"Every night I try my best to dream
Tomorrow makes it better
Then I wake up to the cold reality
And not a thing is changed"

~~Paramore
- 'Last Hope'

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~Nevada~

I woke to the feel of cool cotton sheets sliding over my bare legs and the scent of fresh laundry surrounding me. Birds chirped somewhere outside the window that let gentle rays of light shine across my face, warming my skin ever so lightly. It was a cocoon of peace, a serenity I knew wouldn't be mirrored once I left the safety of this room.

The events of the previous night danced behind my eyelids like the remnants of a nightmare, haunting and full of pain. I had raced through the woods, branches snagging at my clothes and whipping against my skin as briars and roots grabbed at my feet. Fear had flooded my veins, my heart pounding in my ears as magick bloomed in my chest like an orchid in spring. 

I had echoed Dominic and Alana's actions as they flung orbs of magick in our wake, crackling flame and sizzling energy whizzing through the air like small cannon balls. I could hear the bursts of gunfire from the humans as they gained on our trail, the angry shouts of the fae that were with them as they returned orb for orb. I could vaguely hear the triumphant howls of wolves somewhere to our North but still in the distant vicinity, my fear for Nova spiking all the more.

But as a last single shot had rang through the night, splintering the bark of a tree a few feet in front of me, it had all stopped. All I could hear were the sounds of my own ragged breath, the beat of blood rushing in my ears, and my feet as they pounded against the earth. With no reason or no warning clear to the four of us, it was over. I could no longer feel the excited energy of our pursuers as they retreated.

I gripped the sheet in my hand, doing my best to push those memories away. It would only lead to other, more painful, things that I wasn't ready to think about. My eyes stung behind my still closed lids, and I knew that if I opened them that tears would soon soak the pillow beneath my head. 

This wasn't a time to cry because I knew things would only continue to get worse, harder each time. I knew it in my bones like I knew my own name, a fact that had crawled its way inside of me. Tears wouldn't make it hurt any less or decisions any clearer, only a waste of energy I could no longer afford.

My life had spiraled out of control in just a few weeks, from normal to crisis on repeat every time I turned around. It was exhausting but it hadn't all been horrible, just… slightly onerous. A light knock on the door drug me out of my thoughts of self pity and I rolled onto my back with a sigh.

"It's open… I think," I called, my throat dry and causing my voice to crack.

Blinking up at the ceiling to focus my still sleepy eyes, I listened as the door opened and quiet, yet heavy, steps approached the bed. 

"Did I wake you?" Nova asked apologetically. 

"No, I've been awake for a little bit," I replied as I leaned pulled my tired body into a sitting position. I propped against my pillows and squinted at the window. "What time is it?"

"Almost five," he answered, stopping at the edge of the bed.

I looked over at him, taking in his disheveled blonde hair and the dark circles that ringed his eyes. He attempted to give me one of his easy smiles but it didn't fool me, the tightness of his eyes giving away the stress beneath the surface. I patted the empty space beside me, silently inviting him to join me which he did almost reluctantly. 

Nova's shoulders were stiff with tension, his body almost rigid as he leaned against the headboard. I wanted to ask him so many things about what had happened after he and Hatter had disappeared or what had happened since we had gotten back, but I didn't. Instead, I let him gather his thoughts and waited patiently for him to speak. 

"Do you think the gods got it wrong?" he finally asked, his voice almost hopeful. "I mean, is it possible that the things everyone expects of us is wrong?"

I turned his question over in my mind, chewing thoughtfully on my lip. 

"I hope so," I replied a moment later. "But at this point, I'm not sure it matters anymore. I don't think it would change what will happen to us or what we will have to do."

"What do we have to do?" Nova's frustration was palpable, mingling with my own self doubts. "So what if an old woman said we would be born and be powerful? Why does that have to come with expectations?"

I sighed and rested my head on his shoulder. "I honestly have no idea. I'm not sure anyone does. That prophecy was spoken over two thousand years ago, who knows what parts of it have been lost and forgotten since then."

Nova made a disapproving grunt in his chest but didn't respond as he leaned his head against mine. We stayed like that for a while, each lost in our own thoughts until he spoke again. 

"I heard Dominic and August talking earlier. It seems the Fae have gone to war again."

I sat up abruptly and looked at him in shock. There hadn't been a war for several centuries, not anything more than skirmishes or disagreements.

"War?!" I asked in disbelief. "With who?"

"Each other apparently." Nova shrugged and let his head thump back against the headboard as he stared up at the ceiling. "You know, the last war, pretty much every supernatural species was involved before the end, humans too."

"What started it?" I asked, trying to process the newest chapter in our history. 

"No idea but I'm sure the old people know."

Nova kept a serious look on his face but the corners of his lips twitched as I snorted with laughter.

"They'll smack you stupid if they hear you say that," I warned, still chuckling.

"Maybe but I'll still be pretty and definitely prettier than them."

I laughed again and relaxed once more against the pillows. A thought occurred to me and I hesitated but decided to say it anyway.

"You look a lot like him, you know."

Nova grimaced but then rolled his eyes. "Again, I'm still prettier. You look like your mom though, except for the eyes."

I nodded in agreement but used that as an opening. "Speaking of moms… "

The muscle in Nova's jaw ticked, signifying his frustrations with his mother. I had always had my own qualms with her, most of it involving her absentee parenting all throughout Nova's life. She had never been the biggest fan of mine and I had never known why, except now I had a feeling she had known who I was the moment she first saw me. Edith had never been the kindest woman or the greatest mother but I had never hated her, until maybe now.

