Finally an update! I know, I've disappeared for awhile again. It's been tough trying to keep up with this story between my work and my senior year of college (and everything that comes with graduating). But I have not stopped writing! I happen to have a lot of freetime tonite for once so I thought I'd update, and depending if I can stay awake, I might get started on the next chapter.

I appreciate all the reviews I've gotten lately as well, they really do give me the push to keep the story going because I know there are those of you still out there reading and anticipating the next part, so thanks!

It took a moment for my eyes to adjust to the change in lighting. The room we were now standing in was poorly lit; it looked like it was some old abandoned factory. The walls were a dingy gray concrete stained in various places, possibly with grease or blood, it was too dark to tell. Crowley was standing to my left, his hands crossed superiorly in front of himself as he watched me. His usual smarmy grin made it appear as if he was feeling confident, but the rigid posture and his lack of smartass commentary proved otherwise.

"You still have that fancy blade?" Crowley asked me, his voice low in order to keep from drawing attention to us. "Because it's about to come in handy."

Immediately my right hand sought its way to the inside of my jacket. When my fingers hit the hilt I drew it out. The familiar weight in my hand felt oddly reassuring; the blade even still appeared to gleam in the muted lighting.

"How do you know she's here?" I asked, turning my attention to Crowley.

He smiled at me for a moment, remaining silent, before answering mysteriously. "I have my ways."

"No," I said, shaking my head, "I want to know. Because if she tricked you then I want to know if we're walking into a trap before we do. Are you two Facebook friends and you saw where she last checked in at? What's the deal here?"

Irritation crept its way onto his face. "I still have loyal friends following me, Costella," he grunted.

"Great," I muttered more to myself than to him, "So you used your demon Twitter following."

I heard him let out a huff of annoyance from behind me but I decided to keep quiet. We needed to find where Abaddon was hiding out in this building. The sooner I found her and killed her, the sooner I could get back to the others. Charlie would surely have contacted the brothers by now and told them what happened, it would only be a matter of time before they would track me down and attempt some brave heroics. If this was Abaddon's hideout, who knew what danger they would be running headfirst into. At least I had the Witchblade with me. My hand instinctively gripped the hilt tighter.

A sound in the distance caught my attention and I motioned for Crowley to keep quiet. Maneuvering my body around some large pieces of machinery, I spotted a hefty metal door slightly ajar just about ten feet from us. Faint voices were trickling into the room and I listened intently. I lightly crept forward, keeping as quiet as possible, in hopes to hear better. I was disappointed when I realized they weren't discussing anything important, but at least I knew we weren't alone here.

I glanced over my shoulder back at Crowley and shot him a look.

"What?" he asked, mouthing the word.

"Can't you do something?" I mouthed back to him and gestured at the demons outside the door blocking our way out.

He frowned briefly and then quietly shuffled his way towards me and peered through the slight crack in the door. Before I could stop him he had pushed the door wide open and stepped through, immediately catching the attention of the two demons who now had stopped mid-conversation and were staring, baffled, at Crowley.

"Hello boys," Crowley crooned.

"You're not supposed to be here!" one of them shouted.

"Dammit, Crowley!" I shot out in frustration, coming out into view to only further baffle the two demons.

In a few quickened steps I was beside them. I stabbed the first one in the chest before he had any idea what was going on, but the second one put up more of a fight. He countered my jab at his chest with the blade and quickly landed a hard punch to my jaw. It stung and momentarily caught me off guard just long enough for him to throw a strong uppercut into my gut, knocking the wind out of me. Just as he was pulling his fist back for another hit, Crowley stepped behind him and with a sharp thrust the demon's dead vessel fell limp to the ground.

"Can't have you dying already," Crowley said simply, twirling a bloodied knife of his own in his left hand.

I took a few wheezing breaths trying to regain my composure. "What was that?" I shot at him between gasps. "I didn't want you to alert everyone that we're here!"

"Look love, if we do it your way and go quietly picking off each demon here one by one we'll be here all day. If we just draw the bitch to us we'll save time."

"Or end up dying even faster!"

"Ever the optimist," Crowley teased. "Now, it looks like there's stairs over there."

He sauntered off in the direction he pointed out and I grudgingly followed behind him a few steps before pausing. More than ever before this felt like a suicide mission. Panic was growing in my gut, I could feel the doubt and terror of failing squirming in my stomach, but I forced myself to calm down before it could paralyze me with fear.

Think of Sam, I told myself. You're doing this for him.

I inhaled a deep breath and held it, trying to steady myself and my mind. I was definitely in over my head, that much I knew now, but I wasn't going to let that stop me.

Crowley was waiting for me on the bottom steps with a knowing look on his face. I was sure he could tell I was internally scared shitless now, but thankfully he remained silent and continued to lead the way up. We managed to make it up two flights of stairs until we heard voices again. Just as he had done earlier, Crowley barged headfirst through the door that separated us from remaining hidden.

"Sorry to interrupt, oh wait, no I'm not," I heard him sass before he stabbed one, two, three demons in rapid succession. "That's the way to do it, love, no hesitation," he said, turning to me with an arrogant smile.

A door from across the room suddenly burst open and a tall, beautiful red-head strode lithely over the cement floor, her heels clicking and echoing off the walls. She was flanked by five others, their eyes an intimidating jet black even from this distance.

"Crowley," she called in an annoyed greeting. "I should have figured you'd show up here eventually." Her eyes flicked to me and her head slightly cocked to the side in confusion and intrigue. "Now you, you don't look familiar." She scanned my disheveled outfit up and down before her eyes immediately stopped on the dagger in my hand. "Letum Mucro," her lips mouthed in recognition. Her eyes met mine again and I could see a fire behind them. "Clever, Crowley," she said between gritted teeth. "But she has to get to me first."

Swiftly she rose a pale hand into the air and swatted it to the side; Crowley flew across the room and hit the wall where he stayed trapped against it, his feet mere inches from the floor.

"Interesting, that usually works on annoying humans too," Abaddon mused aloud as she eyed me.

"Well lucky me then," I said in what I hoped was an intimidating tone, "looks like it's just us then."

"Now, now," she grinned, her hand still raised and keeping Crowley pinned to the wall, "it seems you are forgetting a few someones." She gestured to the five demons behind her with a quick movement of her head. "I don't fight fair." She turned her head just enough to address the group behind her. "Disarm her, but don't kill her." Slowly her gaze returned back to me and a cruel smile spread over her red lips. "I'm going to have a little fun with these two."