A/N: I'm baaack! So, so, so, so, SO sorry it's been so long. I could give you a huge list of reasons why it took so long, but I won't. I was all ready to start up before Christmas, but my Gramma, whom I loved very much, passed away suddenly, so I had to fly to Chicago and help deal with everything.

This chapter is short, more on par with the first few, and they're probably gonna stay that way. The theory is: Short chapters more often. Fingers crossed.

Also, my main writing buddy has gone off and joined the army (seriously, and good luck to her), so I could use all the input and feedback you want to give.

Thanks to: Niffer01, guardian music angel, Ithilya and Wolfy Pup for their reviews. Also a big thanks to everyone who's added me to their favs or alerts.

As always, Review and Enjoy!

"Die, you evil bastard! Why won't you just stay dead?!" Talia yelled at her enemy, squaring up for another round.

He didn't reply, instead sent a wave of power shooting towards her. She tried to duck out of the way, but he was too fast, and the force hit her, knocking her off her feet. She didn't know how much more of this she could take.

"Why the fuck isn't this stupid sword working? It's supposed to be his weakness! Uggh! I'm gonna kill you, dickwad!"

Jess and Tyler watched the battle from the hallway outside.

"How long has she been playing that game?" Jess asked quietly, not taking her eyes off the rapt Lycan.

"Uh, I don't know. She was playing last night when I left," he replied.

"Shit. She always does this." Jess shook her head, stepping slowly into the room. "Tal?" she asked tentatively.

"What?" the older girl snapped, not taking her eyes off the screen.

"Uh, Will's on his way. We need to get to work soon."

"Fine. Ha! Take that! Not so funny now, is it?"

"Sweetie, did you sleep at all last night?" Jess asked, creeping closer, but still staying out of reach.

"Yeah, I went to my house in Anvil. I'm all healed up," Tal answered, distracted still by the onscreen battle.

Jess rolled her eyes. "I meant in real life."

"What? No. I was going to, but then I found this really cool Ruin…"

"Tal, why don't you take a break? Come on, give me the controller," Jess said soothingly.

"I can't stop now! I can't save until the bad guys are dead, and if I stop now I'll have to get past those stupid bandits again! I mean, seriously. Who goes into an Ayleid Ruin with just fur armour? They were asking for it!"

"Uh-huh. Okay. I really didn't want to do this, but…" Jess moved quickly, pulling the plug from the wall before her friend could react.

The screen went blank.

Jess held her breath. Pissing Tal off was never a good idea, best friend or not. Especially when the wolf hadn't slept. Maybe she should have waited for Will.

Talia blinked twice.

"Thank you."

Jess released the breath she had been holding. "No problem. What are friends for, huh?"

Talia nodded vaguely, her eyes still slightly dazed. She stood up slowly, wincing at her stiff muscles, and turned around to find Tyler watching them both, a bemused expression on his face. Tal paused for a moment, then cleared her throat.

"Well. I'm, uh, going to go take a nap," she said, trying to keep what little dignity she had left. "And a shower," she added, walking stiffly out of the room and up the stairs.

"What the hell was that?" Tyler asked as soon as she was gone.

"She has a very, um, overactive imagination. It was great when we were kids, she came up with the best make-believe stories. But sometimes when she plays video games she gets a little too involved." Jess shrugged. "She used to play all the time, but gave it up when she started to dream of it. It really freaked her out."

"Weird."

"Yeah."

"Vasili, Vasili, Vasili…Why is that name so familiar?" Jess murmured and she scanned quickly through yet another of Vargssen's journals.

The three Shifters had taken over looking through the journals, which were written in old ShapeShifter glyphs, while the others looked through the rest of the books they had singled out, trying to find something that linked to the Sons, or to whatever Vargssen had been planning to do.

After weeks of digging through the varied tomes, they had narrowed them down, first sorting the random books from the potentially important, then even further, to the ones that were mentioned in the rogue's scribblings.

Still, they'd been hard pressed to find anything useful. Most of Vargssen's notes were vague, designed more to remind himself of things, rather than imparting knowledge to the reader. Many of the books he mentioned were little more than storybooks, telling old myths and legends that even the Witches and ShapeShifters reading them thought were just old tales. They'd sent a list of names and texts to the Witches, but nothing had sent up any flags in their records. As far as they were concerned, they were just stories, too.

"You recognize it?" Caleb asked, his head snapping up like the others, jumping on any possible lead.

"Yeah, but I…" She shook her head. "I don't know where. Maybe I just read it earlier." She pouted, leaning her head of Tyler's shoulder. "My brain hurts."

