Something was wrong; something had gone terribly wrong, and Delos knew it. He didn't know how he knew it—one moment he was roaming his kingdom aimlessly on his horse, trying to anything but think about Maggie's missing presence, and then the next moment he'd been overwhelmed with this sickening sinking feeling, the feeling that one gets when they realize they've forgotten something very important at the last moment.

Delos's first impulse was to gallop full-speed back to the castle, ready to defend it from whatever was attacking it. But when he arrived, he found that nothing had been disturbed. A few of the witches gave him funny looks as he ran through the corridors, checking every room, trying to find the problem.

But the more he searched, the more his mind started to drift back to Maggie.

No, not possible! He thought, angrily shoving the idea of her being in any sort of danger out of his mind. She was with Miles and Jeanne—both of whom he knew were just as strong-willed and stubborn as she was. If there was any sort of danger, they'd have the best chance of making it through it.

But even when reassuring himself, his worry grew deeper, touching the inner-most parts of his soul. Something wasn't right—something was dreadfully wrong.

Having checked every room in the castle, Delos reluctantly started for the main entry way, trying to calm down his nerves. She's okay, he told himself, there's nothing to worry about…

But as he entered the entry way, the knowledge that it wasn't grew more firm. In front of him the messenger witch—who carried messages back and forth between he and Circle Daybreak—was speaking rapidly in a low voice to another witch, whose eyes were wide with horror, her fingers reaching up to cover her mouth. "Oh no," She was wailing over and over again, and Delos wondered if she was even listening to the messenger anymore. Delos stopped, keeping out of their sight and listened. He couldn't hear the messenger with the other witch wailing so much, but he knew that by the witch's wailings that something had gone terribly wrong, thus confirming his bad premonitions. Finally the witch stopped crying 'oh no,' and cried, "How are we supposed to tell Prince Delos?"

No longer could Delos contain himself. He stepped forward into their view. "Tell Prince Delos what?" He demanded, trying to keep himself as calm as possible. Both witches swerved around to look at them, their faces filled with shock and terror. Neither of them seemed able to answer, but Delos was much too impatient to wait for them. "Well, what's happened?"

The witch who had been wailing burst into tears, whether it was from fear or just mere sadness Delos couldn't tell. But thankfully the messenger stepped soberly forward but she didn't quite meet his eyes. "Your Highness," She started, a flush coming upon her cheeks, "I regret to inform you that there's been an…accident."

Delos went completely cold. No, he thought, no, no, no, no, no, oh PLEASE no! But as he was thinking this, he found that his more reasonable side had taken over and was speaking for him, "What sort of accident?"

The messenger gulped and stumbled back a bit. "Earlier this evening…there was a car accident." Delos didn't need to ask what they meant—he knew exactly who it was the witch was talking about. "Something jumped in front of the car, and Miles tried to stop, but because the road was so slick, the tires skidded. He tried to swerve, but that only succeeded in getting the car to speed out of control. The moment they swerved off the road, the car rolled…"

"And Maggie?" Delos demanded, his mind vividly painting the picture that the witch was describing. He'd never known cars to be such a danger—it showed just how little he truly knew about Maggie's world. If he'd known, he would have insisted that she stay, maybe get her parents to come up here…

The witch's face paled—this is what she truly didn't want to tell him. "When Circle Daybreak got to them, they only found Miles and Jeanne in the car."

Relief washed through Delos, something he realized soon after was a stupid feeling to have felt. "So she wasn't in the car with them," The witch flinched, giving Delos the dreaded confirmation that in fact she had been.

No, he thought, his entire insides seeming to pour out onto the floor, this couldn't be happening. Not to him, not to Maggie…

"Both Miles and Jeanne are conscious, although both have serious injuries—Miles, though, is much further on his way to recovery on account of his shape shifting ability. Miles says that Jeanne and Maggie were switching places and neither of them had their seat belts on. When the car got out of control, Jeanne was mostly pressed up between the back and front seats until the car started to roll, so she didn't get too badly injured, and Miles lost some blood and got a bunch of glass stuck in his skin, but he was wearing his seat belt." She took a deep breath, steadying herself before she continued. "But Maggie wasn't in a good position at all. Miles said she hit the windshield, although thankfully get tossed out of the car and although he wasn't sure exactly what happened after that, he says she slammed into him a few times when they rolled."

Delos suddenly felt as though the floor had disappeared beneath him, leaving him falling into an endless black hole. For the first time since he was a child, he wanted to cry. He wanted to tear at something, destroy something, and crawl back into a corner and just break down.

"We don't know where she is," The messenger went on, determined to finish the message, "and we're doing everything possible to try to find her. But we can't guarantee that we can find her in time to save her. She must have serious injuries, maybe even fatal ones…"

"STOP IT!" Delos shouted, surprising both of the witches to the point where they both stumbled back, their eyes wide with fright. "She's not dead," As he spoke the words, he knew they were true. He could feel that there had been something terribly wrong, but it wasn't that. He knew it without a doubt. Maggie was strong, and their connection was stronger than any he'd ever seen. If Maggie had died, he would have known. The feeling would be worse than this. He'd feel like he'd lost himself along with her—but he felt the determination to go and find her, to save her before it was too late. "Where are Miles and Jeanne now?" He demanded.

