From one of the vehicles, a familiar figure approached. Maxim and Lannetta hissed in synchronised anger, even as Aidan's eyes bulged. "Oh no," he whispered as his ex-boss and supernatural hater, Robert Wallace glared straight at the camera, raised his gun and took out the one in the alleyway. One by one, the others were destroyed.

Aidan scrubbed at his face with both hands, unable to believe their horrendously bad luck. Not only were they pinned down by the wolves, Robert and his secret government agency forces just had to join in on the fun. Their Vegas trip was quickly turning into a roller coaster ride gone wrong. Heck, a rollercoaster wasn't a big enough metaphorical representation for how bad their situation was. A more apt comparison would be more like having brake failure on a runaway freight train which just happened to be carrying a nuclear warhead.

"If they're human, we stand a chance at beating them," Andy suggested but Aidan immediately disagreed. "They may be human, but they're heavily armed. Plus we'd be stuck in a tunnel with nowhere to hide." He let out a deep breath of frustration, "Besides, we can't go against Robert, not when he's got the drug that'll incapacitate everyone except Hailey, and maybe me," Aidan tersely said to the group.

He was interrupted by a volley of explosions from above. The group watched the screen as John's hidden agents used the element of surprise on the wolves, even as a huge four wheel drive retrofitted with a bull bar unsuccessfully rammed into the front shutters. In the basement, earthenware shook in each rack, causing poor John's face to pale. "Oh for crying out loud, it took me centuries to sort those bloody stones!"

"Those stones will be meaningless if you're dead, since you're the only one who can read them anyway," Charlie bluntly pointed out, "so if you have any ideas, now would be a good time to say something."

"Well Mr Smartypants, unless you can dig us another tunnel out of here, we're not going anywhere," was John's peeved reply. The redhead witch walked over to the stones they had just viewed and scooped them up before carefully placing them in a hidden pocket in his custom tailor-made pants. "We'll wait for my people to deal with the wolves, and then make a quick getaway."

"Wait, what the hell's going on?" Andy yelled, eyes glued to the screen as all of a sudden, wolves and witches alike slumped to the floor. All around them, dozens of metal canisters were spraying some sort of gas into the air.

"It's the drug," Maxim replied grimly, all too familiar with the potent chemical that rendered supernaturals immobile, locked in physical suffering for hours on end. Robert's men were already here and hellbent on taking everyone down.

John gasped as he gazed at his people in horror. "Are they dead?"

Offering the witch some mild consolation, Maxim reassured, "No, not dead, just incapacitated. They will recover eventually." John breathed a soft sigh of relief. Captured was still better than dead. He would need to think of a way to save his people later. But first, he needed to save himself and the little group in his basement. Unfortunately for them, being surrounded by these humans meant there was no escaping the building, so what other option was there but to try and stage an attack?

***

"Deploying knockout gas now, sir," one of Robert's men announced to his superior through the headset microphone.

"Copy that, Davis," Robert replied, before turning to address the team members guarding the secret exit leading to the alleyway, "listen up, keep your eyes and ears peeled. We know the area's teaming with supers, so don't let your guard down. And if anything tries to make its way out of that exit, you incapacitate if possible, shoot to kill if not." He scanned the group before his green eyes landed on a slender figure with a bow in hand and a quiver full of arrows strapped to their back. "Rivera, you're with me."

"Yes sir," the black-clad figure replied before following Robert to one of the vehicles. Robert drove the military grade humvee straight to The Old Bookstore with the windows down, his salt and pepper hair getting messed up in the process. As they neared the site, a sweetish floral scent permeated into the cabin.

"Smell that?" Robert asked with a smile, receiving a nod in reply. "It's the knockout gas. It's made from a very rare plant found only on the foothills of a mountain in the tropics." Robert's chuckle held hints of humour and mild embarrassment as he said, "I have to admit, I like the smell. I'm tempted to turn it into a perfume once we start synthesizing it in bulk."

The black clad soldier laughed. "I'd definitely buy it."

When they arrived, Robert's personnel, all in tactical gear, were already moving in from all sides with stun guns in hand, ready to take out any supernaturals not fully incapacitated. Other groups of soldiers carried large gas tanks towards the building, some busy scanning the walls and roofing for gaps.

Robert crossed his arms before giving the order, "Get that gas pumping pronto." He gazed at the building before him quizzically, "Let's find out why a bunch of supers were fighting over a damn bookstore."

*****

"Damn it!" Lannetta was losing it. "Those shitheads are going to gas the place up!" She began pacing around, hands perched angrily on her hips. "We're sitting ducks in here!"

