When the cab pulled up outside the hotel, I almost didn't want to get out. Yves still had a hand wrapped tightly through mine as he handed more dollar bills to the driver, dragging me out before I could complain.

"I can pay for myself you know," I grumbled at him quietly. He kissed my forehead in response, then led me into the hotel, keeping as close to my side as he could manage.

We walked into the hotel still holding hands, only now, Yves seemed to grow more and more uncomfortable. People I'd never seen before smiled in our direction, or nodded when they saw Yves. One older woman even beamed at me and pointed at our interlocked fingers excitedly. By this point, his cheeks were burning red and he was grinning like an idiot, but he just ushered me into the elevator without a word and pressed the button for floor six.

My eyebrows pulled together. "You know all of those people?" I asked him curiously.

He looked mildly surprised. "Yes. Don't you?"

"Should I?" I scoffed, wrapping the jacket he'd offered me around my upper body tightly.

He smiled slightly at the sight. "They all work in the Net, Destiny," he pointed out softly, and my jaw dropped.

"You mean to tell me that my mother is so paranoid, she put me up in a hotel swarming with Savant Net members and didn't even tell me they were here?"

Yves blinked at my sudden changing tone, hesitating a moment before taking my shoulders gently. "She's only looking out for you, you know," he replied cautiously.

My face screwed up in irritation, and I had to force myself to take a deep breath before I snapped at him. "You don't understand, Yves," I mumbled. "She's a nightmare." He frowned like he didn't believe me, but wrapped his hand in mine again as the elevator doors opened.

Outside my hotel room, Yves hesitated as he watched me unlock the door, suddenly uncomfortable. I tried my best to ignore it, but I knew what he was thinking and I couldn't help smirking to myself. He was just so nervous around me. It was hard not to find it endearing.

The moment the door was open, I flicked the light switch and threw my bag into one of the chairs absent-mindedly, kicking my shoes off as I stepped inside. Behind me, Yves cleared his throat, hovering into the doorway. I glanced at him, determined to hide my amusement. "Will you be okay until your parents get back?" he asked awkwardly.

I shrugged a shoulder. "Probably," I admitted, stepping forward. "I'd be better if you stayed, though." For a moment, he looked surprised. Then, slowly, he smiled back and stepped inside. I couldn't help laughing. "You don't need to look so uncomfortable."

"I'm not," he lied with a small frown, and I beamed at him, kissing his cheek softly. He smiled sheepishly.

"So," I yawned, leading him to the sofa and curling up on one side. He sat down on the other end, watching me like he thought I was going to disappear at any moment. "Tell me about your family."

He laughed easily. "You're going to have be more specific," he warned. "I have a big family. I have six brothers, and now there's Grace, Alex, Thea and Faith too."

"Alex and Thea," I frowned. "That's Grace's twin and his soulfinder, right? The soulseeker?"

Yves smiled, nodding. "Exactly. Grace and Alex moved to Wrickenridge a couple of months ago. They were in some pretty big trouble - still are, to be honest with you - so Grace decided to stay away from all of us as best as she could. But in the end, she couldn't avoid Zed forever, not when they lived in the same town."

I stared at him in silence, trying to digest that. Grace was younger than me. How could she be in so much trouble already? I put the question to Yves, and he physically shuddered at the thought. My stomach churned awkwardly. "Sorry," I grimaced. "I shouldn't have asked. I just don't get it. I've never even seen trouble, let alone been in it!"

Yves shifted uncomfortably. "Grace and Alex . . . well, they have a difficult past. Their father . . . let's just say he didn't handle the soulfinder situation well. He's not the sort of man you invite over for Thanksgiving, if you see what I mean. They've been hiding from him most of their lives. Unfortunately, he hired some pretty nasty Savants that my family have had dealings with in the past to help get them back, which led to Zed being kidnapped, and us finding Faith."

I gasped, wide-eyed. "Zed was kidnapped?" I gawped.

"Yeah," he winced. "Grace nearly lost it. She'll never say it out loud, but she'd be lost without Zed."

I shifted, already pretty sure I knew how she felt. "So what about Faith? What's she like?" Yves lifted an eyebrow at me cautiously. "What? If I'm about to be chucked into a family with seven brothers, I want to know what kind of back up I've got!"

He laughed, his eyes shining as he took my hand again. "Trust me, if you get Grace on side, none of my brothers will be brave enough to take the two of you on. Even Victor weighs up his options before getting into an argument with her. Plus, there's always Thea. She's probably one of the nicest people you'll ever met. Faith, on the other hand . . . I haven't spoken to her much since we met her. Grace and Alex let her move into their place after we found her, since she pretty much freaked out when she met Uriel."

"And he's her soulfinder?" I clarified slowly.

