Ana had retreated from her family's penchant for dramatics to the life of a recluse despite her youth for a variety of reasons.

One of them stared her right in the face.

A hefty stack of white papers with stark black words, all marked up in red with her tiny script, littered her desk top. A contract outlining unreasonable demands, too obvious loopholes, and topped by criminally rude attempts to undersell her family's company, resources, and worth. This wasn't even the worst contract to pass through her hands this month and they had no choice but to consort to working with them due to the Takatsukasa Clan Elders and their insistence on maintaining old connections. Her maternal family's business made her loathe the idea of interacting with other people.

She capped her fountain pen and sighed.

Even the soft jazz playing downstairs couldn't soothe her nerves. Kol was rather delighted with the idea of streaming music and had immediately made off with his choice of Etta James.

Regardless of her many close friends and broad range of acquaintances from her worldly travels, Ana wholeheartedly believed that she suited the life of a hermit in the mountains. Her love for plumbing, easy access to bubble tea, and all other city amenities aside.

She never thought she'd prefer her work as a divine emissary over anything, but she was starting to see the appeal of ghosts over living humans. Her paternal family's businesses never inspired anything close to this amount of exasperation and personal frustration. They did have an advantage within the supernatural Asian community, however.

Her phone rang and vibrated against the mahogany wood desk. She winced and glanced at the flashing screen—Tetsuo Takatsukasa. Her favourite and least favourite maternal cousin; it depended on the day and his behaviour. There were three outcomes, usually, when answering a call from him; a headache, laughter, or complete disbelef. The possibility of being torn between all three was there as well. If she didn't answer, however... he'd probably assume she was in danger or her moody phases and worry endlessly.

Ana sighed and took her chances.

"Tetsuo," she said as she picked up the phone, immediately switching to Japanese. "Why are you calling? Don't give me more work or problems. I have enough."

"How rude of you. Can't I just call to call? "

"No. Every time you do, it ends in a headache."

"I wanted to know if you're coming home for the new year, " he said. " Grandfather wants to see you ."

"Don't use him as an excuse. I already told him about my plans. You're going to have to fight the gods on this one since they won't stop sending souls my way."

"Is that so? " he asked calmly. "It isn't because you're holding grudges and planning revenge? "

Ana paused. She could imagine the faux-neutral expression on his face—so alike and unlike her own. Their families often called them the two sides of the same coin, but she disagreed. He was a true lion-hearted Takatsukasa, through and through; from his look, demeanour, and talents. Bold, brave, honest, and disgustingly moral. The Clan Elders favoured him as the clan heir despite his blatant rejection of their values. He was the best and worst of them, all at once—the one to carry on the family powers, but not the business.

"Not this lecture again," she said. "And if I am?"

"You should learn forgiveness at some point in your life."

"Bold advice coming from someone who went unscathed," she said. "Worry more about yourself and keep the monk rhetoric there too."

He paused and sighed. "Sorry. What are you doing? How are you doing?"

"I'm doing the work of three people at once and I've been sent a new soul despite running across the ocean. I don't even have time to visit new restaurants to review or blog about things."

"I guess the gods disagreed with your idea of taking a break," he mused. "Though, you've been getting significantly less than when you lived here."

"That's because they over-relied on me there and I stumbled upon them by chance. Anyway, I have to finish translating communications with a Korean client for Uncle Kiyoshi and a French contract for Uncle Kentaro. Then, there's the negotiations."

"Good luck with that," Tetsuo said dryly. "I have to perform blessings and traverse a mountain in the backwoods of Hokkaido."

"You're doing well? What about Auntie and Uncle? I know grandfather is doing well, and Satoshi sent me three hundred photos of Hitomi's ultrasound."

"My parents think I'll die single even though I'm in my early twenties," he groaned. "They're looking into arranged marriages."

"They're jealous that Uncle Toshihiro has a grandchild on the way."

"What does that even have to do with me? They can adopt another child if they want a baby in the house. Gods know I can't take care of one right now."

"Well, that's what you get for having parents."

He paused. "Those jokes will never be funny."

"Then, why are you smiling?"