"There's a small Circle Daybreak post near the crash site," The messenger answered reluctantly, her eyes full of worry and sadness. "Miles and Jeanne are stationed there for healing—tomorrow morning just before sunrise two Circle Daybreak members—Rashel and Quinn, I think their names were—will be at the pass to take you to them. You'll decide what to do from there."

"I want to find her," Delos insisted, his voice rising again. "I want to go find her now!"

The messenger shrugged her shoulders, "I am truly sorry about this Prince Delos, but there's nothing we can do about it right now. I suppose you could leave right now, but the fastest way to travel is by car, which you don't have. You'd be more productive if you waited till you could collaborate, maybe wait for a team of Circle Daybreak members to help you out—the more people you have the better chance you have at finding her." The witch's words were practical…but they still made Delos feel useless.

Maggie was out there, hurt and frightened and waiting for his rescue. How long did she have? He didn't know. All he knew was that the more time he wasted the better chance of her not making it through the night.

But he couldn't go—the witch was right. A horse wasn't nearly as fast as a car—he'd get there much faster if he waited for the two Circle Daybreak members to pick him up. But that meant making it through the night…for the both of them.

Stay strong Maggie, he thought as he nodded to the witch and turned, heading back up to his bedroom to prepare for the trip, I'm coming for you soon—just hang on till I get there!

KKK

The entire world was filled with darkness and unbearable pain. I felt like I was floating in mid-air, but at the same time I felt tons heavier. I couldn't think—I couldn't move or open my eyes and after a few painful tries I gave up.

Was I dead? The thought crossed my mind and a new wave of pain washed over me—if I could have, I would have let out the screams of pain I desperately wanted to let out. No, I struggled to think, if I was dead I wouldn't be in so much pain.

So where was I? I didn't know. At the moment I was in too much agony to care. My head throbbed to the beat of my heart, and each breath I took sent a pang through my chest. I could hardly hear myself think, it hurt so badly.

"This isn't good," A sudden male voice invaded my world, startling me and sending a wave of pain through my mind. I didn't know the voice, but I still thought I'd heard it before. But I didn't bother to try to remember it because thinking was a major challenge to me. "At this rate she won't make it through the night," His voice sounded irritated and was increasing in anger.

"Is she really that important?" Another male voice whom I was not familiar with asked.

"There's no chance of an alliance without her," The first voice snapped. Alliance…the word triggered recognition in my mind but I didn't remember why.

The other man snickered, a sickening sound that sent painful chills up my spine. "I still can't believe Prince Delos would fall for such a weak piece of worthless vermin."

Delos—my mind instantly knew that name, and my heart beat faster, the pangs in my chest therefore increasing. Where was he? Was he ok? My breathing became more labored and the second speaker stopped chuckling.

"I guess Delos was weak after all," The first sighed, "But we need his help if our society is to survive. He won't agree to it otherwise. And if she dies, all that will do is make him angry and determined to destroy everything we've worked hard for."

"So what do we do, boss?" Silence. As the silence grew, I suddenly started to get a very bad feeling in the pit of my stomach. Something wasn't right here…

"Ok," The first voice sighed, finally breaking the silence. What was ok? I didn't understand.

And then the bite came.

It was swift and painful, tearing into my neck and making my body tense as the life drained out of me. I could feel the blood transferring from my body to the fangs that were imbedded in my neck, replacing the original pain with a whole new meaning of pain.

I was dying.

My mind knew that, but for some reason all I could think about was Delos. I was going to die and leave him here all alone. That alone was a pain greater than anything I had felt or was feeling so far. I didn't want to leave Delos here alone again—I knew without a doubt that it would destroy him.

I'm so sorry Delos, I thought, I love you…

As soon as I thought that, though, the pain stopped and the fangs released my neck. Dizziness and confusion replaced the pain.

Oh, just kill me now, I wanted to plead—there was no reason to torture me! I hadn't done anything worthy of such a thing!

That's when someone firmly grasped my jaw and squeezed, forcing my mouth open. Now what? I wondered, poison? But a moment later thick, hot, sweet-tasting liquid spilled into my open mouth and another set of strong, firm hands roughly grasped my shoulders, lifting me up just enough for the liquid to fall back down my throat.

Don't swallow! A warning bell was crying somewhere in the back of my mind, swallow and you'll regret it! But I couldn't help it. With each swallow, the pain in my mind disappeared along with the rest of it and I was slowly starting to feel heavy with sleep. It felt so much like a relief. Maybe this is what death feels like, I thought as the liquid was removed from my lips.

"Sleep, little human—sleep." The first voice was saying, but I hardly heard him.

As I fell into permanent darkness, my mind conjured one last picture of Delos—his black hair falling gently across his forehead, his burning yellow eyes, his lonesome, vulnerable smile…

I'm sorry Delos, I thought as I surrendered to the darkness.

KKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK

So this is one of my shorter chapters, but I just felt like this was a good stopping point. I think its pretty obvious what's happening, even if Maggie doesn't quite know it yet. :D

Thank you soooooo much for the reviews! :D I very much apreciate them! Yes, I think that Maggie and Delos need some more creidt, and I'm glad that I'm not the only one here who loves this couple...cause otherwise I'd be the loner. LOL!

Well, I'm not exactly sure how to start the next chapter, even though I know what I'm going to do with it otherwise. Do you guys think I should start out with Delos's point of view or Maggies? Of course Delos isn't first person, but you get the point. Next chapter will probably be longer though. :D

Questions, comments?

Thanks for reading!

REVIEW!

Alice