He nodded. "She hasn't so much as uttered his name since she was rescued. Uriel's taking it a lot better than any of the rest of us would," he admitted with a tight grimace. "Zed started acting out before he even knew Grace was actually his soulfinder."

For a moment, all I could do was sit and try to digest all of the information he was piling on me. Before now, I'd never thought of families as very complicated. Sure, I knew not all people had it as easy as we did - even if my mother drove me up the wall - but I'd never really given it much thought. Now though, Yves was telling me he was from a large family with six brothers, one of whom was connected to Grace and Alex, who'd spent most of their lives running from their own father, who in turn were connected to a soulseeker, and then there was Faith, who from what I heard wanted nothing to do with any of them.

That in itself confused me more than I thought possible. "How can Faith not want to know Uriel?" I breathed, wide-eyed. "It doesn't make any sense."

Yves shifted. "Honestly, none of us really know where her head is right now. She's been held hostage for a long time - most of her life, in fact - and she has serious trust issues. We all know she won't be able to avoid Uriel forever, but convincing her is another matter, especially since she has Alex on side now."

I blinked. "What?"

"It's a long story," he sighed exasperatedly. "Apparently, she needs someone to talk to who isn't a Benedict or a soulseeker, and Grace is more annoyed with her than the rest of us, so that leaves Alex."

My lips pursed. I was starting to get the idea that I wasn't going to like this Grace girl very much. Yves seemed to notice I was a little uncomfortable, but I couldn't bring myself to say it out loud. I'd heard him talk about Grace before now. I knew they were quite close. Annoyingly so, actually, but she was his brother's soulfinder. I figured that made her family to Yves, so I'd play nice. What worried me most was that it was obvious Grace had no such intentions to any of the Benedict brothers' soulfinders.

"What about you?" Yves suddenly asked, angling himself toward me and changing the subject. "What's your family like?"

I immediately pulled a face, but straightened out reluctantly and took a deep breath. "Honestly, there's not much to tell. None of my other siblings have found their soulfinders. In fact, the only soulfinders in my family are my Mum's parents, and we don't see them often."

"And when you do?" he questioned cautiously.

"They're lovely people," I answered, managing a small smile. "Mum's lived with them being soulfinders all her life, so she's not too bad around them. Dad isn't always comfortable being there. Neither is Laura, come to think of it."

"Laura?"

"My brother's wife," I shrugged. "She's the head chef at the restaurant we were just at. She and Cameron have been dating since he moved here. They're not soulfinders or anything, but they're still one of the happiest couples I've ever met. She's brilliant."

Yves smiled. "It's nice to know you actually get on with some of your family," he commented, and I pulled a face at him.

"I'll have you know that I get on with most of them," I corrected. "I adored Frankie growing up, she's amazing with little kids. She works in a primary school back home. I think she's taking care of Leon at the moment, and he's brilliant! He's the strangest little kid you'll ever meet."

He chuckled at me, wrapping his hand around one of mine. My heart fluttered strangely in my chest, but he'd just taken a breath to answer me when his phone beeped loudly in his pocket. Grimacing at me apologetically, he took it out and answered it. "Hello? . . . Yeah, I'm there now . . . What? When? . . . Zed- . . . I'm on my way."

Yves hung up the phone, his face paler and his eyes scanning the room alertly. Something shifted in my chest, and my stomach churned anxiously. "Yves? Is something wrong?"

He hesitated, then glanced at me with a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. "Just . . . Zed," he dismissed uneasily. I shifted, trying to think of a way to answer. Instead, Yves leant forward and took my face in one of his hands, kissing me deeply. And just like every other time, I melted immediately.

He broke away too soon, reluctantly getting to his feet and straightening out. "Do you know when your family will be here?" he asked, scanning the room again.

My lips twisted. "Not you too," I grumbled. "Yves, I can take care of myself." He didn't answer, staring at me expectantly. I frowned, shrugging a shoulder and glancing at the clock. "Laura finishes work in about an hour, but to be honest, I'm surprised my parents have left me alone this long. They'll be here soon."

He didn't look pleased with that, but he nodded all the same. "Do me a favour?" he asked gently with a grimace, and the look in his eyes made me get so flustered I agreed immediately. "Stay in this room until they get back?"

I paused, my expression wavering. I wanted to be a little annoyed that he was turning out just as protective as my family were, but something held me back. There was something in his voice and his eyes that warned me there was a chance I might actually be in danger. My skin shivered, and I felt my body grow a few degrees colder.

Yves seemed to realise he was making me nervous, because he stepped forward and took my hands in his, kissing my forehead. "You'll be fine," he assured me softly. "This hotel is swarming with Net members."

"What about you?" I asked, my hands automatically tightening around his. "Where are you going?"

His lips twitched into a small smile. "My family. They'll be outside by the time I get down there."

