3rd person POV

About two hours into the journey, Desmond pulled into a hotel to stay at until sunset. They'd found a restaurant a while back to get food for everyone. Catherine still hadn't stirred and none of them could do much to heal her, but Azriel was slowly regaining his color.

His violet eyes slowly opened just as Cassius was about to pull him out of the car to put him over his shoulder once again.

"What's going on," Azriel asked blearily.

"We'll explain everything inside. Can you walk," Cassius asked softly.

Azriel nodded and swung his legs out before slowly rising to his feet. His knees immediately buckled and Cassius caught him easily. He put one of Azriel's arms over his shoulders before walking him towards the hotel.

"You're wounded," Azriel pointed out.

Before Cassius could protest, he felt Azriel's magic fill his body, healing the bite marks and the slight limp in his leg. Thankfully, Azriel didn't collapse this time. His magic however retreated as quickly as it had appeared and Cassius frowned.

"You need to stop doing that," Cassius chastised.

"Can't help it. I don't like seeing people hurt when I can do something about it," Azriel replied cheekily.

"You can't help anyone if you don't take care of yourself first, okay," Cassius snapped.

Azriel looked surprised as he stared up at him and Cassius immediately softened.

"I just, you had us all worried back there. And when you healed my leg only to faint right after I thought you were, and it was all my fault and," Cassius blabbered incoherently.

Azriel stopped walking, pulling Cassius to a stop as well. His violet eyes had suddenly turned serious. Cassius couldn't bear to look him in the eye as he tried to control the hurricane of emotions running through him.

Panic. Fear. Worry. Guilt. There was so much guilt festering in him over everything that had happened, everything that had gone wrong.

"Cassius look at me," Azriel demanded.

Slowly, Cassius glanced up, trying to control his trembling lower lip. His green eyes were wide and brimming with tears. Azriel's hand came up to gently cup his neck, thumb skimming along his jaw in a soothing gesture.

"I chose to save you knowing I had little to no energy left because I knew you were our best shot of getting out of there. I chose to take care of you over myself because I knew what needed to happen and I trusted you to get the job done. It was my choice and you cannot blame yourself for it, do you understand me," Azriel said firmly.

Cassius slowly nodded.

"I'm going to need verbal confirmation," Azriel teased.

Cassius rolled his eyes before slinging Azriel's arm around his shoulder once again to head into the hotel.

1st Person POV

I slowly wiggled my toes as familiar warmth receded from my body. I whined a bit, reaching a hand out like I could pocket that soothing touch and keep it forever. His low chuckle reached my ears.

I opened my eyes.

All three of them were sitting around my bed staring at me expectantly. I scanned Desmond and Cassius briefly before fixing on Azriel. I didn't think before throwing my arms around his neck and all but squeezing the life out of him.

He hugged me back tightly, burying his face into the crook of my shoulder.

"Twice, twice I had to watch you collapse on me," I scolded halfheartedly.

"I'm sorry sweetheart," he teased.

I pulled back with a watery smile. His hand tucked a strand of hair behind my ear as a beautiful smile lit up his face. To think I had almost lost that smile. I turned to Cassius, who wore a proud, knowing grin.

"I knew you could do it," he said confidently.

"Well I didn't," I admitted with a smile.

We laughed and I reached a hand out to briefly squeeze his palm with mine. He might have been panicking during our final moments in those cells but ultimately; I didn't know what I would have done without him down there. I then turned to Desmond, who was wearing his trademark scowl.

"You were late to the party," I snapped as my smile dropped.

"And you almost got yourself killed," he shot back.

"Are you surprised," I teased.

"Not in the slightest," he retorted.

Neither of us knew what to say to each other past that. I was glad I wasn't dead and I was about eighty percent sure he was glad I wasn't dead. Neither of us were going to address this however for goodness knows what reason.

Instead we were just going to glare at each other for all of eternity.

I turned away from the maddening vampire and settled back more comfortably in the bed. A quick scan of the room revealed Theo and Annabelle asleep, and Alex just staring at the four of us with wide, unblinking eyes.

Of all kids to save, I'd managed to pick the creepiest one.

"So what did happen towards the end," I asked them.

Cassius began to narrate and my happy mood at still being alive quickly receded. When he finished, I just stared at him with alarm, half wishing I was still unconscious and that this was all a terrible dream. We were so royally screwed.

"Rafia's going to kill us when we get back isn't she," I asked with dread.

"I don't think even Azriel's skills with the ladies can help us escape that witch's wrath," Desmond replied glumly.

"Hey come on guys she did save us," Cassius said halfheartedly.

"I'm afraid I'm going to have to side with them on this one Cass. The woman isn't going to let us off the hook for this one," Azriel said ominously.

It might have seemed like something trivial to worry about, especially after we'd all barely escaped with our lives from the pack. But Rafia Hamilton had horror stories surrounding her and people who failed their missions. More than one gruesome one had reached my ears over my time at the Academy.

She was going to make the rabid vampires we'd dealt with look like angels.

When sunset finally came around, we all piled back into the car with me taking the driver's seat this time. Desmond called shotgun since he didn't want to get squeezed in the back.

Desmond looked like he wanted to kill someone however as Alex clambered onto his lap and dozed off before we even pulled out of the parking lot. It would have made a cute picture but Desmond was stiffer then a rod. His hands were glued to his side instead of around the boy.

I sighed and turned my attention back to the road.

"Cute," Azriel commented.

"Shut it," Desmond snapped.

Cassius laughed before settling himself more comfortably against the window to sleep. We had about three hours left in the journey and we were probably going to stop for dinner as well. The car gradually turned silent as Cassius drifted off.

