I manifest myself into the castle. I feel like an intruder, like an outsider, but the moment I glance around, a tingling sense of nostalgia begins to settle. How could I have forgotten this part of my life so easily? The way I felt here, the way it changed me, the way it smells like a thousand memories I never made.

I hear some noises from the kitchen and I approach it slowly. I see the back of Curtis' curly head and I feel relieved.

"Curtis," I whisper.

He turns abruptly, his hands stretched out with an electric current jumping from his palms. When he realises it's me, he stops it.

"Theresa, you nearly killed me," he gasps. "What are you doing here? Why is your chest bleeding?"

"You're not going to believe it," I say. "Where's the others?"

"I don't know. Out, maybe. The celebrations didn't last long when I told them about the demon."

I stand so still that he starts to panic.

"What is it? Why aren't you wearing the amulet?"

"Because she'll stop me," I say.

"Stop you?"

"You were right, I need to bring an Elder back. I need to bring Vienna back. She's the only one strong enough to save the world from what's coming."

"You're not making any sense."

"It's not the demons, Curtis. It's not what we thought it was. The demons have been trying to warn us, not hurt us. The reason that the Elders want Sam dead so badly is because he's the only Malachi that's ever visited their world. When Sam transports there, he creates a portal of energy that can only be controlled if he's alive. If Sam died then-"

"The portal would remain open," Curtis says. "And the demons would be able to walk the Earth."

"Not just the demons, Curtis. It's not just a portal to their world, it's a gateway to ours. I don't even think Sam is aware of it. The demons are trying to warn us all that something far worse and far scarier is trying to get through. Something that is pulling all of the Elders' strings."

"But why would you need Vienna? You have the amulet, right?"

"I need to bring Vienna back because I'm not going to live long enough to see any of it."

"What?" a voice says.

I turn around and I come face-to-face with Sam, who stands in the middle of the lounge. I bite on my lip and I walk into the room.

"Amara anchored me to an army of Slayers that she's brainwashed into killing you," I say. "You can't kill them, and you can't hurt them, unless you hurt me. Whatever happens to me, happens to them, so I have to die to save your life."

"You can't just burst your way in here and say that you're bringing Vienna back because my life is in danger. Are you crazy?"

"Possibly," I say, walking towards him. "But this is real. It's happening. They're out there, right now, circling the castle. A lot of things are happening right now that are out of my control!" I hold my head in my hands as I fight back tears. "I don't know what's real anymore, but I know that being here, telling you that I was wrong, is the realest thing I've felt in my life. I need you to help me, Sam, because I don't know what to do!"

I collapse to my knees and I break in front of him. I hear Curtis shut the kitchen door and I rock back and forth as the pain takes over. I was so mean to him, I told him that I didn't care, that I had no feelings, but it was Samara. All of it was her. She took him away from me, she took this raw and powerful emotion away and now I have it back, I don't know where it leaves us.

His arms fold around me and he lifts me from the ground. I cry against his chest, and he holds me a little bit tighter.

"You're not dying for me," he whispers. "And you're not bringing Vienna back. Whatever is coming for us, we're going to face it together."

"You don't understand," I say. "Nothing can stop them."

"Theresa." He lifts my face with his finger. "I'm not scared of dying. And it isn't your responsibility to stop it."

"Sam, if you die, then the portal that you made will stay open. I saw all of their deaths. The demon showed me everything. It tried to show me before when it attacked me, but I wasn't listening. I am listening now. They're coming to kill the Slayers."

"Who is?" he demands.

"The ones that created us. The ones that created the demons, the ones that created everything."

He starts laughing and I realise how stupid it sounds. If someone had said this to me six months ago, I would have laughed, too. He shakes his head as he walks away from me.

"I know how it sounds," I say. "But I saw it. I can't explain it, unless you saw it, too."

"The demons don't show me things. And I see enough of what they do with my own eyes anyway. They're manipulating you, I told you they'd try something. You're a descendant of them, they're swaying you over to their side."

"No," I say. "What I saw, Sam, it was real. The demon healed me, it restored my memories and my feelings. I should have never gone through with the coronation. They used me. It was never mortals in the Red Camps, it was Slayers that are going to kill you!"

"So, you've finally seen sense of your decision and what? You choose me now?" He throws his hands up in frustration. "I came to you twice, Theresa. I gave you another option and you chose power."

"I don't-"

"And how the hell does Vienna factor into any of this? If you're certain something is coming to kill Slayers, then she isn't going to be much help, is she?"

"Vienna is under the orders of something bigger. If she comes back then she'll be free from that control. I don't think she ever wanted to harm the Slayers. She's the only Elder that can listen to reason. She'll protect this world from anything."

