"Wake up," Zach whispers in my ear. My eyes open slowly, and I wince. Gosh, will this fucking headache ever go away?

Looking around I see the familiar walls of my bedroom. They're a light tan and only a couple photographs are pinned onto the wall. One of me and Constantine, another of Caesar, Tyson and I at the club, and the last one of me and all the seven deadly sins. The sheer black canopy drapes have been untied and drawn out closing me off from the world. It's almost like I'm in my own little place.

I squirm a bit trying to get comfortable. My brain feels all muddled. Like it's been filled with smoke. I know I don't sleep much but I do know beds are supposed to be a lot softer than this.

"Stop squirming will ya." I look down to see tanned bare skin underneath where my head was. That would explain why my bed isn't soft. I look up and Zach is staring down at me with a small forced smile on his face.

"What happened?" I groan. "Actually, never mind. If I don't know what happened, then you won't know what happened." I know I should move but I don't. I'm surprisingly comfortable. Is this considered cuddling? I've never cuddled with anyone except Constantine and that was only after we fucked because I was too lazy to move off him afterward. "You can help me go to sleep. Another ability from our bond." I state.

"What was trying to break free from behind your wall? You called it the darkness but what is it?"

"I don't know exactly but it's dangerous. That's why it's locked behind my wall. I know that if it gets let out, only destruction will come from it."

"It was attacking you." I look up at him confused. "I was able to join you in your mind. I'm not sure how and I don't know why it was attacking you, but I know it was." This past day has brought up many questions. They just continue to stack up one on top of another. It's never-ending and I'm not sure how I'll ever find the answers.

Caesar barges into the room. Something is wrong with my senses since I didn't hear Caesar's loud ass coming. He strides over to the bed and moves the canopy aside to hand me the phone in his hand.

"Hello."

"Get down here as soon as possible. I have Raiden's recruiter in my office." Tyson tells me.

"Don't start the fun without me," I tell him and hang up. I throw the phone back to Cesar. "Cesar, tell everyone to be ready to go in five." I get out of bed and rummage through my dresser for clothes. In under a minute I've changed into high waisted leggings that have mesh openings on the upper and lower outer thigh, a long sleeve ladder back crop top, and knee-high combat boots. Everything is in black. My favorite color.

"You shouldn't go," Zach says from the bed. He's leaning back on his hands staring at me. I wonder what happened to the gentlemen who looked away when I was naked in front of him. Not that I care. I'm comfortable in my own skin. Anyone can admire but they can't touch without my say so.

"I don't have a choice."

"Yes, you do. Jade, you're sick, you need to stay here and rest." I scoff. Me? Sick? Yeah right. Those two words have never been used in the same sentence. It's not possible. "Do you even realize how long you were out for? Three days drifting in an out of consciousness." I was out for three days? What a waste of time. Sleeping when I should have been working. Who knows what has happened in these last three days.

"You can come or stay. Whether I'm sick or not I'm going." Whatever my body needed to do it did and now it's ready to get back to work. He yanks his shirt off the floor and pulls it on over his toned torso. Zach follows me to the front door without another word. Ash hands me my blades which I strap to my hips and Abby hands me some daggers to tuck into my boot. This time I decide to leave the gun at home. A couple minutes later everyone is at the door ready to go. "We're going for a run. Keep up everyone."

Abby struggles to keep up. Constantine offers to help her and carries her the rest of the way to the club. Running as fast as we can we make it to the club in under ten minutes.

The club is even more packed than it was when we last came. Probably because it's a Sunday instead of a weekday. I take us to the elevator and it takes us to the underground club once I put the correct code in. The doors open revealing a jam-packed room. I shove through the crowd of bodies in a bad mood. This headache is getting worse. The throbbing is spreading from the back of my head to the front. As I've been doing over the last couple days I ignore it and make my way to Ty-Ty's office.

He's standing facing the elevator doors and all I can see of Raiden's recruiter is the back of his head because he's sitting in the chair.

