It was a situation we'd been in before, and yet it still didn't get any easier. Behind us in the hospital room, strapped to the bed, my brother was motionless. His body was bruised, but the other wounds were disappearing as the vampire blood in his system worked in overtime to fix its vessel. None of us was naive enough to think he was still out of it, though I did hope that was the case. Soon, the begging would start. The shouting and promises; he'd be saying whatever he could to get anyone close enough to feed on.

We weren't going to make any mistakes, I wasn't going to make any mistakes like with what happened to Reece. A single drop of blood and it was all over. My stomach churned with the memories of how desperate and hungry the urge to feed made you. Opening up that door let the memories come flooding in, and I didn't know if I wanted to cry or scream right now. Before I could do anything to break up the silent pity party that had gathered, V came down the corridor carrying a tray of coffee cups as though perhaps that would make everything better. My parents didn't speak as they took one as he offered them around, and as he stopped in front of me, I could only channel my anger his way.

Ironically, Jordan was in the same state that I had been around this time last year, and it had been thanks to him. Of course, it wasn't quite that simple either as when he had decided to try and change me, I had been locked in a tiny cell with my very human and unaware, ex-boyfriend to snack on.

Jordan was lucky.

"Did you want one?" V asked hesitantly.

"No."

He moved away quickly, sitting as far away from me as possible. Smart move, vampire.

Looking through the window into Jordan's room I noticed his hand twitch. The chain that restrained him clinked against the metal bed frame, and he sat up slightly to look at it, before taking in all four of his limbs and working out what it meant. We made eye contact, and I swallowed down the acid that tried to rise up from my stomach. I knew what was next and I didn't want to see or hear it.

"I'll be back later." I murmured not really telling anyone in particular as I set off the way V had come in.

My name followed me around the corner, the desperate and sad screeching of my brother echoing through the ward. Getting into the elevator, I breathed a sigh of relief as the doors closed, and it all disappeared. Logan appeared then, frowning as he pulled me against him in a hug.

"You doing okay?"

"Peachy. Can I just, I want to be alone." I finally told him as we exited the hospital.

"Where are you going?" He asked cautiously.

"I don't know. Just, call me if anything changes. Please?"

Without any arguments, he does as I ask and turns back inside while I decide to take a walk. It's nearly midnight, and the car park is deserted, and as I sense vampires nearby, I start to move in their direction without really thinking about it. There are only three of them, lingering down by the ambulance parking just out of the buildings light. Logically, I know they weren't involved in Jordan's attack, but none the less, the wanting to hurt them, to have them pay for their kinds mistakes has me standing behind them.

"What are you doing here?" I demand, startling them.

"Nothing." The smaller male answers quickly while the one female with them steps towards me.

"Move on Hunter. We're not doing anything wrong." She sneers, not hiding her fangs from me

"Not right now you're not," I tell her, folding my arms defensively. "but you vampires are always up to something aren't you?"

"Let's just go." The other male mutters, nudging the girl and reluctantly the smaller one does take a few steps towards the path.

"We paid a lot of money for what we ordered. I'm not going to miss out on my hit of AB negative because some, Hunter, wants to feel important." She glares at me now. "So back off. We're well within our rights here. This, this is harassment. I should report you to the council!"

We stare at each other for a moment, neither of us willing to back down. All I can think about is Jordan, Reece, V; how it felt to crave blood and all the hell vampires caused in my life. Dracula lingered in the back of my mind, fuelling my rage as the need to scream built in the pit of my stomach. What made them think they could do this to us?

The report of the humans killed on TV made my eyes blur with tears as the trio finally backed down. The female stepped back, as the smaller male began to run. My hand shot out as if to reach for him, and a red rope of light wrapped around his body. He fell with a squeal of surprise as the other two froze. Maybe someone should teach vampires a lesson, kind of like how that group had showed off with their display.

You don't reveal yourselves to humans.

You don't try to change any of us, hunters, slayers, trackers, any of us, into what they are. Especially my friends. 

Never my family.

There are consequences for going against the treaty, and I will make sure they all know it. If they think the Treaty is false, weak and something to be ignored I will ensure they know the truth, that they feel the full power of the law. No more will I allow for the rules to be broken. No more innocents will die because-

"Elise. Elise, look at me." Portia's soft and gentle voice broke into my thoughts and looking up, her pale appearance glowed red. "You need to release them."

I looked down to find the red light around the trio, and then shooting off into the night like a million threads. I lost sight of how far they stretched; I couldn't count how many were even around us, but the whole area glowed as if on fire. For a moment I thought the hospital was, but then as I looked down, it all vanished as I gasped and fell backwards as the force of it all came rushing back to me. My hands glowed red, similar to how they had when I had gone into the Powers Realm. I hadn't been able to do it since, and looking at Portia, I didn't know how to make it stop.

