AS SOON AS I OPENED the door to go see Sydney and make sure everything was all right with her, a sharp pain invaded my nose, sending me staggering back into the house with my hands covering my face. I felt liquid on my hands and it did not take a genius to know it was blood...my blood. The sound of footsteps made my heart take a painful leap. I managed to look up at the person who struck me and my eyes widened at the sight.

The corner of his lips twitched upward into a sinister smile and he placed his hands behind his back as he approached me. He looked the same since I had seen him last—he still cut his hair the same way, his facial hair perfectly shaved with no amount of stubble left behind, and his eyes were still the same horrifying shade of blue.

He stepped inside of the house as if he was welcomed and shut the door, locking it in one swift motion. His smile never once left his face as he approached me, his feet covered with black sneakers that were dirtier than ever. My shaky hands left my nose and I looked down at them, seeing the one thing I expected to see—blood.

"I see you've kept yourself well," he said, wiping his bloody knuckles on the shoulder of my shirt. "And I assume Jax is here with you? That is his car out front, is it not?"

My eyes hardened as I looked at him, "What are you doing here?"

His glare darkened as it was covered with the shadows in the room, "Your part of the mission has not been completed, my dear Lucas, and we cannot wait any longer. The girl is still not in our possession and the longer we wait, the better chance she has at figuring out the truth. She betrayed her family and she must be terminated so we can live. How are you able to sleep at night knowing that...that monster is still roaming around?"

"Tyler—"

He was quick to interrupt me, "You agreed to do this, mate." My eyes looked down to the floor and he sighed. "Was it not you who said you would bring Gwen to us the minute you had her in your possession? Cassandra made it very clear you let the girl move in with you. Why did you not contact us when you had her? If I had known poor Cassandra was more cooperative than you, perhaps I would have let her live and killed you off instead."

My eyes immediately shot up to look at him and he widened his smile before winking. As my lips parted, multiple knots formed in my stomach as I tried to process what he just told me. He was the one who killed her? Confusion took over and my mind began to argue with my body.

Stay standing, Lucas. Be strong.

My knees buckled.

Don't let him know how much this is affecting you.

My bottom lip began to quiver.

He's lying to you. He wouldn't betray family and do that. He wouldn't dare.

I fell on the floor and covered my face with my bloody hands.

My body was winning the fight and I was allowing it to do so. How could he do such a thing? Cassandra did nothing wrong. She cooperated and she did everything she was told. Why would Tyler suddenly decide to kill her off? None of this was making any sense and my brain was having major difficulty with the fact that the man before me was Cassandra's killer. It took everything in me not to attack him right now just to get my revenge. He knew how much she meant to me. Was he doing this out of...spite? Hatred?

The sound of footsteps echoed behind me and I looked over my shoulder to see Greysen standing there saucer-eyed. He looked at Tyler before looking at me and then back at Tyler before allowing his jaw to drop somewhere in the middle of the Earth. Like me, he was not expecting to see Tyler here and was currently wondering why he was here. If Greysen found out Tyler was the one who killed Cassandra, he was going to officially snap. Wiping some more of the blood away from my broken nose, I rose to my feet and went to stand beside my friend.

"Jax," Tyler smiled. "It's been a while, has it not?"

"I prefer Greysen," he muttered and took a step forward. "What the hell are you doing here, Tyler? Last I checked, you were only supposed to make an appearance if things went horribly wrong. Nothing has gone wrong so you being here isn't very pleasing. I mean, it's nice to see you and all but whenever you come around, someone gets shot and I don't plan on having a bullet stuck in my—"

"Let's have a seat, shall we?"

Greysen looked at me and raised his eyebrows as Tyler walked passed us to go into the living room. I was hesitant in following him but this was my house, after all, and he had no right to be in it as of right now. He made himself comfortable on the sofa and when he laid his eyes on the television screen, his eyebrows knitted together in confusion.

"What is this?" he asked, looking at the two of us with disgust.

"Oh," Greysen rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "Let me just, uh, turn that off real quick."

He walked toward the coffee table and grabbed the remote, turning the television off and stepping back beside me in less than thirty seconds. Our shoulders bumped slightly and when I looked at him, a trickle of sweat rolled down the side of his head out of possible nervousness and fear. Tyler watched us with curious, sinister eyes and his smile never failed to return.

His hands sat firmly on his lap and I wondered if he ever planned on leaving. He made it very clear why he was here and that was to get rid of Sydney...Gwen. I ran a tired hand down my face and exhaled slowly. Names...names...why did we have to give ourselves false ones when our parents took dedicated time to give us the ones they believed would suit us well? My name was Lucas, not Harry. She was Gwen, not Sydney. Greysen was Jax and Jillian was Cassandra. Giving ourselves false names helped keep us safe but I was tired of it, tired of living the life of a man I was not.

