The whole afternoon, he spent it teaching me quick and easy defensive combat skills. He wants me to be able to protect myself if there would be a time I would need to do so. It resulted in a lot of bruises and grunts of pain.

When I started, I looked and felt awkward fighting him. I missed a couple blocks and ended up getting hurt instead. It was rough.

But I was determined.

I grew up with a very independent mindset. I've lived on my own before. Surviving should be a skill set I should be able to adapt to. Nothing good ever comes easy.

Halfway through the combat training, I ended up on my back more times than I can count. My back will have all kinds of bruises and cuts by the end of the night.

Regardless, I didn't give up. I got back up and I fought him again. Even with the heat of the sun and sweat all over our body, we didn't stop.

By the end of the defensive combat training, I managed to stop most of Alec's assaults or avoid getting hurt.

Currently, the sun dipped lower and closer to the horizon and the hot heat has turned into a cool breeze. Alec and I sat outside on a bed of green grass. I gulped down on a large glass of iced water. In his hands, he held the book I got from his backpack. His fingers skimmed over the worn title.

"My dad got me this book," he said without looking up.

My gaze dropped to the brown, leather book. The book was informative. It gave me a large insight of what their–my world looked like.

"He was a royal Historian. According to what others have told me, he lived most of his life in the libraries of the palace. This was one of his books that he had used to take notes in. All the scribbles and pictures were all his."

"What happened to him?" I asked.

Alec looked at me and I could see the sadness lingering in his eyes.

"He was one of the many that died that night you and Lucy were snuck out of the kingdom."

"And your mom?"

"I was told she also died with my dad."

"How did you escape?" I sat my empty glass of water on the grass and brought my knees to my chest to hug. My body was stiff from the vigorous exercise from earlier.

"When the attack happened, all children, infants, elderly, and pregnant women also left with a heavy amount of guards. I was a part of that group. Afterwards, I stayed in the compound until I was old enough to understand before I was assigned to follow Lucy and you.

From then on, I only had one objective in mind. Your safety became my priority and I began my training."

I recalled Alec leaving during school breaks for periods of time. He wouldn't come home or contact us. When I was little, I didn't understand the reason why and would constantly cry because I missed Kian and Alec.

"Do you think Lucy and Kian are okay?"

"I'm sure they are okay, because you and I are okay."

He was right. They had the upper hand. Lucy has her powers while I didn't.

"I'm sorry you got stuck with me," I mumbled.

One corner of his lips lifted and he patted my head.

"It's fate," he replied.

Was it really fate?

Our gaze connected and I looked into those masked eyes of his to seek if there was any doubt hidden beneath its depth. Without thinking, my attention drifted to his lips and I remembered how he had kissed me earlier.

It was something I want to try again, but something I should never allow. In the long run, I'll get hurt. Kissing someone who didn't feel the same for you felt wrong and because of that, I'll never allow it to happen again.

I blinked and looked away.

"Alright. What's next?"

Alec cleared his throat and I risked a glance at him. He licked his lips unconsciously as if he was also thinking about our kiss.

"Lucy started this program earlier than you and quickly surpassed four levels already. We will start from scratch for you because we don't know exactly what we are working with. My dad wrote two pages about harvesting of powers which doesn't help us very much. I guess we will start off with what you did last night."

I thought about what I wanted and pictured it. At least, that was what I remembered. I closed my eyes and focused on what I wanted, but I couldn't picture what I wanted. Curling my hands into fists, I exhaled and tried to clear my mind.

After a few minutes, I opened one eye to look and only caught Alec staring back at me. I opened my eyes and fell backwards onto my back. Throwing my arms up and groaning out loud.

"I don't know what to do."

"Focus, your mind and you'll be able to do it." Alec snuck an arm under my body and lifted me back up into a sitting position.

Sighing, I closed my eyes again. I tried to picture something, but nothing came to mind but a yellow orb of light. Even that sounded ridiculous. Why was I picturing something impossible?

"Your mind is running a million things a minute, Firefly."

Firefly?

I scrunch my eyebrows and pinch my lips into firm lines. Focus!

Nothing.

I pictured nothing.

"Clear your mind," Alec urged.

Clear my mind? I don't know how to do that, apparently.

