you turned around and did this!"

"Well, the difference between your foolish idea and my good one is that mine will actually help," Lucifer pointed out. "And of course we can always have Adrian throw him out after. I'm sure he'd be more than happy to do it."

"Great," Ellie sighed, seeing that the argument was lost. "Whatever. Just as long as everything works out for the photos, do whatever you want."

"Good," Lucifer grinned and kissed her softly. "Nice to know you're finally seeing things my way."


Adrian opened the door in response to Tyler's knock and then caught Tara's eye. "Hi, kiddo. Lovely to see you! You should come over sometime and see Rusty again!"

"Yes, please!" Tara grinned. "I would love that."

"Hey, I'm here too," Tyler huffed. "And how did you know it was her?"

"Well, she's a redhead and with you...so..." Adrian looked him up and down without favor. "What did you want again?"

"Let me in, I was invited," Tyler demanded, showing his teeth. "I'm the answer to fixing Isabella's crying problem."

"Fine, but don't be forever and get in the way of family photo time," Adrian told him and stepped aside reluctantly.

"I'm wearing a suit, see?" Tyler gestured. "How would that ruin family photo time?"

"Whatever, just go!" Adrian muttered.

"Bye!" Tara hugged him. "Say 'Hello' to Rusty for me!" Then she let Tyler pull her along to the living room.

"The cavalry has arrived!" He announced to Lucifer, while reaching out for Isabella, who was now being held tightly by her father.

"No, you can give her your blood without holding onto her," Lucifer told him.

"Boo boo!" Isabella cried and began squirming. "Daddy, let go!"

"Why?" Lucifer asked. "Isabella, that is a very bad man. We don't like him."

"I want boo boo!" Isabella gave a little pout. "Please?"

"How can you say no to that?" Tyler got out. "I mean look at that adorable face!"

"Don't you call her that!" Lucifer spat. "And as much as I truly hate to say this, sometimes for her own good, I have to do things she doesn't like. She can't always have her way."

"Really?" Tyler asked. "I can't believe this is coming from you of all people."

"Why?" Lucifer asked. "Why is that so hard to believe?"

"Cause I thought you were all about letting everyone have what they wanted," Tyler pointed out."

"I am, but not when it comes to my toddler and her creepy stalker," Lucifer explained. "There's a big difference."

Tyler looked at Ellie. "And what do you have to say about all this?"

"I just want nice family pictures and for all the damn crying to stop," Ellie sighed, a pleading tone in her voice. "The photographer is human and I don't want trouble or funny business. Lucifer, just hand her over, okay? Especially since you were so keen to get him over here and get this all done with, I don't understand why you're dawdling now."

"Make me," Lucifer replied firmly and held Isabella tighter against his chest.


Tara, who had wandered around aimlessly until she'd found the warm and inviting library, heard the door open and turned, ready to apologize and account for herself. But what met her eyes was not Lucifer, Ellie, or anyone like that...but someone oddly familiar just the same, although she couldn't say what his name was.

Stevie strode in, swaying slightly as he drank from a half empty beer bottle. And when he caught sight of Tara, he seemed to recognize her. Maybe.

"You're her!" He cried. "The daughter of the mutt bastard and the redheaded whore!"

"Hey!" She cried! Don't you talk about my parents that way, you foul-mouthed jerk!" She cried, her hands balling into fists. "You...you son of a..."

"Steve," he interrupted surprisingly smoothly. "But everyone around here calls me Stevie. I don't care what they call me. You just watch it and stay away from me!" He reached over and took a strand of her hair as her breathing picked up. "Stay away from me! Fuck off, whatever. Just get out of my sight!"

"You came in here and started bothering me!" Tara pointed out. "I think I'm the one that needs to worry about who's bothering whom! Would you just go away and leave me alone. And watch that filthy mouth of yours. There's no need to swear."

Stevie got close to her again and breathed on her, and the scent of alcohol on his breath made her cough. "What will you do if I don't stop? Fuck, damn, shit...I know all those words..." He got close to her, his lips against her ear, his other hand that wasn't playing with her hair running up and down her belly. "You look just like her, you know. Dress like her. Did you know your ass even fits in those jeans the same way? It's disturbing really...how much you look like her when you wear her clothes." He bit her earlobe and then whispered, "Did you know that this is what she was wearing the first time I realized I wanted to fuck her?"

"And let me guess," Tara got out dryly. "You think I look hot so you want to do the same to me?" She tried to keep emotion out of her voice cause her brain definitely felt differently about this disgusting man than her body did.

