Recap:

"This is the only chance we have to stop the Dark Ones. How much harm could it bring if we met with him?"

I was seeing red. The level of stupidity that he was functioning with was astonishing. "We could die!" I screamed.

Dmitri rolled his eyes. He felt as if I were the one acting crazy. "Don't you understand Caddie. If we don't figure out who the traitor is we all die."

I was at a loss for words. All the arguments died on my tongue. He was right, if we didn't find the traitor soon we would all die. But was running into the Lion's den the best option? I certainly didn't believe so at the time. If we were to enlist the help of people who were  just as evil as the Dark Ones, then what made us any better than them.
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Caddie's POV:

"You don't have to like my plan," Dmitri said in a resigned tone, pulling me out of my musings, "You just have to agree with it."

Agree with it? That was a preposterous idea. He should have called his plan operation immediate doom, because there was no way he was going to survive. I shouldn't have even cared if he was marching off to commit suicide- but after everything we had been through the thought of anyone besides me bringing him pain, made my stomach coil in the most unsettling ways.

"There is no way I am going to let you kill yourself," I exclaimed hotly.

Dmitri's lips twitched into an amused smirk. Crossing his arms over his naked torso, he flexed his muscles in an attempt to extract a reaction from me. Without my consent, heat flooded to my cheeks as I quickly shut my eyes. It would be much easier to be mad at the Volkov twins if I put a bag over my head, I decided.

"I didn't realize my life mattered to you?"

I knew immediately he was digging for an answer I didn't have. He was trying to get me to confess my undying love for him and my burning need to keep him safe and well. Unfortunately, I didn't feel anything for him, besides physical attraction. And my need to keep him safe was equal to the need I felt to keep the rest of my people safe. No matter how badly he wished, Dmitri would never hold a special place in my heart. I only wished I could feel the same way about Aleksander.

"Of course it matters," I said through clenched teeth, "If I give you permission and you die, I'll be held accountable."

The smirk vanished from his face as dark emotions filtered into his system. Clenching his fists, he sniffled and tried to hide his rejection and hurt. I honestly didn't enjoy hurting him but we were such separate forces, it would never work. The sooner Dmitri accepted the truth of my feelings, the sooner we could try to become friends.

"Well I'll try not to be such an inconvenience then," he hissed.

I would have rolled my eyes if I didn't know he was being serious. For some idiotic reason he actually believed I couldn't care less about his life. Perhaps to other people I come across as a heartless witch but I would never let anybody endanger their life. Unless it was for the greater good. And even though Dmitri believed his plan was flawless, I couldn't help but feel as if it were too easy. There had to be some sort of catch.

"Your life isn't an inconvenience!" I snapped, "In fact it is far from it. The only reason why I am not agreeing is because your plan sounds stupid and will most likely end in death."

I should have felt it earlier but I was too distracted by Dmitri's other emotions. There was a trace of mischief hidden in his angelic blue eyes. His depressed facade was fake, he was simply pulling me into a trap.

"My plan is not stupid but if you care so much for my life then perhaps you should come along. In that case, I'll be safe with my little body guard."

I tensed when he said body guard. My thoughts instantly turned to my ex best friend. She was probably on her way to Dmitri's room now, ready to pull me out of danger. I distantly wondered if she had been stalking entire life through her visions, making sure I never got hurt. White hot anger filtered through my veins when I realized she had probably seen a vision of Cam dying but didn't tell me because she knew it would only cause me pain.

"We don't need any body guard! We are perfectly capable of taking of our selves!" If I were a cartoon character, steam would have been spewing out of my ears.

Dmitri tried his hardest to repress a grin. Pride, infiltrated his system when he heard my response. In the spur of the moment, I had accidentally agreed to his plan. And even though my consent wasn't written down, a guy like Dmitri would never let me back out. I cringed when I realized my mistake and reminisced the days when I was quiet and controlled.

"Wait I didn't-" He placed his hand over my mouth before I could finish and flashed me a cocky smile.

"I think you did. And why wouldn't you? You're only doing this to save your entire species. It's not like we're endangering several lives for one."

Narrowing my eyes until Dmitri's figure became blurry, I raised my left hand wiggled my fingers. Insignificant little sparks flew from my fingertips- they weren't any more harmful than sparklers- but Dmitri quickly returned his hand to his side. It was strange, I thought, it had only been a year ago when I was regularly picked on. Kids knew I wouldn't retaliate because I was small and weak- nowadays people are scared to even think about in a disrespecting manner. The possibilities of pure torture I could create was absolutely endless. It was insane to even imagine the carnage, the image only created a deep pain in my chest. I couldn't understand how mother turned torture into a recreational hobby. That's because you're not like her, my conscience told me. I was glad that the demons in my head chose to stay silent because for once in my life I was sure I was making a good decision. Maybe it wasn't the best solution to the problem but in the end Dmitri was right- it couldn't hurt that much to try.

"O-Kay," I drawled out slowly, "So let's say in hypothetical situation I do agree to your plan and act as your body guard while you meet the big bad vampire. How would we get out of here? Heidi cursed the castle, nobody can enter and nobody can leave."

Dmitri rolled his eyes, "We can just teleport out of the castle."