"Did you have to bring all of your friends?" Tyson asks annoyed. He's a very private person. If he doesn't trust you, which is pretty much everyone except his crew and me, then he doesn't like people in his private domain, A.K.A his office. I'm sure the guy lives here.

"Play nice Ty-Ty. They're all here to help." I walk around the desk and stand next to Tyson to get a look at the man. What I see should surprise me, but it doesn't. It makes me laugh causing the others to look at me as if I'm crazy.

"Trust no one. Right, Omari?" He's reclined in the chair as if he doesn't have a care in the world. He should be lucky he's not dead. Tyson let him off with not one but two warnings. Usually, after the first, the guy doesn't have a head anymore. If you break a rule in the club the penalty is death.

"How do you know him, Jade? Who is he?" Ash asks. He's standing in the back of the room with the rest of the team. They've fanned out to block the elevator door and have their hands resting on their weapons.

"This is the man who helped Zach bring me back to the house when I was wounded," I explain.

"How do you know who he is? You were unconscious?" Zach asks confused.

"He's a dream walker and a prophet. Not a very good one if he didn't see this coming." I eye the ring on my finger. I'm not sure why I didn't take it off the night I woke up. It was stupid not to. He could have been tracking me. It's a good thing we are at my house. Anybody who's inside is shielded. As if they've disappeared from the face of the earth.

"I haven't been able to see you for the last three days. The last vision I had with you in it you were here. That's why I came. I thought something happened to you."

"Three days? That can't be a coincidence." Zach says striding over to me. He stands a couple feet away from me to my left. I eye Tysons big comfy chair. If he's not going to sit in it then I will. It's hot as shit in here and it's becoming more difficult to ignore this annoying headache.

"What happened three days ago?" Omari asks. As I take a seat and put my legs up on the desk I answer him.

"That would be none of your concern. I have one question for you and you're going to answer. You can give it to us the easy way or the hard way. Doesn't much matter to me but by sunrise, we'll have what we want. So, tell us. Where is Raiden?" He sits up and then sets his elbows on the table to lean toward me.

"You need to stay out of this Jade. You're getting involved in a game you have no idea how to play. You think you know what's coming, but you have no idea." I glare at him. Does he think I want to be here? Being hunted by who knows how many people and I don't even know why.

"I don't have much of a fucking choice. I didn't ask to be in the middle of this but I am. I didn't start this but I'm damn well going to finish it before your precious Raiden rains down hell on earth." He scoffs at me as if I were a child. I'll let him underestimate me. He thinks he knows me but it's obvious he doesn't have a clue. I remember him saying he saw me in his visions. They must not have shown him much or else he'd know how much I'm capable of knowing.

Out of nowhere, I hear a ringing. What idiot left their cell phone on? I look around, but no one makes a move. I'm about to start bitching someone out but Omari starts talking.

"You always have a choice. You don't know-."

"Who's fucking phone is ringing?" I ask angrily interrupting Omari. Again, no one moves. They just all stare at me. "What?" I snap at all of them. The ringing gets louder and the pounding in my head intensifies. 

"Jade what are you talking about. No one's phone is ringing." Ash tells me and looks at me confused. 

"I told you to stay home. You're sick." Zach says. For some reason, he looks worried.

"I'm not sick. It's just a headache." I growl at him. "Seriously, no one else hears that?" They answer no or nod their heads in disagreement.

"How long?" Omari's asks.

"How long what?" I ask him.

"How long have you had the headache?" I wipe the sweat pooling at my temples. No way am I answering any questions he has. I'm here to ask him for information, not the other way around. He can't be trusted. "Just answer the damn question. I'm trying to help." I sneer at him. Yeah right. I trust him as much as I trust that Dean has slept with under ten women.

"No. I don't trust you." I say through gritted teeth. Zach comes toward me with his hand extended to me. "What are you doing?" I question as he places his hand on my forehead. A soft sizzle fills Tysons office and Zach immediately takes his hand away from my skin. He waves it back and forth trying to cool it down.

"You're burning up."