"You don't know that," he says. "You don't know any of this for sure. You're clutching at straws."

"I'm trying to protect you! If I die then you can live, and the gateway will stay the way it is."

"So why do you need Vienna?" He shrugs.

"Because I am the last living vessel for Elder magic. If I die, it goes, and I don't know what that could mean for the covens or even for magic itself."

"Why do you make everything so difficult?" he says, scratching at his head. "When a war comes, we fight, it's that simple. Until then, stop panicking over what beings are going to invade the world next and focus on the ones that actually exist."

"Sam, a demon literally just dragged me across the damn desert and warned me about the future. Don't you think I'm a little past panicking?"

"It doesn't mean that gods and angels are about to descend upon us."

"I saw your death!" I shout. "Okay? The Slayer that's leading the others against you, he stabs you in the chest, over and over. The demon had to show me that to drive a reaction from me because I was the one that let the Slayers go. I was the one that sent them here to kill you. And if they succeed, it will destroy me, okay? It'll destroy me."

"You sent them here?"

"I let them go. She got inside my head again. I think it's actually been a long time since something wasn't inside of my mind. I don't know what they're doing to me, but it was the demon that released me. I can't go back there; I can't go back to Arizona."

"Theresa," he groans. He walks around the couch and sits down; he takes a deep breath at the window.

Maybe I'm too late. I've played with his emotions so much that he's at breaking point. If I was him, I'd tell myself to get out. But he can't do that, not yet. I still have a chance and I can't leave here without telling him everything I was afraid to say yesterday. Was it yesterday? The time difference is confusing. I'm not sure of anything anymore.

"You don't understand what it's like to lose pieces of yourself," I say quietly. "And what it's like to get them back. I can't lose it again. I was living in a world where Sophia's death wouldn't have bothered me in the slightest. I changed. You are my family. All of you. I'm sorry that I waited this long to realise it."

"You weren't thinking of us when you walked into that coronation and allowed them to change you."

"You're wrong," I say. "I backed out of it; I chose you. I was going to come back. But Marcus, he forced me into it. I knew it wasn't right, she made me forget that!" I hiss to myself as I sit opposite him. "Over there, it's uncertain, it's scary. Here, everything is clear."

"You've only spent a few days there," he laughs. "We're going round in circles. I looked you in the eye and you told me you were staying."

"Because of the mortals!" I say. "But there aren't any mortals trapped. It was lies."

"You sound confused. Honestly, I don't think you know what you want. But you can't just run back and forth. You need to figure it out."

Anger floods me like lava. "Are you listening to me!" The walls begin to shake and I can't control it, for the first time in weeks, my manifestation is releasing itself on its own. I'm so mad, I'm raging, and everything is about to pay the price.

"Stop!"

Sophia throws her hands to my arms and pulls me away from the middle of the room. Sam still sits there, silently watching the window, ignoring all of it as normal. I blink through my tears to appreciate her face; it doesn't feel real. She has no idea how much I've needed her over the past few days and how much I need her now.

"Sophia," I whisper. I start to calm myself, and the walls come to a fierce halt. "Sophia, I'm so sorry."

"Sam is right, you're confused," she says. "You don't know who you are. I don't know who you are. If I had known that killing Amara would have taken my best friend from me then I never would have done it. You're the Elder now, Theresa. That means something huge, and it's not something you can run away from. I'm scared for you right now. I just overheard everything you were saying and it's. . . it's just not like you. I love you, but, my best friend is gone."

I direct my desperation towards Sam, who just stares at the window. "Aren't you going to say anything?" I wipe my tears and I approach him furiously. "Look at me. Look at me!"

He drags his eyes to mine. They're soft, gentle, almost hypnotizing.

"What I said in that letter is the truth," I say. "I fell in love with the Slayers, I fell in love with this castle and I fell in love with you!" The rest of the unit begin crowding the balcony upstairs, but I don't care about them. "If I go back to Arizona, you will die. You will all die. There are Slayers that can't be killed coming for you and they are outside right now. I know you think that I'm paranoid, and probably crazy, but I promise you that it's real."

"Sam, she's right!" a voice shouts. It's Megan. "There's an army outside."

Sam bites on his bottom lip and stands up. He walks towards the window and glances outside cautiously, a moment later he moves away from it.

"Who is it?" Sophia demands.

"Someone very dangerous," Sam sighs. "Megan, get everyone down here, I want everyone accounted for."

"Don't you think it's safer to go to the roof?" Sophia says. "The force field is strongest up there."

"We won't even have a force field if they all transport at once," he says. "It was made to keep witches out, not Slayers."

I join Sam at the window and when he glances out of it, I take the opportunity to steal a blade from his holster. I know how this is going to end, and I'm not letting it happen.