"Or maybe you want to do the same to me," Stevie returned. "That's why you came here. Cause you were looking for me to have a little fun. I'm very good in bed you know."

"Oh yes, so good that my mother picked my father over you," she returned dryly. "I bet you're amazing."

Stevie growled, grabbed her by the hair and threw her down on her back on the sofa. "I am," he said firmly as he looked down at the wide-eyed redhead. "I could fuck you until you couldn't breath and you'd enjoy it."

"Oh, that sounds so enticing to deal with that forever," she got out dryly then let out a shriek as he pulled her hair.

"Don't worry, it wouldn't be forever," he said, an unfortunately engaging smile curving his lips. "I'd probably tire you eventually like your whore mother tired of me. Don't feel bad, it happens to everyone. But I'd leave you with lots of good feelings to remember me by."

They stared at one another for several seconds in silence and then Tara began to sit up, making Stevie smile as her lips moved closer and close to his. Then, she grinned and punched him in the nose, then rolled off the sofa before zipping to the library door and pausing with her hand on the knob.

"I don't know what's wrong with you, and I'm sorry that my parents' getting together hurt your feelings," she got out. "But I'm not her. Get it through your head. I'm Tara Mikaelson, not Amy Burke. And I will never, ever like you." Then she opened the door and strode out of the room, slamming the door shut behind her.

"I don't want to like you, Tara," he yelled at the closed door. "I want to destroy you!" He knew she hadn't heard him and that was okay. It just meant that she wouldn't see it coming.


Meanwhile, Lucifer was doing his best to keep Isabella away from Tyler, but she was just not having it, squirming and thrashing so wildly that he thought he would drop her and hurt her. Then, to his shock, she turned into a snake and he did drop her, his eyes wide with surprise as the snake slithered over to Tyler and then turned back into his daughter. It wasn't Ellie who would make him let her go.

"Did you know she could do that?" Lucifer asked Ellie in shock as he tried not to watch Isabella and Tyler cuddle.

"Well, she is at an age where her magic can be unpredictable," Ellie shrugged. "Are you okay? Did she bite you?"

"No, I don't think so," Lucifer replied and tried to catch his breath. "Dear me!" He caught Tyler's eye. "And don't you smirk at me. Just give her the blood and get out!"

"Well, I think that's up to her, isn't it?" Tyler grinned wider as Isabella sucked blood from the hand he'd just bitten.

"She's a child," Lucifer reminded him. "She can't decide anything!"

"Nummy," Isabella grinned as her eyes went red for just a minute and she buried her head in Tyler's shoulder and then had a little bit more.

Only when she seemed the equivalent of overfed and woozy was Lucifer finally able to pull her out of Tyler's grip, just in time for the doorbell to ring.

"All right the photographer's here," Lucifer got out and gave Tyler a rough shove. "You did your duty and we thank you, but goodbye!"

"Are you sure you don't want me in the picture?" Tyler asked brazenly as he pulled himself up from the floor. "I mean, I'm already wearing a suit and I'm gonna be family to you someday."

"Over my dead body!" Lucifer hissed. "And speaking of family...Adrian, would you kindly show your brother out?"

"No need," Tyler informed him before his brother could appear. "I can find the door myself."

Then, as Ellie went to grab the photographer, Tyler ran up a set of stairs to one of the second floor balconies, where he could see everything without being seen himself and return at exactly the right moment.


"Thank you so much for coming and doing this for us," Ellie thanked the photographer, Lucy's human friend, Gina. "We've been wanting to do this for ages! And Lucy has said so many good things about you! We're not difficult to deal with, I promise."

"Oh, I don't think you will be. I'm not worried," Gina assured her, her blue eyes bright. "Now, where would you like to do this? Or at least, where would you like to start?"

"Let's start in the family room here," Ellie suggested. "Do you need any help setting up?"

"Nope, just go gather up your family and I'll be ready soon!" Gina smiled and began pulling out her stuff. "I think we'll have a great time!"

"Me too," Ellie agreed. "Truly."

She then went to find her kids and her husband. "All right," she told him when she saw Lucifer first. "To the first floor family room for the beginning round of family photos. Positions on the sofa. Gina is here setting up and everyone needs to behave themselves cause I want some nice family photos...Please?"

"Right," Lucifer nodded. "I promise I'll behave myself. I can't make guarantees for anyone else, but I'll try." He looked down at Isabella and kissed her hair. "And we already know someone who'll behave themselves now that they got all their bad behavior out of the way, don't we?"

