It didn't take long before they were back in his car, speeding away. Arielle was feeling excitement and could barely sit still. Kaulder was shifting smoothly through the gears in his car, going through the city. He was smiling as he listened to her talking a mile a minute. It was the most animated he had seen her. Her hands were gesturing wildly and she could barely sit still.

" Did you see her stupid, ugly face as it changed! It was awesome! She thought she was really doing something. And you! You were so fast! I can't believe you moved that fast!" She said excitedly.

" Arielle." Kaulder warned as he frowned.

" So what is next? We are going to hunt him down, right? Oh man, I can't WAIT to see his stupid ass face! Fuck that guy!" She kept going.

" You're not coming. I'm taking you back to my place." Kaulder said.

" What? No, no way! We are a team, Kaulder. This is twice now that I saved your life. Twice! You are doing this alone!" She snapped.

" You need to calm down." He said.

" I'm going with you!" Arielle insisted.

" You don't think it's strange that we haven't hit any red lights?" Kaulder pointed out. Arielle's head whipped around so she could see out of the windshield. All at once the light ahead of them turned red. Kaulder slammed on his brakes, making her brace her hands on his dashboard. " Arielle! I love this car, for shit sakes!" He scolded after they stopped. She quickly hitched her shoulders.

" I'm sorry! I told you, it lashes out sometimes. Hang on." She closed her eyes and once again, he felt the crackle of old magic rush all over his body. " Okay, there. I'm covered. Now why can't I go with you?"

" Because we didn't hit a single red light. You aren't in control and I'm not taking any chances. You can't be in the same place as this witch is or he will figure out who you are. I'm taking you home. I'm going to deal with this asshole, force him to break the curse then we will figure everything else out." Kaulder said.

Arielle settled back into the car seat and crossed her arms over her chest. He expected her to continue to fight him, she always seem ready to fight. She didn't say anything. Not the rest of the way and not even when he pulled into the underground parking lot of his apartment building. Both seemed lost in their own worlds. He killed the engine and turned so he was facing her.

" Look, I know for hundreds of years you have taken care of yourself. You have had to do everything on your own. You had no one to lean on but you're not alone now. You have someone that wants to help and can help. So let me." He said To his shock, she nodded.

" It would be really nice to be able to lean on someone." She said quietly and without looking at him.

" Then let me be that person." Kaulder matched her tone. She exhaled and turned to look at him. She gave him a small smile.

" Thank you, Kaulder. For everything. I know it can't be easy for you to help me, being what I am." She said. She wasn't wrong. He was surprised himself that he was so driven to keep her safe.

" I could say the same of you. It can't be easy for you to let me help, being what I am. So let's make a deal. We will trust each other, work together to figure this out." He said.

" And after this?" Arielle asked, almost shyly. Kaulder reached out and gently tugged on a few strands of her hair that had come lose from her bun, most likely in the fight they had had earlier.

" We'll figure that out later. Let's focus on this for now." He said. She smiled and agreed. Kaulder took his penthouse key off his key chain and handed it over to her. " I don't know how long I'll be. I have an open account with the market down the street and they deliver. Order whatever groceries you want. I put my number in your phone and sent myself a text when you were sleeping last night. You left your phone in the kitchen. Text me if you need anything." He said.

" Let me know you get there and when you leave so I know everything is alright." Arielle said. Kaulder smiled and gave her his word. He stayed in his car and watched her walk to the elevator and disappear inside it.

NRNRNR

Arielle didn't know what to do with herself. She stood just inside his penthouse and stared, taking it all in for the first time. That was when she noticed how it smelled. It was a warm, very male scent and she loved it. It was a scent that seemed very unique to Kaulder. She had been around other men before and none of them smelled like her.

It wasn't like she had that many men in her past. She had always had to be very careful about how long she had let people be in her life. Marriage had never been in the cards for her. Kids, no for sure. She had never been able to get close to anyone to allow that. She couldn't fall in love with someone and have kids to watch them all die. Even if her kids turned out to be like her, she couldn't subject them to a life of hiding. So she had kept to herself mostly. Sure, she went on a few dates, here and there but she never kept anything going for long.

Arielle checked on 36. She made sure he seemed comfortable and made sure her timeline for him was still correct then she just sat with him for a while. She introduced herself and promised him she would find a way to help him. She knew she could, she also knew that if she broke the curse herself, she could reveal herself to every witch in the world. Her power would light up like a beacon and she would have no choice but to flee. If Kaulder couldn't break the curse on his own, she would have no choice. She wasn't going to let this man be taken. She would break it and leave everything behind. Including Kaulder, as tough as that would be. He could never find everything out.

