The pavers were damp from a recent rain. The grass was dewy, and the air smelled of petrichor. She'd never thought herself someone who preferred the foggy expanse of dense woodland over a bustling city. But staring across the yard at the evergreen trees that were a stunning shade of orange and red from the setting sunlight, she felt more peaceful than she had in her entire life.

Maybe the sensation of safety was from Kane's muscular arm around her shoulders, keeping her close. Her head rested against his broad chest, listening to the soft patter of his heart. She was so in love with him that it scared her silly.

They were about to fight a war, and the mere thought of losing him had her eyes brimming with tears. If that ever happened, she'd die right along with him, bleeding out from a broken heart.

Reid joined them a while ago, looking guiltier than a child who had stuck his hand in the cookie jar. After nearly tumbling down the slick steps of the deck, he'd taken the chair beside Rowan.

Presley, who was seated on the opposite side of her, had scoffed.

Then Lucas had shown up, waving off their worried comments about his injury. He had sat beside Asha and given her a kiss on her forehead. She'd smiled so wide that her cheeks dimpled. Then, she'd given Reid a gentle glance that Hannah hadn't been able to decipher, only that Reid had slid so far down his chair that he nearly ended up under the table.

Kane's green eyes had been darting around the table to Reid, to Asha, and then to Lucas, who had been in a suspiciously good mood despite having been on strict bedrest from a grisly stab wound for the last week.

Before Kane could say more than Reid's name in worry, Lucas had spoken up.

"Is this everyone that's coming?"

With Crystal sitting on his lap, a hand resting on her plump belly, Axel had said tightly, "Kiernan and Gianna will be a while."

Snickering from beside Axel, Wyatt had taken a hard punch to his shoulder from Anna, but it hadn't deterred his grin. "They're having a long conversation," Wyatt had said, waggling his eyebrows.

The vampire had deftly caught Anna's hand before she could hit him again and nipped her fingers, making her gasp and smile heatedly.

With his styled blonde hair and light-brown eyes, Wyatt was handsome. But the crookedness of his smile could rival Reid's when he'd fallen deep. After hanging around vampires for so long, it became apparent that some were more vampire than others—Wyatt was a vampire. More than Axel, who Hannah forgot had fangs until he yawned or smiled widely. But even though he gave off warning shivers, when Wyatt looked at Anna, with her pretty black hair pulled into a messy bun atop her head, he seemed so human it was unnerving.

They were obviously madly in love.

The other vampire who sometimes trailed the pair in silence, Uriah, ignored the small talk in favour of scrolling on his phone. Dark eyes that seemed wicked from afar and were even more so up close. Brown hair long enough to tuck behind his ears and a presence that made her uneasy. She hadn't heard him speak once. He'd been quietly observing their conversation.

"Let's deal with Sterling," Lucas had said casually. He'd risen from his chair with a slight limp. "Better to do it now rather than later."

No one had protested.

Not long after, Lucas had returned, holding Sterling by his arm, still cuffed, and carrying the chains firmly. He'd forced Sterling to descend the deck's stairs with a few threats to toss the agent over the railing. Sterling had refused to cooperate but ultimately conceded, perhaps having lost his will to die during his week of near solitude.

Now, Sterling sat at the head of the table opposite her father.

The thin chains were taut around the chair and its metal arms. He wasn't going anywhere unless allowed. His bandaged wrists made Hannah's stomach churn.

After the bear-mauling conversation, Anna had stitched Sterling's wounds while Kane and Axel had held him down, kicking and screaming, literally. Kane had emerged from the basement with a haunted expression, a bite on his forearm, and a few deep scratches on his hands and biceps.

They'd had to tie the chain tighter since then so Sterling wouldn't reopen his wounds.

From the other side of the garden table, Milton said, "I know we're not allies, but you desire revenge. Don't—" A pause. "What are you doing?"

"Attacking you telepathically." Sterling had his eyes narrowed into slits. "Is it working?"

"No," Milton answered, taken aback. He leaned back in his chair, eyes flicking to Lucas, who shrugged. He looked back at Sterling, frowning. "Has a telepathic attack ever worked for you before?"