"You still haven't answered my question," Greysen said. "What the hell are you doing here, Tyler? We have everything under—"

"Control?" Tyler rose from the sofa and Greysen took a step back. "Do you honestly think I believe you have everything in order? Gwen is still walking around Seattle and neither one of you have captured her to end this. You," he pointed a firm finger at the two of us, "have failed this mission."

"Actually—" Greysen began.

"I don't have time for excuses!"

Greysen exhaled slowly and murmured, "Man, don't yell at me. I ain't your problem."

Tyler turned his head to look at Greysen and I was ready to slap myself in the face. Muttering something about making himself some coffee and running away to Las Vegas to find himself a new job and a lady, Greysen disappeared from view without much hesitation. Him not knowing Tyler was the one who ended Jillian's life bothered me and every part of my skin wanted to shrivel up. I wanted nothing more than to tell him so we could get rid of Tyler ourselves. Instead, I kept it civil and mannerly.

"If you're here to finish what you think I couldn't, why haven't you gone over to where Gwen is staying to pick her up?" I suddenly asked, growing more and more agitated by each passing second.

He moved a strand of his hair away from his eyes and leaned forward a bit, "Oh, I'm not going anywhere near her until the time is right. I am only here to set you back on the right track, Lucas. You're procrastinating your part of the plan and we can no longer wait. Gwen betrayed us, Lucas, and it's time for her to pay the consequences. Elijah already paid his. It's only fair that she gets it, too."

"You betrayed us by killing Cassandra," I wanted to say but instead, "When's my deadline, brother?"

We were not brothers by blood, but by our past. With everything we had been through together, I once considered him to be the brother I never had.

But now?

I wanted him dead.

"I'm giving you seventy-two hours to bring her in, Lucas, before we terminate you both. I don't think you want to die because of a traitor, would you, my dear friend?"

Friend.

I was no such thing.

If anything, I was like Gwen.

A traitor, soon to be wanted for death.

"No," I muttered.

"I must speak with Jax," he said, rising to his feet. "He needs to know what I just told you."

Rather than arguing and possibly getting shot in the head, I led Tyler into the kitchen where Greysen was sipping on his coffee and holding a slightly overcooked waffle in his other hand. His eyes widened when he saw us and he cleared his throat before putting the waffle on his plate and tightening his grip around the coffee mug. Tyler leaned against the refrigerator and placed his hands behind his back. A lump formed in my throat and I stared down at my feet. What was Tyler about to tell him? I crossed my fingers, hoping, praying that he was not about to tell Greysen who actually killed Jillian.

"Jax."

"That's my name."

"Lucas and I discussed moving the plan along much faster than the two of you intended. You see, we need Gwen gone and we can't finish her off unless you bring her in. She trusts the two of you and she won't have the slightest clue as to what we have planned. In seventy-two hours, I want the girl brought in or else we're hunting all three of you down and killing you ourselves."

Greysen raised his eyebrows, "So, like, did you just threaten me or—"

"Get the job done." Tyler snarled and quickly recovered with a smile. "I have to get going now. They're expecting me to return in one piece—"

"I'm sure they wouldn't mind if you lost a finger or two," I murmured under my breath.

"—and we have other people on our list. Gwen isn't the only threat to us, my brothers. Once we get rid of them all, we'll be unstoppable."

"Uh uh," Greysen shook his head. "That sounds like some Satanic type shit. I'm not with it." I threw him a look and he only shrugged his shoulders in response. "I mean, wow, I really went all out with this coffee. Any of you want some?"

Tyler looked Greysen up and down before shaking his head, saying, "I should really get going. It was nice seeing the two of you. Remember what I said. In seventy-two hours, we expect to have Gwen in our possession. I'm assuming you know what will happen if we do not have the girl."

Greysen rolled his eyes, "We'll get her and call you once we have her. All right?"

"All right," Tyler got off the refrigerator and smiled at us both. "I will see you soon. Do not disappoint your family. We are all you have. Without us, you'll have and be absolutely nothing." He slowly turned his head to look at me. "You wouldn't want Clare to wind up...dead because of your choices, would you?"

My hands balled up into fists, "Don't bring her into this."

"Why?" Tyler laughed and examined his fingernails. "She's more involved in this than either one of you. If you don't bring Gwen in, we know she will." My eyes hardened which only made him laugh even more. "I still don't understand why you care for this elderly woman. She didn't raise you and you only know her because she's helping us get Gwen back." He took a step forward and lowered his tone. "Your parents won't be very pleased when they find out you've been dragging out your part of the plan."

"I hate old people," Greysen rolled his eyes. "They're unpredictable, sneaky, and they smell like absolute death. This is why my parents are locked away, never to see the brink of sunlight ever again."

