After his ordeal with Emerie, Aidan found that he still wasn't let off the hook. He had just finished showering and was towel drying his hair when another series of knocks alerted him to someone at the door. This time, it was Alfie who came looking for him to let him know that a welcome dinner was being held in the dining hall for the witch's delegation and that all were welcome to attend, provided they dressed formally.

When Aidan sheepishly replied that he didn't own any proper attire, the werewolf gave him a cheeky grin. "I'll lend you something," he said while leading Aidan to his room one floor up. Half an hour later, Alfie was finally done dressing him up in a crisp white Oxford shirt tucked into navy blue trousers and topped with a matching suit jacket. He had also forced Aidan to wear a rather pricey-looking watch, its watch face a unique rose gold shade with complimenting black leather straps that looked like it was at least a year's worth of Aidan's doctorate researcher wages.

"How do you afford these things," Aidan couldn't help muttering out loud.

Alfie flashed a smile before saying offhand, "You could say there are perks with being born a supernatural. Most of us have time on our side to grow our fortunes. My family owns a multinational chain of coffeehouses worldwide. I'm dripping in coffee money. See what I did there? Dripping, coffee, heh heh."

Aidan's eyes widened while he almost instinctively began salivating at the word coffee.

Alfie looked him up and down before giving him the thumbs-up sign, "Who knew you'd clean up this nicely! Very presentable and an added boost to match that handsome face of yours. You'll have admirers fawning over you in seconds."

Aidan winced. He wasn't much of a people person, and the only conversation he wanted was with Emilia, and even then, only because he needed to know if she was the one Lannetta told him to find. He groaned inwardly. Why was he even doing what Lannetta asked of him?

"Aren't you gonna get ready?" Aidan frowned at the jeans and T-shirt-clad wolf.

"Sorry mate, I'm not going, and neither are Anita and Gavin." Aidan looked at the other man, dumbfounded, and received a smirk in return. Aidan gasped and then yelled in exasperation, "Why didn't you say so before?! I don't want to go!"

The werewolf explained, "We've all been rostered for security duty this evening. Gavin wasn't supposed to be on duty, but I think Emerie didn't want to let him off the hook for revealing werewolf secrets to humans without authorisation. As punishment, he'll probably be on night duty for the next few months."

Alfie chuckled darkly before adding, "I'd say he's gotten a pretty lenient punishment. If it were Tyler, well..." Alfie didn't bother finishing his sentence. "I was gutted when I'd gotten my roster earlier in the week, but someone's gotta do the job, and of course, with my shite luck, it had to be me. But don't you worry, Anita is helping your friend Hailey get dressed, so you won't be alone."

Aidan wasn't any happier. "I still don't wanna."

"Don't be an arse. You abso-bloody-lootely have to go." Alfie didn't give him a chance to back down, physically shoving him out of the room and dragging him to the castle keep before handing Aidan over to the care of some of his werewolf friends with a parting "take care of him" request.

His new acquaintances warmly chatted with him while leading the way to the dining area. Upon entering, Aidan was awed by how different the place looked. Gone was the dining set in the middle of the hall, replaced instead with smaller round tables. Most of the guests were still mingling, enjoying the rare opportunity to meet people from other parts of the world.

Aidan looked around for Hailey but couldn't find her in the crowd. Instead, his roaming eyes found Emilia in the furthest corner of the hall from him. Without thinking, he made a beeline her way but abruptly stopped. Wouldn't it seem weird if he were to walk through the crowd directly to her, if not downright suspicious? He needed to be discreet. Inhaling deeply, he knew the only way was to dawdle amongst the guests and to move as naturally as possible towards the witch.

As he looked around, he noticed the appreciative looks he was getting from quite a few of the nearby guests, which made him both flattered and self-conscious. 'Alfie, you're a genius,' he inwardly thanked the man for all his effort. Just then, a couple of wolves from a clan in Latvia began a conversation with him, and Aidan decided to go along with his spontaneous plan.

After carefully selecting his way through the crowd, mingling with random persons in such a way that he was often moving towards his target, Aidan finally found himself standing alone next to Emilia. Dressed in a stunning forest green evening dress embellished with sequins, the colour complementing her tanned skin and long golden blond waves which tumbled over her shoulders perfectly, she was an ethereal sight to behold. Regrettably, Emilia also wore her trademark indifferent expression, which dampened the overall look quicker than a bucket of ice water thrown over one's head.

Aidan checked his watch. It had taken him a good half hour of mindless small talk but finally, success! Now all he had to do was greet her, introduce himself, and steer the conversation in the right direction. Hopefully. As discreetly as possible, he glanced at his target. To Aidan's discomposure, she seemed uninterested in mingling with the crowd, preferring to stand aloof on her own, surveying the crowded space.

