I am very sorry it's been so long since I updated. I have tons of excuses, my classes suck, my mother has been cracking down on my computer time, and I've been sick. I can't even promise that I'll do better with updating. However, people have been asking me about whether I plan on finishing this story. I swear I will. AND, there's going to be a sequel, I have a plot worked out for it and everything. But, I'm getting ahead of myself. You guys are the bestest best readers ever. Thank you for all of your wonderful, fantastical reviews. I'll make it up to you guys for not updating for such a long time some how. I promise. ;) Anyways enjoy!

Anthony would be surprised when I told him what my sister wanted. I wasn't even sure how to tell him that she wanted to meet him.

"Hello?" he answered on the first ring.

"Hey Anthony," I was very aware of Nicole's glare while I spoke on the phone.

"How are you? Is everything okay?" he asked sounding worried at my hesitant voice.

"I'm fine, everything's fine, I think. Um," I paused unsure of how to tell him. "My sister knows everything now…"

There was a silence on the other end. And then, "everything?"

"Yeah, with Emily and stuff, she wants to meet everyone," I said.

Another silence. "Are you sure that's best?"

"Yeah, don't worry no one's going to get hurt." I heard Nicole hiss, but I wasn't brave enough to look in her direction.

"Alright, you can come over whenever you like. Just give me some time to tell everyone, okay?" The best thing about Anthony was that he could be calm in situations where I was likely to be freaking out.

"Okay, I'll see you in about an hour," I looked at Nicole to see if she was okay with that.

She shook her head and growled, "Sooner."

I took a breath, "Okay, I'll see you in half an hour."

"No problem," he said. "I love you."

"You too," I replied quickly, hoping that Nicole hadn't heard that.

I hung up the phone and stole a glance in her direction. Her frown had become more pronounced, and she was gripping the steering wheel more tightly. Yup, she'd definitely heard. But the higher powers had clearly decided to give me a break on this one because she didn't comment.

When she did speak, it was all business. "We can go home to check and see if there's anything new. Then we're teleporting to the vamp's house."

"Sure," I said, and hoping to keep the professional atmosphere, I dared another question. "There hasn't been anything new since I left?"

Nicole shook her head. "No, nothing, and I'm really not expecting much when we get home either, but just in case…"

When we got back to the house, it was empty. I walked in sat awkwardly on the couch while Nicole started making phone calls. She managed to get a hold of Cheryl and was actually nice enough to put it on speaker so that I could hear what was going on.

"We're a few cities away from home," Cheryl was saying. "We're having trouble picking up a trail. I met with some members of the Administratio, they're playing with the idea that Mom might not be in the state anymore."

Nicole and I looked at each other. "Why would they think that?" she asked.

"Because we've talked to other hunters all along the state, and most of them have been able to sense him to some degree which means that either he's moving or he's trying to confuse them."

"Or both," I said, not thinking.

"Evelyn? Is that you? Didn't I send you to school?" Cheryl sounded upset, but she didn't seem to have the energy or the focus to really let me have it.

"Sorry Cheryl, I just really couldn't pay attention to history today," I said while Nicole glared at me again.

Cheryl just sighed. "You better be in school tomorrow Evelyn. I mean it."

"Actually Cheryl, I was thinking it might be better if Evelyn doesn't go to school tomorrow," Nicole cut in.

I looked at her surprised at first, but then I realized why she didn't want me in school – she was trying to keep me away from Anthony.

"What? Nicole, that doesn't make any sense," but then she sighed again. "Whatever, if you think it's best…you're in charge at home for now. I don't know how long we're going to be gone. If you need anything you know you can always call the Administratio…"

"Relax Cheryl, we can take care of ourselves," Nicole interrupted her. Evelyn and I are going to step out for a little while, so if you need me, call my cell okay?"

"Stepping out? It's not very safe to be going hunting right now," Cheryl warned.

"Don't worry so much Cheryl. We're going to be just fine. I'll call you tomorrow."

Before Nicole could hang up the phone Cheryl stopped her. "Wait! I need you guys to do something for me. Every hour or so, I want you to call Mom's phone. If there's any response at all it could give us a hint."

"That makes sense," I said.

"No problem, talk to you later Cheryl." With that, Nicole hung up the phone and I took a deep breath.