"How would I know? It's telepathic," Sterling snapped, ignoring Milton's disturbed expression, swatting at a bug that landed on his nose, but his chains weren't long enough. He tried to blow it off, but it only fluttered its tiny wings.

Sighing tiredly, Lucas sat forward and waved the bug away.

Before Hannah could come to terms with what almost happened, Lucas grabbed Sterling's chin, stopping what would've been a savage bite to his fingers.

Lucas rose from his chair, his gaze dark, and Sterling sucked air through his teeth.

Against her, Kane tensed.

"I know you're broken," Lucas said darkly, "but I'll kill you, and I won't feel any regret. Understand? You're alive because of my good nature. And we both know I don't have much."

Sterling stared up at Lucas, his chin held in a tight grip that looked painful. Hannah thought she saw a flash of fear pass through the agent's hazel-green eyes.

"You're scary," Sterling whispered, smiling.

Lucas warned, "Don't push me."

"Fine," Sterling drawled, and the hand let go of his chin.

Red marks in the shapes of Lucas's fingers were stark against Sterling's pale skin. They'd bruise. The gruesome black and purple contusions from Azrael were still painting his face in violence, but some had become a lighter brown over time. Admittedly, without the swelling and a deeply split lip, which had healed into a shallow cut, Sterling was gorgeous.

But his maniac eyes, constantly gleaming with a spark of danger, overshadowed his loveliness. She pitied the fool who fell for the mockery of his amiable smile because they'd end up destroyed.

Scoffing, Lucas sat back down heavily. Asha laid a hand on his shoulder, and he gave her a fond smile. Watching the couple, Sterling scrunched his nose in disgust.

"Sterling." Milton inhaled tiredly. "We would like you to assist us."

"Let's just kill him," Reid said, arms crossed over his chest. Kane cuffed him on the back of his head, and he gasped. "That wasn't the voices! It was me. He's not going to help us." He gestured to Sterling, who was glaring at him hatefully. "That crazy bastard is going to stab us in the back the moment one of us makes the mistake of trusting him."

"Jealous," Sterling murmured.

Reid sat forward, his expression dark. "I gave you television. I took you to shower. I brought you clothing. I let you piss in the toilet instead of a bucket. And I put up with your constant bullshit."

Lucas looked taken aback. He mustn't have known that Reid cared for his prisoner while he'd been healing. Honestly, they were all surprised by Reid's compassion. He'd even give Sterling soap operas to watch, but that might have been creative torture in retrospect.

"Give me a reason to not drown you in the creak," Reid snarled, "because right now, I cannot think of one. You're a liability to us. Having you here is treason. We'd be better off burying you."

The expression on Rowan's face made Hannah's heart leap achingly. The woman looked shell-shocked, pushing back in her chair and leaning slightly away from Reid's.

Presley must have noticed because he found Rowan's hand and gripped it, glaring at Reid with wild eyes on the cusp of transformation.

"Reid," Rowan whispered, laying a tentative hand on his arm.

"I'm fine," Reid assured her, patting her fingers. But his gaze was dark, never wavering from Sterling.

Near her ear, Kane exhaled shakily.

When Hannah glanced at him, he was staring at Reid. Her heart sank, glimpsing in his eyes what she had seen this last week and only growing.

Hunger.

She held Kane tighter, and green eyes flickered to her, fond and familiarly exhausted.

She wasn't just worried about losing Kane to this war. She was actively losing him every time they opened their eyes and chose to live another day—not to a sword, not to a gun, not to grisly claws, but to the call of blood.

He'd confided in her a few nights ago and told her he wasn't confident he could beat the pull that kept his soul in a vice. But wouldn't allow her to tell Milton. He'd made her promise she'd keep it between them, and she had. She wouldn't break his trust, even if she was terrified.

"Thank you," Sterling said to Reid, smiling widely. "But you could have skipped the terrible television shows and just given me a blowjob. I asked you enough. But alas, you always refused. What's the point of having such a cute mouth if you don't use it?"

Reid growled, and Sterling mimicked the animal noise, smiling.

"Drop that shit before Kiernan gets out here, or you're dead," Axel warned casually. He held his wife close, her head resting on his shoulder.

