Aza was right. Dinner that night did not go well, but that's an understatement.

The girls entered the dining room to find that their new guest was already seated. He sat straight back against the chair, napkin folded neatly over his lap. Elatus's beach water eyes swiveled over to them and that vacant smile reattached itself. He lifted his napkin as he rose to his feet. "My ladies." He gave a slight bow.

The girls gave an awkward little nod in return as they went to their seats. Evabelle shivered a bit as she noticed the elf's eyes stray a little longer on her.

Everyone else began to file in. Faux and Del entered, Aza glaring at the dark Anahalian all the way, and Evabelle noted the smirk on his face. The two gave little reaction to their tall new visitor. Del was a little too busy enjoying Aza's anger to really care. Faux arched his eyebrow, but Elatus did not give any more introduction other than a small nod. Faux returned it and slid in next to Aza.

Next came little Gem, carrying her ever faithful cat, Jewels. Kai was close behind her. Now Evabelle really watched Elatus. The elf had watched the blind child enter with a pleasant expression, but the moment that Kai entered, his eyes narrowed and his mouth twitched. Kai was not oblivious to their guest either, once their eyes met for just a moment before Kai quickly glanced away. He instantly went stiff, and Evabelle saw him rubbing his fingers, agitatedly. Doing his best to hide his discomfort, Kai went over to his sister and eased the nearly strangled cat from his sister's grip and whispered to her, "You know how Calandra and Velrose don't like the cat in the dining room." Gem pouted but did concede to her brother, and took Jewels out.

Lucis came next. He was wet, his hair still damp from his evident shower. Evabelle was surprised. He must have been outside for a long time. The Anahalian's t-shirt stuck a bit from the condensed water around his neck down to his collarbone, accenting his wide chest and shoulders. A bit of water dripped down the side of his face. He reached up with one his large arms to wipe it away, allowing the shirt to slide up a bit, and Evabelle saw the very defined lower abs.

A soft poke in her side wrenched Evabelle's eyes from the strong Anahalian. Evabelle looked down at Aza, who was grinning. "Don't be too obvious now Missy."

Evabelle's cheeks flared. "What?" She instantly went defensive.

Aza shook her head, suppressing a giggle.

Velrose entered and had just taken his place at the head of the table, when his daughter pushed through the kitchen doors with the hovering trays of alfredo pasta, warmed french bread, and steamed vegetables. It smelled marvelous as always.

The food was lowered onto the table, a bowl and plate with the perfect amount of the undoubtedly delectable food, landed in front of each of them. Once Calandra herself had taken her seat, Velrose rose again. "As you all have noticed we have a new guest. This is Elatus Gonzor, a herald of the second Isle. He will be just staying tonight." Velrose stretched out a hand. "If you have anything else to add, Elatus,"

The elf cleared his throat and stood. "Yes, I will say that it is a pleasure to stay in such a fine establishment. The fact that all the guests are able to eat at one table feels very cozy and has a home like quality. Granted the guests here are not very inviting which is probably the reason for the lack of company."

Evabelle glanced at Velrose and Calandra. Elatus had a way with speech, but she thought it was a rather obvious criticism. Velrose's expression was blank and unreadable. Calandra was spinning her goblet between her fingers, her black eyes were slightly narrowed as she peered over the crystal glass at the elf, her agitation only slightly more noticeable.

Elatus continued. "As Master Ensign has mentioned I am a court herald of the second Isle, but after this mission I shall most undoubtedly be moved up and placed on the first Isle in the palace of the high King himself." Elatus's grin, if possible, grew wider as he boasted them all with his soon to be promotion.

Velrose cleared his throat.

Elatus got the memo. "I have just come from delivering a message from King Lir, himself, to the fairy queen, so as you can see, he will most undoubtedly be moving me up. The message for her majesty, I thought, might be of some interest to you." His eyes traveled over Del and Lucis.

Del let out a disbelieving sniff. He crossed his arms across his chest and leaned back in his chair. Lucis was just as impassive as Velrose.

Elatus sat. "I will tell you all as is the deal for me to stay here, but perhaps we could start eating first."