"Your vampire friends better be ready because I'm leaving to go now," she said.

I glanced at my watch. "But it hasn't been thirty minutes yet," I protested.

She raised her eyebrows. "I know. It's called the element of surprise. Back when you hunted vampires, you would've known that."

"What are you talking about, 'back when you hunted vampires?'" I still hunt vampires, as in present tense," I said hoping I didn't sound childish.

Nicole just looked at me. She was still angry, but she seemed to hesitate now, unsure of what to say. "You can't have it both ways."

"Meaning?"

"Meaning that you can't date a vampire, and then call yourself a vampire hunter. Normally, I would think you weren't stupid enough to miss that fact, but after today I'm really not so sure. What were you planning to do? Keep it a secret forever?"

She stopped ranting for a second to see my reaction. I was careful to keep my expression blank. But my indifference pushed her over the edge.

"Why don't you ever think Evelyn? What would happen if the Administratio found out? They'd label you a traitor. And then they'd try to kill you," she tried analyzing my expression again, clearly furious that I wasn't reacting the way I was supposed to – with fear.

She was right though. They would kill me. The fact that my mother was a member wouldn't save me. Actually, I wouldn't put it past her to give the order. My mother loved me, but if I started siding with vampires, she'd be the first one to disown me.

"I hadn't thought that far ahead," I answered. The words sounded stupid, even to me.

"Are you thinking that far ahead now? Please, please tell me you've had an epiphany and you see how stupid this is. Say you had no idea what you were doing, or that you were going through some stupid rebellious phase. Say that you're going to break up with the vamp. Please tell me you've come to your senses. Just say any one of those things, and I won't be mad at you. I'll take care of the vamp, and I'll never tell anybody about what happened."

I just looked at her stupidly again. I hadn't come to my senses. I was not going to break up with Anthony. But, I did want Nicole to keep her mouth shut and never tell anybody. And I knew exactly what she meant by taking care of the vamp, and I wasn't going to let her kill Anthony.

When it became clear that I wasn't going to answer, she just shook her head. "Let's go."

"Wait," I said before she could teleport. "Did you believe me about Emily? She really wants to be good. It isn't fair to kill her. She didn't choose to become a vampire."

Nicole was looking at me sadly again. Some wave of kindness must have washed over her because she didn't tell me no outright. "We'll cross that bridge when we get to it," came her cryptic response. Without giving me another chance to stall the fiasco that was about to blow up in my face, she teleported out of the house.

I followed after her quickly hoping that she wouldn't storm through Anthony's house. To my relief, she was waiting for me on the driveway. Not so comforting was the fact that she was holding two daggers coated with the strongest vampire killing poison available.

She noticed the way I was scrutinizing the weapons. "You may not believe in taking sensible precautions anymore, but I do," she said handing me one of the daggers. "If you don't take it, there's only more chance that I'll stab one of the vamps," she warned when I hesitated at the weapon.

I snatched the knife away from her, and was careful to conceal. "These are just safety nets, right? You're not actually planning on killing Emily?" I confirmed.

"Of course I don't plan on killing Emily. Your boyfriend on the other hand…"

"Nicole!"

"Evelyn, I really don't know what you expect from me. I'm not just going to let you keep playing this sick game. If you spend too much time around vampires, you're going to get killed. The only way I'll promise to leave your vamp alone is if you break up with him and he moves far, far away," she watched me seriously, hoping that I was getting the message.

"I already spend enough time around vampires to get killed. That's what happens when you're a vampire hunter," I said flippantly.

"Real vampire hunters kill vampires, they don't date them," she retorted. Like I hadn't seen that one coming. "I really don't like having this conversation here," she said, glancing at the house. "They can probably hear every word we're saying."

"You were the one who was so anxious to come for the 'element of surprise,'" I reminded her, making quotations in the air around the phrase.

"That's right, and all this chitchat made us lose it. No more stalling Evelyn, we're going in."

She started marching up the driveway straight to the front door. "Wait," I hissed, pulling her back by the shoulder. "You can't just barge into the front door."

She sighed and rolled her eyes. "Oh, that's right, these are civilized vampires. Are you telling me I should ring the doorbell, and wait for a bloodsucker to escort me in?"

