It was bound to happen. Monday came early, slightly less overcast than the previous day. It was cooler, too. Any other time, I would have been excited with the weather, sipping hot chocolate on the balcony, planning out my costume for the Halloween party at work in a few weeks.

Today...Today was going to be harrowing. I expected that fate the second my feet touched the floor beside my bed. The house was too still and quiet.

Accompanied by JT and Kaden, my family had gone out to pick up a few more things from the metaphysical shop a few blocks away.

Edward, Alice, and Jasper had gone deep into the forest to hunt in preparation. They'd also planned to circle as close as they could to Maria's camp without being detected. They would begin sowing the seeds of doubt soon.

For now though, I was alone with my thoughts. We'd decided to attack during the day when they least expected it. Though overcast, the sun still pierced the clouds enough to make it difficult for a vampire to be out in well-populated areas.

As soon as everyone was back, we would leave. I exhaled, bringing the cup of hot chamomile tea to my lips. It was another of Auntie Jordan's special blends, the sweetness of vanilla and honey swirling together to bring positivity. To ease worry.

I was heading to the couch when I got a knock at the door. Cautiously, I approached the peephole.

Nadine stood there smiling, two cups of coffee from in her hands. She grinned, her green eyes excited. I opened the door and she bounced in. "Hey, girl!" she greeted, giving me a quick hug before shoving one of the coffees into my empty hand. "I was in the area so I thought I'd drop by to see how y'all were holding up."

I smiled, setting the coffee and my tea down on the dining room table. "...Didn't you say you had a double today?" I asked with a laugh, trying to keep my composure.

I shot a look at the clock on the microwave. It was 10:30 a.m. JT and the others would be back soon. Nadine looked around the apartment and sighed. "Yeah, I called in. Just wasn't feeling it. Y'all's apartment is so cute. I can't get my roommate to let me decorate for fall at all!" She noted, eyeing all of the candles from last night's ritual. We'd placed them on the coffee table, intending to put them away but there had been more pressing things on our mind.

I felt awkward. Normally, I wouldn't have minded too much that she dropped by unannounced but visits from perky best friends wasn't exactly on the itinerary. "It's not that I'm not happy to see you but now isn't really a good time. My family is visiting…"

She nodded sadly, remembering the lie I'd told her. "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't even think of that. I'll get out of your hair! Can I use your restroom first though? It's a fat walk back to where I parked my car."

I nodded absently, gesturing to the hallway. As much as I loved Nadine, sometimes she had the worst timing. While she was occupied, I went to my room to trade my pajamas for a pair of flexible, black jeans and ablack long sleeve shirt. I didn't know how to dress for combat but this seemed appropriate enough. I pulled my worn boots out of the closet and pulled them on. They were the same ones I wore to capture Edward.

I snorted. That was one memory for the scrapbook.

Nadine was standing by the door when I returned, her coffee in her hands. She gave me a wave as she opened the door. "Thanks for letting me stop by!" she called. I nodded and shut the door behind her.

That girl had no sense of what was socially acceptable sometimes. The door opened again and the cavalry walked in. My heart started to race. It was almost time. This time, I wished I had half the bravado I'd had when we captured Edward. That I could use.

"Hey, you know Nadine was outside?" Kaden asked, confused. "She looked a little off."

I shook my head. "Ain't no telling with that girl. She stopped by to check on us though," I reported.

Accepting, Kaden busied himself with stuffing two backpacks with extra supplies, his and the one Edward and I had filled with Spanish moss. "How are you holding up? Your powers good?" He asked, tucking the hexed shackles in his backpack.

I nodded and held out my hands, aiming at the cluster of candles on the coffee table. The air above them rippled like asphalt in summer. With a pop, the wicks burst into flames. I inhaled, allowing my vision to focus on the small, flickering flames. I raised my chin slowly. The flames faltered before rising into the air. As I exhaled through pursed lips, the candles extinguished themselves.

He grinned. "That's dope as fuck," he admitted. "Too bad we can't keep these powers. We could be superheroes or some shit."

