Hi, here's the next chapter. Sorry for the long wait and thanks for your patience. Also a big thanks to all who reviewed and/or added this fanfic to their story alert.

Chapter twenty-nine: What are you doing here?

Lara's manor

"Come on you two, we don't have much time.", Anna whispered while she and Jesse pulled the twins along the many hallways and not for the first time she was glad that her husband had insisted on memorizing the blueprints of the manor. When they had snug out of the laundry shaft - and killed at least three demons on their way to the twins (Anna tried not to remember the two human guards that also got in the way) – she and Jesse had noticed a window going out to a canopy which provided the perfect opportunity to use the transporting potions. They just had to get down one more floor, just one more...

"Ahh!" Startled, she whirled around to find her husband leaning against the wall, panting heavily as he held onto a nasty looking flesh wound on his right shoulder, caused by what looked like an energy ball.

"You're next, bitch!," the demon who apparently had thrown it snarled as another one appeared in his hand.

Instinctively, she raised her arms to protect her face.

The demon guard was grinning maliciously – at least until someone shoved him forward and he collided with the wall. The energy ball in his hand was pressed against his chest, causing him to explode with a surprised scream.

Four mouths fell open when they recognized the person who had shoved him. Anna was the first one who found her voice again. "Wyatt? What are you doing here? How did you get in?"

"Let's just say it's practical being the former ruler of everything. One of my old servants helped me get in.," the blond witch replied smugly before he turned serious. "Anyway, we should get going. If we don't make it out of here, my Chris and Benji will be as dead as Adrianna.," he went on with a grim expression while he grabbed the twins hands and pulled them along. Anna supported a wounded Jesse as they trailed behind. But Alex started to struggle and ripped his hand out of his father's grasp. "What?"

Grudgingly Wyatt stopped and turned to face his son. They really didn't have time for this. "I'm sorry Alex. Lara has sent head hunters after us. Benji tried healing her, but..."

"No!" Hot tears of anger and despair burned down Alex cheeks as he shook his head in denial. His mother couldn't be dead, she just couldn't!

Anna and Jesse shot each other uncomfortable looks.

"Alex..." Wyatt started to go over to his son, but the kid backed away.

Nicky rubbed his aching temples. His brother's mind was practically screaming in pain, causing him a headache. Pity and rage pulsed through him in waves. He wanted nothing more than to soothe his sibling and make his so called aunt pay for the pain she had caused him by murdering the only mother Alex had ever known. Unfortunately, now wasn't the time to do either thing. He looked at his twin and he knew that he had heard him. He reached out to his brother, silently begging him to come with him. To both their surprise, Alex let him grab his hand and let himself be pulled toward him.

At this moment, more demon guards came around the corner. Wyatt let out a string of curses that would have put a sailor to shame.

However, the demons didn't get far as they soon found themselves at the receiving end of the wrath of two teenage witches. With a simple blink of their eyes, the twins sent a fire explosion their way, burning them all in a matter of seconds before they could even reach them.

Impressed, Wyatt stared at his sons. They were so young and they were already unbelievably powerful. No wonder Lara wanted them so badly – their potential was thrilling! With a bit practice... Absently, he noted Nicky's adoptive parents gaping at them. It was as if only now they had realised what they had agreed to when they took in a witch child. Stupid mortals!

For once, Wyatt's voice was gentle and his chest was swelling with pride as he went over to his boys and coaxed them to get going.

Chris old apartment

Unwillingly, Bianca was cooling Benji's fevered forehead with the wash cloth. She would have rather stayed with Chris, but there wasn't anything she could do for him. She just hoped that Wyatt would be able to find them help.

The phoenix witch couldn't reign in the bitter laugh at that thought. If someone had told her months ago, that she would put her hope in the bad-ass ruler of all evil she would have shipped him off to the loony bin. But now...

She was pulled out of her musings when she realized that Benji was awake. His fever bright eyes were huge, his pupils blown. He stared at her with an apologetic expression. "Hey," His voice was barely a whisper.