He hung up before she could get another word in edgewise. Ana leaned back and laughed under her breath; well, that was a win for her. She hoped she would give him as many headaches as he'd given her throughout the years.

"And what's so funny, darling?" Kol asked, pretending to lean against the closed door he phased through.

"Baby of the family things," she said after a pause, the English words rolling off her tongue in a stilted manner. "Anyway, I'm finished with this. I'll just drop it off with my uncle's secretary and I have the potion recipe memorised. We'll confirm the context of my divine powers on this continent then go shopping in either Flushing or Chinatown in Manhattan for the ingredients we need."

"Does distance from your homeland affect the strength of your magic?" he asked curiously. "Some witches from New Orleans have the same affliction. They're reliant on borrowed strength and a pool of ancestral power that aids them."

"It's nothing like that," she said dismissively. "I have to take into account the environment and any natural interference from other sources of energy when it comes to divine magic. You can modify all rituals to accommodate for anything. It's similar to choosing to walk with or against the wind, you can do either, but one is easier than the other and the other requires you to overpower the wind." She sighed and stretched. "This would be much easier on the west coast."

Kol leaned over her shoulder to read the documents sitting on her desk. His brow furrowed and he scoffed, clearly uninterested in such measly human matters. "Now, why is that, darling?"

"I've performed magic there and I have more sources of information, more contacts. There's a much bigger supernatural Asian population that I'm familiar with." She headed downstairs and threw on a jacket. "Let's take a walk."

"The speed in which you walk pains me, darling," he said. "You couldn't have grown more throughout your youth?"

She blinked up at him. "When I resurrect you, I'll curse you to bump your head every time you pass through a door."

"You wound me," he proclaimed.

"The doors will. Not me."

The faint sun of high noon peeked out from a swathe of grey clouds; the light was dim, growing and fading all at once. Kol watched Ana with a rapt eye. She nestled deeper into her black turtleneck and puffy beige jacket to avoid the harsh winds. The humans of New York City continued to pass her by, not a single one glancing at her even if she crossed their paths while weaving through the crowds.

It was almost like a magic-induced reaction; an aura that surrounded her and coaxed all others to look away.

He had followed Ana and experienced the filthy subways beneath the city, almost reminiscent of the English streets long before plumbing and the modern era, to enter the heart of Manhattan. If he had been alive, Kol would have simply plucked Ana up into his arms and ran them across the waters and the Brooklyn bridge, or had he chauffeured wherever she wished. He didn't understand how she could withstand the intense crowding, the undoubtedly terrible smell of refuse, and all the other shortcomings of New York public transportation. When he had voiced such concerns to her, Ana had simply laughed.

"I've been through much worse," she had assured him.

Any attempt to whittle an explanation out of her were adeptly avoided through their journey from her uncle's place of work to Lower Manhattan.

Now, he watched as she paused in the middle of the paved streets in Chinatown, looking around at the crimson red and faded cadmium yellow buildings of a bygone era. The green paint on the accented balconies, ladders, and pipes peeled back to reveal the dull metals. But, the brick-laid buildings were solid and crowded together. It was a bittersweet thing; he remembered them in their full glory from the early twentieth century. Now, there were Chinese characters splashed over the bright fabric awnings of the many businesses, casting shadows over the sidewalk and entrances. Large vertical neon signs covered nearly every inch of overhead space, flashing and bright due to the despondent sunlight. Some offered translation, most did not, and his ability to read Chinese characters did not match his abilities to speak Mandarin.

People congregated throughout the walkways, uncomfortably so, and yet, Ana had never looked more at peace as she traversed through the Chinatown quarters of Lower Manhattan. Kol followed her to a side street, barely large enough to fit two cars in width, and she ducked into a modern tea shop with something about bubbles in the signs. He looked around at the abominably adorable decor crammed into the tiny space that could barely house ten people.

This place could not possibly offer what they're looking for.

And it was suspiciously empty.

There was a young girl, about Rebekah's physical age, manning the counter. She looked innocent enough with her soft features hidden by a layer of bangs and rounded gold-rimmed glasses.

