Chapter 3.

"Shit!" Galen Drache cursed as he heard only static in his ear. He knew something was seriously wrong with his soulmate, and she wouldn't talk to him. Now it had only been proved with her speaking the note her mother had wrote out loud. It wasn't like Keller, not the new Keller, the one who had found it was possible for her to love. For her to love him. Whatever had changed, he didn't understand how it could have come about so suddenly. Now, whenever she thought about it, he knew, she subconsciously added his words onto the end.

"now that isn't proper language, is it Galen?" Rashel taunted down his communicator, "what's going on? And do you and Keller always leave your communicators on permanently?" a moment hesitation, "oops, I thought she had hers on. Anyway, what's wrong?"

Rashel 'the cat' Jordan was never happy sitting in the car waiting for him and Keller to finish their mission, but she was a vampire hunter, not a shape shifter, and, because of that, she didn't have the same skills as he and Keller. she generally went on more missions on them, so she didn't complain most of the time. Now, she just wanted to be part of the action.

"I don't know." He paused, wondering whether he should confide in Rashel halfway through a mission, "she's acting strange."

"Strange? Strange how? Is the mission fine? She's not going to do something suicidal, is she?"

God, I hope not. "Thanks Rashel, really helpful there."

"Oh. Sorry."

"It might be nothing, but I'm going in. could you or Quinn get yourselves to the hospital just in case I need backup?"

Really, he wanted Quinn to get to the hospital in case he needed backup: Quinn was a vampire and would get to the hospital quicker than Rashel. Not only that, but Rashel lived for danger, would charge right into the hospital herself – kind of like Keller – instead of waiting calmly inside. Quinn was an idiot most of the time, especially when he was with Ash, but he was efficient.

"Gotcha." Rashel said, then the line went fuzzy again.

What is it with women and leaving me out of the picture? Galen wondered as he pressed his own pin, starting towards the hospital.

Keller stared at the white hospital bedspread as though it was its fault she was having to deal with this. She wasn't going to cry, no way was Rashka Keller going to cry. She hadn't all these years and she wasn't going to because that bitch, the one who had abandoned her, was a metre away.

She wouldn't cave into these strange desires that seemed to be telling her to fling her body into her mother's arms and cry, and kiss her, and hug her, and never let her go. She pushed back the feeling of love, the want to tell her mother everything about her, about Galen, about the wedding, about everything that was right in her life.

Not that she'd even be interested, she berated herself; she abandoned you.

"Rashka," her mother seemed to be having trouble speaking. Oh, well I'm very sorry for that. Feel bad for leaving me now? In a cardboard box, for goddess' sake. She tried to turn away from the thoughts and looked her mother in the eye, "Keller. I told you, my name is Keller, I changed it. I don't want to be 'Demon'."

"Keller…Keller…" her mother seemed to be trying the name out, "I can't believe how big you are."

"you mean you can't believe I lived to seventeen after being abandoned in the middle of nowhere?"

her mother flinched visibly. Good. Let her.

"I didn't want to give you up, Keller! but I was an eighteen year old, single mother with no support from my parents. How was I supposed to cope?"

"I don't know." Keller admitted reluctantly, "not by slashing your wrists up," she wanted to hurt her mother bad, but now wasn't the time, "I'm working with Circle Daybreak, the shape shifters and the witches. You might know, the shape shifters joined because of the joining of Galen Drache – first house of the shape shifters – and the Witch child's blood sister: that's me, now I've been sent to get you. I didn't know you were my mother, and nor did anyone else, but the Night World is coming and I've got to get you out of here."

Why had she told her that stuff about Galen and her? Even just that little bit? Is it possible you want your mother to know? Keller asked herself, then shook her head. Impossible.

"What?" Elle looked up, just as an explosion rocketed the room and something large flew towards Keller.