I knew that when Dwayne played stupid at the appearance of the hunter – which he only knew as my Caller – I was in for it.

When he volunteered us to go and grab dinner – actual food, not a living blood bag – I followed behind him out of the cave at a slow pace.

I may have been the Queen of our clan, but I knew that I wasn't nearly as old as most of my companions.

Age increased power.

I kept silent as I rode behind him on his motorcycle into the city. I didn't make one sound and my body was rigid.

That changed when Dwayne slammed on the brakes and pinned me by my throat against a wall on the side of the Chinese restaurant.

"So, you killed him, did you?" Dwayne hissed. "He's in our home with your mate."

"C… Cassie… you didn't want to kill Cassie," I struggled to speak.

"I didn't already belong to someone."

"I'm… not… not his property!"

"You know that's not how I meant it," Dwayne countered. "David wants to bring him into the family. What happens when he finds out that you were already acquainted?" He paused and slowly cocked his head to the side. "The human made no indications that he knew you… Why?"

I couldn't control the way that my eyes widened.

Dwayne narrowed his, "Why, Rhiannon? What is it?"

"He already knew we were vampires…" I finally admitted. "I told him to leave town, otherwise you would all kill him. You'd kill him if you knew…"

Dwayne flexed his fingers, "If we knew what?"

"…That he's a hunter."

"A hunter?" Dwayne snarled as he pulled me forward just enough to slam me back. "Your Caller is a hunter and you let him live? Have you lost your fucking mind?"

"He's not a good one, if that helps."

"…Rhiannon!"

"I know, all right? I know!" I rubbed at my neck once he finally released me. "I fucked up. I should have killed him when I found out. I couldn't kill him, Dwayne. That's why I told him to leave. Shit!"

Dwayne jerked his hand around so that he backhanded my cheek; he didn't look at me as he did it, "Go inside and get the food. We've got some shit to deal with. He tries anything and I'll kill him; he drinks and… well, we'll see."

I couldn't even respond.

Dwayne had never been physical with me in such a hateful way.

It was an act that put me in a low place – a place that I had never been in.

And I couldn't even blame him for doing it.

xoxoxo

"Dinner's served!" Paul bellowed out as we returned to the cave.

Dwayne threw the food at Marko before he took a seat on one of the old couches. He had managed to calm his rage towards me to return his tension back to a neutral feeling. He told me on the way over that we would have to handle this carefully… and without David, if at all possible.

I was grateful.

David crooked his finger and beckoned me to come and sit in his lap. With a small shake of my head, I snatched up a box of fried rice for myself and a container of noodles for him which I placed in his lap as I leaned my face over his shoulder from behind, "No."

"No," David repeated in near disbelief. "You don't want to sit with me?"

"I don't want to be a part of this," I corrected as my eyes flashed to meet with Wolf's for a split second. "I know what you're going to do. I find it as entertaining now as I did when you played your game with my father and me."

"Sometimes you really remind me of your mother," David said in a not so direct insult.

He may have grown to have a relationship of sorts with Michael, but that never happened with Star.

Mother continued to loathe and just barely tolerate him until her death.

My eyes narrowed as I backed away from him, "Fuck you, dear." David just laughed and turned back to the others, the incident already out of his mind. I didn't let things slide so easily. He wanted to be cruel when I was merely stating disinterest with messing with the minds of mortals? Fine. I could play that game just as well as he could.

I could be cruel.

He hadn't seen the parts of my mother that I could bring out… but now he would.

xoxoxo

"I feel weird," Trinity leaned on me as we reached the old train tracks and I helped her off of the back of my motorcycle – the tracks happened to be a game that didn't bother me as much strictly because it was less of a game and more of an introduction.

"Good or bad weird?" I questioned. I hoped that David's blood being introduced into her system didn't have that rare negative effect.

"Oh… Good," Trinity laughed as she did a twirl. "Like, really good."

Crisis clearly averted.

I chuckled as she danced off towards Jeremy and Marko and I turned my attention to Wolf, who wasn't standing that far away, "What about you, pup? How do you feel?"

