WHEN THE RINGING in Hannah's ears abates, Reid's cursing colourfully.

Hannah's heart sinks when she looks up and sees him lowering himself to the ground, his back propped against the lower cupboards. He's holding his shoulder, and blood slips from between his fingers.

"It happened again!" Reid laughs and then winces. "Shit..."

A kitchen chair screeches. Rowan crawls from under the table to Reid, laying her palms over his and helping him keep his blood inside where it belongs.

She murmurs softly, calming Reid's rapid breaths, and Hannah is glad the woman chose to hide; if she hadn't, the bullet would have hit her instead. She would have been directly in its path.

"Reid," Hannah whimpers. She knows it won't be like last night, but even so, her stomach clenches, and the urge to vomit rises to burn her throat.

Reid looks at her, just as Kiernan fully relinquishes the gun from Stanton. Reid's pulling the hem of his sweatshirt up as he growls, "Kill him, Hannah; we'll bury him in the backyard." He gives her a strained smile that holds no mirth and leaves her seriously wondering if he's being serious.

Without his sweatshirt, the bullet wound is not that big, but it's bleeding profusely, and Hannah feels dizzy. Rowan's fingers are red, but she keeps talking to Reid in a low tone, holding his gaze, and seems unbothered by the chaos.

Kiernan ends the agent's struggling with a hard, cracking punch that had Stanton's eyes rolling back, but the agent is still conscious, clawing at the vampire's hand that's begun to press against his windpipe.

"We can't kill him," Hannah whispers to Reid. She frowns deeply when he gestures angrily at his bleeding shoulder, which Rowan's fingers keep pressure against. "He—"

She grasps Stanton's wrists and uses her upper body on his arms when his struggle renews. He's strong. Hannah shouts, "We're not killing anyone!"

At that moment, Hannah hears a crash from the corridor and catches sight of Kane on his back in the doorway. He narrowly misses a punch that would have hit his throat.

Only to have those same bony knuckles hit him in the jaw hard enough to crack his head to the side.

Bitch.

Maybe she'll rethink her fear of murdering the supernatural equivalent of law enforcement.

Kane is wearing the same look he does when facing down a hoard of vampires: a gaze alight with excitement and a near smile on his bloody lips. He kicks Nyx in the stomach and sends her down the hallway with a resounding thud.

He's on his feet with a slight sway to his form and doesn't wait for Nyx to come to him, rushing her with the enthusiasm of a charging grizzly. He's terrifying.

Hannah's mouth is dry.

"Sweetheart."

Hannah looks up and feels an out-of-body sensation upon meeting Kiernan's dark eyes, which has her heart beating faster. She wonders, distantly, how she went from faking fortunes with Valrus to this chaotic moment in her life.

Kiernan lays his palm on Stanton's wrist and holds tight, freeing one of Hannah's hands. He keeps pressure on Stanton's windpipe and whispers calmly, "Cover his mouth."

Hannah does, feeling disturbed that her fingers tickle with the gasps of breath Stanton tries to take through his bluish lips. He's trying to shout, but it's unintelligibly garbled.

Kiernan holds the struggling man down effortlessly. His knee must be hurting Stanton terribly where it's pressed across the agent's stomach.

After a soft hum, Kiernan says, "His nose."

Her hand slowly slides up, covering the man's gasping mouth and flaring nostrils. She holds Stanton's gaze, brown eyes hateful, and then, widening with fear when he tries to take in air with a faint wheeze, but can't.

Kane is still fighting. Rowan is talking to Reid, and he's answering. But it's all background noise when Hannah looks up, and the approval Kiernan is giving her, through dark, hooded eyes, reminds her of a stormy gaze she'd dreamt of last night.

There's a sensation Valrus would give her when they met eyes sometimes, in those quiet moments with the lights turned low—a lurch of falling that twists heat low in her belly.

She feels it now.

Kiernan doesn't shift even when Stanton begins fighting for his life, kicking and thrashing. "Don't let go," he whispers, keeping her gaze hostage with no power to force her complacency, tapping into her deepest, darkest desires that she thought she had rid herself of when that necklace slipped from her shaking fingers.

Hannah feels sick. "I can't..."

"You are," Kiernan assures, and his velvety voice is a shiver-inducing fingertip rising up her sweaty back.

Kane curses from the hallway, and the reminder of his presence pulls her from the brink. She lifts her hand and grabs Kiernan's wrist, yanking the vampire's unresistant fingers off the agent's windpipe.

Stanton takes in gulps of air desperately.

"We're not killing anyone," Hannah says shakily. She shudders as Kiernan blinks at her with half-lidded, unreadable eyes and a subtle tilt to his head that raises the hairs on the nape of her neck.