I shifted, suddenly not wanting to be separated. Taking a deep breath, I stretched up and kissed him again. "I'll see you tomorrow?"

He smiled at me. "Definitely," he promised, squeezing my hand and kissing my temple before reluctantly turning for the door. "Good night, Destiny."

"Night, Yves," I replied, watching him walk out of the door with a sinking feeling in my chest. Staying alone had never bothered me before. Normally, I was so relieved to be away from my parents I didn't really give much thought for anything else. Now though, I couldn't shift the feeling that something was wrong. Seriously wrong, and it went against all of my natural instincts to be separated from Yves.

But he was right. If his family was in trouble, they needed him, and I was surrounded by Savant Net members. Who would be crazy enough to try anything here? Still, as I turned back to the sofa in front of the TV, I found myself gnawing my bottom lip and scanning the room. Nothing was out of place, everything was exactly the same as it had been since I'd arrived here.

"Relax," I told myself under my breath. "You're being paranoid."

Trying to take my mind off it, I curled up on the sofa, flicking the TV on and distracting myself with the numerous channels. I moved through the music channels, a comedy show, and a documentary about the rainforest until I got the news channel. Rolling my eyes, I made to turn it over again, but just then the words BREAKING NEWS flashed across the screen, and the news reader began talking about an explosion in the centre of Manhattan. I hesitated, feeling every muscle in my body tense in fear. Images of the explosion site burned into my eyes, and I choked loudly. It was the restaurant. Laura's restaurant had been attacked.

Suddenly, I felt sick. The world seemed to slow down around me and my skin turned to ice. In that second, all I could do was think of my family in that building, the building that was now charred and smoking and no more than rubble. Ambulances and police officers had swarmed the place, and injured dinners were being carried away from the ruins.

Then everything sped up again, and a whimper slipped my lips. Scrambling to my feet, I bolted for my purse and rummaged for my phone, dialling my Mum's number hurriedly. She answered on the second ring. "Destiny?" she rushed, obviously terrified.

"Mum!" I breathed in relief, aware hot tears were burning my skin as they rolled down my cheeks. "Mum, are you alright? I saw on the news-"

"We're fine, honey, we're on the way back now," she gulped. "Where are you? Is the Benedict boy still there?"

Even with her continued panic, knowing everyone was alright made my shoulders sag. "No, Mum, he just left. He got a call from his brother, they were at the restaurant too."

"So he left you alone?" she snapped. "Destiny McKenna, I want you to go to hotel security now! Tell them who you are and who sent you, and that you are not to be left alone until we get there. Understand?"

"Mum," I started complaining.

"Destiny, please! Do as you're told."

I wanted to complain, but in all honesty, I didn't like what was happening tonight. The explosion at the restaurant, Yves leaving. My nerves were still on edge, and I needed to get back to some form of security. "Fine, I-"

Something crashed behind me, and I whipped around, heart hammering in fear. "Destiny?" Mum rushed. "Destiny, what's wrong?"

I gulped hard, straightening out shakily and taking a step back toward the door. "It's fine, I think-"

My breath caught in my throat as a figure stepped out of one of the bedrooms. They were dressed in all black, with their hood pulled up over their head and their face was covered with a black balaclava. Fear rendered me speechless as the figure moved forward. Mum was still shouting my name down the phone, but it sounded like it was coming over a distant radio frequency. Then, as the figure reached the sofa halfway across the room, I instinctively opened my mouth, but the figure suddenly pulled out a gun and pointed it right at me. My voice failed and the figure snorted.

"Hang up," a stern, female voice ordered quietly. I did as she asked, my arm moving with a mind of its own as I cut off the call and threw my phone to the side. "Good girl." The woman stepped forward, yanking her hood down with her free hand and taking the balaclava off. I tried not to react too much to the sight of the dark haired woman in her late twenties, glowering across the room at me.

"Well," she grinned wickedly. "Isn't this nice? You know, I was expecting a bit more of a fight from a McKenna girl. Especially one who happens to be the soulfinder of a Benedict."

My fingertips twitched at the mention of Yves, and panic began mixing with anger. Was this woman threatening my family and the Benedicts? My mind whirled, but before I could make up my mind about what to do next, the door behind me opened and Laura staggered into the room, wide-eyed and out of breath.

For a second, she stood staring in fear between me and the armed intruder, her blonde hair falling out of her strict bun. Then the intruder smirked and straightened out, lowering her gun to her side. "Nice of you to join us, sis," she said, and Laura shuddered violently.

"What?" I breathed, my voice cracking hoarsely as I turned to face Laura. "What's going on?"

She stared back at me, and slowly, her wide-eyes hardened darkly. "I'm sorry, Des. Truly, I am."

I opened my mouth, chest clenching in fear, but in the same second, something smashed into the back of my head, and I crumbled to the ground, unconscious.