"Layla, stop waving your hand in front of my face." I sigh, setting my cup of coffee down.

She gasps. "You can see!"

I sigh again, rubbing my temples. "No, I can hear you doing it and feel the air. And anyways, only my sight is gone. Not like my... Sight."

If I had to choose between the two, I would choose my Sight every time. Even without being able to see, at least I could still See.

Yeah, it's complicated.

Needless to say, Killian freaked out when he realized I went completely blind. My freak-out was on a much smaller scale, because in hindsight, my vision has been declining for a while now.

It shouldn't surprise me that my Sight would appreciate the irony in taking my literal sight.

At least he believed me when I told him it was just a temporary thing, and even told him that it happens sometimes to make the lie more believable.

The truth is, my sight was never coming back. But it also wasn't really anything to get upset about when I would be dying soon anyways. No need to see as a corpse.

I refill my cup, groaning slightly in annoyance. "Kage, can you stop looking at me like that?"

"Sorry," he mutters. "How... How much can you See with your Gift, even with your actual sight gone?"

I shrug. "I still have my Knowing. It helps a lot. I just can't, y'know..."

"Is nobody else freaked out right now?" Maryn asks. "I mean... Kat just went blind, and we're having breakfast like nothing is wrong!"

"First of all, I'm blind, not deaf, so you don't have to talk about me like I'm not here," I drawl. "Second of all, I'm going to be blind whether we eat breakfast or not, so I'm not sure I understand the correlation."

"It... It is temporary, right?" Knox asks, sounding unsure.

I shrug. "Sure. Few more weeks max."

I almost laugh at that, though it's certainly not funny.

"Is that a guess, or something you've Seen?" Killian asks harshly from beside me. He wouldn't even let me walk down the stairs by myself.

"I've Seen it," I confirm. Technically not a lie, though I guess it doesn't really matter if it was, because all I do is lie to him.

"Fucking hell," Jae swears, dropping her utensils loudly on the table.

I sigh for the millionth time. "Guys, chill out. It'll be fine. I'm still going with you to sweep the territory."

"Absolutely not," Killian snarls.

"Yes, I am," I say stubbornly. "I still have my Sight. I can help."

"No, you're a liability," Killian says angrily. "I can't be constantly worried about making sure you're okay."

"I'm not a liability!" I say, offended. "I can tell you that Jae has two knives sheathed on her hips and another one in her boot, Knox is glaring at Layla for still waving her hand in front of my face, and Gabe is going to try to say something about how studies show that blind people have heightened senses to make up for the lack of vision. How the fuck am I liability?"

"Because you can't See everything that's going on," Killian growls. "It would be incredibly easy for someone to take you."

Don't do something that dangerous again. I can't lose you.

"Fine," I say. "Let's put it to a circulus vote."

"No," Killian says instantly.

"Why? Scared that you're wrong?" I taunt. I know they'll side with me over something this important.

Killian snarls. "Fine."

"I vote no," Knox says immediately. "Not safe. Bad idea."

My mouth drops open. "Knox-"

"Next," Killian says.

"No," Maryn says. "You may have your Sight but you also seem... weak right now. Answer is no. Definitely not."

I can't believe this. "Layla?" I say hopefully.

"Um." I hear Layla squirm in her chair. "Sorry, Kat. It's for your protection."

"Seriously, Layla?" I groan. "Even you?"

"No," Jae says simply. "My vote is no."

"Majority rules," Killian says, and I'm sure he's smirking at his victory.

There's no fucking way that Jae voted no on this. "You mindlinked them and told them to say no," I accuse Killian.

"He didn't," Kage interjects quietly. "We think the risk of losing you is too high. Not worth whatever you may or may not See."

"I can't believe this," I say in shock. Don't they realize that they're missing the most helpful tool they could use to find the wolves?

"We'll bring back anything we find," Maryn says, her tone apologetic. "We won't keep you in the dark-"

Someone kicks her under the table, and she yelps. "Well, that was an unfortunate metaphor," Maryn mutters. "My bad."

Blood drips out of my nose, and I quickly put my hand to it to wipe it before anyone notices, but I hear Killian sigh, and he grabs my wrist, and dabs underneath my nose with a cloth gently.

"And this is why you're not going," He says softly. "You're going back to bed."

Suddenly, I feel myself falling through the in between and I scream.

My feet eventually hit the floor, but I'm hyperventilating.

"Fuck, Katrina," Killian swears, and grabs my face, and I suddenly wished I could see the look on his face.

