Thomas hadn't moved, still pointing the shotgun at where he had been.

"...Mr Gray? He's gone, you can put it down now."

Millie ran out of the house as well, giving me a dirty look as I tried to get through to her husband.

"...Mr Gray?"

"Where'd he go?" He muttered, swinging the muzzle around. "People don't just disappear like that!"

"Welcome to my world." I said softly, and before I knew it Mr Gray had pointed the gun at me.

My breath caught in my throat and my eyes went wide. Taboo growled and prepared to leap.

Stop! He's not himself!

"He's going to shoot you, you idiot!"

"Mr Gray, just put it down." I said calmly, trying to ignore my rapid heartbeat in my already painful chest.

"H-he came after you showed up today..."

"We were fighting. He is my enemy, I'm sorry he showed up, I didn't know he was going to do that."

"No! You're dangerous!" His finger tightened on the trigger.

"Mr Gray, please. I am not your enemy! I want your son to be safe! I promise you!"

Silence fell as several tense seconds went by and I let the temperature go back up. Thomas stopped shaking quite so much.

"He's gone? For good?"

"For now." I said as Tara landing nearby. "I can't say whether or not he'll be back."

Thomas stood there for another few seconds, before lowering the gun and quickly dropped it.

"Oh God I'm so sorry."

"S'okay. No harm done." In my mind I was a little less calm, but my main question was, why do they own a gun? A shotgun no less!

"This is what you do?" Asked Millie.

"Not regularly, and I promise that if Cole does decide to join us, he will not get involved until he's ready."

Millie's eyes narrowed. "Are you sure you can promise that?"

I lifted my eyes to the half moon. "I swear in the name of the Man in the Moon, if Cole joins us I will make sure he will be safe until he comes of age."

Taboo growled uneasily as I made the oath, giving her a quick shake to dislodge the sand at the same time. That kind of oath was a serious one, one that could have disastrous consequences if broken.

Something warm soaked into my sleeve and Nancy gave an uncharacteristic gasp of concern.

"You're bleeding!"

I looked at where Spiky Hair's whip had caught me, and saw that blood was soaking into my hoodie.

"So I am." I said calmly, already feeling the frost cover the injury.

Millie ran forward and grabbed my other arm, trying to drag me back into the house. I struggled not to flinch from the sudden hot bloom on my arm.

"You have to have that checked out! Come inside."

"Ma'am, please, it's fine."

"No! You need to have that checked!"

"Mrs Gray! Please! I am fine!"

"Didn't you get kicked in the chest?" Asked Thomas, and right then I wanted nothing more than to punch him.

"I'm made of stronger stuff than that. So can you please let me do my job?"

"Job or no, you're injured." Said Millie, standing up straight and still not letting go of my arm. "I'm not heartless Miss Davies, you did just save my son. At least come in."

I paused, given how hostile she was to me earlier, this was the last thing I expected. Might as well take advantage of this.

"If I do, are you willing to listen?"

"After that..." Millie paused, then shook her head as if to clear it. "Yes, I think I am."

"Okay, I accept your invitation."

Taboo walked over and I noticed the two parents tense up.

"Ah, yeah, sorry." I turned to Taboo. "Reckon you can change size, I don't want to freak anyone else out."

Taboo grinned mischievously and I knew I should have been more specific as she started to grow in size.

"I mean smaller! Now is not the time for messing around!" I said, putting my head into my hand.

"Awwwww. Whined Taboo as she shrank to the size of a house cat. "But their faces are hilarious!"

I looked over to see that Mr and Mrs Grey had almost identical looks of confusion and horror.

"Save it for the Descendants of Pitch, not people I'm actually trying to get along with!"

I looked over to Millie. "If you want to revoke that invitation, I completely understand."

Millie's eyelid twitched, but she forced a smile.

"As long as it doesn't rip up the furniture."

I could sense Taboo smile.

Don't even think about it.

"Spoilsport."

"She'll behave." I said, making sure I was glaring at Taboo from the corner of my eyes.

I followed the Gray's back into their home and Tara, Cole and Alan came running down.

"That was so cool!" Cried Cole. "You weren't even scared! You just went in and out and bam bam bam!"

"I wish it was as easy as you're making it sound." I said as we reconvened in the living room.

"Could I learn to do that?"

I saw Millie's face tense as we sat down, but she didn't say anything.

"If you joined us, yes, you will learn how to fight. You won't learn how to use ice, I'm afraid that's my specialty." I said with a smile, "But those wings, if you don't know already, we can teach you how to fly."

"Really!" Looking at Cole's face you'd think Christmas had come early.

"Don't get too excited." I said, I needed to balance this. "The Descendants of Pitch know you exist, and they might not let up for a while. It could get dangerous."

"Could."

"Yes, and while you won't be serving until you're eighteen, and don't try and argue that, it's the rule in the Order." I said when Cole opened his mouth to argue. "I know from personal experience that the Descendants of Pitch are not so picky with age."

"Bring it on!"

"No. That is not the right attitude." I said sternly. "You have little to no combat training, these guys have been training for a large chunk of their lives. If one starts to attack, you run and yell for help."

"I thought you wanted me to join you guys."

"I do, but it wouldn't be fair if I dropped all of this on you once you'd decided to join. I'm still not going to force a decision, but I don't know if the Descendants of Pitch will wait."

I leaned back in the chair, trying not to wince at the pain in my chest. I was going to have to get that seen to. If Jamie was in bed then I'd have to go to the base.

"I can tell you what else won't wait, your injury." Said Millie.

"Please, I'm fine."

"I saw you get struck in the chest by something that sent you flying. I'm not blind Miss Davies."

"I'll get it seen to later." I said, waving it off.

"Can I ask a question?" Asked Cole.

"Go ahead."

"Do I get a tiger too?"

"Er." I looked at Taboo. "No. Taboo, wasn't exactly, planned. No one knows how to recreate that. So no."

"Oh. Do I get to meet my ancestor?"

I looked at Tara out of the corner of my eye. So he hadn't seen her yet, hopefully I could get that to change.

"Yes. She's in this room right now, actually."

"She is! Where?"

"You're not going to see if you don't believe." I said.

"Okay, how do I do that?"

"Well, it's different for everyone, but the way it worked for me was to remember what each Guardian represented, and each time I felt that. The Guardian Angel, as admittedly soppy as this sounds-"

"Hey!" Cried Tara, and Taboo gave her a smirk as I continued talking.

"-is the Guardian of Friendship. So if you visualise that quality, that's the first step."

The rest of the family was watching with baited breath.

"Mr Gray, can you ask that you try too?" I asked, not completely sure whether or not this was a good idea.

"Me? Why?"

"Just, please. I think, I think you need to see her."

Thomas had an odd look on his face, but did as I asked him. The last two shrugged and did the same.

Once they said they had that quality in mind I took a deep breath. This was going to meet some resistance.

"Now, I have to tell you about the Guardian Angel. She has the ability to sense relationships between people, and also has large white wings. Her hair is blonde and curly, and she often wears grey jumpers and jeans."

I gave it a few minutes.

Tell Tara to say something.

"Okay. Tara, can you say something?"

She looked for a moment like she was a deer caught in the headlights, then cleared her throat.

"Er, hi?"