The two teenage vampires in the backseat were staring at the ground like it was the most interesting thing in the world. It took me a second to realize that they were still kids, and no one had probably even asked them if they were okay after whatever had happened to them in those cells. They didn't look traumatized.

Then again they weren't going to be wearing a sign on their forehead to announce it if they were.

"Are you two doing okay," I asked hesitantly.

"We're fine," Theo snapped.

Annabelle shot him a glare at the tone.

"We're better now that we're out," she amended graciously.

"If you don't mind me asking, how did you two end up there in the first place," I asked.

Desmond turned his gaze from the window with interest. Even Azriel looked up from his phone to give the vampires his full attention. Annabelle looked disconcerted at the sudden scrutiny but she replied anyway.

"We came up here for the weekend with our parents. They were off investigating something so we figured we'd entertain ourselves by doing some exploring. Stupid, I know but we didn't think anything would happen. We stumbled on the border of pack territory when they captured us," Annabelle explained.

"Wait hold up, they captured you before you even trespassed? They didn't just let you off with a warning of some kind," Desmond asked disbelievingly.

"They just said that 'our intentions were clear enough and warranted an arrest by the alpha's orders," Annabelle replied.

"That doesn't make any sense. You did nothing wrong and even if you did, you're still minors. They should have shown you some leniency," Azriel mumbled more to himself.

"Did you see anything weird happening in that pack, anything worth mentioning," I asked.

There was a moment of silence. Annabelle looked at Theo nervously as her fingers twiddled nervously in her lap. He shot her a glare that clearly hid a fascinating story.

I wasn't going to push but of course Desmond wasn't going to let things go that fast.

"There are others in that pack. Rafia bailed us out but she can't shut down a pack of that magnitude and power. If you know something spit it out," Desmond pushed.

"Desmond don't push," Azriel said quietly.

"No this is serious. There are kids as young as twelve that that pack has taken in as prisoners and Cassius found a whole storage room full of vials. You owe it to the people we left behind to tell us everything," Desmond stated coldly.

Azriel looked disappointed as he turned away from Desmond. Desmond turned in his seat to look Annabelle and Theo directly in the eyes like staring at them long and hard enough would make them spill the beans. They were still nervously eyeing each other until they seemed to reach some silent consensus.

Surprisingly, it was Theo that broke the silence.

"We don't know much except that a batch of prisoners goes missing every week or so. I don't know what the pack does to them but they don't come back," Theo said.

"So what are they executing a new batch of people every week? That's sick," Desmond snapped.

"That doesn't make sense. Why would they do that," Azriel mused.

"Okay maybe they aren't killing them. Maybe they're using them for something," Desmond suggested.

I felt my heart stop as the realization slapped me across the face. The vials, the batches of prisoners, and the excessive amount of 'prisoners' the pack had connected like puzzle pieces in my mind. The conversation I'd overheard in the woods that day was the final piece of the puzzle. For a second, the road in front of my blurred and I immediately hit the brakes.

I was reeling, my mind going at a hundred miles per hour.

Desmond flew forward, hitting his head on the dash while muffling a curse. Alex and Cassius were instantly awake. Distantly, I heard cars honking at me.

None of that mattered.

"What the hell was that," Desmond snapped.

"What's going on," Cassius asked blearily.

"Is everyone alright," Azriel asked worriedly.

I took a deep breath, trying to shove the words out of my mouth without letting my panic slip through as well.

"They're conducting experiments. Those vials, I think they're injecting prisoners with them. " I said.

That man in the pub, he'd mentioned that his sister had gone missing. As that vampire attack at Blacksun played through my head, another piece of the puzzle finally fell into place. I'd been looking at this as two distinct problems all this time, the werewolves with their vials and the bloodthirsty vampire attacks.

What if it was all connected?

I was about to open my mouth but Azriel spoke first, his mind racing to the same conclusion that I'd come to.

"What if those vampires that attacked us were a result of experiments gone wrong," he asked.

His voice was shaky, skin pale with worry and fear. I slumped forward, putting my head onto the steering wheel. We'd barely been able to rescue two prisoners from that pack.

How were we going to bring them and their entire operation down before it was too late? We'd seen the damage just a handful of those vampires could do. We'd barely managed to escape that night with our lives.

"There were over ten batches in there and if each of them have already failed," Cassius trailed off.

The magnitude of the problem was barely comprehensible to my fear-filled mind. Those vampires were just the start. If they were going after shapeshifters, werewolves, what were they doing to them?

How much murder and chaos had we been blind to if so many batches had already failed?

"I have a worse thought," Desmond said slowly.

"Please don't," Theo countered.

He looked like he was about to puke any second. Annabelle put an arm around him comfortingly but it did no good. Desmond spoke anyway despite his protests.

"What if those vampires were a result of experiments gone right," he whispered.

The temperature in the car seemed to drop ten degrees. Even Alex, for all his stoniness, curled into Desmond's chest as his little frame shivered slightly.

If their experimentation, their 'chemical revolution' had enough victims, blood would flow down the streets with no one to stop it.

It would really mean the end of the world, as we knew it. 

Another chapter is up! Can't believe we're already at 8 chapters and over 800 reads. Thank you to everyone that's read and loved this book so far. I've loved reading your comments and your support is my biggest motivation for posting diligently every 4-5 days. I hope you liked this chapter. If you did, don't forget to vote and comment below. Any feedback is appreciated! 

This chapter was a tad dramatic but the plot is slowly evolving. What do you think is going to happen next? Also, what was your favorite part of this chapter?

I'll be posting the next chapter soon. Until then, 

Love, 

ASH