The next three hours consisted of nothing but girl talk. Kate gushed about Pogue and all his glory. Sarah gave a ton of details about her and Caleb, and Rylie had a chance to dish out a few childhood memories of her older brother.

"Leila, do me a favor. Don't see into my personal life, 'kay?" Rylie said.

Laughing, Leila agreed.

"Rylie, just out of curiosity. When's your birthday?" Sarah asked.

"In two weeks," Rylie answered. "I'll be eighteen."

"Oh, god. I… I totally forgot," Kate said.

Rylie gave her a small smile. "It's fine. I didn't really expect people to remember."

"Oh my god! We have to celebrate! Between me, Kate, and the Sons, we can have the best party!"

"No," Rylie said firmly.

Sarah's face fell a little. "Why not?"

"Because with everything going on, I don't want to be caught off guard."

"Not to mention we'd have to get you far away from the party before ten thirty that night," Leila said.

"Why?" Kate asked.

"Because at ten thirty, I'll Ascend," Rylie replied.

Kate's jaw dropped.

"You'll Ascend?" Sarah asked.

"Well, since I have Power, yeah," Rylie said.

"Do the guys know?"

"Nope."

"Are you going to tell them?"

Rylie shrugged. "Not sure. I'll probably have to after I Ascend. But I don't know if I want them to know before."

"Incoming," Leila said, her gaze distant. "In five, four, three, two, one."

The door opened.

"Okay, you four have been up here for hours. What are you talking about?" Pogue asked.

Smiling, Kate answered, "Nothing specific. Just chatting." She hopped off the bed and walked to her boyfriend, wrapping her arms around his waist. She looked back at the other three girls. "You coming down?"

Sarah followed the couple out of the room.

Leila stood and looked at her friend. "Coming?"

Rylie nodded and the two of them made their way downstairs. In the living room, they found the Sons, Kate and Sarah.

"We need to do something," Leila announced.

"Like what?" Tyler asked.

"I don't know. Just something. All this stress is getting to me."

Rylie smiled at her friend. Leave it to Leila to voice the need of stress-relief.

"Nicky's?" Kate suggested.

"I'm game," Rylie said.

"What about this Devon guy?" Caleb asked.

"He won't be back for a few days," Rylie answered.

"How do you know?"

"Because the spell me and Leila used on him weakens him. He'll need a few days to get his full strength back."

"So you've used the spell before?" Reid asked.

The two girls nodded.

"Where'd you find it?"

"Rylie came up with it a little over a year ago."

"You made it up?" Caleb looked at his younger sister, a little shocked.

"Well we needed a way to weaken him and give ourselves some time to find a new hiding place." Rylie looked at Kate. "But, yeah. Nicky's would be great."

"So we'll go there later tonight. What are we going to do for the next couple hours?" Sarah asked.

"Since we're going to be staying here for a while, Leila and I need some clothes. Especially Leila, since she's still in the outfit I gave her," Rylie said. "Who's up for shopping?"

The Sons groaned, while Kate jumped up.

"I'm in!"

Laughing, Sarah nodded. "Me too."

"Let's go now, so we have enough time." Rylie turned, then paused to look at the girls. "Who's driving?"

"Me and Kate drove here, so we can take my car," Sarah said, digging her keys out of her pocket.

"'Kay. Let me go grab my money." Rylie rushed up the stairs and into her room, grabbed the cash she had buried in one suitcase, and ran back downstairs. "Ready."

"I don't have any money," Leila said.

"I got you covered." Rylie slung an arm over her friend's shoulders and steered her out the door. "Be back later!" she called before shutting the door behind her.

After piling into Sarah's small car, they headed into town.

* * * * *

"How can they be so relaxed when there's someone who basically wants to kill them?" Caleb asked, watching the small blue Volkswagen pull away from the house.

"They seem used to it," Tyler said, dropping onto the couch.

"Too used to it," Pogue commented.

"I don't like this," Caleb stated. "Any of this. At least with Chase, we knew what kind of power we were up against. With Devon, we have no idea. No one does."

"Rylie and Leila seem to know him pretty well," Pogue said.

"Well they've been fighting him for three years. It makes sense that they'd have an idea of how and when he attacks," Reid added.

Caleb let out a long exhale. "I still can't believe she never told us." He held up his hand when Reid opened his mouth to speak. "I know what you're going to say, and I… agree. I just… she didn't even ask for help. Three years of running, and she didn't once call asking for help."

"Your sister's strong, man," Tyler said.

"I would hope so, considering she grew up with us," Reid said, smiling a little. "Remember when she followed us to the river and we didn't even know? And all of a sudden she had run by us and jumped into the water? She got caught in the current, and we all thought she would drown."