Velrose was silent for a moment, watching the elf with his dark, unrelenting stare. "Yes, everyone may begin." He grunted without his gaze moving from Elatus.

Everyone hesitated before finally beginning to eat. Evabelle slowly spun the noodles onto her fork, watching the elf from the corner of her eye. He was enjoying this, withholding the information he had just dangled before them. Evabelle wanted to talk to Aza, but she was well aware of elves and their super hearing. She did finally glance at her friend, but Aza was not staring down Elatus. The blonde girl was watching Kai.

Evabelle glanced over at him now. He never ate the food, since his body had no desire for it. He did have a goblet filled with deep purple grape juice, that suddenly made Evabelle think ironically of blood. She shook herself and focused back on the vampire. Kai was not looking at anyone, nor talking to any of them. Little Gem, who always sat beside him, was obviously uneasy, just playing with her food, rather than eating it.

There was now some quiet chatter around the table, but those two remained silent and withdrawn.

Aza leaned over to Evabelle. "So what's the difference between the first Isle and the second?" She whispered.

Evabelle opened her mouth to say what little she knew about the elven culture, when Elatus spoke to them. He had been waiting for them to bring something like this up. "The Elven Isles are a group of islands, as you may have guessed. There are twelve of them to be exact. They are all formulated in a spiral. Often that is what the place is referred as. Each island works with different forms of life to help nurture and protect. The first island, primarily works with humans and angel children. As a member of the second Isle, I mostly work with higher mammals just below that. We all work together to preserve all life, but each island does have a more prime focus. Each island has a ruler, but King Lir is the high king over all elves. To be in his presence is a true honor and to work with him is beyond us all." Elatus's eyes lit up as he spoke. "After this I am sure to one of his majesty's right hand messengers." His smile showed way too many teeth for Evabelle's taste.

Aza nodded. "Oh," was all she gave him.

"So you haven't met the king?" Del suddenly cut into the conversation. "By the way you talk, you make it sound like you two are already the best of friends." He smirked. "I thought you said your message was from the King himself."

Elatus frowned for what seemed to be the first time. He gave Del a small glare. "The message is from his Highness, but I admit I did not receive it from him directly." The elf paused and looked Del up and down. "Delaney Mendax, this era's Oracle. What a pleasure." He didn't sound very pleased. "And you are Lucis Mendax." Elatus shifted his gaze onto the lighter twin. "You were the two I was told to tell, if I happened to run into you. I was informed that if I got the message to you two, King Lir would be most contented."

"So you aren't a fan of Anahalians after all, pretty boy." Faux raised his eyebrows. "This is all to do with your promotion. Just trying to kiss up."

Those beach water eyes moved over to Faux. "And Faux Seren. It really does amaze me that the three of you can be in the same room with how much bad blood there is between you."

Evabelle had stopped eating, looking around, she realized almost everyone had as well. Static was beginning to bounce off the elf and the Anahalians.

Lucis cleared his throat. "Endorsement or no, you made a promise to share with us your message, perhaps that time could be now."

Elatus took a deep breath and closed his eyes for a moment. When he opened them again, he was once more composed. "Yes, alright. The message is about your little bat friends. What do you call them?"

"Annihilators." Lucis supplied.

"Yes, those. Those Annihilators have been seen circling over human populations. We suspect an attack is coming."

"On humans?" Evabelle exclaimed suddenly. It wasn't like her to interrupt anyone, especially strange people she didn't know very well, but she was surprised. They had initially thought that Averno was making them to destroy humans, but when she had talked to him three weeks ago, the fallen Anahalian had said that he was making the monsters to destroy those born under the angels. It made her feel better for the safety of her mother and brother. But now she was hearing that they were after humans?

Elatus flicked his gaze on her once more. "Yes. Nothing has happened thus far, but what was originally one Annihilator flying over a city has become a flock. They haven't attacked anyone as of yet, but they are watching the humans, and we just want to keep an eye on them."

Lucis laced his fingers before him. His eyes narrowed. "This isn't good." He murmured.

