- Los Angeles -

Everyone in the library was looking at Amelia with a baffled look on their faces. Finally, it was Emma who spoke first. "Okay. I don't get it."

She was standing in front of one of the small tables, her arms crossed in front of her chest. Amelia turned her head toward her. "Well, it tells us that there is a way to find the Hunt."

"Yeah, I got that," Emma said hastily. "I just don't understand in how far that information makes things any easier."

"What Amy wants to say is that it gives us another starting point; something we can work with." Julian, who was sunken so deep into one of the armchairs that the chair seemed to swallow him, looked up to Amelia. "I mean, that is what is does, right?"

"Right." Amelia nodded and he dropped his head again. She could not take her eyes away from him. The boy looked tired - no, he looked exhausted. As if all life had been drained out of him and had left only the empty shell of Julian Blackthorn.

Suddenly Amelia felt sorry for him. For a moment, she wanted to throw her arms around him and tell him that everything would be fine again. But she did not. The truth was that she did not know if everything would ever be fine again. The last days had made her think about the plan - whether it made sense or not.

Something had to happen. Almost four weeks had passed and still they did not know much more than they had already known when they had started. And it was not just Jules - they all were exhausted, because they spent almost every night in the library or in Faerie. They all were tired and they all were slowly loosing hope - Amelia could see it in their faces.

Her gaze wandered to Grayson, who was sitting on the tabletop, his hands resting besides his legs on the wooden top. He was looking down, his face tense. Amelia could see the line on his forehead, which he always got when he was apprehensive. She bit her lip. She did not want to hear what he was thinking, for she could already read it in his face. Amelia took a deep breath and asked, "Grays? What do you think?"

Grayson hesitated for some seconds, aware of the fact that everyone else was looking at him. Then he raised his head and said quietly, "You're not gonna like it."

"I know." Amelia felt her heart thundering in her chest. "But I wanna hear it."

Grayson cleared his throat. "I think Ty's a clever boy, but his note won't help us. He has brought up a new point; something none of us had thought about. But I also think that finding a battle is not really an option."

He shook his head. "How are we going to know where and when a battle is taking place? Even if we would be able to foresee battles - how do we choose the right one, the one the Hunt will choose too? Let's say we even manage that somehow - it is still too dangerous. I mean, we're not the Avengers or the X-Men. We're just a bunch of teenagers; throwing ourselves into a battle is definitely something I could never approve."

Everyone was silent. Grayson looked at their faces and said, "I hate so say it - I really do, but Ty's idea is nothing we can work with."

"What if we just wait for a battle?" Emma shrugged her shoulders. "I mean, we don't have to fight, do we? We can just wait 'til it's over and see if we find Mark."

"Still we would not know where and when a battle is going to happen." Julian's voice was quiet and full of despair. "Plus we don't know if the Hunt will show up."

No one answered, so Julian said, "That's not possible. Grayson's right."

Amelia's heart seemed to stop beating. She felt fear creeping all over her body, clawing its icy fingers into her chest. She knew what Julian was saying. Probably they all knew.

This was the end of the line. They had done everything they could and now it was about time to face the facts.

"So we're done? Is it that what you're saying?" Amelia had to force herself to speak the works aloud. Even thinking them felt like the worst betrayal ever.

Grayson turned to his sister and shrugged his shoulders. "I'm saying there is nothing else left to try. Or at least nothing I can think of."

"I - I do agree that throwing ourselves into battles is something we shouldn't do," Amelia said hastily. "But there are other things we still can do. We can still continue going to Faerie. I can still - "

"Amy," Grayson tried to interrupt her, but she continued without paying any attention to him. "I mean - we have only been to a small part of Faerie. I'm sure if we -"

"Amelia!" This time there was something in Grayson's voice that made her listen. She looked at her brother who was holding her gaze without saying anything. Amelia felt her throat tighten; tears were standing in her eyes. She swallowed a few times; she did not want to cry in front of the others. When she felt able to speak, she whispered, "I don't care, Grayson. If you want to stop then do it. I understand that you are tired and thinking about giving up. But I won't."

