(For anyone who has read my Sebastian's Daughter series, you will already know what I'm about to apologize for. To anyone who hasn't, I must apologize for the fact that my writing is not as good as I want it to be. And by that, I mean I am just the absolute worst at writing action scenes. If that happens to be anyone's forte, please leave some suggestions in the comments on how I could improve this chapter. That's also a reason that it is a little shorter than usual. Sorry again, and I hope you enjoy.)

(Also, I apologize that this is a couple of days late. My little sister had her birthday party this weekend and updating slipped my mind. But here it is! I love you all and thanks for reading!)

I stood there for a moment, shocked. My fingers gingerly touched my lips, still feeling Sebastian's presence there.

Millions of questions started swarming my mind. What was that? Did he love me? Was he just trying to boost my confidence? What had it meant?

I shook my head, clearing it of the intrusive thoughts. I could worry about it later. Now, I had to be the best distraction the world had ever seen.

I picked up my swords and peeked through the bushes. The men seemed confused, as if they thought they had seen someone, but weren't entirely sure. That was my cue.

"Hey!" I yelled, jumping into the clearing.

Every one of the men standing outside turned their eyes to me. It only took them a moment to raise their guns and aim them at me.

"Who are you?" one of them demanded to know.

I smirked, trying to appear tougher than I felt. "You have my family. I'll be taking them back now, if you don't mind."

"It's Chrystal Foster!" someone from the back of the group yelled. "Capture her!"

Sebastian, I called out. Don't kill whoever is behind this. I'd like to have a word with him.

Yes, My Lady, he responded.

I glanced back up in time to see a man running at me. I lunged at him, my swords flying as I expertly knocked his gun from his hand and stabbed him in the side, not wanting to deliver any fatal blows if I didn't have to.

"You know," I said, pulling my sword from the man's side and letting him stumble back, holding his wound, "we could do this the easy way. Just give me back my family and nothing bad will happen to you."

This just seemed to anger them. Many of them started shooting, while others came at me from other angles. I deflected bullets and kicked people left and right.

One bullet that I wasn't able to deflect hit my left hand, knocking my sword to the ground. I held my bleeding hand to my stomach, trying to keep it from getting hurt again, and continued to stop bullets with my other sword.

People eventually stopped shooting, and I looked up to realize they had all run out of ammo. Perfect.

"There," I said, trying to look tough while also attempting to catch my breath. "You can't shoot at me anymore. We're back to where we started. Just let my family come home with me and no one gets hurt."

Then a couple of men threw their guns down and started running at me. Unable to use my left hand, I held my sword steady with my right. As I watched them, I didn't notice the man sneak up behind me, grabbing at my left arm.

I screamed, turning to face him, trying to break free. One of the men who had been running at me was able to catch me, wrapping his arms around my waist. The other man bent down to pick up my sword.

No! What do I do now?

It was a silly thought. There was only one thing I could do.

With my right hand, I lifted my sword, turning it on the man holding back my bleeding hand.

"Chrystal Foster!"

I glanced up at the sound of my name, and saw James, aiming his gun.

"Drop the weapons!"

I was shocked. Did he not see what was happening? Did he not see the men holding me? How about the one aiming my own sword at my head?

"James..." It was all I could say.

"Drop the sword, Chrystal."

I shook my head. "I can't do that, James."

"And why not?"

I didn't answer him. I took my raised sword and plunged it into the distracted man before me, causing him to fall to the ground.

What shocked me after that was the fact that James didn't shoot me. I was armed and dangerous, and he wasn't going to take me out.

I didn't know if I killed the man or not, but I definitely wasn't going to take the time to check. I slammed the back of my head into the jaw of the man who was holding me from behind. He released me, staggering back, and I turned and thrust my sword straight through his side.

Then I felt someone grab me from behind, pulling me away from the fight. I fought against them, knowing it was James trying to subdue me. He didn't understand! He wasn't supposed to be here!

Somewhere in my struggle, my sword was knocked from my hand, which was followed up by handcuffs being latched around my wrists.

Then, another shot rang out from the back of the crowd, zooming past everyone else, making its way to me.

Without my swords, I couldn't block it, and it hit the center of my chest.

My struggling against James ceased, and everything seemed to go in slow motion. I fell limp against James. He was calling out to me, but I couldn't answer. I did the only thing left that I could do.

I whispered, "Sebastian."