She doesn't allow her glare to waver.

The phone on the table rings loudly.

The ringtone is a funeral song with dramatic organ bellowing and bagpipes.

Reid groans.

"Agent Nyx!" Kiernan shouts, freeing Hannah from his dark gaze to look towards the doorway.

The scuffle in the hallway goes silent.

Nyx pops into view, seemingly out of nowhere, displacing, and the smell of sulfuric magic fills the air.

Hannah's momentarily taken aback by the blatant use of magic when she's never cared to utilize her own.

The agent wipes at her bloody mouth with the back of her hand and takes in her partner's groggy state before slowly following Kiernan's pointing finger to the vibrating phone.

Kiernan drops his hand. "It's for you."

"You're all going to die," Nyx snaps angrily, limping to the table just as Kane stumbles into the kitchen and grips the door jamb to stop his waver.

Kane's nose is bleeding, but other than that, he seemed to hold his own amazingly, even drunk, and Hannah can't help feeling a pang of pride swell in her chest.

Then she's wanting to vomit again at the sight of Kane's paling face as he staggers to Reid with a breathy curse before dropping to his knees and, with shaking fingers, pokes the bullet wound without gentleness.

"Ow!" Reid slaps Kane's hand away. "Stop—that hurts."

"Shut up," Kane growls. He grabs Reid's jaw, smearing blood, and shakes Reid hard enough to make Hannah worry for his poor brain. "Why do you keep getting shot, moron?"

"I don't mean to," Reid chokes.

"You're lying," Nyx says angrily, the phone held against her ear in a white-knuckled grip. "Why would she—I'll—shit—" She slowly looks at Reid on the ground, bleeding, and says coldly, "He's fine."

Reid laughs bitterly and gives her the middle finger. She returns the gesture angrily. Then, Nyx takes the phone from her ear and, with obvious reluctance, passes the device to Kiernan.

Reid gives Kiernan a withering look as the vampire rises with the phone against his ear. Someone's speaking on the other end, but Hannah can't pick up any words.

Although she can guess from the funeral ringtone that it's Gabriel, or Satan, as Reid refers.

Realizing she still has a hold of Stanton's wrist, Hannah lets go and wipes her hands on her shirt, as if it'll rid her of the horror that nearly occurred. She rises and backs up while swallowing the urge to help the agent to his feet. His nose is broken, bleeding sluggishly.

Stanton shifts onto his hands and knees, breathing raggedly. He rubs at his bruised throat, his gaze groggy, and accepts the hand Nyx offers to pull him to stand. He's unsteady on his feet as Nyx whispers near his ear in a low, harsh voice.

He curses at whatever is said.

"They'll comply—yes, of course," Kiernan says coldly. He rolls his eyes at Reid's shaking head. "He's uninjured."

He ignores Reid's shaky thumbs up. "You should know. Your son has lost his mind." It is Gabriel on the other end, even though he's far away; he's taken control of the situation instantly. "He's been using his domination to force me to stay by his side."

Reid would have been on his feet with an angry snarl if Kane hadn't chosen that moment to stick his fingers into the bullet wound. He curses and thrashes, but Kane doesn't stop, entirely focused.

"You bastard," Reid pants, and it's not clear who he's talking about, but Hannah bets it's Kiernan because the vampire's receiving a slanted glare from Reid's dilated blue eyes.

Uncaring that Reid's cursing up a storm in between bouts of ragged breath, Rowan rubs a gentle hand over his blonde head. In a soft voice, she gives sweet assurances. Her presence seems to calm Reid's anger enough to whine, "Ow! You can't just—your fingers are huge!"

Kane's drunkenness is apparent when he chuckles and says, "Funny, Hannah said the same thing."

Hannah flushes. "I did not."

Reid laughs, high and pained.

"Yes," Kiernan says and stares at the closed cabinetry above the countertops, blinking rapidly. He doesn't seem thrilled at whatever is being said on the other side of the phone. "The restaurant this morning? It was him—yes, one moment."

He slowly approaches and holds the phone, screen up, for Reid to take. "Your father wishes to speak to you."

Reid snatches the phone. His nostrils flare as Kane continues to dig in the wound with squinting eyes, but somehow Reid shutters his expression to placid when he presses the phone to his ear and says coldly, "Hello, no, please, fuck off and die."

He shifts his thumb to hang up the call, but something is said on the other end that gives him pause.

From the doorway, Stanton murmurs shakily, "Did he just..."

Nyx snorts, smiling. "Tell Gabriel Kimberk to fuck off?" She shrugs at Stanton's look of horror. "He said 'please'."

"Threats now?" Reid drawls, unimpressed. "Boring. I've heard them all before."