Grayson wanted to say something, but Amelia said more loudly, "I cannot stop, okay? That is not going to happen. I don't care that I might be stupid or stubborn or whatever; I don't mind trying for the rest of my life. But I cannot give up!"

"By the Angel!" Grayson stood up and took one step in Amelia's direction. "No one's giving up! We have tried and as far as I can tell, we have nothing left to try. So what shall we do, Amy? Tell me! What else can we do?"

Amelia did not answer. Somewhere deep down inside she knew that her brother was right, but she just could not accept it. Grayson sighed and murmured, "I bet you would throw yourself into battles if we'd let you!"

Amelia felt the anger swelling in her chest. She was so tired - tired of being told what to do and what not to do, tired of being treated like a stupid child and tired of being told that their search was useless. She knew that it was not fair to let her anger rain down on Grayson, who had always been on her side, but Amelia could not think straight anymore.

She looked at Grayson, her eyes spraying with rage, and yelled, "Yes, I would throw myself into battles. And I would do it gladly and without thinking about it!"

Grayson was angry too. He looked down at his sister, who was almost one foot smaller than he was. "Why on earth would you risk your life for a plan, we all know is absolutely likely to fail? Why on earth would you be so stubborn?"

"Because I love Mark!" Amelia screamed into Grayson's face, her voice full of despair and anger. "I love him! And I cannot go on living as if nothing had happened. So if you're asking if I would risk my life for him, the answer's yes. Of course I would! And do you know why?"

Amelia moved one step closer to Grayson, lifting her head and staring into her brother's green eyes. "Because there is no life without him. There is nothing left without him. From the moment I came to this Institute three years ago, I have loved Mark. And now that he is not here, I feel empty. I feel as if the other half of my soul has been ripped out of my body. It's like someone has pressed all the air out of my lungs and I cannot refill them. I feel like suffocating without Mark. This is my life without him, and I don't want to live like that. I need to find Mark, I need to find the missing part of my soul and I know that if I don't find him, my life will be over."

Her voice broke when the tears finally streamed over her face. Amelia sobbed painfully and whispered, "And this is why I cannot give up. I understand if you think it is too dangerous, but you have to understand that that is not going to stop me."

Without saying a word, Grayson pulled her closer and wrapped his arms around her. Amelia pressed her face against his chest and sobbed uncontrolled. Grayson looked at Emma and Julian, who had been listening to Amelia with both their mouths wide open. He frowned and Emma nodded. She laid her hand on Julian's arm and whispered, "Come on."

Julian stood up and followed Emma. While he was passing by Grayson and Amelia, he quickly took Amelia's hand and squeezed her lightly, before leaving them alone.

Grayson held Amelia close, who was still crying her heart out. He sighed deeply and whispered, "I am so sorry, Amy."

"No, don't be." She sniffed. "I should not have screamed at you. That was not fair. I know you're right about the battle. It's just -"

She fell silent and Grayson said softly, "No, I deserved it. I wasn't fair, neither."

Amelia lifted her head and looked at her brother. "What do I do now, Grayson?"

"I don't know," he answered. "But there's no way I let you join battles. We'll find something else."

Amelia smiled under tears and whispered, "You're the best brother in the world. Thank you."

Again, she leaned against his chest and Grayson closed his eyes. He did not feel like the best brother in the world. A good brother would have stopped his sister from doing something so hopeless. A good brother would have stopped all of this madness right at its beginning.

For some seconds none of them spoke. Amelia had clawed her fingers into Grayson's shirt and listened to the steady sound of his heartbeat, while Grayson had placed his chin upon her head. He took a deep breath and said carefully, "Amy, I know - No, actually I don't know how you feel. I've never loved someone so much as you love Mark. Well, besides you and Mom and Dad, of course." He smiled crookedly, but got serious again. "But ask yourself - would Mark want you to risk your life for him?"