Ana leaned against the counter and knocked against it twice. "I'll have an eight-pointed jasmine tea for Tao."

The girl straightened, startled—as if she hadn't even heard Ana enter. Her wide brown eyes slipped over Kol's guide with a sense of wonderment. "Of course, ma'am."

She opened the small doors separating the kitchen from the rest of the tea shop for them and Ana passed by with a small smile. They went through the swinging black doors that led to a barren room with another door. It was a dingy space with a singular flickering light that only highlighted the dirty tiled floors and stained walls. The door itself was a horror composed of decaying wood, almost as if someone had attempted to turn it into ashes.

Ana pressed her hand against the slab of splinters and everything glowed a faint pink.

The door swung open to reveal a dark stairwell.

"Where are we headed?" he asked warily.

"Somewhere secret," she said.

If the girl working at the tea shop hadn't acknowledged Ana's existence, he would've truly thought she was a mere spectre from the afterlife. A figment of his imagination taunting him with the possibility of resurrection. She moved up the stairs like shadow through smoke, soft-footed and soundless, and she blended into the dimly lit scenery as if she had walked through this place a thousand times before. Her form tempered into the atmosphere like she were a mere projection of thought, an illusion of desperation he conjured, as she walked on and on.

Kol shivered as he followed her up the stairs.

A vast sea of layered voices rose up from the ground floor, chanting and echoing, as if chasing them. As if hunting. Whispers caressed his ears. The sounds surrounded them entirely like an iron fist or an inescapable cage. Thousands of eyes followed him like an angry hive of wasps, hot on his trail. The air iced against his skin.

He couldn't breathe.

"Ana," he said, alarmed. He attempted to grab her and redirect her path to anywhere else but where they were headed. His hands passed through her body and he shivered. "We need to leave, now."

She stopped and turned to face him. The black ocean waves of her hair framed her pale and unfathomable face. Under the sickly fluorescent lights, her tea-brown eyes looked murky and near-obsidian. Her rosy-red lips dulled until they were pallid as a cadaver's. The edges of her softened and she almost blurred. It was as if she were a mere smudge captured in a photo, but right before his eyes. A ghost. Everything else in the stairwell remained as it was, crystal clear, but she became more obscure, as if a layer of fog separated them.

"Those are just the eyes of the gods," she said softly. Her words came out muffled, whispered, like she had spoken to him through a wall. "They're watching."

Crimson vignetted his vision and the shadows around them grew taller, trawling up the walls. He could almost spot faces and hands reaching out from the gaps.

Was this what it always felt like to her as an emissary? Was this her magic? did she feel the full brunt of this gasping panic it inspired in him? If so, he couldn't help but pity her lot in life. He couldn't help but understand that acrid bitterness that had infiltrated her voice—not her face, never her face—the other day.

She continued up the stairs calmly. Her hair flew behind her like a pennant of dread, a warning of the night.

The air continued to suffocate him and he almost absconded until they reached the top floor. They stood before a carnelian-stained door with faded gold Chinese characters etched int othe grain and a colourful mirror swung form a red string.

The eyes and voices hunting them had dissipated, and it felt like he could breathe again.

"We're here," Ana announced quietly.

They stood before a secret temple hidden deep within a corner of Chinatown, its history deeply connected to her paternal family. The monks and minders had concealed themselves often throughout the years behind many businesses; the latest one was a bubble tea shop owned by a lovely woman who curated the unique menu featuring fresh roasted teas by herself. Ana glanced at Kol, who seemed uncharacteristically shaken and bothered, before she placed her hand on the red door and waited.

A single spark singed her hand as the magic from the other side recognised her. The hinges groaned and the doors swung open to reveal wafting floral-sweet smoke, sticky and fragrant, underlined by the scent of incense ashes. Everyone within the temple's walls stopped their motions of prayers and worship, all eyes turning to her as she stepped over the threshold.

She looked around.

Ana highly doubted they had a visitor within the last year.

Arnaud was the last one to visit New York from her paternal family and that was nearly eight months ago. He had no inclination of indulging the supernatural either and left those responsibilities to the rest of them. He was the heir to an empire of equal importance, after all. Their family's normal human facade required it, after all, and sometimes they needed it if they ever needed a way out of the supernatural shenanigans.