"What, what's happening?" I managed to ask her, just as Logan came rushing towards us.

The trio slowly sat up from where they had been trapped, gasping for breath. Logan paused by them, before moving towards us only Portia stopped him.

"Check on the vampires. Assure them it was nothing, a side effect of a drug in the blood they had been buying." Portia instructed him. "They won't remember her being here."

"Elise?" He asked, his eyes stuck on my hands.

"She's fine. We'll be back shortly."

"Where are-" I started, yet I shut my mouth as she put a hand on my shoulder and as the old training arena took over from the hospital, I felt myself relax.

My hands stopped glowing.

"That's better." Portia mused, before pulling me into a hug.

"What just happened?" I pushed her away, inspecting my hands for some kind of clue. "What was that?"

"That was you, using the powers of the Treaty-" She started.

"I did what?"

"I sensed you were upset and came as soon as I could. I'm glad I did otherwise the sudden disappearance of that many vampires may have been an issue the supernatural council would not want to deal with."

If I didn't know her better, I would think she found that more amusing than concerning. I didn't know what to say and looked around, not much had changed in the arena from the last time I had come here with Cain; the one place he could go to away from the Earth realm. I had changed though.

"The Treaty is failing. I don't know how to make it work, and the vampires they did," I paused, unsure about how much she knew exactly. "horrible things. And then they attacked Jordan and-"

"Your anger tapped into the magic and took on a life of its own." She answered softly. "The Treaty isn't failing Elise. Its just going to take time to adjust to you being the one to hold it now. Do you think it all happened instantly once it was created, that I made no mistakes?"

"Well, yeah." I shrug. "I thought it was me. I can't conjure up anything properly. I can transport myself around good enough, well most of the time. Since coming back here, I can't seem to do anything. I thought it was broken or I was doing something wrong."

"You see this gift as something that doesn't belong to you, but it is a part of your very being now Elise. There is no separating yourself from this magic. You and it are one."

"But what does that even mean? I don't need you to go all zen on me, I need understand."

"There is nothing to understand."

"No? Tell that to my glowing hands and to the vampires I nearly killed tonight!" I screamed at her.

Portia sighed and closed her eyes. "That happened because you wanted it to, you didn't even have to think to do it, it just happened. Think of the magic as an extra muscle, something you can flex and use on your own accord."

"What if next time I do something worse, or you don't come in time to stop me?" I challenge her.

"I will always be nearby to stop you, Elise." She hesitated then, before continuing slowly. "When the power first became mine, it was easy to make mistakes. In time you will learn, and you will be able to use your magic as passively as you breathe. You do not think to take a breath, to release the air and do it again. It simply happens."

I wanted to believe her, but what I nearly did terrified me. How could wielding that kind of power, be as simple as breathing?

"What mistakes did you make?"

"I killed. I destroyed. I enjoyed the power I possessed too much and lost myself to it. They didn't put that in the history books, the wars that followed the creation of the Treaty are forgotten. We know of protests, and scuffles of course, but not the truth. Not the real reason why the supernatural knows to obey the law. While the true consequences are unknown, the fear lingers on."

"Because you kept yourself hidden throughout history? Like how you were headmistress of the academy for so long without anyone realising?" I wondered.

"Not quite. I owe Cain for many things during our life together. That was all just one more of those. He claims that I was his keeper, his conscience during his darkest times, but he had also been mine." The regret in her tone was unmissable. "And in turn, I shall be yours."

Opening my mouth, I quickly shut it again. I wanted to yell at Portia and make her see she should have done this from the start. I had been feeling so lost and useless when she should have been teaching me - not leaving it up to a vampire to organise side training with someone I didn't even know if I could trust. Or even presuming Logan would be able to teach me the way of a Power. There were many things I wanted to say, but instead, the most obvious and loudest question I had was asked.

"What did you see, that made you come now?"

"Nothing, I told you. I sensed your pain and-"

"Do you forget who I am?" I stand up taller and square my shoulders as we face each other. "You're lying to me. I really thought after everything, we were passed all these, these, games!"

If her porcelain skin could go turn an even paler shade, it just did, and her trademark red lips tightened slightly. I could almost hear her mind ticking over, weighing up her options like she actually had any.

"I can not-"

"Yes, you can." I cut her off quickly.

"Elise, if you'd just let me-"

Holding my hand out, Sobek's sword; no, my sword, appeared and her black eyes widened slightly as she looked it over.

"Do you intend to threaten me with that?" She asked, her voice slightly higher than usual. "I am here to help you."

"You could be here with a million dollars and a pony, but until you tell me why that is, I don't really care."

"Because I want to help you and avoid you making the same mistakes I did!" Portia protested.