"I took her to my room when we got back before anyone had time to assault her, with words or otherwise," he added matter of factly, "and she hasn't come out of there since. She's locked the door and I can't get in."

I raised an eyebrow speculatively. "You could if you really wanted to."

"Yeah, but that won't make it easier to get her to spill her guts will it?" Nova snapped before rubbing his eyes with a frustrated noise. "I'm sorry this is just so fucked up and I don't know what to do. Alana won't leave their bedroom either, even Dominic doesn't seem to want to go in there. August and Hatter keep disappearing to… I don't know where, and my mother seems to be on the verge of losing her shit and everyone wants to know why."

He took a deep breath and looked at me, silently asking me for help. The problem was that even I wasn't sure what to do. We needed answers, but how could you get them from a woman who's own son believed her to be breaking? We all needed to have a united front whenever the next wave of bullshit came our way, but we were all in pieces.

"What happened when you went after Edith?" I asked hesitantly. 

A bark of laughter broke free from him, the sound holding a dark and bitter edge that left me uneasy. 

"Remember that Jackal douche bag?" He asked, continuing after I nodded. "Well she must have pissed him off somehow because him and his little band of wolves had her, well us, surrounded and he was adamant about getting a hold of her… until their alpha showed up."

"The alpha? Gods Nova, how the hell did you manage to get out of that without being torn to pieces?" I asked, my heart clenching at the thought of Nova being hurt.

"That's the thing about the gods and their 'plans' isn't it? It's like they do shit just to fuck with us, at least that's how it seems to work for us." The statement was very morose, confusing me even more. "The Alpha of that little band of mutts, was none other than Hatter's twin brother, Reyne."

The thing that caught my attention wasn't the fact that Hatter had a twin, but what his twin's name was. It was common for people to have more than one child, and twins weren't all that rare either, but that name was unique and one I had heard before. I searched my mind, trying to pinpoint what seemed so familiar about the name but it seemed just out of reach. Then it hit me and I smacked Nova on the shoulder as realization swept over me.

"Reyne?! Reyne is his brother?" I asked, clarifying I had heard Nova correctly. 

"Yes… why?" Nova answered slowly, his brows drawn together.

"I met him!" I said, wondering why this information felt even remotely exciting. "Okay, not 'met him' met him but I've seen him! He was with Jackal the night he came to the bookstore. He was with Jackal along with another guy named Jazz who was my manager's boyfriend."

I grimaced internally as I thought about Mia and my lack of notification about no longer being able to work. Generally, that wasn't my work ethic but life had other plans.

"Jazz? He was there last night too. Apparently he's the beta." Nova informed me with a falsely bored shrug. "I don't know much about shifter politics but I know bad blood when I see it and there was definitely bad blood between Jackal and Reyne."

I was quiet while I thought about everything, trying to figure out how it all fit together. It was a puzzle and I knew once we had all the pieces, the picture would become clear as day. The problem was that I had no idea where to start on finding them.

"Why does there have to be drama when it comes to good guys and bad guys?" Nova huffed. "It's always got to be dramatic and theatrical. Can we not just be like 'that's the bad guy because he's a dick and we're the good guys because we're fucking awesome. Kill him.' Then, proof… glitter bomb the morherfucker and be done with it."

I burst out laughing as he wiggled his fingers for effect, tears streaming down my cheeks at the visual that played in my mind like a Saturday morning cartoon. Nova tried to keep his face serious as he watched me openly guffaw despite the soreness still in my side, but failed once I fell over onto the bed. 

We laughed at the ridiculousness of it all, enjoying our small moment while we could. There was no telling how long it would be until everything exploded in our faces again, until we had to fight for our lives and others.

"Come on, you've slept all day and left me alone in this madhouse," Nova chuckled as he stood from my bed. "August has this big ass house and a shit ton of food. Let's go find you something to eat, yeah?"

I smiled and nodded as I let him pull me from the bed and out into the hallway. As we got closer to the kitchen, I could hear the muffled voices of August and Dominic, pinpricks of irritation stabbing at my skin. Nova met my questioning glance with a shrug.

"They need to train more and we need to be more vigilant, August. That bullshit cannot happen again." Dominic growled as we silently came into the room behind him. "Edith won't cooperate and Alana is murderous, even with me. Shit needs to change because your way obviously isn't working."

"It did fine before everything went to hell, Dom. None of this had anything to do with me if you haven't noticed." August shot back. "Alana is grieving and Edith has no reason to trust any of us except for Nova. This isn't going to get better overnight."

"We don't have time to wait around. You and that progeny of yours need to do more rounds as well as tower shifts." Dominic demanded, crossing his arms over his chest. "I'm not going to lose anyone else in this house."

"Done already. Hatter is in the tower and I'm going to circle the property as soon as we are done here," August replied, his tone even but the tension around his eyes told me he was losing patience with my father. "I'm not incompetent and this isn't the first war I've been through."

"I'm aware of that but these two," Dominic jabbed a thumb in our direction without looking at us, "are nowhere near prepared and there is a war coming for them, not us. However, they aren't in this alone which means it's only a matter of time before it catches up to us all."

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A/N: It's a bit of a filler but I hope you enjoyed it!

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~SM~