Pierce grunted as his hold on my wrist relaxed. Then I heard him groan. Confused at what was happening, I tried to open my eyes but, when I did, everything was blurry. I turned my head to the side to see if I could see anything but all I could see was an array of blurry blotches.

Someone else groaned and then I heard the distinctive thud that sounded like a body hitting the ground. I closed my eyes tightly. When I opened them again the blurriness began to fade and the scene in front of me began to focus.

Jared. He was on the edge of the clearing, fighting his way to me.

I scanned the area around him and he was on his own. He had no backup. He was going against his own rules.

I closed my eyes as the panic began to build up inside of me. Like me, he wouldn't be able to fight them all off. Dread began to build up inside me, swirling and entwining with the panic.

I managed to extend my hand as I watched Jared take a hit from Steven. He flew backward and hit the ground on his side. Ash extended his hand to Jared.

Jared wouldn't be able to block a hit he couldn't see coming, so I had to do something. As weak as I was, I pulled everything I had and exerted it. It hit Ash square in the chest and he flew back.

My brother got up and aimed a streak of energy at Pierce.

Jace was on his feet again. Fear gripped me, its cold fingers wrapped around my heart as I watched him extend his hand toward Jared. I had nothing left in me and I slumped backward in defeat.

From somewhere behind Jared, a ball of white energy slammed into Jace's chest. Relief flooded through me as I looked up to see Tyler and Danny standing on either side of Jared, blasting energy from their hands at the Hue.

The last exertion of energy completely wiped me out. I couldn't keep my eyes open anymore. I allowed the darkness to take me because I knew Jared would be safe.

*************

When I awoke, I felt awful. I groaned. I struggled to swallow because my throat hurt. My body felt stiff and I ached all over. I shifted in the bed to try and get comfortable.

"Shh, it's okay," I heard a voice whisper to me. It sounded familiar. I opened my eyes to see I was lying in my bed in my bedroom. My head was pounding. I touched my forehead to try to ease it.

Soft hands touched my bare chest and I felt energy enter my body. I looked to see the very feminine hands belonged to Neve. The sight of her made something flutter inside of me. I wasn't sure what it was but I'd never felt it before.

I lay back and allowed her to heal me. The pounding in my head eased as well as the soreness in my throat. I still felt weak but the ache in my body was gone. She removed her hands from my chest but I felt a tingle on the surface of my skin where her fingers had been, and it had nothing to do with the after-effects of the energy.

Her eyes looked at me. They were beautiful even though they were filled with worry.

"How are you feeling?" she asked quietly. I was held by the look of concern in her fine features.

"I'm okay," I replied. Nothing some rest wouldn't help.

And in that instant she went from worried to a firecracker.

"You scared me," she lectured angrily. Her reaction took me by surprise. I was trying to understand why she was acting the way she was.

"I'm fine," I reinforced, not sure how to handle her because I couldn't understand where her anger was coming from.

"But you could have been taken by the Hue, or worse!" she said, raising her voice. When I realized why she was so angry with me, I couldn't stop my lips from tipping upward in a smile. And she looked like she wanted to hit me.

She was worried about me because she cared. I liked that. My chest inflated at the thought.

"I didn't mean to scare you," I told her. "I was hidden and then I heard humans. I couldn't stand there and do nothing. You know what would've happened if I hadn't intervened." I watched her anger waver when she understood the reason for my actions.

"Promise me you won't do something stupid like that again," she insisted as she sat down on the chair beside my bed.

"I can't promise that," I replied truthfully. I didn't want to make her an empty promise. Her emerald-green eyes darkened as they glared at me. I was pretty sure she was going to take a swing at me. For a moment I saw a vulnerability that I'd never seen in her before.

"You're one of us and we look after our own," she tried to explain. I was convinced her concern for my welfare went deeper than that but I wasn't going to argue with her about it.

"Where's Jared?" I asked while I tried to sit up. Neve was on her feet immediately, helping me and adjusting the pillows so I could lean against the headboard of my bed.

"Everyone is downstairs. They're having a meeting," she answered. "I offered to keep an eye on you while they were discussing what to do next."

I wasn't sure if the Hue would try and take me again. I still hadn't figured out why they had tried to take me back. The only thing that mattered to the Hue was power. I was one of the most powerful Descendants and maybe that was why they'd come to take me back.

"Thanks," I said. I liked that she'd been the first person I'd seen when I'd woken up. For some reason I felt connected to her. She'd been in my thoughts when I'd been lying in the clearing, unable to escape.

"Here," she said, offering me a glass of water.

"Thanks." I took the glass from her. I nearly downed it all in one go.

I shoved the comforter off me and set the glass back on the table. Someone had changed me because I wasn't wearing the jeans I'd had on in the clearing. I was wearing sweat pants now.

"Where do you think you're going?" she asked me with a distinct frown marking her forehead as she stood up and watched me get out of the bed.

"I'm going downstairs," I said as I stood up tentatively. My legs held.

"Are you nuts? You need to rest," she insisted as she tried to guide me back into the bed. The firecracker was back.

"I'm okay," I insisted as I stepped around her tiny frame and reached into my closet for a shirt. For once I didn't care what color I selected. I pulled the shirt over my head.

"You need to take it easy," she insisted, with her hands on her hips. She looked like she wanted to throttle me.

"I'm not exactly going to run a marathon, am I?" I asked. She looked exasperated.

"You're so annoying," she muttered. I couldn't help the tug of a smile on my lips. I was glad to be back. If Jared had been a few minutes later...I shuddered at the thought. But he had made it in time and I was out of danger for the moment.

I was safe and back where I belonged. Not that I had everything sorted out. I still needed to learn how to handle my emotions but I knew that with time it would happen.

I glanced down at Neve. As small as she was, she was trying to boss me around. It was cute. She barely made it to my shoulder but that didn't seem to slow her down at all.

And I was glad I was still around to keep an eye on her. Especially with Mr. Moron lurking in the background. Just remembering what he'd done to her was enough for anger to spark inside of me. I took a deep breath to keep the emotion at bay.

She insisted on walking beside me with her arm around my waist. I was feeling much better and I knew I could walk on my own, but I allowed her to fuss over me. It seemed to make her feel better.

We walked slowly down the stairs and when we got to the bottom I could hear voices coming from the living room. When I got to the entrance, the voices died down and all eyes turned to Neve and me.

***********

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