As soon as I said that, I found myself standing in the middle of my small little home and in my bedroom. My parents stood in the hallway, blocking the shadows from getting too close to me. My dad looked in my direction. His eyes filled with panic and worry. He was shouting something at me, but I couldn't hear him. I wanted to hear him so badly but the closer I got to him, the farther I was. Tears slipped down my cheeks and I pushed myself to get closer to them.

However, with each step, it felt heavy and an unexplainable pain throbbed at my temples. Regardless, I pushed through the pain. I needed to get to them. I wanted to help them.

Suddenly, something appeared in front of my path. It was a very dark, ominous shadow. It grew in size and blocked my view of my dad. Frightened, I stopped breathing.

My whole body paralyzed from its presence. It moved closer and I felt like it was drowning me. My headache throbbed painfully. I felt faint, body cold and heavy.

A second later, I heard Alec's protruding voice. He shouted my name and I felt my body being lifted and into the warmth of his body. His large hand cradling one side of my face.

"Wake up," his panic voice pierced through the fog.

The dark shadow disappeared and I watched as my parents were killed in front of me. Their blood stained the walls and that was it.

I screamed and fought to get to them.

"Grace!" Alec shouted.

My eyes flew open and I found myself staring up at Alec. Concern etched on his face as he held me in his arms.

And then I broke down.

I sobbed like crazy into his arms. Muffling my pain into his shoulders as I cried. I held him tightly. He murmured soothing words to me, but I couldn't hear a single word. The image of my parents plastered in my mind.

I don't know how long I cried and mourned. The reality of everything hitting me harder than anything. My world would never be the same. I felt very alone and scared.

"I saw them. I saw them being killed. It was horrible," I wept.

"You saw your parents, Iris and Jacob?"

I nodded my head against his body.

"Why is this happening to me? I want to be strong, but I miss them. I miss all of them and all that I had." I pulled back to look at Alec. "Just a few days ago, my mom was just making me breakfast. She was still smiling. Now, they are gone. How do I accept that?"

Alec softened and swept me up into his arms. I didn't argue, but hid my face in his chest and grasped his shirt with one hand. The pain in my head still lingered. I felt like someone had driven a knife into my skull. He held me like a little baby as he carried me inside and into my bedroom. He settles me on the edge of the bed before sitting down next to me.

"Do you want to talk about it?" he asked.

I shook my head. "I just want to be alone."

He seemed hesitant, but nodded his head.

As soon as Alec closed the door, I stood up to shower, but dizziness swept in fast and I dropped back onto the bed. Placing one hand on my head, I closed my eyes and fought to steady the dizziness.

Maybe it was because I pushed too hard? I don't know what happened. I can't even explain it to Alec, but one thing for sure, it was I didn't want to experience this ever again. The image of my parents' death felt like a nightmare.

When the pain wasn't too much, I opened my eyes again before standing up to shower.

After I showered, I threw on a clean, long dark green shirt and crawled into bed. Hidden beneath the bed covers, I closed my eyes. Exhaustion hits me faster than tidal waves. I didn't think twice and fell into a deep slumber.

When I awoke, it was the feel of someone beneath me. I froze for a second, not remembering where I was until I caught Alec's body wash. He was sleeping on his side of the bed and I had managed to shift my way to his side. My legs and arms were thrown over his body. He had no shirt on, just shorts. I realized quickly that I had no undergarments on and this was completely inappropriate.

The sound of rain and light thunder could be heard distantly. I peeled away my arm and leg from his body slowly.

I successfully pulled myself away and inched my way toward my side of the bed. On the edge, I tucked the bed cover under my chin and closed my eyes to fall back asleep again. I was just about to fall asleep when I felt Alec shift on the bed. A second later, I felt his front pressed against my back. His arm slung over my body. I winced at the throbbing pain on my body, but didn't make a sound.

My body stiffened and I tried to move his hand, but he pulled me closer to his body. I don't think he knows what he was doing.

"Alec?" I whispered.

He didn't answer me.

I thought about getting out of his embrace, but I didn't want to wake him up either. I know it's been a while since we had a good sleep. He has always been on guard since the attack.

One night, Grace. That's it. Then you can talk to him about boundaries.