A/N: Hello everyone! It's been a long time since I've last updated, but life's been rather strange and hectic, so I know you understand. This is a little update, not very long but something does happen within here. Not a lemon, but something. I'll let you figure that one out. Thanks to the people that have supported this story from the very beginning. Your support and reviews have helped me out a lot. So for now, please enjoy this little present that I created.

OOOOOOOOO

Iona paced outside of the restricted area, waiting for news of her grandmother's condition. Black ash coated her hands and she could still smell the fire that had consumed her grandmother's house. If she closed her eyes, she could see the fire and almost see the condition that she had found Grandmother Ruby in. Her flesh prickled with the heat of a fire that she had never stepped into.

"Iona," Dwayne's voice broke through her horrible thoughts. "The pop machine is out of order and I don't trust the hospital coffee, so I've brought you some water."

The gypsy dancer turned to look at the vampire, his hand holding a large plastic cup of water. She took it from him gratefully, but saw that her hands were shaking, threatening to spill the liquid everywhere. Taking a small sip, Iona looked back at the doors that her grandmother had passed through; doors that she couldn't go through herself.

"Has there been any news?" Dwayne asked, standing close by. "Did they tell you anything about her?"

"No. They haven't come out of there," Iona muttered, feeling more tears smart her eyes. "I don't know if my grandmother is awake or if she's in a coma. I don't know how hurt she really is or what she looks like now that they've taken a look at her…It's been a half hour and I don't know anything more than I did before I brought her here, Dwayne. I don't know what's happened to my grandmother or if I could have stopped it from happening. I don't know!"

She threw the plastic cup on the ground and fell against a wall, the tears flowing in rivers down her face. Dwayne pulled her gently into his arms and held her close, rubbing her back comfortingly. Iona grabbed at his jacket and buried her face against his chest, trying very hard to keep from screaming.

"It's going to be all right," Dwayne whispered against her hair. "Your grandmother is a tough lady from what you've told me. She's going to make it through this, Iona. It's going to take more than a fire to take down that lady."

Iona shook her head, closing her eyes. "I should have known that something like this was going to happen. Ever since Roma left, she's been different. She gave away everything that represents our heritage and never explained why. Dwayne, she knew that something bad was going to happen. I should have known that too. I should have."

"No one can know everything, Iona. Not even gypsies." Dwayne pushed her away slightly, so his gaze could hold hers. "Don't beat yourself up about this. There's nothing that you could have done that would have changed what happened tonight. Just be thankful that you reached your grandmother in time to get her the medical attention that she needed. You probably saved her life."

"Or I just delayed it for a few more hours. Dwayne, I don't know what I'd do without my grandmother. She's all that I have left of my family…Where would I go? What would I do?" Iona looked at a passing nurse, but didn't touch them. "I could always try to find Roma and Gage…but I don't want to leave town." Her eyes slid onto Dwayne once more. "I don't want to leave you or Laddie or the rest of your family."

"Even if you would be happier with blood relatives, Iona?"

"Even then."

Iona rubbed her hands over her face, brushing away the tears that continued to fall. She glanced up at the large clock on the wall nearby and noticed how late it was getting. In an hour, the sun would be coming up and that wasn't good for one half of the group that stood there.

"You should go," Iona told Dwayne heavily. "I don't want you to burn up because of the sun." She held her hand up to silence him when he looked like he was going to protest. "Don't argue with me. I don't need you to turn to ashes and be out of my life when so much has been going downhill for me. Go to your cave or whatever and sleep until the nighttime. I probably won't be going anywhere for several more hours."

"Iona," Dwayne said, pressing a kiss to her forehead. "I'll come back for you as soon as I can."

The gypsy dancer closed her eyes when Dwayne pressed that kiss to her forehead. "I know," she whispered. "I know."

Dwayne broke away from her and Iona watched him head down the hall. No one gave him a second glance as they rushed around like chickens with their heads cut off. Iona wrapped her arms around herself and leaned back against the wall, looking back at the doors that kept her away from her grandmother. A single tear rolled down the side of her face.

"Please be okay, Grandmother," she whispered.

OOOOOOOOO

Dwayne walked into the cave where he and his family spent their daylight hours hidden from the sun. He could feel the tension in the large space as he descended down the narrow steps and knew that something was very wrong. Something that his brothers were hiding from him. When Faith stepped up, blocking him and threw her arms around him, Dwayne knew that something really bad had happened.

"The Boys need to talk to you," Faith whispered in his ear and Dwayne could hear the heaviness in the younger vampire's voice. "And it's not good." She released him and turned to look at Laddie, holding her hand out. "C'mon Laddie. Let's get you to bed."

For the first time since he became part of the family, Laddie didn't complain about going to bed early. The little boy took hold of Faith's hand and let her pull him into one of the adjoining caves. Laddie cast a worried look at the Boys before he disappeared with Faith.

"What's going on?" Dwayne demanded, glancing at David, who was perched on his wheelchair throne.

"You might want to sit for this one, Dwayne," David said in a low voice.

Paul and Marko nodded in agreement, not smiling or dancing or sharing a joint. They just sat in silence in random perches around the cave. Dwayne took his usual seat on the edge of a broken fountain and looked at his brothers.

"David," he began.

"Old Max is making his moves quickly," David announced. "He wants your gypsy dancer to be his own since he sees a motherly type in her…but the only way to do that is to single her out and give her no place else to turn." David leaned forward slightly. "He's going to do everything in his power to break down your little lady's willpower and tonight, he's already done part of that."