"Well, it's a bit late for that. It's been months of being totally fine without you suddenly deciding to be my mentor. Thanks, but no thanks." I give her a little salute. "And, Elise out."

"Wait!" She cried just as I went to leave. "I had a vision."

"No! Really?" I gasp sarcastically, while internally patting myself on the back for being right.

Portia's eyes narrowed as she folded her arms across her chest. Out of nowhere, two overstuffed red armchairs appeared behind us, and she sat with ease, happy to run her long black fingernails against the velvet of the armrest as she continued to watch me. With a slight tilt of her head, I sighed and sat too, only bringing my legs up underneath me, I lacked the elegance she had.

"All I could see was the moon, and a shadow began to descend across it." She told me wistfully, staring out past my chair at nothing.

"Like, an eclipse?"

"Perhaps. The darkness took over, and didn't pass, so perhaps not like an eclipse at all." Portia mused.

"So, what's that got to do with me?" I glanced down at my wrist where the three moon phases stared back at me.

"It was a Hunter's moon, Elise."

"So that automatically makes you think of me?"

"That, and I could hear someone, possibly Apollo, maybe your brother considering recent events, screaming your name and begging you to stop." I struggled to swallow for a moment - well, that made more sense as to why she thought it was me. "I could feel the magic in the air, the darkness. I could smell death."

Portia shivered, closing her eyes as if revisiting her vision.

"And then as I thought of you, found you and felt that anger. The pain. Well, of course, I came straight away." She sighed.

Neither of us spoke for a while. What could I say to that? Was I destined to repeat her mistakes, would she prevent this from happening or would the darkness win? I felt it, I know exactly what she was talking about. The rage had felt good, to make the vampires pay for the past had been too easy. If she hadn't come when she did, what would have happened exactly?

"When is the Hunters moon?" I finally asked, trying to think of it but failing.

"October I believe."

"That's months away though!"

"Yes, but who knows who you might be by then if you stay on this path." I don't miss her warning. "Hades will teach you to fight. Apollo will keep you in his light, and I will do what I can."

"You know about Hades?"

"I know about, everything." She smirked, the tension disappearing between us. "Do you forget who I am?"

"Of course not. Will Jordan be okay?" I ask, a little too desperately. "I know you're not supposed to talk about that stuff, but his thread is still threading right?"

"It is. I can assure you, the only one that holds my concern right now is you."

"Just like old times hey?"

"Your demon is looking for you. If I am not around to guide you, at least he will be."

Before I can ask or say anything more, I'm back outside the hospital and being knocked off my feet as Alfie attaches himself around me. I'm not sure she meant by that, but looking at Alfie now, I give him a big hug.

"What a night." I murmur against his scales, suddenly feeling exhausted.

"Same blood, sssick." He tells me.

"I know. But he will be okay. If I can do it, he can too." I assure him.

With no one around to see us, I'm not sure if it's me or Alfie that takes us back down to Jordan's room. Mums asleep, her head resting on Dads shoulder as he fights to keep his eyes open. The sounds from Jordan's room as few and far between, mostly just sobbing and as V and Logan notice our return, guilt hits me hard. Whatever I had done tonight, would have affected him too. Does he know?

"There you are!" Logan comes over, squeezing me slightly and Alfie gives us some space. "You okay?"

"Yeah. Just, this magic thing is something else." I sigh. "How is-"

"They have no idea it was you or what it was exactly." He whispers as V comes over to us.

"Where have you been and why do you look so guilty?" He greets cautiously.

"I don't look guilty."

"Darling girl, yes, you do. You know what, I don't even want to know." V sighs, rubbing his eyes wearily.

"Are you okay?" I ask him, gently putting a hand on his shoulder.

"Just, tired." Jordan starts screeching again, and we all turn to look at him flailing around on the bed. "I am sorry, for what I did to you back when-"

"We don't need to do this V," I tell him gently. "Let us take you home, get some rest."

He nods, and we end up in his room at the main Council building. I can hear the chaos outside and curiously we all go out into the hall. The other vampires have gathered, all whispering about what they experienced and listening in, I'm surprised to hear what they're saying.

"I was so young, I never asked to be changed. I wasn't told of the rules. I didn't even know I had killed them, and honestly, I hadn't thought about it for years." One said.

"What are they talking about?" I ask V as we went back into his room.

"The attack we all seem to have been affected by, it was, I don't know how to explain it exactly. We all seemed to have been trapped in a nightmare, reliving our biggest regrets." He shook his head, looking exhausted.

"Regrets?" I guided him to the bed and sat him down.

"Those I had killed, the early kills mostly. Lost to bloodlust, it's well. It's not an experience I wish to share or think about these days." He laid down, and I took off his shoes before tucking him into bed. "I also regret how I had treated you, and her."