I rolled my eyes. "Let's focus on saving our own asses first," I reminded him. He strapped on one of the backpacks and tossed me the other.

"Before I forget," Yvonne said, pulling something from her pocket. Three necklaces dangled from her fingers, a piece of rough cut, black obsidian tied to each. She draped them around Edward and his siblings' necks. "These will help prevent you from falling to their psychic attacks. D, JT, and Kaden will already be covered." I didn't miss the invisibility sigil etched into them. While they wouldn't actually be invisible, it would work to keep them off the radar for as long as realistically possible.

Behind her, Auntie Jordan and Halle were busy setting up a workstation at the kitchen island.

This was really it. We were making our move in less than an hour.

They thanked Yvonne and turned their attention to me. Jasper was in combat mode. "Before we returned, we did a little recon. We were able to confirm the number. There are only 9 newborns, the white-haired male we ran into who may be the shield, and Maria."

That meant 11 obstacles to my family's safety. Not 12. A small change I was unsure of, but thankful for at least.

Edward sensed my confusion. "It seems there was already one power struggle, which fits her M.O. Once newborns cease to follow her blindly, or become useless to her mission, she kills them to avoid losing her authority. One has already been culled from her ranks since this started. Jasper had been right when he thought she'd been pushed out of her territory, so this could work in our favor. If she has a long game in mind, she'll play her cards carefully. Which, hopefully, means she'll be less willing to kill you outright."

This was good information but I knew that the same insurance policy didn't apply to Edward and his siblings. They'd already turned Maria down and, if she truly had someone with Edward's abilities, he was useless to her.

Jasper faced my brother and cousin "Whatever you do, do not let them bite you. The second they do, you have maybe one minute tops before the venom starts to kick in and it's too late. That is, unless they drain you first."

Kaden and JT exchanged looks. If that happens, they thought in unison. We can't become that.

I interrupted their plan to sacrifice themselves. No. If that happens—which it won't—we will cross that bridge when we get there. I would rather have you here as vampires than to lose either of you. Do you understand? I snapped. No one would be sacrificing themself today.

"Kaden, JT, and I won't make a move until as many of the newborns as possible have been taken out—or until Maria makes herself known. You may be outnumbered but the three of your are also juiced up right now. With your backgrounds, I'm confident you can take them." I said to Edward and his siblings.

Jasper nodded. "Extra power or not, we won't have long before they realize you're there. Even with my cover. Your scents are rather...intense." He noted.

How comforting.

"Meanwhile, the three of us," I motioned to my brother and cousin. "Need to find a way to that tree without getting slaughtered. If we can do that, pinning this bitch down should be as simple as recreating the curse Ma Ada used on Edward. Yvonne, Jordan, Halle, this is where we'll need you. The second something changes against our favor, we need to know. It doesn't matter how terrible or insignificant it seems. That goes for you too, Alice. You'll be pulling double duty."

I felt the energy building up inside of me, the hairs on my arms standing on end. That invincible feeling was coming back. I just needed to hold onto it. We can do this, I affirmed. And, if it goes south, well, we'll just give this bitch everything we've got.

Kaden and JT nodded in agreement.

"Yvonne. If this does go south, she'll be coming for y'all next. The three of you need to leave immediately. Don't ask questions, don't look back, don't wait up for us. Warn the other elders to go into hiding and just leave."

"You can take our rental to the airport." Alice slid the car keys to Yvonne with a look I couldn't place, and handed her a black credit card. "Book a flight to the sunniest place you can think of. If we don't come to find you, someone else in our family will. You'll know them by their eyes."

We all looked at each other and I tried not to think about the possibility of never seeing them again. Even with our plans, there was still a big chance all of this would be for nothing.

I shivered and pushed those thoughts away. No. We would win. We would kill Maria and our family—and the Cullens—would be safe. They had to be.

"We're about 25 miles south their base," Jasper reported, sounding every bit the soldier he'd told us he had been. "There's one dirt road that dead-ends at the cabin, which we'll need to steer clear of completely. We'll approach from the north, behind the property line. The safest mode of travel will be to run since we're going to have to go around and double back. As it is, your choices are rather limited so…"

We didn't have time to worry about pride. Kaden and JT made their way over to Edward and Jasper, while Alice came to stand by me.