The greying light pierced through the ruby red curtains covering the windows, but the rest of the main room remained lit by the golden flames of the candles and reflected the garnet hues throughout the room. The main altar, carved out of a fragrant rosewood, displayed a variety of full incense holders, plates of fruit, candleholders, and gilded idols of the gods. It filled the centre of the room, surrounded by monks and their aids in the middle of worship.

A man, sturdy and built like the Great Wall of China, remained at the head and led them all in prayer. He had a fine moustache and hard, stern eyes. Modest indigo robes did nothing to hide his solid frame built from years of wushu and the high bun he kept his hair in showed off his clear and chiselled features.

"Apologies for interrupting your prayer session," Ana said and slipped neatly into Cantonese. "Please continue. I am quite willing to wait."

"And who are we to make the divine emissary wait?" the man leading them all in prayer said. "Princess Anastasia, welcome to the Temple of the Sun. We're honoured by your presence."

"Priest Yeung Luk," she greeted with a bow. "Members of the Sun. Thank you for allowing me into your temple."

Priest Yeung Luk bowed deeper. The monks and aides in his service followed his lead and dipped deeper in their bows towards her.

"A pleasure to serve your family once more, Princess Anastasia," he said.

She waved it off. "Please refrain from using that title. I'm not a princess."

"Ah, still filled with such modesty," Yeung Luk said fondly before he dismissed his monks and aides to return to their prayers. "The gods chose well all those years ago."

"You'd be the first to think that."

He laughed lightly. His honey-brown eyes shone despite the dark room, almost like a predatory cat. Kol remained behind her, warily observing and studying the on-goings of the temple. The gods' attentiveness had truly unnerved him on their way up. She almost reached out to soothe him, but thought better of the act—more magic, especially her own, might not help him at all. It might make any unease worse and scare him off.

Yeung Luk sobered and looked behind her. "I can sense a soul following you, Miss Anastasia."

Her lips twitched at the familiar title and name, reminiscent of the indulgent tones it was often spoken in during her childhood.

"A charge from the gods," she explained. "I'm here for information and testing purposes. Have you noticed a need to change your divinely connected rituals after leaving Asia for foreign soil?"

"No, not at all." He shook his head and thoughtfully glanced over her. His fingers touched his lips slightly. "But, I am not blessed the same way you are nor am I capable of the same things."

"Nothing can ever be simple, can it?" She sighed and stood beside him. "I hoped you had all the answers like you did when I was a child."

"That time has long passed, Miss Anastasia, especially with the consideration of all the stories Thomas has told me. You've surpassed my capabilities long ago." He guided her towards a more private section of the room. "I can no longer provide the answers that you seek. However, I have nothing but assurance and confidence in your abilities."

Priest Yeung Luk was not always a leader nor a man with a title. In his youth, he had mingled with the previous generation of Laus when he took residence in Taiwan, hunting demons and the remnants of his own earthly revelations. Her uncle Thomas, Arnaud's father, enjoyed spinning tall tales to anyone willing to listen to him and Yeung Luk had always indulged in the tales of the next generation of Laus with an uncle's affection. He treated her accomplishments with the same reverence as Arnaud's exploits in business—all of the Laus looked to him as another uncle.

"He exaggerated, I'm sure," she said dryly. "I'll perform a ritual to ascertain any possible changes. Can you provide an aide and a warded room?"

"Of course," he said. "I'll be your aide."

"Are you planning on testing me?"

"I do wish to see the improvements my first true pupil has made," he confessed.

"I was five!"

"And a prodigy in all manners."

"That's debatable." Ana turned to Kol who had finally drifted back to her side. "Are you ready to witness some magic?"

Kol brightened, eyes alert. He hadn't lied about his love for magic. When she revived him, she'd attempt to find a magical discipline he could devote himself to. Vampirism killed certain magical abilities, but she knew quite a few vampires capable of minor magic and other talents. She could lure them out of their hiding places with a bit of unorthodox coaxing and they'd teach Kol if she asked with all potential politeness owed.