"Is she okay?" Ellie asked, eyeing their daughter who was slumped against Lucifer, eyes straight ahead. "She looks like she's been drugged." She paused. "I know the answer to this is 'No' but I want to be sure: you didn't give her anything from your stash, did you?"

"I most certainly did not," Lucifer replied. "The amounts that I have would kill her. It's Tyler's blood, I promise. Nothing I did!"

"All right, I believe you," Ellie promised. "I just wanted to check."


Eventually, they were all sitting on the sofa while Gina was taking a bathroom break. Valerie had brought Nixie in to be part of the pictures and the dog was wandering around the equipment to see what it was.

"I wish you'd take hold of her please," Ellie whispered. "I don't want her to wreck the camera. She's big enough to do that now."

"Oh, she'll be fine, no worries," Valerie gave her mother a reassuring smile.

But then the normally placid dog's lips curled back, showing her sharp teeth. She began barking wildly and knocking things over.

"Oh, my heavens!" Ellie cried. "Valerie, what's going on? Why...?"

Valerie looked at Ellie. "The photographer wouldn't happen to be human, would she?" she asked her mother.

"Yeah, but why would that matter?" Ellie asked.

"Oh, Mom, I wish you'd told me!" Valerie burst out as Isabella began to cry due to all the noise the dog was making. "Hell Hounds don't like humans. The gentler ones like Nixie can be taught to adapt to them if given time, but Nixie wasn't given that, so... she's smelling human smell and this is what happens."

"Damn," Ellie whispered. "Damn, damn, damn!"

Then a smiling Gina came back into the room, shrieking at the mess that had once been her camera, and then shrieking louder as Nixie saw her, charged, and bit her leg before running off.

"Go get Adrian," Ellie instructed Valerie. "You and he calm the dog, and your dad and I will try to make sure Gina gets better and doesn't remember any of this. Got it?"

"Yeah," Valerie nodded and ran to go get Adrian. "I do."


As Adrian did his best to subdue a riled up Nixie, Valerie walked around looking for her scattered siblings, passing by Angelica's old room to find her buried under her bed covers.

"Look, Nixie's all taken care of so it's time to go take pictures. Come on," she urged.

"No," said a muffled voice from the lump under the blankets. "No thank you, I will not!"

"Angelica why not?" Valerie asked. "Talk to me. I know that the thing with Nixie was scary but it won't happen again. Mom will fix all the camera stuff and things will be wonderful as planned."

"No," Angelica pushed the covers back and popped up to glare at her sister. "Of course I'm not scared of the dog! just how old do you think I am? It's...it's this whole picture thing. It's stupid!"

"Why is it stupid?" Valerie asked.

"Because...because...no, I'm not telling you. You'll just yell at me and say I'm being dumb," Angelica told her.

"Probably but that doesn't mean you can't get it off your chest," Valerie remarked. "Come on. Unburden yourself."

"Did you see that when Dad positioned himself for the picture he had Isabella in his lap?" Angelica whispered angrily. "What's up with that? Why is she in my spot? That's my spot! I'm next to Dad! No one else gets to be next to Dad. Just me! Especially not some stupid baby!"

"Woah, wait a minute!" Valerie told her. "What is wrong with you? I've never heard you talk like that about anyone."

"That's because everyone else around here is smart enough to be with the program," Angelica huffed. "The program of me first."

"Just because Dad had Isabella sitting on his lap for the pictures doesn't mean he doesn't love you," Valerie tried to be patient. "In fact, some of us don't get as much attention as we'd like from him outright and just have to assume that we're seen and appreciated and have that be good enough."

"Why is everyone leaving me?" Angelica wanted to know while ignoring what Valerie had just said. "What have I done? I know how I think is bad, but...I feel abandoned. If Sammy didn't hate my guts too, it wouldn't be so bad but now it doubly hurts!"

"You and Sammy are still fighting?" Valerie asked in amazement. "But he let you move back home!"

"Yeah, but we're still not having sex," Angelica sighed. "I mean, not real sex. He can do it but there's no feeling."

"What about Shane?" Valerie questioned.

"I don't want to burden on my son like that!" Angelica said. "It's Daddy and Sammy's job to take care of me, not his!"

"I think you should talk to Dad about this," Valerie told her. "Get it out in the open."

"Oh, right like he'll talk to me when he has the option to cuddle with precious baby Isabella!" Angelica showed her teeth.

"Just try it!" Valerie ordered and lifted her sister from the bed, carrying her from the room. "Let's go!"

"No!" Angelica cried as Valerie strode purposefully toward the family room. "You put me down right this minute! I'm an adult! Let me walk!"