Kaden, JT, and I gave our family one last look before latching onto our respective vampire taxis. There was no going back now.

In another life, the cabin and the land might have been quaint. Beautiful even.

Here though, under the overcast skies and among the dense forest, it seemed ominous. The yellow and blue painted terra cotta pots that were stacked up against the cabin twisted my gut. I doubted Maria had found this place empty. There was no doubt that the cabin's original owners had been her first prey.

Anger slithered up my spine at the thought of my family in the same position. My senses seemed to go on high alert the closer we got to the back of the property line. How many? I thought to Edward.

Nine, including Maria. There are two missing. He reported. Missing vampires was not good news, but there was no time to turn back now.

First things first: the newborns.

Following Jasper's orders, we approached from behind the property line, staying covered by the thick forest. Through Edward's mind, I knew Jasper was straining himself. Not only was he trying to cover all six of us so that no one got too concerned by the rustling in the trees as we moved, but he was giving every ounce of his mental capacity to start the riot.

And it was working. There were crashes inside the old cabin, ferocious snarls that sliced through the silence. The back door flew off its hinges as the newborns fought, tearing jagged, splintered edges through the frame around the door.

It was like watching dogs or lions violently clamor for dominance. The lot of them hit the ground with such ferocity that it caved, cratering beneath them.

Even with Edward's assistance, Jasper was starting to wear thin. He'd been keeping this up for miles. I reached out to the both of them, feeling waves of heat connect us. A tendril of my power passed through them and their gold eyes flashed so bright they glowed.

The fighting grew more intense. Edward narrowed his focus, layering more of his own mutinous deception into the minds of the newborns. Secondhand, I saw that it was working. There were brutal flashes as each imagined themselves playing Maria's right hand. Still, some thought to replace her. They were tired of biding their time with the human family. They wanted to claim the land for themselves. What did they care for Maria's petty squabbles?

She might have given them new life but a life of serving as her dogs was not a life they wanted. The sickening crack of bodies being dismembered rang out.

Maria stumbled to the gaping hole the newborns had made in the cabin, fresh blood dripping down her chin. My mind reeled, my link to Edward and Jasper faltering. How was this possible?

She snarled, tossing the body of a woman out of the house and to the ground. The woman's body was twisted in an unnatural angle, her neck obviously snapped from the feeding frenzy. I was too far away to make out a face, but I didn't need that. Edward's vision was enough. He tried to block it out before I caught sight of it but it was too late.

Nadine lay sprawled in the lawn, her once vibrant green eyes now dull and lifeless. A few feet from her bloodied corpse lay an empty black pouch that had once contained the cursed artifacts that gave us our only advantage. I was up and marching toward the property line before I knew what was happening.

Nadine was dead. Because of me.

I fought back the bile in my throat, the churning of my stomach. Edward's hand snatched me back by the arm. You're going to blow your cover and get yourself killed, Daisy. Think!

Kaden shook in righteous anger beside me. Our rage covered us, wrapped us in a fury so blinding the only thing in the world right now was Maria's cold, demonic face. What do you want to do, D? My brother called out to me. JT stood by our side, ready to follow our lead.

I wanted to go in guns blazing but Edward was right. That would get us all killed.

I needed to focus.

Maria roared a loud and furious sound that stopped her army cold. We were running out of time. The newborns were torn between the violent, anarchistic thoughts and the terror Maria instilled in them. I caught graphic flashes of Alice's visions through Edward's mind and flinched.

Change of plans. There would be no getting to that tree to set it on fire without being slaughtered.

I emptied the moss from the backpack at my feet and let the heat under my skin seep out of my hands. The moss crumpled, blackening, and acrid smoke rose up around me.

Ma Ada, I need you, I summoned. She was ready, her hands already at my shoulder, the feeling echoing out to Kaden and JT. They stiffened as Ma Ada took hold of my body, experiencing her possession secondhand. The fire at my feet started to spread, deadening all of the brush beneath us.