NRNRNR

Kaulder kept around the back of the abandoned building, looking for his way in. He found an old door and quietly pushed it. The smell of musty dampness and mold greeted him at once. It was dark and somewhere he could hear the sounds of dripping water. This would be the perfect hid out for someone who was on the wrong side of human and witch law.

He crept around the dark basement, using his extra ordinary senses to hear and feel anything that might be alive inside with him. He could hear the scurrying around of rats and mice but that was all. Until he felt the air around him move, it was subtle at first. So much so that had he not been paying attention, he could have missed it. Kaulder held his breath and waited...

There was a rush of air and he through his hand up in front of his face. A knife was plunged into his palm, making Kaulder grunt. He grabbed his wrist and pushed back against the force, throwing the knife welding witch back and into the shelves behind him. Kaulder grabbed the knife and yanked it out, gritting his teeth together. Once it released from his hand, he crouched down and threw it, catching the man in the back of the leg. He let out a yell and fell, face first, into the wall. Kaulder stood up straight and grabbed him by the back of his head. He yanked it back to get a good look at his face.

" Ellic. Why am I not surprised that a gutter rat like you live here." He snapped, the Witch Hunter's face a mask of anger.

" Oh was that, Kaulder? I didn't know." Ellic said with a smile. Kaulder grimaced at the sight of his black teeth.

" Oh you didn't? It is pretty dark in here."

" It is, but what can I say, I like the dark." Ellic panted through his pain.

" I just bet you do. I have some questions for you."

NRNRNR

Kaulder was holding Ellic's hands behind his back and there was a bag on his head. He was pushing him forward with a hand on his shoulder. 37 was ahead of him, opening doors as he needed. In Kaulder's pocket was a bag of dirt he had found in Ellic's "home". He wasn't sure what it was but he was going to find out.

" And he didn't have answers for you?" 37 asked.

" He was freely giving me." Kaulder was in a bad mood. Nothing seem to be going his way and he was getting more and more pissed. Belial was like a ghost and he had to find him if he hoped to protect Arielle like he had promised to do.

" Well maybe the counsel can get something out of him then." 37 offered.

But they were a bust. Kaulder hadn't even shown him the evidence he had found. They were interested in questioning Ellic, only in sending him to their jail and that did nothing to improve Kaulder's mood. Ellic was taken away and Kaulder and 37 left to go off and find someone else who might be able to help them.

Max was a blind old man who owed a bakery. He wasn't completely on the up and up and Kaulder knew it. The only reason Kaulder never brought him in was because his mistakes were small and he never really hurt anyone. Kaulder would pop in from time to time, just to remind him that he was being watched. Max had enough of a health fear of the Witch Hunter and generally was a coward that it kept him in line.

After Kaulder and 37 chased everyone out of Max's kitchen, Kaulder made the old man sit down. Max was babbling, trying to save his own ass and Kaulder let him talk. 37 was paying attention but Kaulder was busy getting into his pocket to take the bag of dirt out. He grabbed Max's hand and shoved the bag into it.

" What is this?" Max asked with a scared frown on his face.

" It's a bag of dirt. I want you to smell it and tell me what kind of dirt this is. I know it's not just regular dirt so don't lie to me." Kaulder warned. Max paled and Kaulder knew he was on to something. Max knew something was happening. He all but flung the bag to the floor.

" No! I don't know anything! Get that out of my store!" He panicked as he shoved himself up. Kaulder picked up the bag and put it in his pocket.

" You know something." 37 said. " No one reacts like that to dirt."

" Kaulder, you must listen to me. The man who had this bag is a dark, dark man. He is not scared of you and that frightens me. I do not want to be apart of this. I am just trying to live my life." He said.

" And you will continue once you tell me everything you know." Kaulder said. Max looked unsure but he knew he had no place he could hide.

" There is a prophecy." He began.

" I know about that." Kaulder interrupted. " I know about the old and new queen."

" Then you know that she is here. You know you're part in it." Kaulder and 37 exchanged a look, both feeling surprised.

" Let's pretend I don't. Tell me how you know she is here and what my part is."

Kaulder crossed his arms over his chest and planted his feet so his legs were spread. He was frowning as his mind swirled around. Arielle hadn't mentioned anything about him when they had talked. He was ready to be pissed and betrayed. He trust her, even when he knew he shouldn't have. She was in his home. He had even felt attracted to her.