As he listens to whatever is being shouted over the cellphone, causing him to wince, he touches a fingertip to Rowan's nose and taps once, gently.

Rowan beams an infectious smile, and Reid's gaze lightens in a way Hannah's never seen before: genuine happiness. And Hannah wants to see him wear that warm face forever.

He's very handsome when he's happy.

"Fine. I'll give his phone back." Reid groans and thuds the back of his head against the cupboards in exasperation. "Fine! His keys too. What else do you want?—I've been feeding him human food—What?—Stop tormenting him?—I haven't been!"

Kiernan's fallen expression matches the one all of them are wearing because, despite Kiernan having been their enemy only last night, Reid has been tormenting the vampire to the point of not allowing sharp implements in his vicinity. And Hannah doesn't think it's because of the risk of reprisal.

Reid averts his gaze to the tiled floor between his sprawled legs and whispers angrily, "He's mine."

Kane looks up from his bloody task, frowning. "Stop that mine shit," he whispers harshly.

Looking up, Reid's eyes soften as he presses the phone against his good shoulder and whispers, "You're mine." He grins beneath Kane's deepening glare and takes the hard whack to his injured arm with a sharp inhale and breathy laugh.

"You didn't deny it," Reid purrs delightedly, fluttering his lashes Kane's way, but it does little to quell the fire of rage that's sparking behind Kane's green eyes.

Bringing the phone back to his ear, Reid tilts his head, his blue gaze flickering to Kiernan as they both listen to whatever Gabriel is saying.

The kitchen has fallen silent, and slowly, Reid's lips rise into a crooked smile that has Hannah's heart hastening. "Yes."

"No," Kiernan growls. He's breathing faster.

"Yes," Reid says harshly. "Yes! I said yes. Goodbye!—No, I won't say that. Disgusting—Don't ever call again."

Reid passes the phone to Kiernan with a smile, basking in Kiernan's glare of anger that could kill a weaker man where he stands. He purrs, "For you."

Kiernan places the phone against his ear. He listens with shallow breath. "Yes," he says after a moment, "I will—For how long?—Of course—Alexander?—Of course." He looks grim as he hangs up the call, staring at the phone screen for a few seconds before giving the phone back to Reid.

Reid laughs. "Oh? Would you look at that? You are mine." He smirks at Kiernan's low growl. "What did he tell you? Watch me? Keep me out of trouble."

Reid pouts, but his eyes glint, delighted. "You're nothing but a promise to keep him informed on whatever we find out about Azrael. That's what you're worth to him."

Hannah crouches and lays a trembling hand on Reid's ankle. She squeezes, drawing his gaze to her, and hopes that in those precious seconds, she conveys with her eyes how uncharacteristically cruel he's being.

She must get through to those increasingly unfamiliar blue eyes because Reid doesn't goad Kiernan again; instead, he looks at Kane, frowns, and huffs with obvious strain, "It can't be that far in there."

"It keeps slipping," Kane answers gruffly.

Nyx clears her throat from where she stands beside Stanton in the doorway of the kitchen. Once she has everyone's attention, except for Kane, who's focused on getting the pesky bullet from Reid's shoulder, she says, "Gabriel Kimberk assured me that I've been misinformed.

"I've been conducting a solo investigation on these matters and wasn't aware the Bureau was already looking into these murders. Madeline Glena, the Bureau's chief, has—"

"She's your mother," Reid grinds through clenched teeth. He drags the fabric of his sweatshirt into his mouth to bite down as Kane continues to scratch at the wound harshly. He grumbles around the fabric, "I heard the phone call."

Nyx doesn't look pleased to have this known. "She is."

"Madeleine Glena's your mother?" Rowan squeals. Her hand smears blood on Reid's cheek when her focus shifts to blinking up at Nyx with star-struck eyes. "The head of the Bureau? I'd love to do an interview with you..." She seems to recall where she is and what she's doing because she adds hastily, "Later. Of course."

"No," Nyx answers coldly.

"It's really stuck in there," Kane whispers gruffly, and Hannah lays a hand on his upper back.

"I can try," Hannah offers.

"Me too," Rowan says with a reassuring smile that lightens Hannah's heavy heart a smidge.

Kane strains, "Maybe you—hold on, I think I can feel it." There's a disgusting, faint squelching every time Kane shifts his bloody fingers that has Hannah fighting the urge to vomit. "It's right there."

Reid spits his sweater out of his mouth in a gasping breath. He says with pain evident in his shaky voice, "Gabriel will kill Francine—"

Nyx's expression shadows.

"—and the only people looking for her, to save her, are us in this room. It's not hard to put together that you're looking for her as well; you said someone important to you was taken, and she's one of the only people that Azrael has deviated from his murderous sadism and kidnapped."