"If I do, you'll just run back to your room and hide under your covers and that is counter productive," Valerie told her, reaching the family room and plopping Angelica down on the empty seat next to Lucifer.

"You mind if she sits here?" Valerie asked. "She felt kind of sad that you weren't saving her a seat before."

"Oh, sure," Lucifer nodded and eyed Angelica, whose eyes were still somewhat upset. "Is everything okay?"

"I...um..." Angelica got out, suddenly feeling like more of a petty and spoiled brat than ever.

"My work here is done," Valerie grinned. "I'll leave you two to talk. Because you need to." She paused. "Where's Isabella? Do you need me to keep looking?"

"Yes, please," Lucifer nodded. "I don't know where she could possibly have gone but she must have scampered off while your mum and I were calming Gina."

"No problem," Valerie told him and gave him a salute. "I'm on it!"

"Thank you, Valerie," Lucifer said as he locked eyes with her. "For everything. It's very appreciated."

Valerie grinned and flushed slightly before turning on her heel to leave. "You're welcome, Daddy," she said as he put his arm around Angelica and kissed her hair while she smiled. "It's my pleasure."


As Ellie and Lucifer tried to calm and distract the shaken photographer and get the photo session back in order, Tyler slunk down from his hiding spot and noticed, like Lucifer had, that Isabella was nowhere to be seen. Clearly tending to the human was a priority or her parents would have worked harder to get her back. He began wandering around until, walking past a half open door, he heard whimpering.

Not sure who it was, but wanting to help a person in distress, he opened the door and found himself face to face with a very firm and shapely bottom, just barely covered by a long curtain of dark brown hair.

"Isabella," he whispered and used magic to lock the door so that no one could interrupt until he'd made full use of this opportunity. Not that he'd seen her much from the back, but it was enough for him not to forget. He came up behind her and gently set his coat around her shoulders before kissing her hair.

"Here, babe. You can wear this until you get clothes. And I'm so glad you're finally here, Isabella."

She turned, the tears in her eyes freezing on her face as she stared at him and backed away. "Get away from me," she whispered and pulled the coat tighter around herself. "How dare you look at me when I'm...naked and vulnerable and I can't do anything about it! But that's just like you, isn't it? You dragged me off to a dream world to be a toy for your whims and I bet you'll do the same here!"

Tyler put a hand to his chest. "Ouch! You really know how to hurt a man." He reached out and put a hand on her face. "But don't worry. I can be very forgiving...if you let me."

Isabella took his hand, stared at his palm, just barely licked it, and threw it away.

"It's okay, you can bite," he urged.

"No," Isabella breathed. "Not anymore. Never again."

Tyler's lip curled and he played with Isabella's hair for a little bit. "'Never' is a long time," he told her. "And it's really hard to be as good as I know you're trying to be." He put one arm around her waist and his lips against her ear. "Not everyone likes a good girl. Being good could hurt you. It might make your family hate you. I'm just trying to help."

"My family would never hate me for being good!" Isabella told him. "That's just silly!"

"Oh, I'm sure someone will," he told her. He was just trying to rile her up of course. It probably wasn't true. "One of your sisters, perhaps. Mom's told me stories about Angelica and how your dad will always love her more than anyone else..."

"Stop!" Isabella's breathing began to pick up. "Stop lying!" She began beating on his chest. "If you're trying to make me despair and give into you, it's not working! I hate you even more now! I do!" She slapped him hard. "I'll say it one more time: stay the heck away from me, darn it!"

Tyler chuckled. "Say a bad word. You know you want to."

"You're a big jerk!" Isabella yelled. "You're a monster and I hate you!"

"It doesn't matter if you can't say dirty things to me yet," he chuckled. "I have lots of things I want to say to you while you're naked and handcuffed to my bed. It'll be much more enjoyable than being handcuffed to your father, I promise."

"You are a sick, evil, sadistic, and very troubled man!" Isabella yelled. "You disgust me and I demand you leave this room right now! Or I will."

"Not for long," Tyler told her. "You know you can't because you need my blood. You crave it..." He turned her around. "And I know you think I'm awful now, but it won't be long before more loving endearments come from your lips. "My darling, my pet, my love..."

"You don't know me!" Isabella spat, her lips very close to his. "You don't know me at all."

"I want to," he said and kissed her hand. "Teach me something."

She slapped him.

"Well, there you go," he said, grinning as he brought a hand to his cheek. "You like it rough. Duly noted. I know where my father keeps the whips and the gags."