"How do you plan on stopping an army of Slayers that can't die?" I ask.

"There are ways of stopping someone without killing them."

"Your pride is going to get your whole unit killed."

"What else do you suggest?"

"Leave," I say. "Get them out of here. Somewhere they can't find you."

He grins and rests a hand against the wall. "One moment you're shouting at me, and the next you're advising that I run away. I don't run, Theresa."

"You've been running from this since the day we met."

He takes a deep breath. "I can't do this now."

"We need to do this now," I whisper. "Because we might not get the chance again. Even after I left you in those woods in California, you came back to me. I didn't understand this then, but now I do. You. . . you have my whole heart, Sam." I wipe my face and I take deep, staggering breaths that make me feel bare. "And it wasn't just lust. It was. . . it was so much more."

"Stop."

"I know you feel it, too. I can't shake it. But I never realised how much it meant to me until I lost it. It was my fault, and I accept the blame."

"You're like a damn yo-yo," he hisses. "Do you think it was easy for me to walk away from you? After I saw you last night, that was it for me. I knew I had to let you go, and I've been trying my damn hardest to stick by it."

"That wasn't me, Sam," I say, touching his face. "The girl that you spoke to last night, she was someone else. I'm back. And I'm not afraid to face my feelings anymore. I'm not afraid to tell you that I'm in love with you and I will spend my whole life proving that to you."

"I. . ."

"Sam." Sophia appears back in the room and he holds my eyes for a long moment before he turns around. "They're in the back yard, too."

Suddenly, there is a knock on the front door. Sam begins pacing back and forth as the entire unit jumps from the balcony and lands around us. I'm met with some very confused and resentful looks, but I can take it, because they can't make me feel any worse than I already do.

"For what it's worth, it's good to have you back," Megan says as she thumps against my shoulder.

"What's the deal?" Darius asks. "Why aren't we scaring them the hell away?"

"They're under a spell," I say. "Amara used representational magic to tie their minds, and their lives, to mine. They've been compelled to kill Sam at any cost. Because I'm anchored to them, they can't die unless I die."

"And we can all agree that isn't happening," Sophia says.

The unit nods.

"Can't you undo the spell?" Jo asks.

"It's more complicated than that," I say. "This kind of magic is dangerous because it can last even after the castor dies. Those Slayers out there, they're as good as immortal. But they do have a weakness. Me. Whatever happens to me, happens to them. It's a link."

"So, what, you want us to just keep knocking you unconscious over and over again?" Megan demands. "They'll still come back."

"I know," I say. "We might not be able to hurt them, but magic can trap them. At least, Amara's magic could. I was able to trap them before, but I had the amulet then and without it, I don't know if it'll work."

"So, we're screwed," Milasia says. "Well, at least we all get to die together."

"If Amara could make this kind of magic then why didn't she use it on herself?" Mabel asks. "She was after your magic to make herself immortal."

"Amara was a gambler, but the odds were against her if she did that. If she anchored herself to an object, or a person, she would drive herself insane knowing that it could be destroyed and she'd be destroyed along with it," I say. "Or, maybe she tried and it failed."

I glance at Sam. He has now stopped pacing and is pouring himself a drink at the mini bar. We all watch him as he downs something strong, and I wonder what's going through his mind right now. Is he acting like this because of what I said? Was he about to tell me something in return but he's frustrated because the chance is gone? Or, like Milasia, is he starting to believe there's no way out and we're all screwed?

He knows I won't let anything happen to them. I pretty much declared it to him several times. If this doesn't go well, then he's going to lose me. He doesn't get a say in that, and I hope he'll understand it one day.

"This is wrong," Megan says. "We know this castle like the back of our hands, they don't have a clue where to go. We shouldn't be down here waiting to die; we should spread out and surprise them."

"I agree with Megan," Jo says. "Let's give them a chase they'll never forget on the fifth floor."

"Sam?" Megan whispers.

"Yes, it's a good idea. Go, spread out. Keep in touch, though."

"Alright. Kick some ass, guys."

"They picked the wrong unit to mess with," Milasia grunts, before disappearing.

Sophia holds Curtis' hand and she smiles at me before they vanish. The front door continues to be bashed and zapped with bolts, and it's almost giving in. There's not a lot of time left, and I'll fight until my last breath, but if it's not enough then I need to hear his response first.

"No more lies," I say. "And no more regrets. From now on, we tell the truth to each other."

"You know, from a young age, all that mattered to me was training." He takes a sip from his cup and stares into it. "I wanted to lead my own unit, just like my father did, just like your father did. I would have done anything to get it. Even if it meant killing an Elder. I told myself that the Elders weren't people, that they were soulless and devoid of emotion. And I told myself the same thing about witches. Until, I met you, Theresa." He takes a deep breath and turns to look at me. "That day in the Summit, I didn't save your life because it felt necessary. I saved your life because I saw your face when Amara was about to kill you. You just stood there, ready for it, fearless. And I thought to myself, that's the bravest thing I've ever seen. To stare death right in the face and accept it. That's what made you different.