He smiled softly and pecked her on the head. "The Witches didn't get anything on any of the names. Was Vasili among them?"

Alex nodded from where she sat on one of the overstuffed chairs, Pogue on the floor in front of her, his head resting on her knee. "No hits. Are you sure?"

Jess shook her head, but it was Talia that was frowning. "I think I recognize it too, but hell if I know where. I don't remember reading it elsewhere in the journals, though."

Will nodded, then paused. "Vargssen often refers to a 'V'. 'V's research is promising. Reading through Stanislav's Compendium. Modifications are required.' I always though he was doing the crazy refer-to-yourself-in-the-third-person thing, but maybe he meant Vasili. If so, this guy, whoever he is, might be the key to figuring out what Vargssen was doing."

He looked hopefully at Jess, who just sighed, flopping her hands in her lap in frustration.

Maya who had once again been forced to share the loveseat with him, finally piped up. "With Alex's permission, I'll ask the Clan Council again, specifically about Vasilli. I doubt they'll come up with anything new."

"It's with a try," Alex nodded. She suddenly started, sitting up sharply enough that she nearly dropped her book on Pogue's head. "What time is it?"

"Nearly seven, why?" Reid asked sleepily from where he was stretched out on the long couch, his head in Talia's lap. Her fingers froze where they had been unconsciously running soothingly through his pale hair for the last twenty minutes. "What's wrong?"

All four of the younger girls leaped up almost simultaneously, leaving the guys and Maya staring in surprise.

"We're supposed to meet Kate at Nicky's at seven! We're going to be late!" Sarah exclaimed, grabbing her purse as denim jacket from the back of her chair. "She'd already suspicious as it is, we've got to go!"

"It's alright, I'll drive," Talia offered, slapping her pockets to make sure she had her keys, not bothering with everything else. Nicky's was always sweltering, and she's be damned if a wolf couldn't survive a little cool spring air between the car and the bar door.

The other girls paused, looking worried. "Oh, shut up," she snapped at them. "At least I'll get us there on time."

The girls quickly pecked their respective boyfriends goodbye, and left in a whirlwind of flying jackets and muttered prayers.

"Well, I guess well just keep on reading then!" Will yelled after them. They settled down, picking up where they left off. "Alright for some."

Alex liked Kate. So did Talia and Jess. Which was why they didn't mind playing silly high school girls with her, it was fun. Despite the fact that Kate had made it very clear that she was still interested in Pogue, and available if he changed his mind, she hadn't been obnoxious or mean about it, and had ended up finding a place in their little group, despite not know the Big Bad Secret.

There was no question she was a little self-centred, but there was no malice in it, more like she just forgot that other people had lives when she wasn't around. She did try though, and it was obvious the hurt she felt when she realised that secrets were still being kept concerning the Sons.

But they all knew that Pogue had made the right decision not to tell her, she just wouldn't have been able to handle it, and it would be unfair to bring her into the darkness that their world had become. It was increasingly difficult to lie to her, and she was getting increasingly suspicious about what they were doing all the time after school and at weekends that kept them so busy.

Alex truly felt, that in another reality, she and Kate could have been good friends. She was funny, surprisingly smart, and had a wealth of amusing and embarrassing stories to tell about the Sons, having known them all in one way or another since grade school. And there was something relaxing about her carefree spirit, the fact that Kate never worried about consequences.

It wasn't that Daddy bailed her out for trouble, but just that things always worked out, as if simply believing that things were okay made it so. Naïveté mixed with good luck, Kate always seemed to land on her feet, not matter how far the drop. Despite seeming the typical Daddy's girl, had a bit of a wild streak to her, and Alex was surprised that they'd never run into other a Spencer before.

But if something didn't change soon, Kate was going to cause some trouble. Alex could tell that she was growing tired of accepting their excuses for leaving her out of their plans, and Kate wasn't the type to let things go. Alex knew it was the reason why the other girl's relationship had finally failed with Pogue, and now it was becoming an issue with the rest of them. Soon, they'd all be travelling to visit their Shifter allies, and they were going to have to explain to Kate why she couldn't go to Chicago with the rest of them.

Watching the girls play pool, Jess and Tal trying to teach Sarah and Kate the finer points of hustling, Alex wondered how long it would be 'till things exploded.

BTW: The thing with Tal and the game happened to me in real life. The dreams didn't stop me though. It was when I started thinking I should go back to my last save of Real Life that I got worried.