The light from the citronella candle they'd lit danced across Crystal's pretty face and illuminated her comfortable smile. Crystal's mood shifted faster than a cheetah with its tail on fire. She was happy, crying, angry, and then affectionate to everyone. Sometimes, she slept for half a day.

Being a bystander to the nightmare made Hannah frightened of ever becoming a mother.

"Lucas, how are you doing that?" Kane asked abruptly.

Lucas glanced at the flip lighter he'd been agitatedly opening and closing, with its metal inlay glinting in the candlelight, before cocking his eyebrow at Kane. "What, mate?"

Milton clarified gently, "Your magic."

"Happens since it manifested when I was a kid." Glowing with wild magic, Lucas's gaze gradually slipped back to its familiar copper. "Same as you both." He frowned, brows pinching. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

Kane said, "The wards."

"So? Some magic gets through," Lucas reasoned.

"Not mine," Kane admitted tightly.

Milton nodded. "I have nothing."

"Asha can use her magic," Reid said softly.

They all looked at Asha, and she nodded, affirming.

Suddenly, Sterling snapped at Lucas, "Siphon my magic. I know that's your plan. I can't stand hearing your voice anymore. Just kill me—what are you waiting for?"

Lucas looked bewildered. "What are you on about?"

"I know that's what you're thinking," Sterling replied hatefully. "You've always thought so loud. It's vexing. Kill me and be done with it. Take my magic. When you go mad from my gift, it'll be my last fuck you." He laughed bitterly. "You wouldn't be able to handle a day in my shoes."

"How did you..." Lucas cursed under his breath.

"What?" Sterling took in their varying expressions of horror. Except for Rowan, who was smiling widely, ecstatic. "Was it the kill me part?" He laughed. "I thought I made it clear that I wanted to die."

"When did you read Lucas's mind?" Milton asked warily.

Sterling rolled his eyes. "When he grabbed me..." His expression shifted to shock, and then he looked at Lucas slack-jawed before bursting into laughter. "Oh. That's rich. You're like me!"

"Can you hear any of us at this moment?" Milton asked hastily. With a glare, he added, "If you lie, you'll regret it. You have my word."

"It's quiet," Sterling answered without hesitation. He traced a cross over his heart, chain clinking and smiled. "I swear."

"Don't fall for his shit," Lucas snapped, shifting in his seat slightly. "He's lying."

"They had your file stamped as a seer," Sterling said thoughtfully. "Top priority. I thought it was bullshit to give an incentive to catch you, but it was true. Wasn't it?"

Milton must have noticed Lucas was on the verge of fleeing or punching someone because he took over the conversation. "We don't know anything for certain. What we do know is Azrael is after you, Lucas. And you were able to give Sterling his gift even through the wards. This could be the reason. Let's not brush it off before we can confirm it's nothing, alright?"

Lucas nodded with a shadowy expression.

"Asha," Milton said. "Have you seen anything about Lucas? Anything that could hint at what kind of gift we could be dealing with?"

"I..." Asha replied nervously. "I may have..." She looked away, and Lucas stared at her, frowning deeply.

Sensing the table's collective curiosity, Milton explained, "Sometimes, a mage will have a gift but never know. It could be something trivial or unconventional. This could be one of those situations. Lucas has never known he had one because he had never needed to awaken it. It's not typical to have this many powerful wards on a property. A situation such as this is incredibly rare."

"Why does the Bureau call mages with gifts seers?" Hannah asked. "Isn't a seer someone who can see the future?"

"Correct," Sterling answered, smiling at her. "But the Bureau finds it easier to lump us all together. The official term for girls and boys like you is clairvoyant. Seers are anyone who has a gift they can utilize. Magic varies so widely that there are mountains of paperwork for each person locked up in prison."

"Their prison?" Rowan asked, frowning.

Sterling's only response was a cutting smile.

"So, seers are the general term," Reid interjected thoughtfully, "but the mages actually have different gifts the Bureau keeps secret because it doesn't want the specifics to be known publicly."

Oh. Hannah hadn't put that together. The Bureau must want to hide its assets.

Sterling nodded, smiling.

"I don't have a gift," Lucas declared angrily. "It was a fluke. So, stop fuckin' talking about this."

"Shut up," Kane huffed, rolling his eyes at Lucas's glare.

