"You said you'd protect him."

"It's a bit hard to protect someone when you have no idea where the hell they are!"

I paced back and forth anxiously. I hadn't heard from Mason in a few days and neither had Christian.

"There haven't been any press releases about any wolves being caught but there is a possibility he got caught. Or turned himself in."

I didn't even want to think about that possibility. He would have only done that to please me, to keep me. And I would probably never see him again because of it.

"You're sure none of the other werewolves got him?" I asked.

"Positive," Christian answered firmly. "No one's seen him since he left here and they're getting worried considering tomorrow they're planning to raid Wizard City Hall and they need all the numbers they can get."

"They're raiding City Hall?" I asked, surprised.

He nodded. "It won't be pretty. It'll be a bloodbath."

"Then I guess we'll have to stop it then."

Christian laughed suddenly and it took me off guard. "We? There's no we. In case you've forgotten, I promised to protect Mason, not the entire wizard community."

"You're not going to help me?" I put on the best puppy dog eyes I could muster. He'd have to be made of stone to resist them. It turns out he was.

"Don't try those on me. Who do you think invented those?" he said, gesturing to himself. "I'm the dog here."

"Please Christian. If Mason's been caught, he'll probably be there as well."

His dark eyes softened. This was the deal breaker. He'd promised me that he'd protect Mason and that meant he'd have to come with me, whether he liked it or not.

"Fine," he sighed.

I smiled. The stone had cracked.

"You better have an idea Russo because we're not just winging it."

"When do I not have a plan?"

"This isn't a good idea."

"Shut it Justin."

I peered out from our hiding place. Currently, Christian, Justin and I were sitting in a closet inside Wizard City Hall. It was quite uncomfortable being squished between the two of them; Justin wasn't exactly small and Christian was a tall, hulking werewolf.

Max had wanted to come when he'd heard we'd be fighting with werewolves but Justin had put his foot down and told him to cover with Mom and Dad for us. I didn't have the heart to tell him none of them would be fighting with us; only against us.

We'd managed to get in here unnoticed but I really had no idea what to do next. How the hell were we supposed to get all the wizards out of here before the wolves arrived?

"You told me you had a plan Alex. So far, it looks like we're sitting in a very cramped closet," Christian said.

Even in the semi-darkness, I could see he was irritated.

"With a dog smell and no windows," Justin added quietly.

Christian snarled and tried to lean around me to get to Justin. I put my hand on his chest, knowing that my strength would not be even close to keep him back. But he recognized what I was attempting to do and retreated, staring viciously at my older brother. I turned to Justin and gave him a warning look. He looked innocently away, whistling under his breath.

"What now?" Christian asked, now seriously peeved.

"We need something to get everyone out of the building."

"A bomb?" Christian suggested simply.

Justin stared at him. "I thought the whole point of this was to make sure no one go hurt."

Christian rolled his eyes as a light went off in my head. "That's it!" I exclaimed.

"What is?" they both asked simultaneously.

"A bomb," I told them with a grin.

Justin looked horrified while Christian looked excited. "You're kidding right Alex?" Justin said nervously.

"No," I replied. "Be right back."

I flashed out and minutes later, I flashed back in, two small bombs and detonators in my hand.

"You're not kidding," Justin said, open mouthed, staring at me.

"Relax Justin; we're not going to hurt anyone. We just need to evacuate the building."

He still looked uneasy. "Where did you get those from?" he asked as Christian unraveled the wires.

"I know a guy," I answered mysteriously.

Christian looked up, smiling. "How we going to set these up without being noticed?"

Damn, hadn't thought of that. Why did everything have to be so hard?

"I'll do it," Justin piped up reluctantly.

Christian and I turned and looked at him sceptically. "Really?" I asked him.

"I'm fast, I can do it," offered Christian.

"You may be fast big boy but you stick out like a sore thumb," Justin said, indicating Christian's muscular frame.

Christian looked as though he had to concede that point. "I could do it if you wanted me to Justin," I volunteered.

"No!" Justin and Christian replied at the same time. They looked to each other weirdly, finding hard to believe they agreed on something.

"Why not?" I protested. "I can flash in and out as quickly as you can."

"It's much too dangerous," Christian said and Justin nodded.

Okay, things couldn't get much weirder; they were actually agreeing on something.

"Good luck," Christian said seriously as Justin disappeared.

Okay scratch that, things just got weirder.

Ever since I'd introduced Christian to Justin yesterday, they'd been bickering non-stop and trading death stares. Christian wishing my brother luck was like a totally unexpected event; like a shooting star.

"How long do you think he'll be?" I asked Christian as I moved away to sit by the wall. There was more room now; not much but enough for me to put some distance between him and I.

He ignored my question, instead studying my movement intensely. "Do I really smell that bad?" he asked.

I laughed. "No, why do you ask?"

"Every time I'm around you, you seem to never want to be near me. I thought we'd already established I wasn't a threat to you."

"I know you won't hurt me," I told him reassuringly.

He studied me carefully once more and I had to turn away from his burning gaze. "Are you attracted to me?" he asked suddenly.

I scoffed. "Very funny."

"No, seriously. Do you like me?"

"Not that way," I scrambled out as quickly as I could.

"So then you wouldn't mind if I did this."

He leaned forward and he was so close, our noses were barely touching. He touched my cheek and pushed back an errant strand of hair that had fallen into my face, behind my ear. I could feel the spot where he'd touched was aflame. He looked into my eyes, his messy dark hair falling onto his forehead. I looked into his dark smoldering eyes and saw Mason.

I swiftly pushed him back and was surprised when he unexpectedly fell back. I must have caught him off guard because he had twice the strength I did.

I laughed freely, realizing that any attraction between us was only a reflection of how I felt about Mason.

"What are you laughing at?" he asked, confused.

"The only conceivable reason I could ever like you is because you remind me so much of Mason; the way you look, even the way you act sometimes. You're as kind as he is but you don't show it nearly as often as he does."

He sat back and stared at me for a while, taken aback by my words. "He's lucky to have someone like you," he said.

And I'm lucky too, I realised. I can't believe I'd been close to ending it. Even on his worse days, I would still rather be with him than without him. Even if he did try to choke me.

I giggled though this thought wasn't even remotely funny; just the strangeness of it all had me in hysterics.

Justin interrupted my chuckling with a timely appearance. "It's done."

"What do we do now?" I asked both of them.

Christian pulled out his cell phone with a devious grin. "We make the call."