We get back to the house a little after dawn. Tyson immediately started sending men out and contacting anyone who he thinks can give us information. He's also on the lookout for the man who visits the club looking for recruits for Raiden. Now all I have to do is wait. I hate waiting. I'm aware that I'm a very impatient person. While I was in Tysons office I also sent a quick message to Cyndi. She knows we're all safe and to send a message to club Sin if she needs to contact us but I suspect I won't receive a message from her anytime soon.

I make my way up to the top floor of the house to the library. Since everyone is sleeping I might as well make use out of this time. This library contains tons of books and scripts. Their's everything from the creation of all creatures to training books. The time I spent at the house when I ran away from school I didn't spend much time in the library unless I needed info on how to kill something. It seems I only come here when I need to learn how to kill. Archdemons are basically the archangels of hell. Each one has their own specialties but they all have in common one thing; they are trained warriors. Over the centuries data has been collected on all the demons we've come across especially those who are incredibly dangerous. I'm hoping that I'll find something on Raiden somewhere in here.

Floor to ceiling shelves line all walls except one where a large fireplace is set up. Ladders are conveniently set up at all three walls filled with books. The cases are built into the wall and are stained a dark brown that matches a pair of sofas and chairs that face the fireplace. Between the fireplace and sitting area is a long but low wooden table.

I make a quick sketch of the man I remember from my visions and set it on the table. Then I scan all the cases for any books that'll be in any way helpful. Once I've collected a large pile I set to work but I don't get far. This headache is driving me nuts. I don't know how Ash or any of the others deal with these things. I wonder if any medication will help relieve me of this annoying pain.

I try my best to ignore it and get back to reading. I've actually compiled a good amount of notes when I hear someone shuffling around downstairs. A door closes softly as if someone doesn't want to be heard. That could be to not wake the others or it could be because someone is sneaking around. They walk quietly and slowly down the hall until they come to a stop. I mark the page of the book I'm reading before I close it. As quickly and quietly as possible I run to where I last heard the person. Within a couple seconds, I'm standing behind the man who's standing in front of my bedroom door. My hair falls softly on my face as it settles from being blown by the wind.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," I tell Zach softly as he raises his hand to knock on my door. "Caesar is sleeping in there and you don't want to wake him up."

"And why is he sleeping in your bedroom?" He turns around to face me and his hair is sleep tousled sticking up in every direction. Some of his curls are smashed against his head and his green eyes look bright and alert.

"We were talking for a bit and I could tell he was getting tired so I said he could sleep there. Did you need something?"

"No, I just couldn't sleep and since you don't sleep I knew you'd be awake." He rubs the back of his neck nervously.

"Why come to me? You don't like me." He opens his mouth to talk but I know what he's going to say and stop him before the words leave his mouth. "Don't lie and say you do. You have good reason to not like me. I'm not fun company and I like it that way."

"Why?"

"It's personal. Since you can't sleep let's go out. You can show me how you can hold your own in a fight." His eyes widen and I know he's surprised I've offered for him to accompany me. "Get ready and meet me at the front door." He nods and dashes to his room. I need to get out of this house. Maybe some fresh air will help me feel better and this will be good training for Zach. I'm still dressed in my clothes from earlier which will do just fine. I don't want to risk going into my room to get new clothes. I wasn't joking about not wanting to wake up Caesar. The man needs his sleep and hates when it's interrupted. Being on his bad side is not something you want to be on.

I grab my long black leather trench coat from the coat closet where I left it years ago and wait by the door. Zach comes bounding down the stairs in an all-black ensemble with his sword belt around his hips. I have my two swords on my belt and a Glock 9mm in my shoulder holster. You never know when a gun will come in handy.

"Are you ready?" I ask with a grin.

"Yes. What's the mission?" He asks seriously.

"I may have overheard Cyndi talking about a pack of rogues who've been running around and leaving dead bodies wherever they go. They've been killing humans to feed but also werewolves, vampires, and several other creatures which I'm guessing is because they didn't join their pack. They believe it is a group of seven to ten newly changed werewolves and vampires who have two human companions helping them. After what I heard from Tyson tonight my guess is they're recruiting for Raiden, the archdemon that's after me. If possible I'd like to keep one alive for questioning even though they most likely know nothing but it is not necessary. If we must, we kill them all. Understood?"

"Yes."

"Are you sure you want to come with me?"

"Of course." He scoffs. "I'm not letting you go out there alone. We shouldn't even go without back up."

"Don't worry this won't be hard. We'll take them out easily." I open the door and darkness meets us.