"We need to get her out of here now," Omari instructs us.

"I'm not going anywhere until I get my answers." I stand up and regret it. The quick movement of standing sends a stabbing pain through the back of my head. I wince and wait for it to pass but it doesn't. The pain increases as does the ringing.

"How long have you had the headaches?" Omari yells at me. He yanks me up off the floor, so we're face to face. When did I fall.

"Almost a week." I cry out. I grip my head in between my hands to make sure it's still in one piece. It feels as if someone is cracking my skull open inch by inch with a pickaxe. My skin feels like it's on fire. I can't breathe.

"When's your birthday?" He asks but I can't concentrate on anything through the ringing. "She's turning eighteen. When? Tell me!"

"We don't know when her official birthday is. We think it's sometime this week, but we don't know what day." Ash explains.

"Shit," Omari mumbles under his breathe. Then the ringing stops, and my headache dies down. I let out a sigh of relief and sag into Omari's arms. "Let me see your eyes." He whispers to me. I tilt my head up and open them slowly. Then I feel something strange happen. My pupils feel like they're expanding to take over the white of my eyes turning them pitch black. From head to toe, my skin feels incredibly itchy. I look down to see intricate black bands and symbols appearing on my skin. They appear on my arms and stomach. I'm sure they're all over my body underneath my clothes.

"Zach, what's happening to me?" I step out of Omari's arms and as far away from everyone as I can. Something's wrong.

"I'm not sure but it's not over." He walks toward me slowly as if not to scare me away but I back away from him. I'm afraid that I'm going to hurt someone.

"How do you know?" Omari asks looking at him confused. Zach ignores him and continues talking to me.

"You need to stay in control Jade. Don't let it control you."

"What are you-?" My question turns into a shriek of pain as my headache comes back full force an image after image flashes through my head. Past, present, future. One after another overlapping each other. I can see the lives of every being on this earth. People I haven't met and will never meet. Those closest to me. It's too much. "Make it stop!" I scream, and I hear glass shattering. I can feel my control slipping. The darkness wanting to take control. Fire wanting to be set free. I need to get out of here. I have to get out. "Take me away! Far away!"

"She's burning up I can't pick her up." Zach panics.

"Out of my way." Omari orders and I feel myself being lifted.

"Go through the portal. It's set to a destination where there is nothing around for miles." Tyson instructs him, and I think I hear a door opening. To make travel easier for him he had a portal put in his office. He is always going to one place or another for a job.

My eyes are open, but I can't see anything except for the images cycling through my head. It's as if I'm watching a movie that never ends. So many possibilities and there's no telling which one will happen until you're in the moment.

I can feel the fire wanting to be free. The darkness wants everything to burn. To live in a world of death and destruction. It's pounding on the wall over and over trying to break free. It wants to take control.

I won't let it.

"Lay her down. Let me talk to her."

"She won't be able to hear you." I can't tell who's talking. My head feels like it's splitting open and my brains being squeezed in a vice. My whole body is screaming in pain from the battle I'm having within.

"You're doing it. You're fighting it off. Just keep fighting." The sound of Zach's gentle voice fills my head.

"Make it stop." I plead. "Please make it stop." I'm not sure if I say this aloud or telepathically. I just want it to go away. I don't want to see these people's lives. Their highs and lows. The mistakes they've made and the punishments they put themselves through. There are some joyous moments but it all ends the same. In death. Everyone dies. Whether it's from disease, natural causes, murder, or hell being raised on earth they all die.

I see Abby's future. She has a beautiful little girl with purple eyes. She is a sorcerous and a protector like Abby.

Ash has found his mate but as the vision continues his pack and others challenge him because of the blood running through his veins. Half Valkyrie, half werewolf. Not a true pureblood. Not a rightful alpha. He sees his mate slaughtered before his eyes.

I see Cyndi but this one is in the past. She's standing over my crib watching over me with something in her hand behind her back.

I see Cesar the night he first changed into a wolf and lost his girlfriend.