Asha's gaze rose, brown eyes wet. "I've seen...many things. My visions aren't clear. They're disjointed. I..." Her breath quickened. "I've recently seen Lucas lost in blood."

"Recently?" Lucas asked, frowning at her. "I thought you said your visions of me hadn't changed? Not in years—not since..." His gaze flicked to Reid, then fell back to Asha. "Love? Why didn't you tell me?"

Asha smiled sadly, and Lucas's frown deepened, lips parting, but before he could speak, Asha turned her attention to Milton. "I have not seen Lucas's gift. But a few nights ago, I saw dark mages kneeling in a circle." She looked down, despair filling her eyes with tears. "The rune you've been chasing was etched into the stone floor—the one that brings only death and sorrow."

She looked up, her gaze finding Kane and then Reid. "You were both there. Warrior and Prince. Fighting in a sea of blood. No matter how many enemies you cut down, they kept coming." Her eyes slipped to Lucas, her shaking hand finding his fingers and squeezing.

Kane grasped the back of Reid's chair, white-knuckle. Reid's head turned, his blue gaze finding Kane's, and something heavy went unsaid between them.

They were going to fight an unstoppable army? Not even Kane could overcome those odds.

She held Kane tighter.

"You, my heart, were there," Asha whispered to Lucas.

"Where?" Lucas replied, eyes fierce. "Fighting?"

Asha sniffled, tears falling down her cheeks. "You were in agony." She gripped her hair, breath coming faster. Lucas drew her close and held her against his chest. "I hated hearing your cries of pain. I can't...I can't..."

"Asha," Milton said carefully. Asha's teary gaze found his. "In this vision. Was Lucas in the middle of the rune? The one that was being invoked?"

"Yes," Asha replied, teary.

A heavy silence fell over the table. Lucas was the key to all of this? How? They were missing so much, always a step behind, and knowing that made her nauseous.

Sterling smirked at Lucas, but his eyes were cold. "How tragic," he said with a fake pout. "You'll die in agony. I'd feel bad that you'll suffer such a tragic fate. Except..." He smiled widely. "I don't. You deserve it."

The fact Lucas didn't retaliate, looking away, gaze distant, spoke volumes to how shaken up he was about this revelation.

Reid glared at Sterling, probably debating following through on his threat to bury the agent. But after a hefty sigh, he tipped his head back, glancing up at Hannah. "Could you have a gift?"

She frowned at Reid. "I do, don't I?"

"Oh, right. I forgot about your creepy dreams." Reid grinned at her. "I was thinking of something cooler."

"Cooler?" Kane humoured, fingers intertwining with hers. "Like what?"

"Stopping time," Sterling said.

"That is cool," Reid agreed, sitting forward excitedly. As if he hadn't just threatened to murder Sterling for acting up. "Is that possible? Time magic?"

"Yes, I suppose it is," Milton answered with a soft hum. "In small, controlled areas of effect. However, I've never heard of a mage having such a gift."

"He's talking about spells that will make everything slower." Sterling angrily swatted the bugs flying around his head. "That's not time magic."

"Yes, it is," Kane snapped.

"Nope." Sterling laid his head back and closed his eyes. "The perversion and manipulation of time. That's time magic. Slowing an area is just that—slowing. It's not messing with the passage of time. It's contorting nature. So, if we want to get technical, a slow spell falls under the classification of transmutation.

Rowan squealed, "Awesome!"

Opening his eyes, Sterling stared up at the star-speckled sky. "Isn't it?" He sounded wistful. "Imagine being able to change your past on a whim." Lifting his head, he winked at Milton. "Just so you know, time magic is quite real."

"In theory," Milton agreed warily. "But no spells exist to manipulate such forces."

"They shouldn't," Kane said grimly. "Humanity would be better off without that kind of power. There's a reason dark magic is forbidden."

Not reaching up to touch her eyes and ensure they weren't silver was difficult.

"Knowledge is always worth seeking." Sterling waved his hand dismissively. "Dark magic isn't evil. It simply follows other rules." He sounded like Valrus.

"Bullshit," Kane muttered.

Sitting forward, Sterling grinned lazily. "What would you say, Milton Rainer, if I told you those spells existed?"