I shook my head, knowing for a fact I could only teleport to places inside the castle. Never could I teleport out of it. My aunt's infuriating need to protect everyone had also taken away our freedom. But that hardly matters to her, as long as we're not dead everything was swell.

"We can't teleport outside of the castle but I think I may know our ticket out," I bit my thumbnail as my mind wandered to the dark cavern I had recently discovered.

Dmitri didn't even question my cryptic response. The eager look on his face clearly stated that he didn't care if he had to ride on wild boar with angel wings- he just wanted to leave. Grasping my hand, he didn't give me anytime to think before the world was shifting around us. I quickly closed my eyes as our bodies became encased in the shadows. Temperature changed drastically as my feet touched the rocky cliff.

My eyes opened as soon as the smog cleared. Peering over the edge, I grimaced as I saw the raging lava river below us. I instantly backed away when loose pebbles and dirt fell over the side of the cliff, feeding the ravenous fire. Smoke puffed into small mushroom clouds as the lava swallowed up the fragments. I decided it was best to stay away from the edge, to avoid becoming the river's next meal.

"How did you do that?" I asked sharply, turning my attention to my companion- who looked a little too innocent.

Dmitri was now magically dressed, in a pair of well-tailored jeans and a blue sweater. His dark hair was ruffled by the underground cave's mysterious hot wind. A charming smile was worn tightly on his face as he tried his hardest to keep his usual mischievous glint out of his eyes. That was his first mistake, I realized, he was trying way to hard to seem normal.

"Do what?" He hummed.

I narrowed my eyes into an icy glare. The temperatures in the cave were scorching and yet my glare seemed to freeze the blood pumping through his veins. Dmitri clenched his clenched his jaw as he furrowed his eyebrows. He seemed indecisive- almost like he was wondering if lying to me would work. It wouldn't though, the second he uttered some over simplified explanation I would immediately snap. Only Dark Witches and Dark Ones could teleport and I knew for a fact he wasn't a Dark Witch.

"You teleported," I responded bluntly. There was no need to any other explanation.

"Hm," he licked his lower lip, "I suppose I did."

I gawked at him. Dmitri had to be the most complex puzzle that had ever existed. I doubted even Albert Einstein could solve all of his problems. A normal person would have been sweating bullets if they just confessed to treachery. But then again, a distant thought popped into mind, he could be innocent.

"So you are the traitor," I hissed.

Dmitri frowned. He didn't feel guilty or shocked by my accusation at all. Most of his emotions were muddled- like always- but I could feel streak of annoyance. How dare he have the audacity to feel annoyed? I was absolutely livid. My fingers kept itching to incinerate him from existence. But I rationalized that, that would be too kind of me. His suffering should last should last a lifetime. My mind continued to create sadistic plans for the future until Dmitri spoke again.

"Certainly not!" He exclaimed. Pinching the bridge of his nose, he turned away from me as if he could not stand to look at me- and seized control of his emotions.

"Then how do you explain the teleportation! I bet this whole plan was just a ploy to kill me!" He was so close to the edge of the cliff, it would have been so easy to push him over.

Dmitri snapped his head back to look at me. His blue eyes were lit in a fiery blaze. The normal, straight nose that sat symmetrically in the middle of his face was wrinkled with rage. He bared his pearly white teeth to me as he let out a snarl. It would have been intimidating if I had not an actual animal snarl before.

"Shut up Caddie!" He barked, "Yes, I did teleport. But no, I am not your traitor."

"Then how-" I started to ask but he cut me off.

"We all have specialized powers. A technique that we've mastered that others cannot," he informed me, "My special power, is the ability to absorb other gifts. I don't take them but I'm able to replicate them. That's how I was able to seem like Aleksander last year. My dad used his powers on me and I was able to replicate them. I gathered a collection of unique gifts, I can never perfectly replicate the gift. It'll always seem significantly inferior compared the original witch or warlock who mastered it- but I can still use it."

I was about to open my mouth when he answered my unasked question. "And before you ask: No, I cannot replicate any of your other powers. Just teleportation. Even then there are flaws, I can only activate that power when I'm touching you."

I was astounded. If Dmitri was telling the truth, then he was like a male version of Rogue from the X-men. But if he was lying then I was being a big fool.

"How do I know you're telling the truth," my voice was stern and uncompromising.

"I could read your mind, like Maddox." He suggested casually.

My eyes bugged out. I hated the thought of Maddox digging around in my mind, it would be even worse if Dmitri invaded my privacy. Hastily shaking my head, I forced him to choose another gift.

"Fine," he pouted like a child that was deprived of their candy.

"I'll try Alix's power instead."

I almost thought he was pulling my leg until his bright blue eyes became milky white. Incoherent words escaped from his lips as he searched through the future. An overwhelming amount of fear hit me like a truck as Dmitri started to shake. His body inched towards the edge of the cliff as he convulsed uncontrollably. I was only able to make out one word before he fell, "Dragon."

**MURPHY!! Guys I want a pet dragon... and coincidentally I want to name him Murphy. On a different note do you think that Dmitri is lying or is he telling the truth? I'm not revealing who the Dark One is till the very end though so keep on guessing. Sorry for being late on my update (and once again it's completely unedited) I've had state testing all day. My brain is fried lol. I hope you all are doing well and if not I hope this will make you feel better.

XOXO,
Ro.