Yeung Luk guided them through two side corridors winding around the apartment complex until they reached a series of small rooms, emptied of all worldly possession and materials. She chose one near the end of the hallway that housed a small altar where a small incense holder sat in the middle. Ana knelt before the altar and indented the tan mats beneath while Priest Yeung Luk remained at the doors.

She stared at the golden incense holder and Kol sat down beside her.

"What do we need?"

"Nothing," she said softly. "It's a quick check."

Her vision clouded over and a faint pink mist rose from the ground. Kol's gaze flickered around, turbulent and alarmed, but she ignored him. The incense holder centred itself without prompting and the incense ashes flattened with a flick of her finger. A glowing magic circle sunk into the powder as she pulled open the hidden drawer on the altar to grab a stick of incense.

She could hear the dull rising chant of the gods' heralds rippling through the thin barrier between the realms. A nebulous but unbreakable film passed through her. Ana set her hand on the table and another magic circle carved itself into the wood. A flame sparked to life at the end of the incense stick and she set it down onto the golden pedestal. The chanting grew louder and she could feel hundreds of hands grasping for any piece of her they could reach. A fist pierced through her chest from behind and tendrils of magic wrapped around her.

Ana lifted her hand from the table.

Everything faded away and her vision returned to her.

"Great news, my powers are unaffected," she told Kol.

He frowned at her, brows furrowed. "Ana…"

Priest Yeung Luk interrupted him as he stepped away from the door he protected. A smart move on his part, undoubtedly. "Your powers have multiplied throughout the years, but your control of it is truly unparalleled. I've never felt that much power contained into a single room without it collapsing immediately."

"Yeah," she said faintly. "My tasks required that control. Do or die, you know?"

Yeung Luk and Kol watched her, their gazes different but the same; worried, as if a stranger had invaded her body. Her hands trembled as she wrangled her powers back under control—she hadn't done something similar in years. Power assessments were rarely necessary. She had never accidentally reached out to the herald's realm in years, no matter how many times the gods attempted to contact her through their other lackeys. The distance between them remained steady and vast, but the moment they sensed her return, it had pressed closer, reaching out insistently to meet her again.

She dusted herself off and smiled, tremulously, at her old mentor. "Thank you, again, for your help."

"You have changed, my child." His eyes lingered on her, a hidden sorrow rising in his posture and gaze.

"We all do," she said, clearing her throat. "No one lives our kind of lives and remains the same."

"No," he agreed. "We do not, but someone as young as you should have never suffered so. It's a deep injustice I had not realised until I set my eyes upon this. Do your uncles and aunts know of this?"

"I'm an emissary like my ancestors," she told him. "But unlike them, I chose the path of least suffering. Don't worry too much about me."

"Ah, but the previous generations will always worry. It's the damaged world we have handed you affecting your lives. We cannot help but think it is our doing."

"That's life," she repeated.

That's life, that's life, that's life. If she repeated to herself enough, maybe she'd accept the lot they handed her, too.

Kol took up what he had deemed his spot at the kitchen island.

He observed Ana wade through her new task with all the grace of slow ocean water lapping at the white shores of a quiet beach. The faint curls in her hair bounced with each movement as she pulled it up to reveal the creamy skin o her neck and throat. Kol couldn't name a single vampire he knew that could deny themselves the possibility of such an indulgence when exposed to them. Perhaps Elijah and Finn, but they were monumental bores.

Ana donned a soft floral apron and tied it around her tiny frame. Unlike her demeanour at the temple, she was completely relaxed. She fell into an easy and comfortable stance, almost adorably cosy.

One would think the novelty of watching her would wane after a whole day spent doing nothing else, but he doubted he'd ever tire of his little hard-won discoveries.

For someone who claimed to know so few people in the city, she blended into it without hesitation. Her movements through Chinatown suggested confidence with her easygoing demeanour. The language she spoke remained soft when rolling out of her mouth—terribly sweet like she had been with that monk. He hadn't understood a word spoken between her and anyone she interacted with but he had lived for a thousand years. He could read people from more than words alone; bodies too often telling more truths than mouths ever could or would. The monk had fawned over Ana, affectionate like an old sentimental family member who still looked upon her like a child.