Both Tyler and I paused to look at him and he simply shrugged his shoulders as if he was proud of what he just said. My hands were still balled up into fists and I was still ready to swing. I was not going to let him leave without giving him a piece of my mind. I never liked Tyler and that was never going to change...especially not now. A part of him knew I was trying to keep Sydney safe and he was threatening me to get things moving.

I hated to disappoint him but I was not handing her over.

"Well," he wiped his hands on his pants as if they were covered with something. "I must be going now. It was nice seeing the two of—"

"You're not going anywhere." I blurted.

Tyler slowly turned his head to meet my gaze, "What was that?"

A lump formed in my throat but I swallowed hard to get rid of it. I was not afraid of this man, but of his actions. He was much faster than I was because he had been doing this for a much longer time. Of course, he was stronger than I was. If Greysen helped me, we could take him down easily and be done with it.

"I said," I paused and looked at Greysen, "you're not going anywhere."

Greysen made a noise that sounded like, "Oop."

"And who's going to stop me?"

"We are," I replied, exchanging looks with Greysen. He looked utterly confused and a new lump formed in my throat as I prepared myself to say what I needed to. "Greysen, he's the one who killed Jillian. We can't just let him walk out of here. He slit her throat and left her to bleed out in her room. She suffered, Greysen. Forget what he said about family because he killed one of his own. We can't let him get away with this."

Slowly, he looked at Tyler with an expression of both disbelief and distrust. His hands were shaking and I knew it was hurting him to process what he just heard. Tyler sighed and before I even had the chance to think, he lunged forward, grabbing me by the neck and tackling me to the floor. The back of my head smacked against the tiled floor and my mouth opened to react by letting out a cry of agony.

Greysen stayed where he was but his eyes were wide. Tyler's hands tightened around my neck and I stared into his eyes. I had to admit, he had confidence and he actually believed choking me was going to do some good. As my airway began to close, I forced my legs upward, catching him off guard and kicking him to the side. His hands removed themselves from my neck and I nearly choked as I tried to breathe in some oxygen.

Tyler was on his feet again and he was making his way to the front door. I forced myself up into standing position and raced after him, kicking him from behind to knock him back on the floor. I turned my head back toward the kitchen, "Greysen, help me!"

"Do not be a fool and listen to him!" Tyler yelled back, throwing a punch in the direction of my face. I dodged to the side and he groaned. "He is only digging his own grave. Don't let him drag you down with him, Jax!"

"Oh, shut up!" I hollered, jabbing him right in the throat to make him choke.

His eyes squeezed shut and he pushed me off him before swinging his leg around, kicking me in the side of my head. The impact was excruciating and I wanted nothing more than to kill this man right now. My left ear began to ring and it was getting a little difficult to hear. I looked over my shoulder but Greysen was nowhere in sight. He had completely vanished from the kitchen. I opened my mouth to call out his name when a sharp pain invaded my side. Not a single sound escaped me as I collapsed on my back.

"Did you honestly believe you were capable of taking me down?"

A shaky hand stroked my side as I tried to figure out what was causing me so much pain. I immediately felt the handle of a knife and groaned. Tyler tilted his head to the side and I did not have much time to react before he yanked the knife out of my side. My head was thrown back as I released a horrifying scream and I wanted nothing more than for this to end.

"I always knew you were a weakling," he sneered, pressing the knife against my throat. "From the moment I first laid eyes on you, I knew you weren't made to be an assassin. If your parents weren't so highly favored, I would have killed you a long time ago. You catch feelings too easily and you let them control you. When the girl is back with us, I'll be sure to decapitate her myself." The smile on his face was taunting and if I was not in so much pain, I would have fought back. "But do not worry. She'll join you soon enough."

He held the knife high above his head before collapsing onto the floor beside me.

Greysen stood there with a frying pan and his chest rose and fell at a fast pace. His eyes were wide and his hair was absolutely wild. I watched as he glared at Tyler's body with so much hatred and despair. He kicked Tyler's foot to make sure he was out cold before turning his attention to me.

"You've been stabbed."

"No shit," I groaned, trying my best to sit up.

"We need to get you to a hospital."

I shook my head, "We need to get to Sydney."

"She can't see you like this," he argued. "How are you going to explain yourself when she asks what the hell happened? If she finds out you're a part of something much bigger than the herb shop—"

"Fine, fine," I waved him off. "I have a kit upstairs in my bathroom. Second drawer to the left. Hurry up and come stitch me up."

"You want me to stitch you up? Dude, I don't have the steadiest hands. And what about your broken nose? Your ear is bleeding and I don't think that's good—"

"We're running out of time. Go!"

He left me behind with Tyler to get the first-aid kit and I found myself laying back down on the floor. My body ached all over but all I could think about was her. Tyler was not going to return to the others and they were going to start questioning what was taking him so long. If I did not hurry, others would come to Seattle looking for her and I was not going to let that happen.

I needed to get Sydney the hell away from here.

And fast.