"That's not fair, Grayson," Amelia interrupted him and Grayson frowned. "What if it was the other way round? Would you want Mark to risk his life for you?"

Amelia freed herself from his embrace and looked at him. "What if it was me? Would you risk your life for me? Or for Mum and Dad?"

Grayson grimaced and sighed. "Okay. That's not really helpful." He thought for some seconds. "I want us to make a deal. A compromise."

Amelia wanted to say something, but he raised his hand. "No, let me finish. I'm not saying we don't look for him anymore. But we will not put ourselves into danger. You will not put yourself into danger. I will not let you walk around Faerie without any reason."

Amelia narrowed her eyes. "What do you mean?"

"We have tried to find Mark by using the signs you left there. And obviously, it doesn't work. I don't think we should waste any more time on that. We should not risk being discovered by the fairies any longer. I think it's time we try something else."

Amelia snorted impatiently. "And what would that be?"

"I don't know." Grayson shrugged his shoulders. "But Ty has found a way we had not thought about. Maybe there are others. Maybe we should ask Ty again." He turned around and walked toward the door. Amelia watched him walk away and then closed her eyes.

Even though she knew that Grayson was right, something told her it was too early to stop going to Faerie and checking the signs. Something told her that Mark was somewhere around the lake. Every time she went there, she could feel his presence. It was just a feeling, but Amelia knew that she was not willing to give up.

Not yet.

- The Faerie -

Mark was sitting in front of one of the fires. The others were talking and laughing, but Mark did not feel like drinking and eating with them. His thoughts were still at the lake. He was thinking about the sign on the tree. Somehow he was not able to banish it from his thoughts. The imaged of the cross and the thorns haunted him, just like the pictures that had flashed up when he head touched the sign. Vaguely he remembered the face of a girl with green eyes and black hair, but no matter how hard he tried, he just could not remember who she was.

Mark sighed silently. There was a voice inside him, telling him again and again that there was something important about the sign, something he had to remember. He shook his head, trying to get rid of these thoughts.

Slowly he turned his head and let his gaze wander across the other hunters. The sight of the others was not as scary as it had been in the beginning anymore. Mark realized that he was starting to feel like one of them. Kieran had been right about that - accepting his fate had made things easier for Mark. He still did not trust them, but he had stopped fearing them. Even Gwyn seemed a little less threatening.

Mark took a small piece of wood and started to throw lines into the sandy ground he was sitting on, completely lost in thought. He did not notice Kieran, who was moving closer and stopped beside Mark. Kieran frowned and sat down. "Why are you doing that?"

"Doing what?" Mark looked at him, puzzled. "What are you talking about?"

"Drawing this weird symbol we've found yesterday." Kieran pointed at the ground in front of Mark's feet. Mark held his breath and stared at what he had been drawing - an exact copy of the sign on the tree. With one quick move he blurred the lines, so that the sign vanished.

"I don't know. I was just -" Mark fell silent and Kieran said, "Maybe we should tell Gwyn about -"

"No!" Mark interrupted him hastily. "I mean, it's probably nothing. We should not waste his time. I don't know why I even still think about it." He tried to sound careless, but Kieran seemed not to believe him. "What is it that you are not telling me, Mark?"

Mark avoided his gaze and said, "Nothing."

Kieran reached out his arm, placed his fingers around Mark's chin and turned his face toward his own. "I don't believe you."

Mark freed himself from Kieran's grip and sighed. "I just feel like I have seen this before. I don't know where or when. I even don't know if it's true." He tried to smile. "It's nothing. Don't think about it."

"You should better not think about it," Kieran said and handed Mark a cup. "Drink. You look thirsty."

Mark nodded, took the cup and drank the cool water. Suddenly he felt better, the memory of the sign and of all the worries that had been haunting him, was already fading. Kieran smiled and glanced one last time at the ground, where the sign was no longer visible.