Episode 17 Part 1

In the Oxford Coven's house, Gillian Chamberlain lay in a bed, her skin flashing its normal colours but bite marks marking her neck. Sylvia entered the room with tea. "How are you feeling Gillian?"

Gillian opened his eyes vacantly and half-closed them again. "Alive,"

"Here," her caretaker offered a mug of herbal tea. "This will make you feel better,"

She slowly took it and sipped it, feeling the warm liquid fall down her throat warming her cold body up. "Thank you. How long until I can get back on my feet again?"

"You should be able to any moment now. I'm afraid I can't do anything to take those bitemarks away,"

"What has happened?"

Sylvia pulled a chair and sat in front of her. "Matthew and Diana have officially broken the Covenant,". Her sharp voice flabbergasted her Gillian. "And to make matters worse, they've travelled back in time to avoid punishment from the Congregation,"

"How long ago was this?" demanded her guest.

"Three months,"

"And what of Aurora?"

"She is still in this time. What's more foolish is she's right here in Oxford, now hanging around another vampire," Everyone word she uttered made Gillian sicker and sicker with a spurn. "And not just any vampire. Matthew's youngest son Marcus Whitmore. It seems that Matthew and Diana's romance is starting a rebellion which needs to be extinguished,"

"We still need to get our hands on that freak," hissed Gillian.

"First we have another task," said Sylvia.

Gillian wondered for a moment. "Speak,"

At Marcus's house, Aurora poured the daemons and Phoebe tea as Sophie fed milk to her baby. Miriam and her son simply drank some wine. "Here," she handed them a cup each. "It'll help,"

"How could Peter Knox have known about this?" Agatha asked out loud, angry, and frantic at the same time. "How could he have got past the knights?"

"I called the knights earlier and they claim to receive a message from their grandmasters to leave the hospital. But that's impossible," she knew Thomas and Marcus would never do that. "Somehow someone hacked a message to draw them away allowing Knox to invade the room,"

"We need to guys to Sept Tour now," Jason worried gravely. "The fight is getting more dangerous every day,"

Nate stood up and walked to face the face. He had a betrayed look on his face. "I know how he found out,"

"How could you betray the knights?!" shouted Thomas through the phone, pinned to a phone holder and on speaker in the car as he and Marcus drove into Oxford.

I didn't hack their system to draw them away from the hospital. Denied Baldwin online.

"Still, you told whoever did this about," snapped Marcus bitterly. "You were ordered to keep it hidden and tell us if the Congregation got any news. Now that innocent child and her family are in more danger than ever thanks to you,"

"Who did you tell?" ordered Thomas.

"I simply told Gerbert. I couldn't put myself in a difficult position as your father did,"

"And he told Peter," Thomas growled. "We were foolish to trust you, Baldwin,"

"I couldn't keep it secret. If I did, they would have wanted my…"

"It's always about you. Isn't it," Marcus stated repulsively. "You always look out for yourself and no one else. Phillipe would be so disappointed in you right now that he'd disown you,"

How dare you… Baldwin's seething answering was terminated by Thomas shutting off the com. He sighed against his seat, guilt painting his face.

"This is all my fault," he lamented. "I thought telling Baldwin would give us the advantage to keep Margeret safe and now…now we're screwed,"

"Tom, we both thought telling Baldwin was the best course of action," reminded his equally guilty brother who bore the shame alone. "Aurora will never forgive me,"

"How are we supposed to tell them what we've done?" Thomas couldn't rid himself of the betrayed faces

"They probably might have figured it out by now," Marcus knew their daemon friends would be smart enough to realise the truth. "But no matter what happens, we can't let the witches take Margeret,"

"They won't," Thomas swore. "Not if I have to tear them apart,"

"A witch born to daemons?" Gillian was even more flabbergasted than the first pieces of news that she nearly choked on her egg on toast.

"Peter Knox tried to examine her but a human entered the room. And she knows about the creature world,"

Gillian couldn't take it anymore. "First a unique baby and now a human knowing about us?"

"Yes. Knox would have had her sorted out too if it wasn't for that freak stepping in to protect her. He wants us and the other coven members to deal with them as soon as possible before they go off the grid,"

"I want to be a part of that," said Gillian. "Since Matthew bit him, I will hurt him by hurting his sons,"

"You are not yet well enough. His venom took a toll on you,"

"I am not going down without a fight. It's time we put those creatures in their place,"

Sylvia smiled. "Then let's get it done,"

Tom and Marcus arrived at his house. They exited the car and stood guilt-ridden in front of the front door. They sighed.

"Time to face the music," Marcus lamented. If Aurora turned him away, he would never stop loving him. And neither would Thomas with Phoebe. They knocked on the door. "We're back!"

The door opened and they saw Miriam, with a disappointed look. "You took your time," she simply said unemotionally. The brothers were stunned by her tone of voice; they felt they deserved it. They entered inside and they saw the daemons waiting in the living room, some hurt, some betrayed. Jason too. Phoebe and Aurora weren't with them.

"Guys…you have every right to be angry at Thomas," Thomas lamented. "We thought that if…"

"We're not angry at you," Sophie spoke up.

The brothers blinked. "You're not?" Marcus asked.