"No, no it's not." Elatus agreed. "Which is why I was sent to warn the queen and ask her and her fairies to spread the word." He reached out and brought the grape wine to his lips and drank for a moment, when he lowered the glass, he murmured softly. "And that's not all." There was a longer pause this time, one that he didn't try to cover with taking a drink or having another bite of pasta. His eyes were no longer looking around at everyone at the table. Instead they were locked on the center of the slab of wood before them.

Evabelle realized he didn't want to share the next part.

Elatus licked his lips. "There is suspicions of inner workings, underground developments that may suggest affiliations with the enemy." Still not looking at any of them, he twirled his fork, and said even quieter. "We believe that there is a group on the Isles, communicating with Lord Ravana."

Silence followed this broken by Aza. "Okay, I think I've been considerably patient. Please explain to me what that means, and who's this Lord Ravana guy?"

"A noble swine, I believe," Faux replied.

"That doesn't help me." Aza folded her arms.

"Ravana is higher than a noble. He's a traditional pureblood vampire." Calandra spoke. "He is considered to be the vampire king to some. He's quite powerful and in a very high position, but strictly speaking he is no king."

Del leaned forward, his purple eyes, lit with a dangerous glow. "So what you're telling us, it that a group of your precious species has turned against you. That must be rough."

Elatus flushed, as his whole body went rigid. "There are fools in every species." He quipped, "I know that you three Anahalians are known as those fools."

Del's eyes narrowed, Lucis closed his eyes, and Faux just rolled his.

Elatus continued. "In fact I do find it shocking, Master Ensign, of how many fools you allow into your home."

Glancing up at the mage as the head of the table, revealed that he was the only one still eating. He didn't give any inclination that he had heard Elatus.

The elf went on. "I knew of the Anahalians, but humans and a vampire as well?" He shook his head. "It's just disturbing. Everyone knows about Rommel. I thought since then, we were keeping humans out of the loop."

Aza's hands curled into fists. She opened her mouth about to give the guy a piece of her mind, but Faux put a hand on her leg and shook his head.

"But the vampire is definitely the worst," Elatus persisted. "Not only is he one of the devil's worst creatures, but he is a fallen elf. It makes him the biggest fool of them all."

Evabelle glanced over at Kai and Gem. Kai was still not looking at anyone. He sat silently, determinedly staring off into space. Gem had her head bowed, her long, golden hair, normally braided back, was loose and now hung in her face, hiding her expression.

"Elves should know better. What this creature is doing, is poisoning the earth, when he knows what he should have done."

Gem began to shake.

"There is a certain duty that we elves believe in, and to know that this thing has totally disregarded our standards is just sickening. It makes him the ultimate traitor. Do you keep him out of pity? You really shouldn't Master Ensign. He doesn't deserve that." The entire time Elatus never looked at Kai. "Granted many see the Anahalians as the traitors. I don't like them, but this is where I must draw a line. This creature is a disgrace, a coward, that should have done his duty and preformed the ritual as we are supposed--"

"NO!" Gem's high voice screamed as she jumped to her feet. Her hair fell back to reveal that the little girl had been crying. Her cheeks were tearstained, her nose all red, and her wide blind eyes shone with more tears. "No! No! NO!" She shook her head back and forth, her whole body quivering. She turned her head toward Kai. "Y-you... Y-you p-promised me. You promised!" She cried, then she whirled around and bolted for the door.

Kai leapt up. "Gem!" And without another word, he ran after his sister.

"They're related aren't they?" Elatus shook his head. "The girl is just too young to understand these things. I should take her back with me, before that monster warps her completely."

Aza looked like she was about ready to explode. She was seething and glaring at the elf. Evabelle herself, was about ready to shout at him, but it was neither of them who spoke.

"Get out," Velrose said, dotting the corners of his mouth with a napkin.

Elatus blinked. "What?"

"You have excellent hearing. You heard me." Velrose place his napkin down, and for the first time, since the whole discussion began, he looked directly at the elf. His black eyes could swallow one's soul.

"I don't understand." Elatus shook his head.

