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"So what is a Jackal?" I asked. Mimi, Alek, Amy, Paul, and I were sitting around the table in Alek's apartment. Right after we got off the phone with Amy, we had gotten into Alek's car and drove above the speed limit back to his place. Both Alek and Mimi looked tensed and they didn't relax until we were back in the apartment.

"I still can't believe you guys didn't tell her about them. It's not like they're our mortal enemies or anything." Mimi muttered angrily. Great, mortal enemies as well as the order trying to kill me.

"Jackals are the offspring of Anubis, the ancient god of the dead." Alek spoke like he didn't hear Mimi.

"Jackals are easily the filthiest race on the planet." Mimi chipped in.

"Wait; there are more than just Mai and humans?" Paul asked.

"Of course, don't be an idiot." Alek answered. "Jackals will steal your wallet just as easily as they will rip out your throat. They are truly the dregs of society and they reek. Did you not smell anything different about the Jackal? It's pretty instinctual."

"Other than the aroma of a slightly unwashed boy, Kai didn't smell all that bad." I tried to defend Kai.

"Look, I know that you don't like violence, Chloe," Mimi began. "I just don't think we can solve the situation with the Jackal without violence. They will not hesitate to kill you. I wouldn't be surprised if the Jackal was sent in there to kill you."

"He has a name. It's Kai, not the Jackal. Kai wasn't there to harm me, and he didn't try to harm you guys until you nearly beat him to death. He's probably in some alleyway bleeding, and in pain because of you." I said angrily. "You've probably scared him away. He wont be coming back for a while, so don't go after him and provoke a fight."

Everybody stayed silent for a while. "Look, it's late," Amy said. "Maybe we should all go home and get some rest. We can continue this tomorrow."

"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea. Do you want me to take you home Chloe?" Alek asked.

"How about we walk?" I saw Alek hesitate at that question, so I quickly continued. "Come on. You'll be right there with me, nothings going to happen. That way we can talk before I'm home and my mom overhears us." I tried to give him my best puppy eye look.

"Okay, but no detours."

"I can't believe you managed to convince Mimi to let us walk to my place."

"I can't believe it either," Alek said with a smile though he was glancing around everywhere.

"Stop being paranoid," I told him. "It's a beautiful night; let's just enjoy it while it lasts." The full moon hung in the sky with no clouds in sight, it was a little chilly, but it was refreshing chilly rather than an annoying one. Surprisingly, it was semi-quiet as well.

"Maybe you're right, everything's okay." I came to a stop after Alek came to a stop and reached for my hand. "But, there's one way to make it better." He whispered before leaning in to kiss me. My heart started to race like I was running.

Just as his lips brushed against mine, we heard a voice behind us. "Chloe?" It said behind us and I quickly spun around and saw Kai. He was in worse shape than I had originally thought. His face was bruised and bloody all over; lips were split, eyes were swollen and black, his cheek bloody and red, and nose was still bleeding. I noticed that his right arm was bent at an odd angle, while his left hand was clutching his ribs.

"Oh my gosh, Kai!" I yelled in panic before trying to run over to help. Before I could even take two steps, Alek had wrapped his arms around my waist, preventing me from moving.

"Don't even think about it Chloe," He whispered angrily in my ear. "You are going to run back to your apartment as fast as you can and call Jasmine." Alek started to push me behind him so he was blocking me from Kai. He let go of his grip on me, probably so I could run away.

"He needs help, can't you see that?" I tried to get around him just to have him block me again by grabbing my arm. No matter how hard I pulled, I couldn't get free; he was too strong.

"Don't be an idiot." He nearly pleaded. At that moment, I got an empathy hit from Kai again and fell to the ground in pain. It was excruciating painful. Not only did my ribs feel broken, my face beaten, but my right arm was definitely broken and I was about to pass out from pain. "Chloe!" Alek yelled in panic while kneeling next to me. "Chloe, are you okay?" As quickly as it came, it was gone.

"I'm fine," My voice was ragged. "He's not. Please, Alek, we have to help him. Kai is horribly hurt." The entire time we were talking, Kai was just leaning up against the building wall, too hurt to do anything. "He won't hurt us, please." I begged. I heard a growl come from Alek, but he still got up and walked over to Kai.

"Chloe's house isn't too far away from here; do you think you can make it there?" Kai nodded, I was shocked. Alek was actually going to help him. "But I swear to Basset, if you attempt to hurt Chloe in any way, I will kill you without hesitating." His voice was so terrifying that I had no doubt that he meant it.

After we started walking again, I noticed that Kai was having more trouble than he let on. Every step looked more painful than the last. I started to walk towards him, thinking that I could help support him and help, but Alek quickly ran to me from his position next to Kai. "Don't push me Chloe," He warned in a very worried tone. "You're not going near him. It's not safe so I'm asking you to stay as far away from him as possible." I could tell that it was a struggle for him to keep his voice as calm as it was, although it was clearly strained, so I nodded.

As soon as we got to the apartment, and Kai was lying on the couch on top of a lot of towels, Alek got out his phone and started to dial a number. "What are you doing?" I demanded.

"I'm calling Mimi to have her get some Mai to come get the Jackal."

"You can't do that!" I said right before snatching his phone and hanging up the phone. "Mimi won't hesitate to hurt him anymore, probably even kill him if she finds him again. Please, you can't do that to him." I glanced over to Kai and saw that he was passed out. "We can't hurt him anymore than we already have."

"I agreed with not going after him and picking a fight because I knew that it would upset you. And I thought that if he left town, then you'd be safe anyways." Alek began. "But he's in your house right now. He went looking for you! I don't think you are grasping the concept of how dangerous this is! I can't risk you getting hurt again."

"You didn't feel how much pain he was in!"

"You got another empathy hit off of him? Is that why you collapsed to the ground in the alley?!"

"Yes. Kai is in really bad shape. Please, don't call Mimi."

"Chloe," Alek sighed while sitting down in a chair and putting his head in his hands. "You are putting me in a very difficult situation. This is so incredibly dangerous. Why do you care so much?"

"Nobody deserves to be hurt as much as him. We don't even know if he was going to try to hurt us. There has to be another way to solve our problems without using violence. He's just a kid." I said the last part as a whisper.

"Fine," He said grudgingly. "But, what about your mother?" SHOOT! I focused on the upstairs to see if I could hear her heartbeat, but I couldn't. "She's not here, so where is she?"

"I don't know." I pulled out my phone to call her to see that I had two missed calls and a text from my mom.

I'm sorry for the late notice sweetie. I have a business dinner tonight, so I'm going to be home late. Probably around eleven or midnight. There's money on the table for pizza.

"She's out for dinner for business, so she won't be home until eleven or twelve." I can't believe how much I lucked out.

"It's only eight, so we still have a few hours until she's home. We can hide Kai in the attic until the morning when your mother goes to work." Alek said while standing up.

"Thank you Alek, it means a lot to me that you would help Kai."

"Don't get me wrong Chloe," His voice not as strained as before, but still tense. "If I think there is a risk of him hurting you or being a danger, he is gone no matter what you say or do. My first priority is still, and will always be, your safety."