Standing this close, Aidan felt the mildest tug in his chest, as if a thin thread had attached itself and was now pulling gently toward Emilia. It lasted for the barest of seconds and then dissipated just as suddenly as it had come, leaving him feeling numb.

He was surprised once more by the odd reaction, but he had a mission to accomplish, leaving him without time for contemplation. Brushing aside the feeling and picking up the last of his courage, he took a deep breath, turned to face her and ventured a charming smile. At least, he hoped it came off as charming and not creepy.

"Hi, there! We meet again."

Emilia turned to look at him, her countenance so frosty he imagined himself being turned into an icicle with that gaze. With a barely perceptible nod, she acknowledged him with a haughty and downright supercilious-laden "Human," then proceeded to look away and ignore him completely.

Aidan gaped, open-mouthed at the woman before twirling around to face his back to her. This was not even close to what he thought would happen. Embarrassment and humiliation combined to guide a rush of blood to Aidan's face. Although he couldn't see it, the heat from his cheeks told him exactly how flushed he must look.

'Soggy salads! Flying fishcakes! Stinky macaroni! Freaking hell!' Aidan was beyond mortified. What should he do now? How was he supposed to know if she was Emi or not if she thought it too beneath her to talk to him? A twinge of hurt ran through his heart, but he quickly brushed it off. After all, what had he expected of a centuries-old supernatural of immense power? To them, humans were probably no better than the ants beneath their feet, except they lived a tad longer and were a little harder to squish. Or not.

For a brief moment, he was brought back to the Unified Research Centre, to Robert's look of disgust as his words rang out clearly, "They made us their slaves." Imprisoning supernatural beings was wrong, but could he blame people like Robert for their hatred if supernaturals kept treating humans like dirt?

He ran a hand through honey-blond hair, undoing the time and effort spent combing the messy strands into submission. His hand stilled midway through. 'Wait just a minute'. Didn't Lannetta say that Emi would be able to recognise his soul? Emilia showed absolutely no recognition of him whatsoever. No question, this ice-cold woman was not Emi, he realised with relief. Seeing no point in hanging around the witch, Aidan blended back into the crowd as subtly as he could, unaware that the woman's greyish-blue eyes had returned to watching him until he was hidden from view.

Luckily for Aidan, he bumped into a stunningly dressed Hailey shortly after his disastrous attempt at conversation with Emilia. Aidan went slack-faced at the first glimpse of his friend, who was dressed in an off-shoulder long black gown that fitted her athletic silhouette perfectly. It was a stark contrast to her usual getup of jeans or tracksuits and baggy tops. And even when she did bother to dress up at work, her efforts were mostly camouflaged by her oversized lab coat, which defeated the purpose of dressing up in the first place. The dinner was her chance to shine, Aidan thought.

Impressed by her makeover, Aidan couldn't wait to praise Anita for working her magic. But, when Hailey caught sight of Aidan, she shot him a murderous glare fierce enough to have him raise his hands defensively before stomping over to his side.

"If you even think of saying something funny about how I look, I will end you," she warned, dark eyes narrowed in comical fierceness, looking like an angry kitten trying to play the role of a tiger. It took Aidan all of his willpower not to burst out laughing and instead said with a straight face, "I had no intentions whatsoever of teasing you. I think you look beautiful." Unfortunately, all he got for his honest and courteous compliment was an exaggerated eye roll.

The dinner carried on smoothly, and to his surprise, Aidan found that he was enjoying himself, seated at a table with Hailey and a few other werewolves who were pleasant company. At a little after ten in the evening, the gathering came to a close, and the crowds began dispersing either back to their rooms or to the surrounding areas for a stroll in the cool night air. Aidan caught sight of a few werewolves in the distance. They were shifting into their other forms and shaking their bodies from side to side to free their lustrous fur, reminding Aidan of models tossing their hair about in all those shampoo commercials. Once done transforming, they went lopping off for a run.

Aidan opted to head back to his room for another shower, carefully placing Alfie's clothes beside the dresser for dry cleaning. By the time he was finally tucked in bed, it was close to eleven, and it didn't take long for him to fall into a rare, dreamless sleep.

The peace did not last.

He jolted awake to the shattering sounds of breaking glass. For a moment, he remained upright in bed, disoriented by the unfamiliar room, thinking he was back in his bedroom in the Unified Research Centre. It took him a good five seconds to remember where he was before the sounds of gunshots outside his window had him rolling off the bed and onto the floor in shock, cocooned tightly in his comforter.