"And she didn't. She somehow got to the other side and crawled up on the bank," Tyler finished, a smile pulling the corners of his lips up. "I still don't know how she managed to do that."

Pogue chuckled. "And then there was the time Caleb and Reid got into that really physical fight. Remember? You guys were about nine. Tyler and I weren't sure how to pull you two apart without getting hit a few times. But Rylie. She ducked right in between you and decked both of you in the nose, and then called you stupid idiots for fighting in the first place."

Tyler's smile grew, and even Reid smiled wider.

Caleb couldn't help but let out a small chuckle. "No matter how mean we were to her, she always tried to help us." His smile faded. "I don't know how to deal with this."

"Like it or not, I think you're going to have to trust Rylie and let her take charge," Tyler said.

* * * * *

Rylie stood outside the dressing room, studying the ocean blue bra in her hand, debating whether or not she should get it, along with the matching thong. The two undergarments were really cute and fit her curves perfectly. But the purple set in her other hand was adorable as well, and had a cute silver heart stitched into the upper side of the left cup. Decisions, decisions.

"Those are hot."

Rylie looked up and smiled at Sarah. "I know. But I don't know what pair to get."

Sarah shrugged. "Get both."

"I've already spent a ton on jeans and shirts for both me and Leila, as well as underwear for Leila. I don't want to run out of money."

"You do remember that you're family's pretty much rich, right?" Sarah laughed.

"Of course I remember. But I really don't want to ask my brother for money." Her eyes dropped back to the items in her hands. "But they are really cute."

"Are those for Reid?" Kate asked, walking up to the two girls.

"No," Rylie said defensively.

"Are you sure?" Leila asked mischievously.

"Why? Did you see something?" Rylie asked as casually as possible, trying not to give away any possible excitement.

"You didn't want me to look into your personal life, remember?" Leila reminded her. "I asked that from one girl to another."

Rylie sighed. "I just don't know."

"Is this about the underwear or Reid?" Leila asked.

"Both," Rylie answered.

"Well, you should know that Reid's been a playboy since he was fourteen, and has been with a ton of girls," Kate said matter-of-factly.

Rylie rolled her eyes. "Great. Thanks."

"What about you?" Sarah asked.

"What about me?"

"Have you been with any guys?"

"Um. Sort of." Now this was awkward.

"What's that mean?" Kate asked.

Rylie glanced at Leila and back to Sarah and Kate. "It's… an experience I don't like to talk about."

"Oh, uh, okay."

"So are you getting those or what? It's four, and we still have to shower and change before going to Nicky's," Sarah said.

Sighing, Rylie nodded. "Okay, I'll get them."

After paying, the girls climbed into the car and headed back to the Danvers' House.

The four girls climbed out of the car, each carrying bags full of clothes. Sarah and Kate couldn't resist buying a outfits. They entered the house and found the boys in front of the TV.

"Get enough stuff?" Tyler asked, eyeing the bags.

"Seriously. Where are you planning on putting all that?" Reid added.

"Haha." Rylie said. "We're going to get ready."

The guys nodded, and the four girls went up to Rylie's bedroom. Leila ran to drop her things off in the guest room, dragging Sarah and Kate with her so they could help decide on an outfit for her. Rylie dumped the bags onto the bed and started putting the clothes away.

Picking up the purple bra, she turned it over in her hand, debating whether or not to wear it.

"That's hot."

Gasping, Rylie spun and saw the blonde Son leaning against her open door, his arms folded casually.

Smirking, he asked, "Did I scare you?"

"Don't sneak up on me," Rylie replied.

"Sorry," Reid said, shrugging. "Caleb was thinking about making some food, so I came up to see if you girls wanted anything."

"Sure." Rylie glanced down at her hands, which were still holding the bra, and tossed it into an open bag, and felt color rise to her cheeks.

"Are you going to wear that tonight?" Reid asked.

Rylie looked up. "I might. Not sure yet."

Reid flashed her a smile. "You should."

"And why is that?"

"Like I said, it's hot."

Rylie looked down at the bag. "We'll see." When she looked up again, her heart skipped a beat.

Reid stood directly in front of her. He raised his hand and let it gently caress her cheek, sending a shiver down her spine. His finger dipped under her chin and lifted her head so that he could look down into her eyes. Heat flared through her body, and she craved to taste his lips again.

"You should hurry and get ready," Reid said, dropping his hand and stepping away. His eyes shimmered with amusement. "I'll go let the other girls know about the food." Turning, he left, closing the door behind him.

Rylie let out a frustrated growl. Damn him.