Nico followed Artemis Beauchamp, the witch, sticking to the shadows. He had told Icaro he didn't know why he was following her but he knew why. Something about her made his protective instinct activate, last night, he had to stop himself from killing her brother. When she had seen him on the roof, he expected her to get help or use her magic but she had waved. She had been shocked as he had been but he had waved back. She walked into a cemetery and he followed her. He blinked, she had disappeared then he caught her cinnamon and rose scent before she tapped his shoulder.

"Why are you following me?" He turned and saw she was scared...But not of him. A bruise was on her cheek and his protective instinct grew. "Hey Nico, why are you following me? It's very dangerous." Nico swallowed, his throat suddenly dry.

"I wanted to thank you for telling me to find my brother, Artemis. If I had not found him..." He trailed off as he realised. "You saw what would have happened. What happened to your face?" She touched her cheek as though she had forgotten.

"My house is filled with Beauchamp ghosts and I didn't wake up with my alarm," He knew she was lying and she knew he knew. "Because I was in a priest hole with two vampires, a werewolf, a faerie and a demon. My father is very against my family hanging around with your kind and every other kind so my brother protected me." Nico understood and looked around for the familiar smell of witches but only smelled his brother.

"Only if you are caught. There is no witches for at least five miles," He glanced at the flowers in Artemis' hand. "If you are scared, I can stay with you while you visit your dead," He expected her to tell him to go away but she sighed and walked away, waving for him to follow. He followed at a respectable distance and stayed there when she stopped at a pair of graves. She knelt down, splitting the flowers between the graves. "Hey Apollo...Mother. If you could give me a better idea of what I'm looking for in that book, it would make me very happy...Well, as happy as I can be without my twin at least." She stayed on her knees, listening to the blowing of leaves before standing up. When she walked passed, he grabbed her arm gently.

"What book? Maybe I can find whatever you're looking for," Artemis shook her head and Nico smelled demon. "What demon is trying to sneak up on a vampire?" Andras, the demon from last night, hopped over a gravestone and smirked.

"I wasn't sneaking. If I was sneaking, I would've poofed behind you," He sat on the gravestone with a frown. "Why is your brother hiding from you? He is horrible at it." Nico realised he was still holding Artemis and let go as Icaro appeared beside him, alerting Nico to the smell of a werewolf and a faerie.

"He could smell me. Besides, I was watching out for both of them," He pointed behind him and then to a nearby bush. "Also, Jones, Poppy, I know you're there." Poppy stepped out from the bush, still playing with the sprout from last night and Jones continued to ride her bike with her bat in the basket.

"Art, you need to hide your fear. I was able to track it here," Jones said, propping her bike against a tree. "So...I'm guessing we all felt drawn to each other?" Nico looked at Artemis as he nodded and saw her looking back. "Well, my foster parents will be thrilled but at least I'm too busy being in love with another werewolf to fall for one of you." Andras smirked at Icaro and Nico heard both of their hearts thump, interesting.

"We let your brother have the witch and have a battle over who gets the faerie?" Icaro nodded and Nico felt himself blush before seeing Artemis blushing too and smiling at him. "May the best guy win." Andras offered Icaro his hand and Icaro shook it. Poppy stopped playing with the sprout for a moment.

"I'd prefer a vote on this but knock yourselves out," She set the sprout down and strawberries grew from it. "So, are we friends now? I'd like to be friends with people who could teach me to fight." Nico shared a glance with Icaro who for once seemed completely at ease and smiled at Poppy.

"I think we are. Fate wants us to be friends, apparently," Artemis nodded, frowning at the grave that Andras sat on. "What is wrong, Artemis?" She pointed at the grave.

"There's a little girl who would like Andras to sit on someone else's grave," Andras got off the grave and sat on the nearest one. Artemis frowned at the ghost before looking at Jones. "Your sister says hello. She misses you." Jones looked at the grave and Nico knew she was holding back tears.

"I miss her too," The wind whipped around her and Artemis looked sad even though she was smiling. "Was she hugging me? Or punching me?" Artemis waved at Jones' sister's grave.

"Both. She seemed tough," Jones nodded, touching the grave. "She also told me your first name," Jones growled and Artemis laughed. The sound seemed unusual, even to Artemis but Nico thought it was the best sound he ever heard. "Which I will never say. So, if we're friends, we should meet in the town at three? No offence to all the ghosts but it's a bit chilly here," Everyone nodded except Nico and Icaro. "See you all at three then, outside the bookshop." Artemis turned to leave but stopped and Nico answered before she could ask.

"I will walk you home until I smell witches, then I will run away." Artemis nodded and continued walking with Nico a respectable distance away. Suddenly she stopped and looked impatiently at him, her hair blowing across her face.

"You could walk beside me, you know," Nico walked beside her and she watched him when she thought he couldn't see. "So, what's the real reason you've been following me? No half truths." Nico ran his hand through his hair before answering.