" Not long ago there was a flash that shot through me. And if it shot through me, it went through every witch. We all felt a few of them. Short bursts of power every once and a while. It was said we could get them when the new queen had arrived. They weren't enough for anyone to locate her. We just know she is here, in the city." Max explained. " It has sent many of us on a search party. To find her. We need to know what side she will take."

" And what does Kaulder have to do with anything?" 37 asked.

" If the new queen chooses the side of the dark, Kaulder will lose his immortality. The queen will take it back. And if she chooses the side of the light, he will rule beside her. He will help her rid us of the dark ones so we can live in peace." Max informed them. Kaulder's arms slowly dropped to his sides as something he couldn't name washed through him.

" What do you mean rule beside her?" 37 asked.

" He will be the Queen consort." Max said. " She will need his strength to rule and to clean house, so to speak." Max said.

" And what side are you on?" 37 asked because Kaulder was speechless.

This explained everything to him. His attraction to her, the feeling of being drawn to her. The thing that seemed to flow between them whenever they were alone but Kaulder had made a promise when he first turned that he would never again have a wife. He never wanted to be with anyone again. He couldn't watch another woman he loved die. He couldn't have kids just to chance losing them all over again. He barely survived it when his wife and child had died.

" Is that a real question? I don't want a new queen. I like things the way that they are. I have heard of the times when the Queen ruled. I don't wish to have that. I like living in a house. I like air conditioning. It has been said if they turn the new Queen into the old one, she will kill all of us that have lived as the humans do. That means me. I like being alive." Max explained.

" How will they turn her?" Kaulder finally spoke up.

" First, they will have to get the Queen's heart, then they will take someone and kill them. They will be sacrificed, a body in which they will place the heart and the old Queen will live again. She will then find the new one, absorb her powers which will kill her then kill you. A war will break out afterwards." Max said.

NRNRNR

Arielle was standing on his balcony when Kaulder walked in. She had a glass of wine and had them dinner. She had gotten bored and made them chicken. She had smothered it in lemon pepper, bacon, spinach and mushrooms with a cream sauce. It was one of her favorite meals. Everything was plated and ready to eat, since he had text her to tell her he was on his way back.

She faced him when he walked out but there was something on his face that made her feel suddenly nervous. He didn't slow down as he stalked towards her and Arielle stepped back until the railing hit her back. Kaulder trapped her with his arms, placing his hands on either side of her. He was staring down hard at her and was breathing deep.

" What? Did something happen?" She asked quietly.

" Why didn't you tell me." It wasn't a question and they both knew it. She also knew what he was talking about but was too scared to admit it.

" About what?" She asked. Kaulder moved his arms in closer to her so he was touching her, holding her in place.

" Don't play with me right now, Arielle. There are things I need to know and I know you have the answers." She couldn't read his expression. She was looking from one eye to the other and back again but he was giving nothing away. Arielle felt like she couldn't breath. Her heart was slamming in her chest and she felt sweat start to break out.

" I can't fucking breath here." Arielle suddenly ducked down and under his arms to put space between them. Kaulder sighed and shook his head as he turned around to watch her pace. "What do you want me to say, Kaulder? That we are meant to be, fated?" she scoffed out a bitter laugh." Please! I don't belong to anyone! I am my own person. And more importantly, I don't need anyone! I have been alone for six hundred years and I will continue to do so! Why would I need anyone! It doesn't even matter because I'm not ruling! So what I didn't tell you that part! Who gives a shit! You don't even like me! Like you'd want to be tied to me anyway!"

" Elle, " Kaulder interjected but she kept going.

" Besides that, everyone knows you are a hit and quit it guy. You don't have relationships and you're not going to start with a witch! How ridiculous is that It isn't even worth mentioning!"

Suddenly Arielle was grabbed and spun around. She threw her arms out to steady herself and they landed right on Kaulder's forearms. She let out a squeal of surprise and blinked up at him. Kaulder had a tight grip on her arms. They stared at each other, her breathing was fast and heavy. His was controlled and calm.

" I need you to shut the hell up for a moment." His deep voice rolled over her and through her. She tighen her hold on him without thinking. " I give a shit. I do like you."

" You do?" She asked, hating the hopefulness in her tone. She was so tired of being alone and she was tired of fighting this pull between them. He took a hold of one of her hands and placed it over his heart. He slipped his hand around her neck and drew her into him.

" I do." He assured her before he lowered his head down and brushed his lips to hers.