When she had led them on a merry hunt for potion ingredients, she would step into a store and engage with the shopkeeper without a second thought. She inspired a slow relaxation in them, tempered by a quiet delight only possibly found in the sharing of a mother tongue and community. They conversed in low tones and Ana was ever so polite and thoughtful. She always overpaid in cash and accepted no change, a charming smile on her lips, silencing all attempts to challenge her.

"What are you doing now?"

"Sacrificing my pho pot for this concoction. Hopefully, I won't need it again." She pouted, rose-red lips slightly moist from a gloss. "We'll brew dragon well tea for fourteen days, top it off daily with blessed waters. We'll need to harvest fresh peony petals at the end of the week too."

"If I remember correctly, it isn't peony season," he said.

"We'll source from greenhouses. This is an expensive potion," she said. "Grounded ginseng today, dragon blood incense ashes tomorrow, agarwood oil for two days, rosewood powder with peony petals on the seventh, and a secret ingredient for the last three."

Kol noted down each ingredient in his head. "And what do they do?"

"They're all ingredients inundated with longevity and life magic," she said. "The potion was created in the rural mountains of Guangxi by chance."

"And how do you plan on getting the blessed water, darling? Will we have to con a priest?"

"I'm blessing it," she said. "Have you forgotten what I am?"

Kol watched her fill the giant stock pot with water before she set it on the gas stovetop. He hid a smile as she climbed up a step stool to hover over the pot, but it dropped when she slapped herself. It was a light smack on her nose, but resounding.

"What are you doing?" he asked, reaching out as if he could stop her.

"Divine emissary tears can bless anything," she explained as her eyes water. Her nose reddened slightly as tears dripped down her face. "It's easier than rituals to bless things."

She patted her face dry and set aside the stool. Her eyes remained slightly red and a small patch of pink where she hit her own face marred her smooth skin. He frowned and reached out to trace the edges of the mark.

"You shouldn't have done that," he said.

"It's too late," she said. "We're doing it for the next fourteen days. It needs to be blessed on the spot and the other method takes an hour."

Kol understood it was required if he wished to return to the living. For some unfeasible reason, he couldn't stand the idea of her getting hurt over something like this when there were other options even if it was equal to a light bump. She was a delicate little creature who deserved only softness, especially in return for the kindness she showed him. If only for that alone.

Ana watched the water roil as she dumped in the dragon well tea leaves.

Such an act was equivalent to a crime and an assassination of any good tea, but this wasn't meant for her pleasure or consumption. She mourned the death of the brew, regardless, and sighed as the leaves bloomed a bright green in the blessed waters. Her phone vibrated on the counter, the plastic sage green case clacking against the counter.

She blew out a sigh.

Jasmine Yeung flashed across the screen.

She snatched the phone up and immediately answered it.

"Please don't tell me you need rescuing," she said. The Cantonese words left her mouth in a rapid fire, the language was the most comfortable in her mouth despite the many years she spent living in Japan. It was a melodious language that flowed as naturally as water to her. "You promised that I'd never have to do anything like beat a Ugandan blood diamond businessman in poker for your release ever again. I'm busy, so is Koji, and I don't know who could help rescue you this time."

"I'm fine! " Jasmine whined. " I just wanted to say hi. I know Koji is busy. He left me alone for a stupid mission in Europe. "

"Hi," Ana deadpanned, but her lips turned up slightly regardless.

She could already imagine the pout on the other girl's gorgeous face, softened by a pink flush. Her bold features, catlike and sharp, hazed by her makeup. Jasmine was an undeniable beauty with a flurry of expressions, enrapturing anyone paying attention to her. She had always let her emotions run free across her face, an open book through and through.

"You're no fun, you know? I'm your best friend. You should be nicer to me because I wanted to ask when you're coming back so we can have a girl's day. We haven't had one in a while. "

Ana glanced at Kol while she hummed under her breath. "I'm delayed. You know how family business goes and… I have another assignment."

"You're back in? "

"I've only stopped for three months this time," she said. "The gods really hate that I don't like working for free."