"Something about you makes me want to protect you," Artemis raised an eyebrow and before he could stop himself, he touched her bruised cheek. He expected her to flinch but she just watched him. "This makes me want to hurt your brother even though he was protecting you. I want to hurt anyone who wants to hurt you even though I know you can take care of yourself," He moved his hand quickly and tried to ignore the tingling in his fingers. "Why did you wave? Last night when you saw me. Why did you wave instead of calling for help or using your magic?" Artemis pushed a bit of Nico's hair back before answering.

"Because you made me feel safe in that house," Nico realised they had stopped walking and were standing very close together. "If you can...Can you protect me tonight as well?" Nico nodded and Artemis kissed his cheek. "Thank you. I think it's safer if I continue alone now. Bye." Before she could step away, Nico kissed her bruised cheek and waved as she walked away. Icaro stood beside him with a smirk.

"You like the witch so quickly?" Icaro asked in Italian and Nico nodded. "Well, brother, I will help you win her heart then. Only because she is already falling even if she is hiding it." Nico gave his brother a fistbump before they ran to their car. It seemed funny to Nico that after being stuck together for five hundred years, his brother would help with his love life since it was the reason they were what they were. They reached the car and both got in.

"Speaking of winning hearts, is it the demon or faerie you desire?" Nico asked with a raised eyebrow and Icaro didn't answer. "The demon then. He feels the same, I could hear it. Play the game and show off to him. He cares." Icaro snorted, playing All Time Low on Spotify.

"Brother, that is what you said about the Nine Day Queen," Nico held back a laugh and Icaro thought hard. "And what you said about Eleonora Gonzaga before she was Holy Roman Empress." Nico shook his head, his 'brother' smile coming out.

"And both times you ignored my advice. Poppy clearly isn't interested in either of you and Andras was watching you the entire time," Icaro sighed and skipped to Matchbox Twenty. "Thank you for helping me...Especially since my love life has a horrible tendency to fuck us over." Icaro smiled at Nico knowingly.

"True but you have ever been in love once. If you fall in love with her and it fucks us over," Nico glanced at his brother as he parked outside their house. "I will be happy for you. You in love is you happy...Even if she is a crazy vampire who could not tell the difference between us and accidentally turned both of us." Nico got out of the car to get a cat to the chest.

"Balthazar, you know I help with your bath, right?" Balthazar meowed, his black fur puffing before he went to Icaro who picked him up. "That cat has a good sense of smell, it should know the difference between us. You have to bathe him, Icaro," Nico walked into the house, leaving Icaro to the cat taming. "Madre, padre, siamo a casa." Livia Piccolo appeared on the stairs, her hair messy and a big smile on her face.

"Dominico, where is that hellcat and your brother?" Icaro walked in with Balthazar purring in his arms. "For an angel, Icaro, that hellcat loves you. You wash him, I have to clean these scratches. Dominico, help me." Nico nodded, smiling and followed her upstairs in time to hear Ariana screaming in the attic.

"I am not going to her," Livia gave him a look that said he wasn't allowed to argue. "She is the reason I am like this. The reason I had to watch my sister grow old and die while I stayed the same. I am not going anywhere near her. I may look like a child but I am five hundred years old and I have a right to not see her," Livia still gave him the look and he stomped up to the attic, partly to hide how much it hurt to go up to her, partly to let her know he's coming. He lifted a blood bag from the fridge before standing in front of the attic door. "Get away from the door." He heard the chains rattle away from the door and unlocked the door. Breathe, he thought before he opened the door.

"Welcome back, my love," Ariana crooned and Nico threw the blood bag to her. "Dom, come and talk to the only woman you have ever loved," He looked at her from the doorway, her blonde hair greasy, her blue eyes still full of wickedness and a once fancy dress in ribbons. "I gave you everlasting life and yet you will not talk to me." Nico growled low in his throat.

"You sent me to a living Hell with my brother. You call me your love but yet you could not see the difference between us. You are not the only woman I have ever loved," Ariana finished the blood bag and frowned. "I never loved you. I wanted you but I did not love you." He slammed the door after him and made it to his room before he let the bloody tears leave his eyes. Vampires didn't cry normal tears, they cried blood. His tears stained his t-shirt and he stopped crying as he found something in his jacket pocket. It was a note with a phone number in it, Since you're protecting me, here's my number, Artemis Beauchamp. He smiled and dialled the number. She answered on the first ring.

"Hi," She said and he lied down on his bed. "I wasn't sure you'd call. Doesn't this count as something that should affect your protective instincts?" His smile became a little bigger as he answered.

"You gave me the number to protect you so I am protecting you," She snorted and his smile became a grin. "What would happen if I picked you up for our friend thing later?" He knew he was pushing her but he heard her smile.

"Since I'm the only living Beauchamp at my house today, nothing but a ride to town," His grin grew before she clarified. "That was me saying yes to a lift in case that wasn't obvious." Nico sat up, rubbing his neck.

"See you at half two." She hung up and he grinned, his face feeling unused to it.