We hadn't addressed one another before now. He seemed surprised that I finally had.

Wolf seemed to be choosing his words carefully, "I feel… alive."

I arched an eyebrow and smirked, "I'm sure you do." I stepped in front of him and pressed my hand to his chest. My voice dropped to a whisper. "Fall last and hold close."

"What?" Wolf looked down at me.

"You heard me," I responded as I stepped away and moved closer to David, who I knew hadn't heard me, but was watching me as if he had. "Hm?"

"Flirting with the fresh meat… that's cute, Rhi," David said with a straight face. "What point are you trying to prove?"

"Me? I'm not trying to prove a point," I darted my tongue over my sharp canines. "I'm merely doing what my genetics tell me to."

Trinity interrupted before either of us could say anything further on the subject, "What are we doing here?"

I rolled my eyes, "Oh, here we go…" I turned my attention to Paul and Marko. "Can we just skip the spiel?"

The pair turned their gazes on David, who was giving me an impassive look as he spoke, "Tell them what's going on, boys."

Trinity and Wolf stood back as the others stepped to the edge of the tracks over the foggy expanse of nothing underneath. Jeremy and Marko shared a kiss before they dropped off of the side and out of view – the action caused Trinity to let out a small shriek. Paul laughed and followed after them, Dwayne on his heels. David finally tore his eyes from the back of my head as he laughed and disappeared with the others.

With a small yawn, I traipsed to the edge and clicked the toe of my stiletto heel against the ground, "Well, come on, then."

Trinity brought a hand to her mouth as I gracefully dropped out of view with no more than a half wave, "My God!"

Wolf knew that the vampires were fine, but even he was a bit shocked by the sudden disappearance of them. He didn't speak as he stepped forward with the other human – or Halfling, because he knew exactly what they were now – and peered down over the side.

The vampires were holding onto the bars as they had many times, with their feet and bodies swaying and laughs emitting from their mouths.

The fear in Trinity slowly gave way to shock and finally she even cracked a smile, "You're crazy!"

"It's time for you to be crazy, too!"

"Come on down!"

Trinity shared a look with Wolf before she knelt down and lowered her body so that she could grab the bar and hang directly beside Paul; Wolf followed similarly, except he placed himself beside me.

The boys all hollered and kicked at each other as a horn sounded in the distance. David stared straight at Wolf as he uttered the same dry words he once said so many years ago. They were simple and still had the ability to make my skin crawl, "Fun, huh?"

That was when the tracks above started to shake as the train neared and started over us. Wolf turned his head at me and half shouted, "Are you fucking kidding me?"

"I wish I was, pup," I sighed as I turned my eyes towards Trinity. She looked terrified as she held on for dear life. I had to scream for her to hear me. "You're fine. I promise!"

She was physically weakest and the first to slip. She let out a shrill scream as she fell and managed to grab on to Paul's ankle, "Help me!"

Jeremy shared a smug look with Marko as his fingers loosened and he too fell. The difference was that when he grabbed his mate at the waist, Marko didn't hold on and they both disappeared into the fog below.

That pulled another scream from Trinity's throat.

The humor of it pushed Paul over the edge. He looked down at the girl holding onto him and feigned exhaustion before he released his hold and the pair vanished.

As Trinity's screams faded, I turned my eyes on Dwayne with a frown on my lips. He may not have been happy with me, but he understood. He nodded his head and followed after the latest casualty to make sure she was fine.

"Let go, man," David laughed. "You're one of us!" When Wolf turned to look at me for some support (which he was merely following my order to not fall before I did), David couldn't help the way his eyes narrowed and a dark smirk played at his lips; he mouthed to me that it was obvious I had an admirer.

I merely sneered and waited to speak until David decided to allow me to take over with the newcomer. The train was gone by then so I was able to keep my voice low, "It's all a game. What he's doing and what you're doing. I hope you know what you're doing because he's been playing a lot longer than you have."

Wolf watched as I dropped out of sight without another word. His arms were shaking with exhaustion and his attempts to pull himself up were in vain. That was when he took my words to heart.

He needed to play the game.

So, with that thought, he took a deep breath and let go.