Aidan calmly looked around the room before saying, "Not if we get my powers back."

Still pacing, Lannetta demanded, "How?"

Aidan tilted his head to one side, "Bite me."

The vampire skidded to a halt.

"Hear me out for a second". Aidan quickly explained, " Humans can't use Talents. Believe me, I've tried. I can feel it, feel the power, it's so close yet just out of my reach! I guess human bodies just aren't conducive somehow. But I know I can get us out of here if I'm a vampire."

Twin voices blurted out loudly, "Out of the question!" Lannetta and Gavin spared each other a look of agreement, neither one willing to lose a brother. Lannetta continued, "Brother, we agreed to figure out a way to reverse the curse of the sun so that you wouldn't have to potentially die again!"

"That was before we ended up trapped with no way out!" Aidan let out a loud groan, "We don't have time for this! Lannetta, we both know it's the only way!"

Without giving her time to retort, he switched from his sister to his brother, "Gavin, listen to me, if we don't try and Robert gets to me, I'll be dead anyway. He'll have a reason to keep the supernaturals alive, at least for a while, but no reason at all to keep me or Hailey alive." From somewhere nearby, Hailey gulped conspicuously.

He then turned to gaze calmly at Emilia. She in turn walked up to Aidan and cupped his face between her hands. "Are you sure you'll survive the transformation?"

Aidan placed his hands over hers, and replied with unquestionable certainty, "I am one hundred percent sure."

"Okay." Her hands landed on his shirt collar, tugging him even closer as she said, "Because if you don't, I will hunt your ghost to the fractured ends of reality and chain you to me for eternity."

"Wow. That has got to be the most romantic thing I've ever heard in my life," Hailey wholeheartedly blurted, eyes sparkling brighter than Christmas lights on a winter's night. Brandon, Andy and Charlie turned simultaneously to Gavin. "Someone's just made your love life this much more difficult," Charlie gestured with arms dramatically stretched wide, "by setting the bar higher than you'll ever be able to reach." Gavin replied nonverbally with a one-finger salute.

Despite the dire situation they were in, everyone chuckled. The only one looking absolutely dumbfounded was John, "I am beyond lost right now," he muttered out loud. Hearing him and knowing how unhappy the spymaster must be to be the only one left out on a secret, Samaira flashed a broad grin, "If we survive this, darling, I'll fill you in on the juicy details."

Seeing how confident Aidan looked, Lannetta breathed in deeply to calm her nerves before letting it out in a loud huff. "Alright. Let's do it," she agreed while pouting at her brother.

He nodded to his sister and then with a big smile, Aidan turned to Emilia, kissing her long and slow. He would have kept going but the mocking sounds of multiple throats clearing and several exceptionally loud coughs forced him to break their kiss with a sigh. Emilia sent death glares all around but Maxim merely shrugged and deflected her irritation by saying, "You can continue romancing at your location of choice in any part of the world, as long as it's not here."

Aidan confidently faced Lannetta, "I'm ready." Byron moved to place a chair beside Aidan, "You should probably be seated for the change."

"Right. Okay." Suddenly feeling a trickle of nervous energy, he looked at the only transitioned vampire in the room, "How bad is this going to hurt?"

Byron's acting skills bordered between subpar and atrocious as he gave the most pained smile Aidan had ever seen while saying, "Oh it'll be a breeze."

The human let out a shaky breath but sat on the chair, fear and determination like two warring factions in his mind. Lannetta approached, fangs already elongating in preparation. Theoretically, Aidan knew what would happen next. All vampires produced two liquid chemicals in separate glands linked to their retractable fangs. One was a numbing agent that also induced short term euphoria in humans, while the second was a paralytic toxin.

During the early beginnings of vampire society, when hunting was still the norm, an overdose of both chemicals in a vampire's prey led to a quick death while allowing them to feed easily. For Aidan, all that was needed was a dash of the toxin from Lannetta's fangs to start the transformation process. Unfortunately, through trial and error, vampires learnt that human transformations were only successful if the numbing agent wasn't used. Aidan knew this, and he knew that while the bite alone would be torture, the transformation was even worse. Still, he gritted his teeth, tilting his head sideways for better access.

Lannetta moved at lightning speed, canines slicing through flesh and injecting the toxin before extracting herself all in one breath. Aidan didn't even realise he was bitten before an explosion of pain hit him so hard he nearly fell off the chair had it not been for Byron's hold around him. He could only utter a pitiful yelp before his body went limp.