"Hira." I hissed once all my initial shock had drained away. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"My job." She placed her hand on her hip and looked me over. "You've been off grid for months. Imagine Dorian's shock when he saw your face on the last remaining security camera that was salvaged from your little escapade."

Evanora scowled beside me. "And you were doing such a great job of being under the radar." Hira continued.

"Why?" Evanora blurted out. "What is his...fascination with us? What did we do to make him...hate us so much? He's like us! So it can't our race."

Hira was quiet for a moment before her blue eyes twinkled. "That's not my place to say."

Her fingers twitched and her eyes began to glow that horrifying shade of gold. "Now," She started, tilting her head upward a bit, "Just come with us, and no one gets hurt, otherwise, Dorian will just have to accept you with a few scrapes and bruises."

I glanced over at Evanora, whose eyes were once again filled with that scary determination. I turned back to Hira, my eyes narrowed defiantly. "There is no way in hell that we're going anywhere with you willingly."

I could've sworn I saw the corner of Hira's mouth turn upwards in a small smile. "I expected that much." She raised her hand and pointed towards us, her eyes gleaming."Get them."

Evanora extend her arm and closed her fist instantly the man are slammed to the ground by some unseen force. They cry out I both shock and pain and Evanora used her powers to toss them away. I winced as I heard their impact a few feet away.

Hira looked away from where the men had been tossed and towards Evanora. "You've learned some cool magic tricks since we last saw each other, huh Evie?"

Evanora narrowed her eyes. "I had too. And I'm glad I did."

Hira chuckled. "But," her began, her eyes glowing gold, "I'm afraid isn't enough for you to take me on."

Faster than I could comprehend, Hira raised her hand and Evanora cried out in pain, collapsing to her knees.

"Evie!" I cried out. I turned towards Hira and willed my powers to be blind. Her eyes flickered for a bit before their golden hue was replaced with a dull grey. She hissed in anger and Evanora held her head in pain, blinking a bit as she tried to recover.

"Are you okay?" I asked, kneeling beside her. She nodded and looked behind me, dazed. Suddenly, her eyes widened and she pointed behind me. Before she even had time to open her mouth, I was tackled to the ground.

I grappled with Hira as she tried to choke me. I grunted as she slugged me in the jaw. "You!" She started, "You think you're so smart, don't you? You think that you've mastered your powers now, huh? Well that's nice for you. But guess what? I don't even need my powers to take you out."

I received another punch, this one straight in the nose. Bright white spots speckled my vision as I tried to recover but Hira took advantage of my weakened state and yanked my back to her chest, wrapping an arm around my throat.

She leaned in close and as I gasped for air, I could practically see her sadistic smirk as she whispered, "Don't worry. I don't intend on killing you, just knocking you out." She mused.

I tried to claw at her arms, but it was so weak, I didn't even scratch her skin. My vision grew muddled and dark and I was sure that I was going to become unconscious.

Suddenly, a blurry form launched itself at Hira and knocked her off of me.

I gasped deeply and placed a hand to my throat as I tried to pull through. My throat felt raw and dry and my nose and jaw were both throbbing.

Evanora knelled beside me and gasped. "Oh my gosh! Your nose is bleeding!"

"W-What?" I rasped out. I wiped at my nose and sure enough, when I pulled it back to look, it was covered in red. I sighed like it was the biggest inconvenience I'd been faced with thus far and wiped at it again before pushing myself to my feet.

The corners of my vision were still a little bit muddy so I had to partially squint to see who it was tossing and turning with Hira in the grass.

Red eyes glared at her furiously and she cried out in pain, trying to snatch her hands away from Alex's grip as he burned her a little. "Let go of me, Alex!" She seethed.

Alex narrowed his eyes at her in response. "Are you seriously still at this, Hira? What is he promising that you didn't have at the house?"

Hira kneed him in the gut and he grunted, loosening his grip a bit. Hira managed to scramble from beneath him. "Wouldn't you like to know."

Alex gave her a confused look."Um, yeah? That's why I'm asking."

Hira thrust her hand out and Alex looked behind him, his eyes widening. He leapt out of the way just in time for a giant rock to sail past him.

He turned to her with a scowl and his eyes glowed brightly before flames spread up his arm, his veins glowing a bright yellow beneath his skin. A faint look of fear traveled across Hira's features. "I'm sorry, Hira." He said softly.

He raised his arms above his head and slammed them down on the ground. Suddenly, the ground beneath him began to crack and glow a bright, fiery orange. The crack webbed out and began to expand, traveling towards Hira. She scrambled backwards and away from it.