"And you spread that difference throughout this castle. You touched their lives with something unique even while they hated you. And it's because you never lost track of who you were. You owned it, and you weren't ashamed of it. We were the ones that should have been ashamed. Your father warned me that a Harmon's spell is the one spell a Slayer can never escape. Once you're under it, there's no going back. And I fell under your spell, hard. You might be an Elder now, but you were a Harmon first, and that's the person that I fell in love with."

I fall down to the couch and he stands from the chair at the bar.

"You are worth so much more than what they turned you into. I let them do that to you, I let them hurt you, and I should have been more of a man and told you this sooner. Maybe it would have saved you. Maybe it would have saved us."

I don't know what to say. There isn't anything to say. I dry my eyes for the hundredth time and I rise up to embrace him. Our lips meet, and the kiss is painful. So many memories come flooding back to me and I'm drowning in them.

The front door is blown open and Sam and I are suddenly kissing against the wall of a completely different room. My heart aches when I think about what's coming, and I don't think I can say goodbye. Not this time. Not when it's real, not when it's sure.

"I wish we had more time," I breathe against his lips. "I'm sorry."

I back away into the doorway and I wave my hand across the frame. I lock the shield into place, trapping Sam inside.

"Theresa!" he growls, charging himself at the doorway, which zaps him backwards. "What did you do? Let me out."

"You're not dying for me, either," I say. "Don't make this harder than it has to be."

"No!" he screams, soaring voltage at the walls. The walls cave in and he loses control.

"It'll be okay. I promise. I love you."

I walk down the hallway and I hold my chest as I cry. I hate trapping him like that, but we'll be stuck in a never-ending cycle of one of us giving their life for the other. Amara wanted this to happen, and she's probably watching now with nothing short of joy. I clench my hand into a fist and I run down the levels.

As I turn a corner, I see one of them enter a room. I charge towards it and I place a shield around the doorway, just like I did with Sam, trapping the Slayer inside. I do this with every room that I pass, not even paying attention to who is inside of it.

I know it's useless, there's dozens of them. And I'm met with that harsh fact when I see Megan fighting five of them in a training chamber on the third level. I run to help her, but by the time I arrive, they've already stabbed her to death.

I pause outside the doorway, watching as Megan's bloods pours along the floor. The Slayers turn to snarl at me and my anger unleashes on them. I set one on fire, while another's spine is broken so I can force them out of the small window. A female Slayer kicks me in the stomach, and we both keel over. She stares at me, suddenly frightened, and the air smacks her into a wall.

In a matter of seconds, they all regenerate and come for me. I lock them into the room as I run away from it. I follow the sound of chaos as it descends in the meeting chamber. As I enter, I see Sophia ducking behind a pillar while Curtis lays on the stage, unmoving. Milasia is also here, and she is fighting a woman in the corner, breathlessly attempting to do any damage.

"Get out of here!" I scream.

"Not without Curtis!" Sophia shouts.

I see a crowd of ten Slayers approach Sophia and by the time I make a move it'll be too late. As one of them electrocutes her, and Sophia cries out, I realise it's time. I dig into the back of my pants and I grip the blade, holding it above my stomach. I pinch my eyes closed and plunge it into my gut.

The pain is instant. Overwhelming. The shock keeps me standing, as it does with the others, but my Elder side begins to heal me just as quickly. I stab myself again, in the chest, in the heart, and I scream.

All our screams are synchronized. My legs give way and I meet the ground.

"Theresa!" Sophia squeals. She's on the ground too, she took a big hit and she can't regenerate in time.

I blink at the ceiling as everything becomes blurry. Suddenly, hands are touching me, his hands. They're strong hands, they can guide me anywhere. How did he get out? Maybe my manifestation is deteriorating.

"Come on, Theresa, fight," he says. "I can't lose you. I won't lose you. We need you!"

"Sam," I whisper. "There's so many lights."

I roll my head to the side and I am beckoned by the call of death. I can feel it taking over, closer than ever before, and I have never wanted to stay so badly. To live my life with him, to fight by his side, to give him all of me, it would be everything. I'd choose him, every time, over every choice. I wish I could go back and never let him go. He has to know that. I hope he does. I hope. . .

The blurry figure of a woman appears in my line of sight. I'm seconds from death, and I recognise Samara instantly. Her eyes are wide, her hands are fists and her scream is deafening.

"No!"

I close my eyes and I drift into the white.