Barely a second later, an earth-shaking blast rattled the entire building, blowing out the glass off all its windows and sending shards flying, each a small dagger with the power to shred flesh. Several large shards ripped into the comforter but were brought to a halt before reaching Aidan's skin, the tip of one peeking out through the cotton fibres, barely a centimetre from his right eye. He gulped loudly before carefully crawling out of the bedding and making his way to the door, pulling on his sneakers before hesitantly opening the door and poking his head out.

'Whopping cheeseburgers, now what?! Do I head out? Or do I stay here? What should I do?', Aidan stood at the doorway, failing spectacularly at making up his indecisive mind. Down the hallway, a room door abruptly opened before a frantic Hailey rushed down the hallway, her long dark hair trailing behind her wildly. Spotting a shadowy head peeking out through an ajar door, she nearly screamed her lungs out before realising who it was.

"Freaking hell, Aidan, are you trying to scare the soul out of my body?"

"Sorry!" He gazed at her with wide eyes. "Any idea who's attacking?"

"No. I woke up when I heard gunshots and rushed out straight away. We need to get to safety."

Aidan didn't think such a place existed in the vicinity at the moment, "And where would that be?" He tilted his head as he looked at Hailey, "We can't head down because the fight seems fiercest there. The rooms probably aren't a good idea either, since we don't know if the building is breached."

Hailey blinked at him before pointing her index finger at the ceiling, "If we can't head down, then we'll go up." She turned and began trotting towards the stairs, "There should be a service ladder to the rooftop. Nobody will look for us there!"

Her words made sense, and Aidan obediently followed after her, "I guess we don't have any other choice."

They headed to the topmost floor, where, sure enough, a service ladder was placed on a wall within the emergency stairs. At the top of it was a square hatch that Aidan assumed would open up to the rooftop. He gazed at the metal rungs inbuilt into the wall with trepidation. The climb was a good twenty feet, and one small slip was all it would take to end up with broken bones and internal bleeding, or worse. Being an avid climber, Hailey was unperturbed, confidently taking the lead and climbing the metal rungs with a sure-footed fluidity that rivalled a possum. Gritting his teeth, Aidan forced himself up the ladder at a much slower pace than Hailey, clutching each rung with a death grip.

The sounds of the attack, screaming and growls intermingled with gunfire and the occasional blast of explosives, carried up to the roof in surround sound, in stark contrast to the quiet, uneventful silence that shrouded the hillside for years before tonight. The two humans crouched, huddled close together by the low wall of the rooftop, watching the battle below.

Squinting hard in the darkness, Aidan could make out the silhouettes of werewolves running in groups of three or more, chasing after fast-moving shadows across the castle driveway. 'Vampires', Aidan realised in cold fear. From his huddled position, he could make out the entrance to the keep, where a group of people stood guard. One of them threw a ball of fire at an approaching vampire. "The witches are guarding the keep," he pointed out to Hailey.

When a mob of vampires approached the entrance, several things happened in parallel. One of the vampires was thrown at least a hundred metres in the air before tumbling down, limbs frantically flapping about fruitlessly against the inevitable crash back to earth. Another vampire was bombarded with fireballs, while the remaining vampires found themselves stuck in the ground beneath their feet which had turned into quicksand. Aidan and Hailey watched in awe as the witches showcased their extraordinary and deadly Talents.

Not far from the witches stood a tall, lone figure. Aidan recognised Gavin even in the dark, still in human form and covered in streaks of dark liquid, surrounded by a pile of corpses. At the sight, Aidan felt his breath catch in his throat. Gavin, his gentle, carefree brother, had been reduced to this, a killer of unmatched strength, forced to do what was necessary to survive the brutality that represented supernatural society.

As if sensing his brother's gaze, Gavin raised his head to stare directly at him before quickly looking away, but his action had already caught the attention of one of the flitting shadows. The vampire turned and glanced up at the rooftop before abruptly changing trajectory, making a beeline for the building.

With incredible grace, the vampire began scaling the wall, swinging about like a parkour pro. Aidan watched in fascinated horror as the vampire leveraged itself along window sills, steadily approaching their exposed hiding spot.

Hailey gasped, "So much for nobody looking for us here!"

The humans turned tail and ran back to the hatch. "Maybe you jinxed it by saying so," Aidan huffed behind her.

Climbing up the service ladder was far easier than getting down it. Hailey scrambled down first, struggling to pick up speed on the narrow rungs of the ladder. But before Aidan could lower himself onto the first rung, he was dragged backwards by the scruff of his T-shirt and thrown, uttering a yelp before rolling to a stop beside the wall he had been huddled against just seconds before.