One after another never-ending. People I don't recognize but I see every detail of their life flash before my eyes.

Then I see myself. With a little boy with beautiful brown eyes clutching my hand. The other hand lays on my swollen stomach. It's a girl. I know it is. Omari comes rushing toward us with a huge grin on his face and tosses our little boy in the air. He erupts into a fit of giggles. Omari places a tender kiss on my lips and rests his hand on mine.

How is that possible? I ask myself. That's not possible.

"No, it's not. You're meant for the darkness. Your purpose is to destroy and rule this pathetic planet." A dark voice whispers to me. It's the voice I heard the last time I collapsed from my headache. It's the darkness. "Let me show you."

It thrusts me into another possibility of my future. I'm out on a balcony watching the world burn. Demons wreak havoc on the remaining humans and creatures of the night running for their lives.

"It's time." I turn to see Raiden. I follow him into the house, down the stairs, and into a large room void of any furniture. The only thing in there are people shackled to the walls. Not just any people. My parents and my team. They are bloodied and bruised. Their clothes are tattered and dirty but when I look at them I feel nothing. Not love nor hate just a cold indifference as if I have no emotions. "We'll deal with them after."

He opens a door connected to the room and inside is an angel. She's beautiful. The room is dark and small. She sits in the middle of the room trapped by a symbol on the floor surrounding her. Hair the color of spun gold spills from her head going down to almost her knee. When she looks up I see a pair of crystal clear bright blue eyes staring at me. They're the exact same color as mine. This is my mother. 

Raiden hands me a sword. "Finish it." He says coldly. I try stopping myself. Screaming and pounding on the invisible wall it seems I'm trapped behind but I don't fight for long. Without hesitation, she thrusts the sword through her chest. It's a special blade forged in the pits of hell. One of eight capable of killing an angel or demon. It wipes their existence from the face of the earth.

I pull the blade out of my mother's chest and let her body topple to the floor without a care. Raiden's smiles at me and he looks full of pride.

"You've done well, my daughter."

"Don't you see. You are meant for darkness. It runs through your veins. That's why I'm here." The voice tells me happily.

No, no, no, no. I tell myself. I will not give in to you. I will not let you control me. I will fight you with every ounce of strength and breath I have left. I will defeat you. I growl angrily.

The visions dull down as I push for them to stop. My vision returns, and I can see Zach leaning over me. His skin pale and covered with a thin layer of sweat. "Run." I manage to tell him. He shakes his head no furiously. "Run!" I scream because I can feel the darkness fighting back. Pushing just as hard as I am. "All of you run!" I scream as loudly as I can.

My vision is taken away from me again.

Please. I whisper to him telepathically.

"I'll stay with her go!" Omari shouts at Zach. "It's almost over. Push through a little longer. You can do this." He whispers in my ear.

"You can't beat me." The darkness shrieks. "We are one in the same. Without me, you die. We are one. You saw your destiny. You heard what the archdemon told you. You will destroy this world and demon kind will roam free. That is our fate."

"No! I saw other futures. All the possibilities. I will not be a child of darkness. I will fight for this earth and the people on it. No innocent lives will be taken with my swords. We may be one but I'm in charge. I will not kill my mother, I will not kill my friends, and I will not lead this world into darkness. I'm going to save it." I scream back and with all my might vanquish her to the deepest depths of my mind cast behind a wall that's chained up and locked.

"I did it." I pant softly. "I won."    

_______

Author's Notes:

It has been way too long since I've updated this novel and I'm so sorry. For a while, I was very down about this book because I thought it wasn't written well or people just weren't enjoying it so I had a low point I guess but I'm back. I am in the middle of working on another novel so I'm not sure when I'll be updating this novel but I promise I will. Updates might be slow but I will finish this novel because even though people might not like it those of you who do like it deserve the ending plus after thinking about it I remembered I started writing this novel because I thought it would be pretty cool and badass and in my opinion, it is. I've enjoyed writing every single chapter and for those of you who have been reading and voting thank you so much and thank you for sticking around.