Rose looked down at the body of the blue dragon, spread out along the hall of Master's lair. The beast was bleeding, its wounds still seeping. Its eyes were wide and open, staring at her, accusing as a corpse could be. Rose nudged its scaled sides with the tip of her boot.

"When does it change back into a human?" She asked Master.

It was the Dark Dragon who answered. "When the body is completely cold then the magic within him will also die. That is when he will revert to his human form."

"How long does it take for a dragon body to completely cool?" Theron grunted.

The Dark Dragon cocked its angular head, thinking. "What time is it now?" He asked the Huntsgirl.

"It's midnight," she informed him.

"It will take him a full day. A dragon's fire takes an extraordinarily long time to extinguish even after bodily death."

"Huntsgirl, return here tomorrow at midnight. You will then transport the body of Lao Shi to the American Dragon's doorstep. After that, he will begin making plans for the Chinese Dragon's funeral and we will begin making plans for our attack."

"And for tonight?" Rose pressed. "Any other orders?"

Theron thought about it. "Spend time with the American Dragon. The past several days have been an emotional rollercoaster for him, I'm sure. It may seem strange that you have been absent for so much of it. I can't have him getting suspicious of you now."

"I agree." She met Theron's eyes. "Am I allowed to leave now, Master?"

"Yes," Theron dismissed her. "Don't be late tomorrow."

"I wouldn't dream of it." Rose said, and then she left them.

She left emerged from the hole in the ground that was the entrance to the lair. Then, she hailed a taxi. She could have easily walked to Jake's, but she was just exhausted. She told the cabbie Jake's address and relaxed into the seat for the extremely short ride. She paid the cabbie, got out of the cab and stepped into Jake's home.

She headed up the stairs, out of the shop and into the apartment area. When she emerged into the apartment, she stopped dead. The two figures that had caused her to pause turned to face her. All Rose could do was stand there and take in the two beings that almost looked like living ice sculptures though, rather than being transparent, they were a milky white colour; their entire bodies were. Yet, as they moved, Rose could see rainbow patterns across their skin, caused by the light.

She knew who they were: the Oracle Twins. She hadn't had any experience with the duo, but she knew them from Jake's description.

Rose suddenly became very nervous.

Why were the Oracle Twins here? What had they told Jake? Was her plan going to be ruined? She stayed rooted by the doorway, wondering where the hell her boyfriend was, and what in the world she was going to do with the Oracle Twins. For the last part, she didn't have to think too long. Without warning, the Oracle Twins rushed forward.

"It's Rose!" One of them breathed.

"It's the Huntsmistress!" The other exclaimed.

Before Rose could react, they'd both reached out and touched her face. She felt paralyzed as their cool hands – which felt like flesh and stone all at once - caressed her features.

"You're playing a dangerous game, Huntsmistress."

"We know all about it," the other Twin informed her.

They withdrew their hands from Rose's face and stood in front of her.

"Jake isn't here."

"He'll probably be back soon."

"Before he does, though, the three of us should talk."

"About what?" Rose asked, slowly, hesitantly. She wondered if she could kill them; she wondered what it would take.

"No need to kill us," they chorused together, and Rose's blue eyes widened in shock.

"We know of your plan –"

"-we know of Theron –"

"-we know what you're doing to Jake –"

"-we know all of it."

"And?" Rose asked, her voice several octaves higher than she would have liked. She didn't want to appear as though she was afraid of these beings but when it came back to it, she was. The Oracle Twins were like nothing she had ever seen before and they held the power to destroy all they were working toward.

"And … we have to let you go through with it."

"What?" Rose exclaimed, more enthusiastically than she had intended. "Aren't you Jake's allies? I thought you were on his side. I'm not complaining, I'm just so confused!"

They smiled.

"We have seen the future."

"We have seen a version where we tell Jake what you have been doing –"

"-and a version where we do not.

"Believe it or not, Rose, but –"

"-the future turns out better if we do not tell him."

"It is going to be hard, either way."

"And we don't understand why destiny has chosen this course but-"

"-it is the option that we must choose."

"We are his allies," the Oracle Twins continued. "We have his best interests in mind. He doesn't understand our choices, and I don't think you will either, but they are the ones that we have to make. We cannot reveal much more to you but know that we are here for your enlightenment as well as to guide him and be a source of comfort for him."

Rose could think of no response.

"We are going to be in the attic if you need us but we know that you won't." They smiled sadly at her. "Good luck, Rose. We're here for you, don't forget."

They turned their backs to her and headed toward the attic. As they were climbing the ladder that would take them to the uppermost floor, they called over their shoulders, "And Jake is back!"