"Well, I'm still free to house-sit until next week," Jasmine said. "Anyway, I can't believe you're still helping the Tokudaiji business flourish when the Clan Elders still run the show behind the scenes. You know, I'd gouge their eyes out with my nails if you asked."

"That's why I don't ask," she murmured and stirred the pot. "Anyway, it's my uncle who requested my help. Not the Clan Elders."

"It's still benefiting those vile, detestable, black-hearted—"

"I appreciate that you own a thesaurus, but you don't need to waste your breath. Anyway, brunch and mimosas when I get back?"

"No, no, no. It has to be a baking day. "

"You just say that because you want me to bake for you."

"I'll be helpful! I'll bring you bubble tea," Jasmine said. She always spoke in such a way that Ana could almost perceive her expressions through imagination alone. A puppy dog begging at the dinner table was what she imagined now. "Actually, why don't we make it a whole day and do both? Midnight baking like old times. "

"We only baked at that time after a night of clubbing and drinking."

"We can do that too. "

"No, we're lucky we never burned a house down, and we're too old to get that drunk without Koji around as our babysitter," she winced. "Anyway, I've dedicated myself to the boring life."

"Ugh," Jasmine scoffed. "You need to have fun again."

"What happened to the new boyfriend? You can't pretend he's one of the girls for a day or two?"

"He was no fun," she said.

"...you need to stop dating absolutely insane men who lock you up in their villa so you can recalibrate your sense of fun."

"Don't call me out like that," Jasmine said. "I'm young and living my life. It's the time to make mistakes! Anyway, I met him on my own mission. He seemed hot, fun, and helpful."

"I hated him on sight," Ana said.

"You only met him after I said he kidnapped me. "

"I would've hated him regardless. I can't believe you didn't notice the sacrifices and his personality came from a landfill."

"Well, let's not talk about that because we might jinx the date I have tonight. I just wanted to make sure you remembered to call me when you come back so I can make sure you live your life and have fun."

"Good luck. You'll probably hypnotise him into giving you nine million dollars of real estate before the end of the night," Ana said. "...love you."

"Love you too," Jasmine chirped before she hung up.

Kol snuck up behind her, but she already had whirled around to face him when she felt his presence within her vicinity.

He leaned over her shoulder to look at her phone. "Who was that, darling? You're terribly popular today."

"My best friend, Jasmine," she told him. "I always answer before the second ring in case she needs saving."

"Saving?" He raised a brow. "From what?"

"Her bad decisions."

He laughed and folded his hands behind his neck. "Perhaps, darling, you should change your name to Saint Ana. I'm quite sure someone would award you with it after saving so many lives."

"Do you think it would come with a mandatory break?" she wondered. "I want paid time off. I don't even get paid well, you know?"

"Oh, that'll be impossible," he crooned. "You're too integral. They'd work you to the bone."

She pouted. "Thanks. I hate it."

He grinned and floated back towards the drawing room. Another animated movie played on the television screen, When Marnie Was There, something Kol had complained about rather half-heartedly when she put it on.

A hint of a smile crossed her lips.

All remnants of the souls emissaries guided stayed with them in some way. She never expected she'd be glad that Kol would live instead of passing onto true peace and the next step of the afterlife. Ana wouldn't have to keep the simple memories of him enjoying children's animated films or his favourite meal as a constant reminder that he had existed.

Regardless, the newest recipe going up on her blog would be her versions of a lobster bisque, dirty rice, and a decadent New York cheesecake. The pages of her secret journal, too, would find the story of a new resident before she moved on.

She still had a life outside of the supernatural, after all, even if it had temporarily fallen behind, neglected due to her duties.

check out my tumblr delicateseraphs! i'll be posting excerpts (chapter 4 and 5), answering any questions, and i've also created a character page for anastasia if you wished to learn more about her.

anyway, i just wanted to make sure you understood our main character a little more... so let's do it through a meme.

she's a ten but will ignore you for any cat in the room. she's an eight but will feed you and make fun of you at the same time. she's a ten but knows nothing about wine, absolutely classless in the matter.