"It's not supposed to be dark yet. What happened?" The door closes by itself and we head down the cobblestoned streets.

"We aren't in Miami anymore. We're in Italy. The pack was last spotted out here. I have a feeling they haven't left yet."

"How the hell are we in Italy?"

"The house. It takes me where I need to go and supplies me anything I need." Zach turns to look at the house and eyes it suspiciously. It now looks like a small single floor two-bedroom home.

"The house was originally meant to harbor angels but eventually it was forgotten and lost in time. When I ran away it showed itself to me. I have a feeling my guardian angel helped lead me to it. The wood the house was built with was engraved with wards and spells. Some of them I don't even understand. The foundation also has spells and wards. That's what makes the house safe. We have a lot of work to do, follow me." I run down the street toward the last place the pack attacked. Two humans, a couple, were slaughtered in an alley a block away from the bar they were at that night. I hear Zach's footsteps behind me. "This is where the last attack happened," I tell Zach once we make it to the alley. There are still stains of blood on the ground but other than that the place has been mostly cleaned. Scraps of trash flutter around from the breeze.

"When did the attack happen?"

"A couple days before we left. I wasn't able to get much information before I had to make my presence known. I was able to get a glimpse of the pictures they had of the scene before Cyndi covered them up." I head closer to the stained ground and look around for anything that could help. A scent maybe. This nose of mine is a lot stronger than before. I don't know how werewolves deal with this on a regular basis. It's incredibly overwhelming but I guess they have to learn to deal with it.

I sniff around and the stench of decaying flesh hits my nose. Even though I don't want to I sniff out the smell I do until I come across a small pile of discarded wrappers. I kick the pile with my foot and it reveals a scrap of cloth. It must have been ripped from one of the packs clothes when the humans were trying to fight them off. We just got lucky. I pick up the cloth and take a deep breath to get the scent. "Smell this?" He takes a timid sniff and scrunches his nose.

"That smells disgusting. It definitely came off a vampire. One from the pack I presume."

"Very good. You're correct and with this new nose of mine I think I might be able to sniff them out."

"Are you serious? What other things have changed since that spell the dean put on you broke? Being able to track like that is not normal unless you're a wolf."

"I know. So far I'm faster, stronger, can hear, smell, and see better. That's one of the reasons I wanted to go out. I wanted to see what else I can do." I stash the scrap of fabric in the pocket of my coat while Zach continues to stare at me in disbelief like I'm a freak. This is why I don't enjoy the company of people. If they don't fear me they think of me as some abomination. I turn to the closest building and start scaling the wall. Being higher up will give us an advantage if we come across the pack. "Hurry up we don't have all night." I snap.

"Just when I thought you were going to start being nice to me." He mumbles underneath his breath. I wait impatiently for him to join me on the top of the building and once he does I start running and jumping from roof to roof landing lightly on my feet. The smell of the vampire becomes stronger as I lead us in the right direction. I can't believe I'm sniffing out a person right now. I never thought this would happen in my life.

From below us I suddenly hear people running. Too fast to be human which means they must have smelled us and started chasing after us. I slow my pace and gradually come to a stop. Zach follows my lead without question. The few who were following us continue running into a small empty parking lot that's poorly lit and leads into a forested area.

"That's a trap."

"No shit." I agree. The three who were following us wait in the parking lot and begin talking. "There's more of them in the woods. I can spot three but I know there's more of them in there."

"What's the plan? I can tell two of the people in the lot are vampires and the last is human but he seems off."

"You're too far away to smell him but he's been feeding on vampire blood. He's a companion to one or both of them. They give him the blood to make him stronger so don't expect him to fight like a normal human. Get your daggers ready. Aim for the legs to wound them. It'll give us time to get closer to finish them and by that time the wolves and whoever else is in the woods will be on us." He unzips his leather jacket and two rows of throwing daggers line the inside. I grab two from my boots. "Because of my behavior in the past this may come off condescendingly but I'm being sincere. If you can't handle this or you get scared or hurt, you run. You run as fast as you can back to the house and get help. Think about if you're ready and if you're not then it's okay. Your pride won't matter if it kills you in the end." He remains silent then looks at me determined.

"I'm not going anywhere."

"Then follow my lead." I jump off the building to the floor and land as silent as a cat. When I don't hear Zach behind me I look at the roof to see if he got scared and didn't follow me but to my surprise, he's squatting quietly next to me. The guy is good when he's trying. I nod my head to signal its time. As I run I throw a dagger in each leg at the furthest vampire. The sound of two more daggers flying reaches my ears as I reach for my next two. The two vampires have fallen to the ground screaming in pain but they begin pulling out the daggers.