"He betrayed me as well," Agatha said. "He owed me a debt and neglected that,"

"An insider on the Congregation would have protected Margeret more," Nate pointed out. "We know that you two will do anything to keep her safe,"

"We still should have discussed this with you guys first," Thomas defended his guilt.

"We let you all down," said Marcus, feeling that Aurora would never talk to him again. "We should have known better,"

"Where are Phoebe and Aurora?" asked his brother.

"They went for a walkout," said Jason. "Aurora's a bit mad at you Marcus but she's getting over it,"

Thomas comforted his brother with a pat on the shoulder.

Aurora and Phoebe walked in the busy streets near some shops, buying some groceries. Aurora was a little quiet. Phoebe wanted to talk to her but she decided not to. Also, her mind was on other things. She couldn't rid herself of that horrible feeling clenching her throat back in that room when that powerful witch was about to harm her. As they walked off, her hero noticed how pale her face was. "You okay?"

Phoebe didn't answer for a moment. "Not really," she managed to confess. "I can't stop thinking about that moment,"

"Phoebe, no one is going to harm you," Aurora promised. "I'll protect you no matter what,"

"But then you would be in danger. Because of me,"

Aurora walked in front of her, making her stop and look at her. "I don't care if I'm in any danger. What matters to me is that the people I care about are safe. And that includes you. You're one of us now. Human or not,"

Phoebe felt heartened but remained blameworthy. She tried to speak again but she saw a face staring at them over Aurora's shoulder over a yard away. Her gaze tilted just slightly. "Aurora. Someone is staring at us,"

Aurora crossed her eyebrows. But she didn't turn. "What do they look like?"

"Short red hair in waves," she described.

Aurora's fist clenched. "We need to go left,"

Trusting her, Phoebe walked with her down the side street and they managed to disappear. "Who was that?"

"A traitor," Aurora seethed. "Gillian Chamberlain. She was Diana's friend but she betrayed us to Peter Knox. I had a feeling we'd be seeing her again after Matthew didn't kill her,"

"What do you mean?" asked Phoebe. She knew some parts of the story that Aurora hadn't quite told her about.

"She broke into his lab after he took Diana to Sept tour. Then she tried to take my blood after attacking me. He reclaimed the blood and her phone but attacked her brutally. He didn't kill her though. We need to leave as soon as possible,"

They managed to make their way back to the house and they saw the boys' car parked. Aurora felt tense but Phoebe on the other hand was more open. "Aurora don't let what happened stop keep you from loving Marcus. I'm sure he and Thomas were just doing what they thought was right," her words softened and she knocked at the door.

Miriam let them inside. They saw the daemons at the table with Margeret, Thomas, and Marcus. Phoebe was relieved to see Thomas but Marcus's lips were pursed as he saw Aurora's betrayed face like before. "Aurora…you can be mad at me all you want, but that's not going to stop me from…"

He was interrupted by her abrupt action of dropping the groceries on the table, rushing forward, throwing her arms around him, and hugging him closely. "I'm so glad you're back now. I don't know what I would have done,"

Marcus was shocked but reassured at the same time; she loved him no matter what. "I had no idea how far Baldwin was willing to go," he muffled into her hair. "I know we made a grave mistake telling him but we just thought he'd at least repay Agatha for helping him,"

"I'm so sorry I felt so angry at you," she apologised.

"No. Don't," he begged, not wanting his actions to be downplayed.

Phoebe hugged Thomas and in seconds she felt the greatest protection anyone could feel. That awful feeling that engaged back in that hospital room had dissolved away completely.

"I'm so glad you're safe," Thomas had been filled with so much worry after hearing about Knox threatening Phoebe. "I never should have left you,"

"It's all right Tom. Aurora saved me,"

Thomas twisted his head to Aurora who was side-hugged by Marcus. "Thank you," she smiled and nodded. "And you saved Margeret," he said proudly to his partner. "You truly are one of us,"

"I'm proud to be," Phoebe was no longer afraid of the creature world. Not as long as she had an amazing vampire as a partner, a cryokinetic artist-hero as a protector and such kind-hearted daemons and vampires as friends. The daemons were relieved. All was forgiven; all was well between them.

"We need to leave Oxford by tomorrow," announced Aurora seriously.

"We know," said Thomas. "I've booked our ferry for tomorrow afternoon,"

"It's not just that. Gillian's back," spoke Aurora bitterly. "Knox must have alerted her and the entire Oxford coven,"

"This is not good," Miriam's voice matched hers. "They'll want to try and capture you as well Aurora,"

"Then we need constant protection at all terms," notified Marcus. "The Knights will take shifts overnight and tomorrow as we're leaving. Then they'll follow us to France and surrounded Sept Tour. Nothing is going to happen to Margeret," he promised Nate and Sophie. "We swear,"

"We know," they said hopefully, believing in them.

"I've contacted Hamish to come with a taxi," Thomas added in. "If those witches come anywhere near you Aurora or Margeret, they will answer for that. And we will make sure Baldwin answers too for his arrogance and his lust for his self-interests,"

Hope you all enjoyed that. Sorry for taking a while on this. I hope you all enjoyed it. Thought I might add Gillian to this episode. See you in the next half. Hopefully on Christmas Day or Boxing Day. See you all soon. And please send reviews. I want to know if you guys have any ideas. See you all. And Merry Christmas!