I woke up hungry. Starving. I could barely contain myself, but I stayed in bed. I remembered what Tec had told me and I decided I would wait until someone came and got me... But shit. I was so hungry. I writhed and cringed, tossed and turned but there was nothing that helped. It was hunger unlike any I had ever felt.

I was about to claw my own eyes out when there was finally a knock on the door. I sprang out of bed and almost tore the door off its hinges.

"I see you're up," Tec said softly. "Come on. We'll see to end that hunger."

I followed him out on the street and into a nearby park.

"Lots of people get lost here. And turn up dead here. You remember how I gave you life?"

I nodded.

"It was us forming a circle that created your second life. My blood got exchanged with yours, so my blood runs in your veins, just as yours does in mine. You're my family in all aspects that matters. Blood ties us together. And that is why blood will also sustain you now. Without forming the circle, you take life. Life, you're in every right to take as one of my children."

I understood and I didn't understand. Everything he said felt so right, but logically it made no sense at all.

He took me further into the darkness of the park and then we waited. Waited until a lone man appeared. He was dragging his feet over the pebbled path, obviously not watching where he was going.

It hadn't even occurred to me how well I could see in the dark until I realised he was following the small street lights. And I didn't need those lights. Sounds were clearer. I could even taste salt in the air from the sweat pouring off this guy.

"Can you smell his deodorant?" Tec murmured.

I nodded.

"Good, you're learning fast. He's yours. Take him." He put his hand on my back and gently pushed me forward.

I stalked towards him like a girl on a mission. I guess I was a girl on a mission... I could hear his pulse, almost tasting his skin already.

He turned towards me and was about to say something, but I stopped him. My hand landed on his mouth, pushing his head to the side, while my teeth sunk into his throat. Blood sprayed into my mouth, warm and soothing.

It didn't taste like I had expected it to taste. It didn't taste metallic but sweet. Like I had imagined flowing sunlight would taste. I could actually taste the sun and heat in his blood and I couldn't stop. It was infuriating and liberating and I soon started to feel a little drunk.

I could feel his pulse vibrate through my body, making it rock in the same rhythm.

"That's enough," Tec murmured softly in my ear, and I let the body of the guy go. It dropped limply down on the ground.

Tec turned me towards him, retrieved a handkerchief and gently wiped the blood away from my lips.

"You're a natural, Aura." He cupped my cheek with his hand for a moment and then took a step back. "Come on. Let's go home."

Kissy was anxiously waiting when we came out of the elevator.

"How was it?" she asked and kind of bounced up and down.

"She's a natural," Tec said proudly and gave my shoulder a gentle squeeze. "I'll be in my room if you guys need me."

Kissy grabbed my arm and dragged me over to the sofas in the middle of the big living room, connecting all the rooms of the suite.

"Tell me everything," she said all excitedly.

Before I got a chance to answer, Frej dumped down next to Kissy on the couch and smiled at me.

"Hey, I haven't gotten a chance to speak to you yet," he said. "Xipe's very protective of you already. Speaks highly of you."

He didn't look as old as Tec, Frej. He looked young. Like maybe he was my age. I looked like the youngest one here, but so did he.

You'd imagine his skin would be covered in freckles but it wasn't. It was covered in blue tattoos. He had almost magical big green eyes that shone in the light coming from the designer lamp hanging over us.

"Aura was just about to tell me how her first hunt went."

Pictures of the guy's face flashed before my eyes and I looked down. I had killed someone tonight. And I didn't feel bad about it. The world had always treated me like shit, so why should I really care? And I felt like it was my right, just like Tec had said.

Both of them looked expectantly at me, waiting for me to start, but I had no idea where to start. I brought my fingers up my lips, still tasting the blood on them.

"Aura doesn't speak much. But that's okay," Kissy said after a moment of awkward silence. "You can tell us when you're ready." She smiled at me and tipped her head to the side.

"Is Tec..." I stopped myself before I finished that stupid question. What business was it of mine if Tec was Frej's boyfriend or not? Sometimes I asked the stupidest questions. Told the stupidest stories that made no sense in context to the rest of the conversation and I didn't realise until I was halfway into the story.

"You can ask," Frej said and smiled halfly at me.

"Is he your boyfriend?" I asked with a small voice.

"Actually he's my husband. We've gotten married 7 times," Frej said and chuckled, holding up his hand, showing off two wedding bands on his ring finger. Alongside a bunch of blue rune tattoos on his fingers. He had tattoos on his hands too.

"They keep just getting married over and over. No one knows why. I bet they don't even know," Kissy explained and smirked up at Frej.

"That's not true. We just can't decide on who should propose so... We keep switching. You try being married to the same man for 800 years," he murmured and rolled his eyes.

"No thanks. You all are the only men I need in my life," Kissy said very sweetly and patted Frej's cheek.

"Were you married, Aura?" Frej asked and smiled at me.

"No," I whispered and shook my head.

"Good riddance. Marriage is work, let me tell you." Frej leaned back and placed his hands behind his head.

"Then why get married 7 freaking times?" Kissy asked.

Frej shrugged. "I love him. I can't imagine a life without him by my side. All the time."

That sounded really exhausting.