"Got you now, you unworthy piece of trash," the vampire sneered, the whites of her elongated fangs distinguishable even in the darkness of the night. She loomed above Aidan's prone figure and raised her gun to shoot while Aidan instinctively raised his arms over his head with a whimper, knowing his last breath was mere moments away.

Barely in time, someone flew over Aidan and unto the unsuspecting vampire, whose scream of surprise was cut off midway when her head and body fell to the ground in different directions.

"Aidan! Are you okay?" Gavin leaned over to pull Aidan to a stand, fresh vampire blood coating his muscular arms.

"Gavin," he softly called, swaying on his feet and barely having the energy to reply after his near-death experience. Just then, another vampire pulled himself up and over the edge of the wall. He ran towards them with such speed that Aidan couldn't even think to react, but Gavin was ready, punching the creature in the face so hard that the vampire was comically sent flying over the edge of the building once more. That wasn't the end of it, though. Three more vampires made their way to the top, one after another, and were meted out the same punishment by Gavin.

"Why the hell do they keep coming up here?" Gavin growled in exasperation after dispelling the fifth vampire over the side of the building.

Aidan was as equally confused as his brother. There was nothing here but...himself. Aidan shivered, but not from the cold. He quickly pushed any and all thoughts of vampire motives out of his mind. Later. He would think about it later. If he survived the night.

He hesitantly shuffled over to the edge to see how the others were faring and suddenly realised that he could see the castle's grounds before him quite clearly. He raised bewildered blue eyes skywards, only now noticing the change from ink black at the beginning of the turmoil to its current multitudes of purple.

Dawn was fast approaching, which meant the vampires would need to flee or be burnt to a crisp. But to the astonishment of Aidan as well as the wolves and witches, the approaching sun seemed to send the vampires into a violent and unexpected killing frenzy, spurring them to fight ever more ferociously instead of fleeing.

On the wall face below, three more vampires were climbing towards him. One of the vampires had a bejewelled dagger in his mouth, snarls emitting between clenched teeth. Aidan astutely ran to stand behind Gavin once more.

This time around, the fight was more challenging, considering it was three against one. Gavin dodged and swiped, punching and kicking with ferocity and precision, but the vampires were fast, twisting and turning their bodies gracefully like ninja ballerinas. If it were not a life-or-death situation, Aidan would have admired the beauty within their movements. While two of the vampires prioritised distracting Gavin, the one with the dagger rushed at Aidan, leaping in the air with the weapon raised high.

Unfortunately for the leaping figure, that elegant flight was ended when Gavin reached out and yanked the vampire out of the air by a booted heel, swinging the creature like a golf club against the other two vampires. They crashed to the ground in a heap of legs and arms, shrieking in a mixture of anger and humiliation. In a frenzy, they stood up again, but time wasn't on the side of the intruders.

The sun spread its morning rays to the welcoming earth, warming the cold ground and setting all remaining vampires on fire. Aidan choked in shock as he watched the orange flames rise at least a foot from exposed, burning flesh, alighting hair and clothing along with it. Although they were the enemy, Aidan could not bear to watch as the three vampires faded to ash, squeezing his eyes shut until the last of their screams were carried away by a gust of wind.

The morning breeze lifted the smell of blood and death, diluting the odours surrounding the castle yet incapable of fully purging it. The brothers shared a look that needed no words, mutually grateful to be alive and glad that the other was uninjured. Then, with a tired groan, Gavin finally sank to the ground. Resting both elbows on his knees and with his head on his arms, he sat there, drained.

Aidan also groaned, wanting to imitate Gavin when something shiny caught his eye. Lying a few feet away was the bejewelled dagger belonging to the vampire. The morning light reflected on the tiny circular jewels inlaid within the cross-guard between the blade and the hilt. Curious, Aidan bent to pick it up. He didn't have a clue about blacksmithing or daggers, but even to the untrained eye, it looked to be well-constructed and rather valuable. As he turned the weapon around in his hands, Aidan noticed an insignia on one side of the dagger's handle; weirdly enough, it seemed oddly familiar.

It was in the shape of a shield, with a two-headed bird somewhat resembling a long-necked eagle positioned in the middle. While staring at the dagger handle, without warning, a terrible wave of pain shot through his temples, making him squeeze his eyes closed tightly. A handful of images of the same insignia entered his mind, playing like an old film reel: on a banner flying high against a cloudy sky, etched on a broken shield lying half-buried in trampled earth, even as a drawing in a leatherbound book.

Some of the images passed through his mind so quickly that Aidan didn't have the chance to figure out what it was he saw before they were gone. When it ended, Aidan was left gasping in pain as he opened his watery eyes, unable to understand what had just happened.