Sure enough, the window across from Rose opened and the red body of the American Dragon slithered through. As Jake transformed into his human self, Rose prepared herself to play the role of the loving girlfriend and rushed forward to him.

"Any luck?" She asked, winding her arms around his neck.

He wrapped his arms around her waist and dropped his head onto her shoulder. He sunk into her and Rose, strong as she was, easily held him. She felt Jake heave a sob and began to rub his shoulder blades.

"I know; I know," she murmured. "Let's go lay down, okay? I think you need to sleep."

Jake peeked at her with red rimmed eyes.

"I should go back and look," he slurred.

"You're no good to anyone like this," she said sternly, steering Jake's large body down the hallway to his room. "There are plenty of people looking, you know that. Creatures will continue searching and so will the Clan."

"We'll find him, won't we?"

"Of course," Rose soothed.

She tucked Jake into bed, pulling his grey comforter over his body. He grabbed her hand and tugged her down next to him. His limbs intertwined with hers, and she ran her fingers through his black and green hair. His cheek fell onto her collarbone and one of his hands went onto her stomach; he could hear her heartbeat and feel her breathe. He needed, at the very least, some assurance that there was life left in people he loved; not everyone was gone.

"I don't know what I'm gonna do if we don't find him," Jake admitted, voice cracking as the tears arose. "I can't lose him."

Rose felt something pull in her heart. He sounded so sad; like a lost child. She knew that she wasn't supposed to feel for him: the dragons were their enemies. The Chinese Dragon's and, eventually the American Dragon's, deaths were inevitable in order for the Clan to flourish like it needed to. Yet, this man who cuddled her so protectively, who squeezed her tightly, and who whispered that he loved her and was so glad she was there, was making her feel slightly regretful. He was, obviously, so hurt by the disappearance of his grandfather that she almost dreaded the fact that she was going to deliver even worse news from him.

She kissed the top of his head –

-and stopped herself.

She couldn't feel sorry for him. Matter of fact, she couldn't feel anything for him; she simply was not allowed. Besides, it was not as though she would ever have feelings for a dragon.

And yet, as she continued to play with his hair and he fell asleep lying on her, Rose had to wonder how this came to be. How on Earth had a dragon come to trust the Huntsmistress so completely that he relied on her; that he fell asleep, completely vulnerable, in her arms? Master had told her that she had been very good at her job (she knew that she was always good at her job) and that she had succeeded in making him trust her with magical secrets. Master had told her that something had then gone wrong and that she had tricked herself into thinking that she actually cared for the beast. That was, Master said, why she had to be treated so cruelly in the underground lair at first; because she had gotten lost.

Rose had to believe Master. He was the one constant in her life. He was the one who was always there for her. If she couldn't trust Master, she couldn't trust anyone. Likely, she was lying to herself again just as she had before. She was getting too deeply involved in this mission, just as she had the last time. Her brain was tricking the rest of her into thinking that she cared for the vulnerable man in her arms.

She didn't, not really. She was just playing a role. She was just acting as though she cared about him so that she could find out magical secrets. Once she discovered where the Chinese Dragon's funeral was going to be held, she would no longer have any need for the American Dragon. She could cut off ties from him, return to her Clan completely, and reintroduce Master to the Clan.

Once she found this out, once she cut off the American Dragon completely, all of these strange feelings would disappear. She wouldn't have the urge to kiss him; she wouldn't have the urge to protect him. The fact that she wanted to protect him proved to Rose that she was being ridiculous and that something was wrong. The dragons were her enemies and she would never want to protect one of them and she would certainly not care for one.

Something was wrong with her brain, Rose decided, and once all of the dust was settled, she would go back to normal. It was probably the intense exposure to magic that was making her a little loopy.

Yes, that was it. Magic was driving her insane and once she got away from it, she would go back to normal.

Content that she had gotten her answer, Rose burrowed under the comforter. She knew she had to be here when Jake woke and that he would find it suspicious if she wasn't. And, if she were being completely honest, she was just too exhausted to make it back to the Huntsclan right now.

In his sleep, Jake drew her closer. Rose rested her head against his chest, hearing his heartbeat. The rhythm was comforting and Rose found herself drifting. She was drifting between that odd place that isn't sleep but isn't full consciousness either; her mind was wandering, half-dreaming and half-thinking.

She brushed her fingers along his skin, wondering how the human flesh could turn so easily to dragon scale. It didn't seem like it would.

And then she wondered why she was born with the dragon birth mark.

She wondered why there were dragons at all, in any form, because all they ever seemed to cause was trouble.

The last thing she remembered, before she fell asleep, was wondering why she was so in love with one.

I don't own anything recognizable!

~TLL~