"Hey yourself."

He stared long at her. "I'm... I'm sorry."

"Forget it." Although she was still angry at him, she knew no wasn't the best time to argue. He was already weak enough.

"No, " he rasped. "I should have been able... to save you. It's entirely my fault."

"Save me?" What was he talking about? And then it clicked. He wasn't seeing her. He was seeing Adrianna. The fever was causing him hallucinations.

"You did all that you could."

He shook his head. "I never should have burdened you with his care."

Was he talking about Alex?

"I know what you were feeling for me. And I took advantage of it. I used you. To save Alex. I wish I could regret it. But you were such a good mother for him. You took such great care of him..., " he trailed off, panting harshly.

Bianca softly placed her index finger to his lips. "Hush." He still looked at her sadly. She bit her lip, wondering whether to play along or not. Finally, the pity overpowered her anger. "You have nothing to be sorry about. I love Alex like he was my own child. I wouldn't have wanted it any other way."

He smiled. Then his eyes closed.

Lara's manor

They had made it to the second floor without any further trouble.

"There's the window.," Anna exclaimed as she spotted their portal to freedom.

"Thank God!," Jesse murmured softly. A few more steps and they would be able to disappear.

Anna smiled warmly at him. "Come on, honey. Just a few more steps. It will all be over soon." The red haired demon chose this moment to appear and blocked their escape route. "Or not.," she finished frustrated.

He grinned evilly at them. "I have to admit," he started. "for a bunch of lousy mortals, you have been very annoying. But did you honestly think you would be able to steal what's Lara's possession? Please!" He rolled his eyes. Behind him, more guards shimmered in, surrounding them.

At that declaration, Alex temper flared up. "We don't belong to anybody!," he snarled. Jesse and Anna flinched involuntary.

Jerek let his gaze flicker for a moment towards the little brats. "I strongly suggest that you two step aside. Your aunt wouldn't be pleased if you would get hurt in the process." "Mainly because that would upset Chris.," he added sourly in his thoughts. If it wasn't for that good for nothing witchlighter she couldn't care less. Apparently the little runt knew that, too. Instead of stepping aside, he shared a brief look with his brother. Next thing he knew, Jerek had to duck away as the twins started blowing and burning up the demons in front of them, while their adoptive parents started throwing potions and the blond man he had seen with Benji went over to hand combat.

"Fine!," Jerek thought. "I guess we'll do it the hard way, then!"

Grinning slyly, he took a look around the room to consider his options. Who should be the first? The kids were out of the question; Lara would kill him. The woman had a gun. Granted, bullets could hardly kill him, but they would hurt a lot. That left the two men. One had a nasty shoulder wound. He wasn't much of a threat; he could leave him to one of the guards. The other man was unarmed and therefore an easy target. Besides, he was the closest to him and stood in his way.

Jerek had picked his victim and attacked the blond man without warning. Having the element of surprise it wouldn't be very hard. Or so he thought. His opponent was apparently well trained and sidestepped his attack with the grace of a cat.

However he didn't have much room, considering they stood in a hallway with nearly two dozen demon and witch guards who were currently kept in check by Jesse, Anna and the twins. Still the evasive action had got him in a better position to defend himself.

Since Jerek was facing the same lack of space, he decided against using an energy ball. He didn't want to risk hurting himself accidently. So, he had to fight bare hand, which turned out to be a bad idea as the blond one was better at this than him. His easy target turned out to be more and more of a problem!

Finally, the red haired demon lost his patience and risked forming an energy ball. This weapon was deadly even at a short distance; however he had to open his guard for a moment in order to throw it.

Wyatt lost no time and with all the strength he could muster he punched the demon in the face.

Jerek flew backwards onto the ground; the energy ball came loose and hit a nearby witch, who exploded with a scream.

For a moment, the fighting stopped. The guards stared bemused at their leader, the twins and their adoptive parents in approval at Wyatt.