Isabella shuddered. "I don't believe you love me like you say or you wouldn't treat me like an animal. I want to be loved and cared for...not trussed up and beaten!"

"I...I would never just do that," Tyler assured her, feeling shocked. "I wouldn't do anything unless you wanted me to."

"And what makes you think I'll want to, ever?" Isabella questioned. "I'm not that sort of person! I don't do wicked things like that!"

"And why is that?" Tyler wanted to know. "Cause Daddy and Grandpa don't want you to?"

"No, I know my own mind!" Isabella shook her head. "If I don't want to do something, it's my choice. Not because someone says I can't or shouldn't."

"Okay," Tyler sighed. "Whatever you say, sweetheart. It'll be entertaining to me to see how long that lasts."

"I can do it!" Isabella shouted. "I'm not a weak-willed, hedonistic, and selfish monster like you!"

He turned. "Fine, if I'm so terrible, give me back my coat."

"Fine," She yelled back and took it off, throwing it at him but missing him by a mile since he was so far away. "Take your darn coat! I don't want it anyway!"

Then, as he zipped over to her and grabbed her from behind, she realized that she was naked in front of his eyes and tried to hide behind a curtain.

"Oh, no, don't," he told her. "You look much better with it off, anyway."

"Let me go, please," she begged. "I'm cold. I'm breaking out in goosebumps. I just want something on me!"

He set her gently against the wall as their bodies touched. "How about someone?" He asked, and kissed her hair after setting his hands gently on her shoulders. "How's this? Is it better?"

"Even if it was, we couldn't be like this forever," she pointed out. "It would just be better for me to have clothes and for you to go away. How many times to do I have to ask politely before you actually listen?"

"As often as I have to talk to you about acknowledging your darker nature before you listen," Tyler informed her. "And at the rate you're going, it's gonna take a very long time!"

"Or you could just accept you're not my type and give and give up," Isabella glared at him. "That would be easier for both of us."

"What is your type?" He asked. "Please tell me. You say I should take time to learn about you. Give me a chance."

"There's no point," Isabella told him and gave him a little push so she had some space. "You'll never be the sort of man that's right for me, especially if you're just pretending to get in my pants."

"You don't know that," Tyler protested. "You don't know the lengths a man will go to if he's in love. And would you...would you stop thinking you know me? Let me explain myself, please."

"Maybe if, for once, you'd leave me alone and give me a chance to approach you, then I might think about it," Isabella said. "But that time isn't now and you have to go. Especially since I'm sure my parents are looking for me. They'll be here any minute. In fact, I should have yelled earlier to make it easier for them to get in here."

"But why didn't you?" Tyler asked.

"I...I don't know," Isabella got out, blushing deep scarlet. "Please don't ask me any more questions."

He opened his mouth to get one more out as they heard the doorknob rattle. "Isabella? Are you in there?" Adrian called. "I hope you are. We've looked everywhere else."

"Yes!" Isabella called. "I'm here, I'm grown, and currently, I don't have any clothes!"

"Did you do something to the door?" Adrian called back. "It's like it's stuck or something!"

Tyler quickly undid the spell. "That was me," he said as soon as Adrian entered the room. "I didn't want us to be interrupted."

"What the hell did you do to her?" Adrian demanded, his eyes flashing. Then he turned to Isabella. "Did he hurt you? Are you okay?"

"Yeah..." Isabella got out. "I'm fine. Nothing happened. But would you please get him out of here and then get me some clothes?"

"Sure," Adrian nodded, grabbing his brother by the collar and dragging him out of the room. "It will be my pleasure!"

"Bye my Isabella," Tyler called and blew her a kiss. "I love you!"

It wasn't long after that that Ellie poked her head in the room and took a deep breath. "Oh, thank goodness, here you are!" She cried. "We've been looking everywhere!"

"Sorry I sneaked off and scared everyone," Isabella apologized. "I didn't mean to."

"It was crazy," Ellie told her. "Don't blame yourself." She then zapped a white lace dress on her daughter. "What do you think about that? Do you like it? We'll fill out your wardrobe soon, I swear."

"Yes, this is perfect," Isabella grinned, relieved to finally be covered. "So...it's picture time?"

"It is," Ellie nodded and offered her daughter her arm. "Let's go, shall we?"

When they reached the living room, everyone ran to Isabella and hugged her, but even as she returned their hugs and sat down for photos, she was conscious of Angelica's glaring eyes, trying to ignore the uneasy feelings her sister inspired in her, and wondering just what she could do to make them go away.