Dwayne's eyes narrowed. "How?"

"The fire. The fire that burned down the house that Iona was living in with her old woman. Who do you think started that blaze when no one was around to stop him?" The leader of the Lost Boys shook his head. "The old lady knew too much about us, so Max decided to drop by for a friendly visit with an ultimatum. Either she would convince Iona to be one with him or he would take away everything that Iona has ever cared for."

"That bastard!" Dwayne hissed between his sharpening teeth, seeing red.

David nodded. "He would have started with her kid cousin, but the boy isn't in town anymore and Max ain't stupid enough to go after the kid when there are new vampires getting closer and closer to our territory. So, he went with the last person that has human ties to Iona. Her grandmother."

Dwayne rose to his feet and threw something against the far wall of the cave. "I'm going to kill him! It's one thing to try to steal a girl away from someone, but it's a completely different story to attempt to kill someone's grandmother when they have no one else left in this world!" Dwayne growled. "If Iona's grandmother dies, I'm going to have some words with our sire!"

"Dude, he'll kill you," Marko said from behind his thumb.

"And if you kill him, you kill all of us," Paul pointed out, clasping his hands on his lap. "We're going to be a pile of ashes because of when we were turned. Right, David?"

David nodded slowly. "There's nothing that we can do to hurt Old Max, Dwayne. Not physically. You can only hurt him by winning the girl and you already have a head start on that."
Dwayne shook his head. "Iona won't even look at me again when she finds out that what happened to her grandmother was caused by my sire. She'll probably leave town and never look back." He ran a hand over his face. "Iona will hate me for the rest of her life."

"Nah, man. She won't," Paul said. "You had nothing to do with what Old Max does. You aren't as crazy or sick as he is."

"She'll understand," Marko added.

"In time," David said, rising slowly to his feet. "Dwayne, that girl isn't going to leave you. You know that and we know it and deep down, she knows it." He gestured around the cave. "If she needs somewhere to stay, she can crash here. It's not the most comfortable of places for humans, but it's something."

"Until we can get her into a motel," Faith said, appearing in the cave once more, though she was speaking with a Southern belle accent which meant she was channeling Adalyn again. "Wherever she chooses to go, we're going to protect her and keep Max away from her. We can't let him win. We won't."

Dwayne looked at his little sister and she offered a small smile. He remembered what the gang had gone through to protect her from Max in a situation similar to the one that they were facing now. Faith was safe now; Max couldn't touch her. The Boys wouldn't let anything bad happen to Faith.

"And we won't let anything bad happen to Iona," David said, having read his brother's thoughts through their bond. "We're a family, Dwayne. And she's a part of it through you."

"Never Max," Paul added.

"Yeah."

Dwayne felt the tension in the cave dissipate slightly. He took a deep breath and reined back his anger. Faith moved over to stand by him, placing her hand lightly on his forearm.

"Let's get some sleep," she said softly, still speaking with Southern accents. "Iona will be waiting for you when you wake up, Dwayne. And we'll be there to support you two all the way."

She wrapped her arms around him and pressed a kiss to his forehead. Dwayne blinked and watched her walk over to David. His older brother slid an arm around Faith's waist, pulling her close to him.

"It's time for all of us to hit the ceiling," David announced, his voice echoing around the cave. "Let's go."

One by one, the vampires left the main lobby of the cave-hotel. Dwayne was the last one to leave, glancing back at the entrance where the sun's glow was starting to glimmer.

I'll be there for you as soon as I can, Iona, Dwayne thought. And Max will never touch you again.

OOOOOOOOO

Iona stepped into the room where her grandmother had been moved. The older woman was wrapped in white bandages and clothed in a thin hospital gown. Her face no longer bore the signs of ash and smoke, but instead glowed with an angry red. Iona ran her hand over her grandmother's singed hair, free of its heavy braids and forced herself not to cry.

"Grandmother," she whispered, petting the older woman's hair. "Grandmother, I'm sorry that I didn't come sooner. I'm sorry that you had to face that fire alone – that you're in this condition because of me." She closed her eyes against a wave of tears. "I promise that I'll never leave you again, if you would just come back to me and stay for dozens more years."

The gypsy dancer sat back on the chair that was standing next to the bed, moving her hand to grasp her grandmother's bandaged one. She lightly stroked the back of her grandmother's hand with her thumb and stared at her grandmother's face. They sat in silence for several minutes, the only sound coming from the machines that Grandmother Ruby was hooked up to and the sound of the nurses moving outside of the room.

Iona's eyes lifted to her grandmother's face when the woman made a small sound. Grandmother Ruby's eyelids fluttered and opened a bit as the woman took a slow, deep breath. The older woman turned her gaze on Iona and squeezed her fingers weakly.

"Child," Grandmother Ruby breathed through her lips.

"Grandmother!" Iona exclaimed, smiling. "Grandmother, you're awake! You're going to be okay!"

The elderly gypsy woman shook her head. "Child, I must tell you so much and there's so little time. Do not interrupt me, Child. Just listen."

Iona's eyes widened, but she said nothing. Grandmother Ruby took a wavering breath and closed her eyes. She squeezed her granddaughter's hand as she opened her eyes and mouth once more.

OOOOOOOOO

A/N: Well? What do you think about this chapter? I don't know when I will be able to write up another chapter with my crazy schedule that keeps getting crazier. I also have other projects that need to be finished, so this might get pushed back on the backburner, even if I try not to do that. Please leave a small comment or two in the review box and I'll do my best to get back to you. Thanks! –Scarlet