Alex used the opportunity to rush over to Evanora and I and usher us away. "Come on, let's go before people start wondering about the noise."

I looked over to see Evanora limping along, struggling to keep up with us. It was then I noticed the deep gash in her leg.

"Evie!" I exclaimed, rushing back to help her. Alex turned around and stiffened up as he saw the damage. "Oh my gosh..." I muttered.

"I'm fine! I can make it!" Evanora said trying to shove me away as I was wrapping an arm around her to help her walk.

"No time for that." Alex muttered as he swept her up into his arms. He let out a shocked yelp before wrapping her arms around his neck and allowing herself to be carried with a huff. I followed closely behind as Alex speed walked towards the street I froze in my path when I saw two motorcycles parked there, one housing a worried looking Victor.

He looked over at us and a smile found its way onto his thin lips. "Thank God, I thought that something had happened to you three and I was going to have to come and get you myself." His eyes landed on Evie and his skin paled. "Shit!" He exclaimed.

He scrambled off the bike and rushed over to Alex, taking Evanora into his own arms. "Evie, what the hell happened?"

"Nothing bad! I'm fine!"

"You're literally bleeding! There is a slice the size of my hand on your leg. You are NOT fine."

She huffed again and Victor ran his fingers through her curls. "Evie, who did this?"

"Hira." I said speaking up suddenly. "We were ambushed. She and some of Dorian's soldiers were scoping out my parent's house in hopes of us going back there and...I guess they were right..." I muttered.

Victor gritted his teeth. "I'm going to kill her." He seethed. "I'm actually going to kill her."

"No one is killing anyone. Period." Alex said forcefully. "But what we are going to do is get out of here before we're spotted. He handed me a helmet before he climbed on the motorcycle. "Hop on."

"Where did you two even get these?" I asked as Victor got onto his bike, Evanora sliding on after his and wrapping her arms around him for security.

"We, um...borrowed them." Victor said.

"So you stole them? I clarified.

"They had like, hundreds of others. There's no way they're going to miss two of them." Alex interjected.

I rolled my eyes as I got onto the bike with Alex. Typical boys. Evanora and I leave them alone for one second and they go out stealing motorcycles.

I slid on my helmet and Alex looked back at me. "Ready? He asked. I tightened my grip around his waist and nodded.

He revved up the motorcycle and I let out an involuntary squeal as he sped off, Victor right behind us.

The hair that was out of my helmet flew behind me in the wind, giving me a weird sort of flying feeling. It was like a type of high, riding on this bike.

"Enjoying the ride?" Alex asked cockily.

"Not on your life." I lied.

Alex chuckled in response. I saw him turn to look at his mirror, possibly checking to see if Victor and Evanora were keeping up. Suddenly, his body became ridged and a muted growl reverberated through his body. "Shit." He hissed. He revved up the bike and began to speed up.

In confusion I turned, just the slightest bit, to look over my shoulder and my eyes widened. Three motorcycles were right behind us, gaining ground quickly.

"Hold on!" Alex said as he sped up dramatically. I yelped and held him tighter as we drove. Victor rode up beside us. "What the hell do we do now? We can't go back to Euros with them tailing us." He asked through the mics in our helmets

"Then we have to lose them first." Evanora answered.

"Yeah but how?"

Alex was silent for a moment before he turned to me. "You know how to drive one of these?" He asked.

"Um...."

"Great!"

Before giving me time to answer, he bent down and let me take control of the bike.

My eyes widened as he miraculously made his way to the back of the bike, his back to mine. He summoned a flame in his hand and balled up his fist around it. A trail of smoke snaked from his enclosed fist and traveled towards the bikes that were pursuing us. "Keep it steady until I get back." He said.

"Dude, where the hell are you going?" Victor's voice echoed in my ear.

"To take care of our little stalker problem."

I felt a sudden heat spike behind me and looked in the mirror to see Alex had used smoke travel to teleport himself onto one of the men's motorcycles and they were now struggling for control of the bike. I winced as I saw the man land a solid punch to Alex's jaw.

"CIRCE LOOK OUT!"

Evanora's exclaim was so sudden that I felt my neck crack as I whipped around, my eyes widening as I saw the car I was about to hit. With a squeal, I violently turned the bike to the left and nearly ran off road.

"You know, I think it would be ideal if I had a motorcycle to teleport back to!" Alex said through the mic.