I use one of my daggers to slit the companions throat then jab the other into his heart. If a companion has enough blood in his body he can heal from anything, like a vampire, except silver in the heart.

When I turn around I see Zach removing his sword from one vampire and the other dead from a dagger he must have thrown at his heart. The wolves are only a few feet away from us along with two other vampires. They haven't shifted which means they must have been recently changed. New werewolves can only shift under a full moon until they can control their power and hunger.

I pull out my gun and use half the clip on one wolf and the other half on another one. The last one tackles me to the ground but I kick him off and send him flying almost twenty feet away. I'm way stronger than I thought I was. I take out my swords and decapitate the head of one of the vampires from behind who's distracted by Zach holding him at bay. He takes out the last vampire and now all that's left is the wolf. His extremely angry and trying to change. His eyes are blazing yellow and his upper and lower canines have extended. Instead of the short dirty fingernails, he had before they're long claws perfect for ripping out a victims' throat.

He charges me with his arm raised and ready to swing. I cut his arm off a little above his elbow causing him to let out a sound between a scream and howl. I whirl around and thrust my sword through his heart. "That wasn't so bad," Zach says as he breathes heavily.

"We're missing one. There are supposed to be two companions."

"I don't smell anyone else. He could have run or maybe he got killed sometime between the last kill and now." I eye the woods but don't see anything and he's right theirs no smell.

"You did good Zach."

"Did you just compliment me? Hold on, I need to record that or no one will ever believe me." I laugh at him as he digs around in his pockets for his phone.

"I give compliments when they're earned. Every other time you did a shit job but today you held your own. If you can fight, then what happened to you the other night at Barrons?"

"A mix of nerves and fear." He admits. "Aside from the first mission I went on with the team I was never out in the field so I was nervous because it was only my second battle. The fear was because I've never seen so many demons in my life. I thought we were going to die. You knew how many were coming and you stayed behind. That wasn't smart of you."

"I know but I had a job to do Zach. I needed to make sure that Deyvon and Barron made it to safety and the portal closed before anyone could follow through. If I hadn't fought them off I don't think you guys would have made it. I know you think I'm a heartless bitch but the truth is I care. In fact, I care too much which is part of the reason I act the way I do and with what's coming, I can't afford to show I care. That's how you can get hurt and I'm sick and tired of getting hurt."

"That school really does make you act a different way. Even though you do still act like a bitch occasionally," He says will a smile on his face that brings out a dimple. I never noticed he had dimples, "You've never talked to me this much. Not only have you been a little nicer to me but you've told me things I never thought you would."

"There's more to me than you know."

"I know. Why do you think I stick around and deal with you treating me like a piece of shit?" We laugh and smile at each other. What the hell am I doing? I shouldn't be sharing with him or being nice to him. Who knows if I can even trust the guy.

From the corner of my eye, I see a movement from in the forest. I try to focus my eyes on the area I saw movement but then I hear the familiar sound of an arrow being shot from its bow. Then I see if flying toward the back of Zach's chests. "Zach!" I scream and without thinking I pull him to me and twist our bodies so the arrow hits me first. It lodges in my chest with a thunk and blood spurts out of my mouth covering Zach's face. As my knees buckle he holds me up and clutches me to him.

"Jade!" He screams and his eyes shift from my face to my chest then to the woods. He won't be able to see where it came from if I was barely able to see it. He lowers me gently to the ground but doesn't lay me down completely to avoid pushing the arrow deeper into my chest. "I'm going to get us help. You're going to be fine. Keep your eyes open Jade. Keep them open." He pleads and I try. I really do but they are just so heavy. Only for a couple seconds, I tell myself.

"The girl is dead and you're next." I don't recognize the voice and I can't smell anything except for blood. My blood. Zach run. You need to run. I try to say it but all I end up doing is spraying more blood everywhere.

"Shh, don't talk. All you need to do is keep your eyes open. I'll get you help and you'll be fine." A slight smile tugs at my lips. He's so sweet. I look into his green eyes one last time. They're so beautiful like the color of a grass field as the sun shines down on it. Then I begin to close my eyes. The man says something else but I don't hear him. Then I see it. A bright blue light. That's strange, I thought it was supposed to be white.

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Author's Notes:

Oh no! Poor Jade. Stick around to see what happens next. Please remember to vote, comment, and share. :)