"I'm sorry V. Try and rest, hopefully, tomorrow it will just seem like a bad dream." I look at Logan who only shrugs. "We'll talk later."

We leave V and Logan takes us back to the hotel in Rome. I fall onto the bed, waiting for his questions and as he comes to lay beside me, I am thankful for the silence.

"Portia thinks I'm in danger of making the same mistakes she did with this whole magic thing. I could have killed those vampires tonight." I finally tell him.

"No, I think you would have stopped on your own." He assures me.

"How bad was it though?"

"From the notice that went out from the Council, pretty bad. It was very widespread, most of the northern hemisphere was affected."

I turn to look at him. "You're kidding?"

"No. Did Portia tell you anything, give you some idea what went on?" Logan asks, running his hand up and down my arm.

"That I need to stop thinking of this ability and myself as separate things. Be one with the magic. Apparently, my anger took over and tapped into it making me go all murderific on vampires." I paused, not sure if I should tell him the rest of it now.

"From what they experienced, I don't think you would have killed them. Making the vampires relive their biggest regrets sounds more like punishment. Dracula messed with your mind, sounds like you were just giving them all something back." He summarised.

"You really don't think I would, or that I could have killed them?"

"No. I don't. Remember, you're not like the other Hunters Elise. You're not that kind of person, you have never been."

"But could I be? I felt so, powerful and capable of doing anything. I wanted them to suffer. There was something in me and-"

"Exactly, you wanted them to suffer. Not die." He kissed my forehead. "Now we know that you can do more than make toads and flowers appear, we can work on the rest."

Logan smiled, and I wanted to let it go; make it simple and believe in the version of me he did. Portia's words stayed on my mind though, making it hard to thinking of much else.

"We should go back to the hospital." I decide.

"We should, but I doubt much has changed. We can stay here a little longer and-" Logan went quiet, and I felt the presence that had been haunting us lingering outside.

It soon occurred to me that I was picking up on two different energies, the same, but different. Logan must have also realised this as he suddenly turned us around, so he was now on top of me, and after a quick kiss whispered in my ear.

"I've cloaked us so whoever is there will still sense us as we just were. If Art and Hermes are fucking with us, I am going to be sending them back to the other realm quicker than you can go into super vampire hunter mode."

"It doesn't feel like them. What do you want to do?" I ask instead.

"There is one sure way to annoy my sister, I will pretend to destroy all that remains of her beloved temple." He smirked.

"But what will that do?"

"Send her into a rage I presume, and she will come to me for vengeance."

"That sounds like a horrible plan, and what if it isn't her?" I point out.

"Then, whoever it is, will be surprised when she suddenly turns up on the warpath and then we will strike!" He sounded like he was looking forward to this, possibly more than he should be.

"We're using our powers aren't we?" I asked doubtfully.

"I will. You won't have to, just brace yourself." Logan kisses me again, and I almost tell him I don't want to do any of his plan. I just want to hide here and disappear for a while. "Ready?"

I nod, and he lays back down.

"How about we take our time going back to the hospital. Let me show you something, special." He says, maybe a touch louder than necessary.

"Fine. There better be a good bourbon involved." I sigh, and sure enough, we're suddenly standing in ankle deep water. "Great choice of landing."

"I didn't know it had been raining here." He sighs, and we walk across the grass to stare up the last remaining pillar. "This was pretty impressive once upon a time."

"I'm sure it was."

I take a seat on a nearby piece of rock and look around at well, not a lot. The feeling follows us, and if they think they're being sneaky, they have a lot to learn. Logan starts to mumble under his breath, and once he's done, a bow appears in his hands, before he fumbles around for a second as a glowing arrow is soon taking aim at the pillar.

"Brace yourself!" He calls, and as the arrow hits its target, the ground trembles and the rocks turn to ash, floating around us like snowflakes.

No more temple.

"That was mighty impressive!" I call out, wondering if Artemis would now show herself or if it had all been for nothing.

As if to answer my thoughts, lightning cracked above us as the night became day as more and more bolts flashed across the sky. For a second I thought it was the wind until the goddess appeared - her howl of rage deafening. Just as my doubts over this whole charade were about to voiced, Logan came to stand at my side, and we braced ourselves for her attack.

Only Artemis passed us as if we were invisible, her bow raised and two golden arrows poised, she released them with perfect precision and found her targets. Spinning around my mouth dropped as a figure appeared, then another and Hermes was quick to throw some kind of net over them as they screamed in agony from where they'd been hit.

"Who the hell are they?" I asked as we went over.

Logan only groaned as he took in the pair, and Artemis, looking furious, was the one to answer me.

"Meet Freyja and Freyr."