Edward, Alice, and Jasper flew past us, taking advantage of the newborn's momentary distraction to attack. The Cullens were fierce in their own right, but now they were backed by hundreds of conjurers. They moved like cobras, quick and precise, as they attacked and blocked. Limbs crunched as the Cullens dismembered their opponents as fast as they could. Maria's hold on the newborns weakened as their self-preservation kicked in. I hoped the Cullens could hold their own, because Maria wasn't going to handle herself.

Among the snarls and growls of combat, a shriek echoed in the forest seconds before a newborn's head rolled down the slope and into the clearing.

Meanwhile, together, Ma Ada and I bent the rising smoke to our will. It slithered through the clearing, weaving itself through the melee of the Cullens' and newborns' fight, to snake around Maria's ankles.

She growled, confused and wary, launching herself from the cabin—away from the smoke.

Now! Ma Ada and I shouted.

Kaden and JT inhaled, the fire that boiled in our bloods igniting in their hands. Their breath came out in a roar as the fire in their hands rocketed toward the oak tree. It landed on its mark with a crash. Maria's homicidal red eyes hesitated as the oak split with the force of impact.

As it came crashing to earth, collapsing the back half of the cabin, Maria rolled herself out of the way, her eyes raking the forest.

Plumes of grey-black smoke rose into the sky, fire blazing behind her as the oak tree's flames licked and consumed the cabin.

Maria straightened, her shoulders rolling back. She'd caught sight of us.

Jasper's cover had worn off. She smirked, her body coiling itself closer to the ground, ready to launch. Perfectly in sync, we stepped from the cover of the forest. I marched forward, Kaden and JT flanking me.

Yvonne, do your thing, I called out to her.

Ma Ada's spirit left my body but I felt the force of generations marching alongside us. Hundreds of years of conjurers, generations of wise men and women. Warriors. Mothers, fathers. Soldiers, healers. They chanted in their mother tongue with a fury that whipped the wind around us.

I reached toward the sky, pulling the plume of smoke down around us.

"So very impressive," Maria cooed. "Why waste it? Think of what you could be without the weakness of that human shell!"

Smoke of Spanish moss and oak surrounded us.

We're losing here, Alice shouted at me, her thoughts twisted with panic as the jaws of a newborn narrowly clamped down on her.

Kaden, JT, we're gonna have to get real close, real quick. You good with that? I shouted at them. A curt nod.

I reached out, my mind melding entirely with theirs.

You've got this, Daisy Bug. Show that bloodsucking bitch she picked the wrong one! Ma Ada's voice rose above the chanting of our ancestors, laced thick with venom.

My hands spun in front of me, Kaden and JT's bodies mimicked my own, as we recreated the hand seal Ma Ada had used to bring Edward to his knees.

"Stay right where you are, demon!" Thunder clapped overhead, obeying the curse as it bellowed from our chests. Bolstered by the ferocity of all those who had come before us, the smoke wrapped around the remaining newborns, around Maria, and thickened, solidifying into shackles.

We crouched, bringing our fists down into the earth. The ground cracked beneath our fists.

Maria and what was left of her small army fell to their knees, snarling, raging against the magic that held them.

Now! Ma Ada directed. Tear them apart!

We gripped the air in front of us, miming the action. We pulled at invisible targets. Howls of terror hit our ears but we didn't care. They asked for this fight. They wanted so desperately to collect us, to kill us, to threaten what was mine.

I narrowed my gaze on Maria and she seized, unable to control her body as it arched backward at an unnatural angle. I tightened my fists on the air around me and she choked. Was this the righteous fury Edward had thought of, ridding the world of the evil of the murderers, rapists, he'd slaughtered?

Hurry! Ma Ada warned.

It had happened so quickly. Wrapped in my twisted vindication, I didn't see him coming. The white-haired vampire who had given Edward and Jasper false information, Maria's shield.

I didn't see him streak through the clearing behind us. Didn't see him grab Kaden, see him snap his neck. I didn't see any of it.