His gaze flickers to Rowan, and sadness passes through his blue eyes before he looks back at Nyx. "Let's make a deal."

Stanton says hoarsely, "Like we'd make—"

Nyx raises a hand, quieting her partner. "Gabriel claims he made an arrangement with my mother to stop these murders under his own jurisdiction.

"He was to find my—Francine and give her to the Bureau, alive and unharmed. If Gabriel dared lie, he'd have my mother's wrath personally. He won't have anywhere to hide. The whole of the Bureau will be after him."

Reid snorts. "Gabriel will kill Francine. Your mother, too. She probably already has a gun on her back without knowing it—an assistant, a security guard—someone close she'll never suspect. That's what he does—plans every angle. He's always in control."

"No," Kiernan interjects. "Gabriel will keep the deal. The Bureau will stay out of this matter. Madeleine agreed when the girl is found—"

"She'll be killed," Reid says, sucking air through his teeth when Kane does something particularly painful. He frowns at Kiernan's low growl. "Hush. You're already a bad dog. Don't push me."

"You're a vicious boy," Kiernan retorts with an edge, and it looks as if he's going to put up a fight, eyes dark and lips parting, but then he averts his gaze to the window above the basin sink. There's a slight quiver to his mouth Hannah feels an uncomfortable flop in her belly from witnessing.

Nyx has gone quiet, obviously contemplating deeply. She breaks the unsettling silence by asking, "What kind of deal did you have in mind?"

Reid winces, flinching, but Kane has a hold of his bicep, keeping him still. Hannah can see the sweat dripping from Reid's brow as he tries to hold back his agony and, at the same time, make a deal that could save their lives.

He strains, "We'll find Francine, kill Azrael, and you can take all the credit for stopping a murderous vampire. The Bureau's been trying to use the bombing at the auction to push their tyrannical agenda. The fact that it's Gabriel Kimberk's long-lost brother—"

"No wonder he wants this under wraps," Stanton remarks shakily.

Reid finishes with a curt, "In return, you'll help us, and you'll look the other way."

"The other way?" Nyx asks carefully.

"Like, for instance, if you saw a pair of fugitives—shit." Reid presses his lips tight, tosses his head back to thud against the cabinetry, and makes a throaty noise of subdued agony. His fingers fist his jeans in a shaking grip that strains the fabric.

Reid glares at Kiernan. His chest heaves. "Aren't you...feeling my pain?"

"Yes," Kiernan says stoically.

Reid gasps, "You're so weird!"

Then Rowan exclaims, "Look! He got it!" She claps happily, and Reid grunts tiredly in acknowledgment.

Hannah sighs in exhausted relief at the glint of a bullet that Kane holds between his fingers triumphantly. "It's over," she says, patting Reid's ankle. "It should heal now, right?"

Reid gives her a weary smile, but her question isn't answered because he's looking back at Nyx and says, "You'll look the other way by forgetting that Lucas Amala is a fugitive of the Bureau."

The name settles over the kitchen like smog, and the air grows tense as Stanton curses and Nyx straightens, her brown eyes sharpening.

Kane's gone rigid under Hannah's touch, and she knows he's primed to fight if need be.

Hannah wishes she'd thought ahead and grabbed the gun that's under her mattress upstairs. Her gaze flickers to Stanton's relinquished pistol, which Kiernan holds loosely.

Reid continues in a lazy drawl, "If you can manage that, we'll look the other way."

Nyx says angrily, "Lucas Amala killed five of our agents and murdered his partner in cold blood." She tries to start forward, impassioned, but Stanton grasps her arm, keeping her back. "There's nothing you have that would be equivalent to me overlooking my duty to stop a man who's capable of such savagery."

"Francine," Reid says, smiling.

Nyx warns lowly, "Don't..."

Reid's eyes fall, half-lidded. "She's Madeline Glena's daughter. That's why she was there that night at the crime scene, personally. Azrael's blackmailing her, isn't he? That's why she needs Gabriel's interference. She's desperate."

They're all speechless. Not just from the revelation, but the way Reid tilts his head and smiles just crooked enough to have Hannah's every instinct flaring to leave a shake to her hands—somehow he manages to do so while on the ground, shirtless, with blood-smeared fingers putting pressure on a gunshot wound.

Nyx doesn't deny the words. Her breathing is fast; she's panicked.

Reid says, "Francine Teller's your sister."

Hannah's ears ring. She looks at the woman standing in the doorway of her kitchen, and notices the similarities in their features: a small nose, high cheekbones, light freckles, and exactly the same brown eyes.

Memories of countless plaguing visions descend: cold concrete, pain, hoarse screams, and that velvety voice whispering in pleasure, 'Francine'.

Rowan squeals, "Holy shit."