"Sorry," I say breathlessly. "That just..."

"Surprised you?" he asks quietly. "This is what I mean, Katrina. It's just not safe for you to be on the edge of my territory right now. You know I don't like having to do this."

I can't explain it, but there's something in the territory that I need to find. It'll take us to the missing wolves and vampires, I just know it.

I have to make him let me come.

Arguing clearly isn't working, which only leaves one equal and opposite option left.

I snake my arms around his neck, having to get on my tiptoes to do that. He freezes.

"Katrina..." he warns.

Too late to go back now.

Fuck it.

I kiss his chest softly, and work my way up to his neck. When I kiss the base of his throat, he groans.

"Let me go with you," I whisper, slowly kissing his neck.

I can feel his Adam's apple bob.

"I'll be fine," I murmur, kissing higher on his neck, and I can feel goosebumps rise on his skin.

Suddenly, I'm laying on the bed, with Killian leaning over me, and my heart beats insanely fast.

I gasp in surprise when his lips press to throat, directly on my Claiming spot, and as a reflex, my back arches up pushing my chest against his.

"Katrina," he whispers, his voice ragged, and presses another kiss on my Claiming spot.

"We'll..." Another kiss. I keep my teeth clenched together so I don't make a sound.

"Finish..." His lips press down on the spot again, and my heart beats even faster.

"This..." I feel his canines touching my neck. One small movement, and they'd break skin. A noise of pleasure comes from the back of my throat.

"Later." He finishes, and it takes me a moment to put together the words he was saying while he was kissing me.

And then I feel him disappear.

I gasp for air, grabbing my throat, kicking at the air above me where he used to be.

"Fuck you, Killian!" I yell angrily, even though I know he's long gone. Probably already with the circulus on the edge of the territory.

I wanted to be mad at him for playing me, but the truth is, he was playing my own game, he was just better at it.

I hate him.

I can still feel where his canines rested on my neck.

My blood boils.

My face is warm.

Swearing, I throw open the door, racing out of the Pack House as fast as I can when I'm as weak as I am.

I push thoughts of Killian out of my head, needing to focus on my Sight so I can figure out what object it is that I need to find.

I let my Sight guide me, and I'm sure if anyone saw me, I would look absolutely insane, taking random turns, stepping backwards while I try figuring out where it is.

I know I'm deep in the woods. Possibly not even on Killian's territory anymore.

But the object is close. I can feel it, my Sight drawing me towards it.

Suddenly, a hand is clamped over my mouth, and I'm pulled backwards into someone's arms.

"See how easy it would be to kill you?" he hisses. "I want to."

I struggle, but his arms are tight around me, and I try talking, but his hand muffles the sound.

I feel his canines on my throat once more. "See how easily I could tear out your throat?" he snarls.

After another moment of torturing me just to piss me off, or probably because he's pissed, he removes his hand from my mouth.

"I hate you," I tell Killian.

"I hate you so much more, darling."

"You're such an asshole."

"A shame that you're going back to the house. Perhaps I should take a page out of Cain's handbook and throw you in a prison cell," he says, but I can hear the amusement in his voice.

"It's worth noting that Ares always escapes," I reply, suppressing a smile.

"Katrina, what the hell are you doing out here? You're a mile away from the boundary line," he tells me, and I can hear his anger, feel it in how roughly he's grabbing me.

"Killian, you have to let me find it," I insist. "There's something out here connected to the missing wolves. I Know it'll tell me where they are."

I hear his teeth grind together. "Fine. But you spill a drop of blood and I'm tying you to my bed."

"Kinky," I muse, and he growls in warning.

I continue to stumble around the woods, following my Sight but not seeing anything, and Killian grabs one of my arms roughly, steadying me when I trip.

"There," I breathe, and point at something. "What is that?"

He pauses. "A tree, idiot."

"What's on the tree, moron?" I roll my useless eyes.

He pulls me a little closer to it, and he's quiet for a moment. "Blood," he answers, stunned. "It's human. Probably a hunter."

I touch reach my hand out, touching it, and it almost burns me.

I slip into a vision.

****

"How much time has gone by?" I say as soon as I'm conscious, and Killian exhales in relief.

"A week," he answers quietly.

A week.

Only a few of those left.

"Katrina, I-" Killian starts to say, his voice plagued with worry.

I interrupt him, knowing there's not much time. For the wolves and for me.

"I know where they are."

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