"It's a fairly simple command. Get out. You are not allowed to step foot in this sanctuary again." Velrose was quiet, calm, and terrifying. Evabelle's head went back and forth between the two as though she were watching a very intense tennis match.

"I told you the message. That was the deal." Elatus's voice rose.

Velrose nodded. "Yes, but you promised you would not disturb my home, and that you have done tenfold."

Elatus shook his head again. "You're keeping traitors and outcasts here, monsters, demons, hu--"

"People with good hearts." Velrose cut in. "A sanctuary is a place for those who are in need, but every mage has certain parameters. I never liked you. You are haughty, cruel, a complete idiot for thinking you have a chance with my daughter, and care for no one." Velrose laced his fingers together. "I draw the line when you insult or hurt the people that I have deemed worthy to be here."

Elatus shoved his chair back and stood, glaring at Velrose. "You claim that you've broken away from the demons, but from this treatment, I cannot believe that."

Calandra stood. Evabelle was shocked to see her grinning. "I'll take this one out, Father."

Velrose gave a nod.

The beautiful mage, went around the table, grabbed the elf by the arm and began to drag him toward the door.

"This is an outrage!" Elatus yelled and struggled, but Calandra was not easy to escape from. "How can you possibly consider them to be higher than me?" He swung his arm around and gestured to everyone sitting at the table. "You are a fool Velrose Ensign! A complete and utter--" He was cut off as the door swung shut behind him.

"He is so dead." Faux grinned, leaning back in his chair and stretching his arms out behind his head.

Aza looked up at Velrose with a new form of respect. "Wow," She murmured. "Dude that was the best thing of my life!" She beamed at the man.

Velrose made not response, besides getting to his feet and taking his dishes to the opposite door that lead to the kitchen. "When you are done, bring your dishes to the sink." He said without turning around.

Aza didn't get upset from Velrose's lack of attention. She just turned to Evabelle and said. "Okay, he totally rocks."

"Velrose is a wise man." Lucis agreed.

Aza laughed. "Yeah, I knew Callie was pretty bad-a, and now I officially see where she gets it. He was totally composed and cold as he told that snobby, flirty, douche to hit the road."

"Yeah, and besides, sick flirts like him don't deserve real hospitality." Faux intoned.

Del arched an eyebrow. "Are you referring to yourself as a douche too?"

Faux sat forward, grinning at the darker boy. "There are two kinds of flirts in this world. There are the pompous, callous, profane prigs like that guy. And there are the dashing, charming, witty, sweet men to die, for such as myself."

Del gave a half smile. "Well at least we know you're humble."

Evabelle swallowed and cleared her throat. "Um, I'm really sorry, but what exactly was Elatus going on about? Whatever ritual he mentioned made Gem really upset. Do you know what it is?"

The feeling in the room went from the brief sense of satisfaction to the cold uneasiness it had just escaped from.

Faux leaned back again and answered. "It's not our place to talk about it."

Aza sighed. "You guys really keep to your code, don't you?"

Lucis spoke. He still had his hands laced in front of him. His sapphire eyes had gone distant as he answered Aza without looking at any of them. "Everyone has their secrets. And everyone deserves to choose who knows them."

~(A/N: Happy New Year!!! 2016 is here!!!! Aaaaahh!! It's so crazy how fast time flies! Anyway, let me know what you think of this chapter! If you liked it please vote, and comments are always appreciated!

What did you think of Zion and are you curious about everything that's going on with him??

And tell me what you thought of Elatus and if you liked how he was handled!

Also, I'd love to hear what you think about the mysterious ritual that was mentioned???

If you guys didn't notice, several last names were mentioned in this chapter, which I realize probably should have been mentioned in book one, so I need to go fix some things XP Sorry about that, and sorry about not having any specific challenges right now. I'd just love to hear your thoughts on the questions that I asked and anything else. I hope these chapters are as good as Angel Wings; I just haven't had as much time to edit and go through it. So if you guys find any flaws and such, just let me know!! :D

Thanks! You guys are the best!! And once again, I'll say HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!! Make 2016 your year to shine!!!!! :D)~