Then one of the other demons pounced on the man and the fight continued.

With great pleasure Jerek left his rebellious victim to one of the others and directed his attention to an easier target in order to gain back the control over the situation. Surely, the wounded man wouldn't be able to hold himself up against a demon for long.

But things usually never turn out the way you want them to.

When he lunged for Jesse, who was neither as experienced as Wyatt, nor had the space to sidestep him properly, the pain plagued man could only duck and raise his arms to protect his head.

But instead of beating the crap out of the weak mortal, he found himself in a brawl with Anna. The stupid woman was no match for him and his hand quickly found a way around her neck.

Suddenly, he was hit by something heavy and went tumbling down to the ground for the second time in a matter of minutes. Being afraid for her life, her husband had ignored the pain in his shoulder and had shoved him to the ground.

Now Jerek was starting to get extremely pissed off. Not even bothering to stand up he threw another energy ball towards the foolish mortal and hit him square in the chest.

However his satisfaction only lasted a few seconds as he soon found himself at the receiving end of the wife's wrath.

Anna hadn't been able to anything but watch in horror when the demon killed her beloved husband. The scream she had wanted to let out died on her lips. And then from one second to the other she got calm. Deadly calm. The rage within her took hold and she shot the demon repeatedly in the chest until she was out of ammo.

Jerek took a few moments to breathe through the burning pain the bullets had caused; then he got to his feet and faced the bitch. He was fed up! Not even bothering with the crowded space he formed another energy ball in order to throw it at her.

If the twins hadn't been busy fighting their attackers left and right, Nicky would have hardly just stood there and watched while Jerek killed his father. However when he registered the energy ball growing on the demon's palm to kill his mother, too, the young witch saw red.

The fresh memory of his father falling dead to the ground fuelled his powers as much as his fear for his mother's life. With a strength born out of desperation, he pushed the demon holding him by his throat away. The evil creature flew 2 meters through the air and collided painfully with his leader.

The next second, the wall near Jerek exploded. The detonation had so much power that everything that wasn't solid sailed through the air – Jerek included.

His energy ball came loose. It was a good thing that the shock wave had thrown Wyatt and the twins also off their feet, because the thing smashed into the wall behind them. On instinct, they covered their heads with their arms to protect themselves from flying fragments. When they dared to look up again they stared at a big hole where only seconds ago the window used to be.

For a few moments nobody moved, until Anna scrambled to her feet and made a dash for the hole. Quickly catching on, Wyatt and his sons also stood up, wanting to use the opportunity to teleport themselves out of danger.

However their plans were thwarted when one of the remaining guards got a hold of Alex ankle and pulled him to the ground.

"Alex!" His brother and father whirled around to help him, but Anna, not wanting to miss their only chance to get away, grabbed Nicky while simultaneously pushing Wyatt through the hole.

Having heard the fighting noises and the explosion, Chris and Lara meanwhile had hastily abandoned the press conference and came now running around the corner, just in time to watch Anna pull Nicky with her through the hole in the wall, grab hold of Wyatt's arm and throw the teleporting potion on the ground outside the inner shields.

Jerek made a dash to stop them, but was thrown across the room by Alex, who in the meantime had knocked the guard out with a piece of the wall and now turned his head towards his brother.

For a moment, nothing happened. Then Anna, Nicky and Wyatt wavered like a fata morgana before they vanished into thin air.

Lara stood there shell shocked. "No!," she thought. No this was impossible. It couldn't be Wyatt. It just couldn't be him!

Beside her, Chris took one look at the extremely pissed of Jerek who seemed ready to rip Alex apart and sent a telekinetic wave at him that threw the demon back into the furthest wall. Before she could react, he had crossed the small space between him and his nephew.

Then Jerek, who looked like he had been run over by a train, heaved himself off the ground, probably to kill Chris with his bare hands, and Lara knew she had to put a stop to this in an instant.