"I tried to tell you I've never driven one of these in my life! You didn't listen, you prick!" I hissed back at him "And shouldn't you be taking out those guys, anyway? Why are you so focused on my "terrible" motorcycle driving skills?"

"Because it doesn't belong to us!"

"You're the one who stole it!"

"Guys, this minute bickering doesn't seem relevant, right now!" Victor stated.

Alex's scoff echoed afterwards, followed by a grunt that may or may not have been his.

I looked in the mirror to check on him and I saw one of the men on the other two motorcycles pull out a electrical staff that was pulsing with a bright orange energy.

My eyes widened. "ALEX!" I cried out. My heart pounded in my chest and time seemed to travel in slow motion.

'Not him', I thought. 'Anyone but him, please don't take him from me' I mentally begged. I was losing everyone. I'd lost my old friends, I'd lost Ms. Duboise, I'd lost my parents, I couldn't lose Alex! I just couldn't.

I felt something travel through my bones. Some ethereal power that rested within me.

My abilities.

I skidded to a halt on my motorcycle and Victor and Evie called out to me as I leapt off of it. I extended my arm out at the three motorcycles and Alex's eyes widened as he realized what I was about to do. He disappeared in a cloud of ash and sparks, leaving the man who was about to strike him bewildered. When Alex appeared at my back, I finally let loose the feeling that was itching to be let free.

Suddenly, giant black spikes erupted from the ground beneath them and they cried out in shock as they tried to avoid them. I put more energy into it, forcing myself to try and trap them, close them in. I heard a deep vibrating sound in my ear and the spikes grew thicker, bigger, and sharper.

One of the men crashed into one and his bike exploding into flames. Then the next one skidded to a halt, narrowly avoiding being impaled, himself.

But the last man was more resilient, more willing to press on. He continued to come closer to me, avoiding the rising spikes left and right. The vibrating sound rose to a deep thudding as I put more energy into stopping him. He needed to be stopped. I had to keep him from getting over to me.

But still he swerved, and the spikes failed to get to him.

Alex grabbed my forearm and tried to pull me away. I'm sure he was saying something to me, but I couldn't hear him over the pulsating noise. I yanked myself away and raised my other hand. The throbbing was loud now, so loud it was giving me a headache and I couldn't even hear the revving of the oncoming motorcycle.

My mouth opened up in what I'm sure was an angered yell and suddenly, a huge spike, bigger than any of the others that I'd conjured up, rose up beneath the man's bike, slicing right through it. He went flying though the air and landed on the concrete sidewalk limply.

The ringing in my ears was still present, though it was fading out, so I couldn't hear anything, though based on the shocked look on Alex's features, I'm sure he heard the snap or crack of his bones upon impact.

My knees began to feel weak and buckle beneath me. "Circe!" Alex's muddled voice exclaimed as I began to fall. His warm arms wrapped around me, hoisting me up as my vision started o fade. I heard the sound of a motorcycle motor die out and footsteps running over. Suddenly, Victor and Evanora were leaning over me too.

"Is she okay? What's wrong with her?" Victor demanded.

"Oh my gosh, her nose! Is it supposed to be bleeding that much?" Evanora questioned softly, tilting my head up a bit.

"Circe. Circe! Can you stay awake for me? Please, keep your eyes opened." Alex half asked, half demanded as he hoisted me up into his arms.

I couldn't do it. I knew I couldn't my eyelids were feeling heavier by the second and all I wanted to do was be dragged into the deep abyss of slumber.

Weakly, I grabbed onto Alex's arm, squeezing it to get his attention. He looked down at me with his soft green eyes. They were so pretty. They were always pretty.

"I'm sorry." I practically whispered.

"Sorry? Sorry for what, C? What are you sorry for?" He rushed. I could tell he was trying to get me to stay awake, but it was useless. I was going under fast, but I had to get this off my chest.

"We...We share secrets because...because we're friends..." I breathed. "I...I should've..."

"No." He said, cutting me off. "No, no. no, no. It's not your fault. That's not on you. That's on me. It's alright, okay? I shouldn't have tried to get you to tell me something that you weren't comfortable sharing. That was bad of me as a friend, and even worse of me as a boyfriend. I should be the one apologizing to you, okay?"

I nodded and let my hand slide off of his arm.

"You're...You're really warm..." I mumbled, letting my eyes flutter close.

I could hear Alex's distant voice calling my name and feel his faded hands touching my face to try to wake me up once more, but I was tired.

Really...

Really...

Tired...