The door to Tec's room opened and he strode out into the living room. He buried his hand in Frej's hair and then grabbed a fistful of it.

"Come," he murmured softly and Frej laughed.

"You lonely, my love?" he asked and looked lovingly up at the deity.

"Yes, Fakkel. Come." Tec pulled on Frej's hair, making the red-haired guy rise and jump over the backrest of the couch, into Tec's arms. Frej took Tec's face in his hands and kissed him, as Tec walked with Frej's legs draped around his hips back to his room.

Another door opened and one of the twins caught sight of Frej and Tec. The twin groaned loudly and rolled his eyes.

"What, you want to join us?" Frej asked followed by a high pitched laugh, as Tec squeezed his ass.

"I'll pass," the twin just said stoically and walked over to the adjoining kitchen, going for the fridge.

The door to Tec's room slammed shut and I was left alone with Kissy and the twin.

"That one is Iwo. He's the one who always wears henleys. Dawid wears hoodies," Kissy explained.

Iwo looked over his shoulder and closed the fridge. "I wish I could say that isn't true, but it is. That's literally the only difference between us. It's not like my brother has hearing aids and a cochlear implant or anything."

"I didn't say that. It's just the easiest way to tell you guys apart." Kissy pouted up at the blonde haired man.

"I'm messing with you," he said softly. "I'm gonna make some tea. Would you ladies like some?"

"You want to say yes. Iwo makes really good tea," Kissy chirped and jumped to her feet, finding three mugs in a cupboard. The whole living room and kitchen were much like the bedrooms; white and neat. It was nice. I had always liked the minimalist approach to home decorating.

It took them no time before he and Kissy brought over the mugs and some biscuits for us to dip in the tea.

"Do we need... To eat?" I asked.

"Besides blood? No. But Kissy and I do love our tea. It's too hard to give up," Iwo said softly. He seemed like such a gentle giant.

"So we can eat?" I asked and blew at the hot beverage.

"Sure. We just don't need it to survive." Iwo took a sip of his tea and smiled contently. "So I'm guessing we're doing the whole intro thing right now?"

"I guess," I murmured and carefully took a sip. It tasted sweet. A bit of cinnamon. It was like Christmas in my mouth and if I could only drink one thing until my death, this would be it.

"Well... I'm Iwo... But you know that... I uh... I'm Polish. I'm from the 1500's. People thought my brother and I were shapeshifters and devils because we're identical twins so we were drowned." He rubbed his neck and took another sip of his tea. "How about you?"

I swallowed and looked down at my wrists. I pulled my sleeves up and showed them to him.

"Oh, no." He rose from the couch and sat down next to me, taking both of my wrists in his hands. "No," he said again and looked up from my wrists. "Why?"

I looked into his pale grey eyes and saw nothing but sadness. He was seriously sad for me.

"I... I couldn't keep on going..." I breathed, completely overwhelmed by his compassion. No one had ever cared this much about me before.

He said something in what I figured was Polish and brought my wrists to his forehead. He looked back up at me and gave my hands a squeeze. It was the most affection I had ever received that I didn't hate and it was overwhelming. My eyes watered and he let go of my hands, only to circle his arms around me.

"It's okay," he murmured and softly ran his hand over my hair. "You're part of this family now. You won't be alone ever again."

I didn't understand how he knew and in that moment, I didn't even care. I just wanted him to hold me for a little while. The last couple of months had been so exhausting and I had been so lonely.

"Here, drink some tea," he said and handed me my cup. "You'll be alright. You just need time to heal. After my brother and I were drowned, it took me a long time to come to terms with everything, so I totally understand where you're coming from."

I nodded and took a sip, drying my eyes with a napkin Iwo handed me. I noticed the black blood on the napkin but Iwo just put his hand on mine. 

"Don't worry. You'll get used to that too. We no longer produce tears. For some reason." He stroked his thumb over my cheek and smiled. "There. No more tears. Tell me something happy."

His accent made it all the more cute, how he said 'tell me something happy' instead of 'tell me something that makes you happy.'

"I grew up with my mum down south. In Brighton. The palm trees made me ridiculously happy because it made me think, we lived in a tropical paradise. Of course, England is England, so there are no tropical paradises here. We gave those up after the slave trade was over and all that. But every summer I would lie under such trees. I loved it." I sighed deeply and looked back up at Iwo.

He smiled softly at me, urging me to keep going.

"My mum was Haitian. She was so smart. Came over here to study at Cambridge which is where she met my dad. He was never a part of our lives, but my mum still finished uni as a single parent and all alone. My mum was strong." I sighed again. "She'd be so disappointed if she knew I gave up."

"What happened to her?" Kissy asked hesitantly.

"She died some years ago," I replied and shook my head as if shaking my head would clear it. It kind of helped. "Sorry."

"Oh please. This is the most I've heard you say since you got here. And all it took was Iwo's magic tea. I told you, you didn't want to say no to it." She smiled knowingly and took a sip herself.

"Is there something in it?" I asked and took a closer look at the cup.

"No. People just have a tendency to open up to me. I don't know why. Maybe because I'm always here to listen. Or because of my soothing face." He smiled a little awkwardly.

Kissy snorted loudly and I couldn't help but smile too.