I rang the doorbell while she glared at me. We didn't have to wait long. Anthony answered the door within a few seconds.

I noticed Nicole tense when she saw him. I realized she was sensing how powerful he was. I'd become shockingly immune to my natural aversion to the feeling, which may not be the best thing considering my line of work. Still, I didn't like the way she curled her fingers around the hilt of her knife.

Anthony, to his credit, looked perfectly at ease. I recognized the same playful look in his eye that he'd had when I used to look at him like I was ready to attack him. I was surprised he could act that way considering the fact that Nicole looked more murderous than I ever could, but a few centuries on Earth must make you able to adapt to just about any situation.

"Hello ladies, come in, come in," he said, stepping aside for us to enter the foyer.

Nicole walked in slowly, never taking her eyes off of him, hand still clutching her knife. I followed after her with a somewhat more relaxed disposition. She was watching me out of the corner of her eye, and I realized that she was observing the way Anthony and I would act around each other. There wasn't much for her to see. Anthony gave me a small, reassuring smile, but that was the extent of any interaction between us.

"So leech, how long have you been using my sister?" she asked, before Anthony could take us beyond foyer. I realized that she would want to stay close to an exit.

"Nicole," I tried cautioning her. I wasn't really surprised though.

Anthony remained as relaxed as ever. For whatever reason, he seemed more willing to get along with my sister than he'd been to warm up to Ethan.

"I haven't been using her. I assure you, I would never want anything bad to happen to Evelyn. I won't hurt her."

"And I'm supposed to just take your word for it? I came over here to tell you to stay away from my sister, or else I will kill you," she stared him down, daring him to defy her.

"I will do whatever Evelyn wants me to. Would you like to come in?" he gestured toward the living room.

"No, I would not like to come in. Why did you move here? Why won't you leave my sister alone?" she asked, keeping consistent with her rude tone.

"I'm a vampire; we don't stay in one place very long. And you know, your sister can speak for herself. Now please, come in. Emily would like to see you. I'm not going to attack you, and neither will my brothers. We'll keep a five foot radius from you and Evelyn." He said all this with his hands up as a gesture of peace.

"It's okay Nicky, come on," I said, gently pulling her toward the living room.

Thankfully, she let me pull her along. His mention of Emily must have diffused her anger toward a bit. We walked in and Mark immediately caught her eye. It didn't take long for me to realize that he was trying to hypnotize her. She tried fighting it, I saw her almost pull away, but Mark was strong.

For a split second, I felt used. They were hypnotizing her. Anthony had been using me to get to my family. I'd been wrong, and if I'd only listened to what she and Ethan had been trying to get through my thick head I wouldn't be putting our lives in danger. I could barely register what he was doing to feel horrified as I watched her eyes glaze over and her whole body slip into a trancelike state.

I wasn't sure what my plan was exactly, but I was about to move, or yell, or do something to express my outrage. Before I could, Anthony wrapped his arms around me gently, but still tight enough so that I couldn't move.

"Relax sweetheart, she's fine. He's only hypnotizing her because we need to talk to you alone." He kissed me lightly on the cheek and then pulled back to stroke my face soothingly.

I looked over my sister, clearly she was fine. She wasn't in a coherent state at the moment, but considering the hell she'd been giving me today, it was an improvement. I was ashamed at myself for losing faith in Anthony so quickly, but today was not my best day.

"I'm sorry," I apologized quietly. "I should've known you weren't going to do anything to her. Today's just not my day."

Anthony smiled at me sweetly. "It's okay." He gave me another light kiss on the lips this time, and then turned to his brothers and Emily with his arm still wrapped around my waist.

"Well, we have good news and we bad news," Eric said. "Which do you want first?"

"Give me the good," I said, I didn't think I could handle any of the bad today. I looked at Mark and my sister. "How long are you going to be able to keep her like that?" I wondered.

"She's tough," he replied. "Probably ten to fifteen minutes – if no one distracts me."

"Oops, sorry." I looked back at Eric. "So about that good news?"

Anthony was the one who answered. "We think we know where your mother is."

My mouth dropped open. I had to work to not get my hopes up. "But all of the hunters haven't found a thing yet," I said rationally. "How could you have found her so quickly?"

"That's where the bad news comes in," Emily said. "It's Juana."