But I felt it.

As my brother's lifeless body hit the ground, the air ripped from my lungs. "No!" The scream erupted from my lips and my fury landed on the white-haired newborn. Our mother, gorgeous even in her wild grief, finally stepped to the forefront of the crowd of spirits that backed us. Her hands gripped my arms tight as her spirit sank into my body, frenzied. We stalked toward him, backed by the searing wrath of the conjurers who had come before me. Hundreds of them seethed, their hate and grief crashing over us.

Crazed, I grasped at the empty space in front of me, seeing this vampire ripping apart at the seams. The ancestors granted us that wish.

He howled in agony as his body tore itself apart from the inside. I wanted him to burn. I wanted them all to burn. The newborn's remains burst into flames, the acrid scent or burnt flesh hitting my nose. Blinded by rage, the entire world fell away, my sights locking in on the few newborns the Cullens had yet to fully dismember.

I lashed out, my hands splitting the air around me. The bodies of the remaining newborns splintered with a sickening crack, their eyes rolling back.

Edward and Jasper added them to the pyre, their eyes wary as they watched the madness. Only Maria remained, somehow bound in the shackles we'd once used on Edward. Nadine's blood was still on her chin, soaking the front of her clothes.

Maria had planned this. All of this. She'd watched, stalked, calculated, killed. She'd manipulated Nadine, she manipulated Halle. She was responsible for Kaden's death.

I felt my mother howl in grief inside me, drowned in Ma Ada's heartbreak a thousand times over. My hands tightened around her throat. "You will suffer," I snarled, tightening my grip. She choked and the pain of my mother gave way again to anger and hatred. Death seemed too easy, too merciful. Maria's mind lay bare before me, visions of a handsome vampire consuming her. Realizing her mistake, Maria knew her fate. She was ready to die now, she thought, at least she could be with him again. Together, my mother and I scoured Maria's memories, searching for the perfect moment.

We laughed bitterly and locked the memory of her mate and coven's deaths in her eyes. We growled, the words echoing with the voices of the ancestors. "Locked in the prison you used to steal from me, you will never know peace. You will watch, over and over again, as those you loved most are torn from you. You will rot with their blood on your hands!"

Maria's mind went blank, save for the raw memory of her mate's death, and she went limp in my hands. Maria's red eyes faded black, cloudy. I dropped her body on the ground. She lay just how she fell, unable to move. To speak. Locked in a cage filled with her worst nightmares. The pain and anguish of losing the love of her life, her family. Maria was powerless and alone with her worst nightmares on a constant loop.

My mother's attention turned to Kaden, where he lay motionless in the grass. "Not my baby," we cried, cradling him to our chest. Her anguished wail tore from my throat.

Kaden wasn't among the ancestors.

Mama, I said urgently, fighting to regain control of my body. We can save him. We need to act now before it's too late.

"What?" She asked aloud, dazed, as she gently laid Kaden's body back on the ground.

Ma Ada stepped back into my body, trying to push my mother into the background. Frantically, we worked together, pooling every ounce of power in my body. This has to work, I cried. Kaden's lifeless body seized as the electric current raced through him.

My hands burned through the fabric of his shirt, pressing against the still warm flesh of his chest. I gasped as hands hovered over me, each ancestor chanting in prayer, giving over part of themselves to save him. My vision blurred, the world falling silent except for the rush of electricity building inside of me. My head swam and my own heart beat so furiously that it might explode.

The charge of electric energy rocketed up my chest and down my arms. As it connected with Kaden's body, I felt my own body be propelled backward, yards away from my brother. My head connected with something hard and I felt the ground shake beneath me.

Sounds slowly came back to me, though muffled, but I could only see darkness. There were no ancestors, no Mama, no Ma Ada. I heard no rush of thoughts from those around me. I didn't even feel the quiet energy of my connection to Yvonne and JT.

I was alone and powerless now, entirely. As quickly as I had regained my ability to hear, it was fading again and I could no longer make out the muffled voices.

An almost euphoric happiness consumed me as I lay there, waiting for death to take me.