Shaken awake, Alexa jumped up and expected to hit her head on the lid of the coffin. She expected to hear the sounds of the flames licking at her feet. Instead she was faced with a train and a human. It was fairly hard to decipher which scenario was worse.

"We've arrived. You slept like the dead all the way here," he grinned. She didn't understand, but she nodded anyway. Then she frowned.

"You were watching me as I slept?" His smile instantly faded, and he held up his hands.

"No. No, of course not. Well...you were kinda sleeping on my shoulder, which is numb now, by the way," he added. Silver built up in her cheeks. To let her guard down like that was unforgivable. The human sidled out into the aisle, gesturing for her to follow. She brushed down her dress, looking at the rips and tears in dismay. Her brother may have chosen it, but that didn't mean she wasn't attached. She peered out of the window as men in starched suits flew by, taking quickly into little black boxes they held close to their ears. What was it with these creatures and boxes?

"Alexa, hurry up!" She waited at least another thirty seconds before following him out of the train. A man hauling a large object nearly bumped into her. She was just about to give him his just deserves when Jake pulled her towards him.

"We need to keep a low profile," he said. She could sense him staring at her cloak and her dress. Again, she didn't understand why. No one in her village would've bothered. Much. She let him lead her towards a brightly colour doorway.

"The Pumpkin Café," she read. "Why are we here? I thought you had procured food".

"Chocolate isn't really proper food and thanks to you I haven't had to pay for train tickets," said Jake. She shivered; her morals hadn't yet recovered from that. Although she didn't particularly favour humans, she refused to exploit their weaknesses. Most of the time at least. She ducked into the café behind him and cried out.

"All of these colours! Baked goods and liquids. This is a treasure trove. I could've fed my entire village with this" she said, picking up a strange bag. Shooting her a glare, she fell silent. There would be no telling when the next Vaskel could show up, let alone Wolfie. As she gave the bag a shake, she could hear objects moving around inside. Quickly, she lowered it back down.

"Those are Jelly Babies. Would you like to try some?" he asked. Noticing how he'd manoeuvred a hood over his head, she did the same with her cloak. Although, she couldn't sense any Vaskels, that didn't mean there wasn't one waiting around the nearest corner.

"Regrettably no. I would prefer to keep my taste buds".

"What about a sandwich or something? You said you guys could eat," he pointed out.

"Very well. Wait," she paused. "What is a 'sandwich'?" Jake pressed his fingers to his forehead and sighed.

"It's two pieces of bread with different kinds of food in the middle. You can have ham or chicken or tuna or cheese. Do you want one?" She gave him a rash smile.

"I will try one". Hastily, she added,

"What are you having?" He'd been kind enough to her – for a human. The least she could do was try to be civil. That's what her mother would've done. Well, after she'd retrieved her soul.

"Coffee," he replied. "I'll die if I don't have one soon".

"Is it compulsory for you people?" He smiled.

"For some of us". He walked over to a large desk-like area and spoke with a man wearing a dark orange shirt. There was a lot of pointing and nodding.

"Alexa, which sandwich did you want?" he called. She cautiously waddled over and began to analyse the fillings.

"Any," she said at last, which resulted in an eye roll from Jake. Humans. They were always so impatient. There'd been so much choice – how could she have possibly decided? Was this all that humans cared about now? Food? By the time Jake had broken away from the desk, Alexa had wandered outside onto the platform. She stared in fascination as multiple trains pulled in and out of the station. There were so many! And so many people!

"I got you a ham sandwich if that's okay and a muffin. I hope you don't mind". He handed her two large brown bags, but when she made for the chair, he jostled her in another direction. The stopped at the base of a brick wall, well hidden by any passes-by. Her sense was soon marred the contents of the papers bags, so if Wolfie was any near them she wouldn't have noticed. Next to her, Jake took a huge gulp of his coffee.

"We need to keep our heads down around here. Wolfie might already be watching us. Anyway, I have a few ideas about to find your brother. We know he's not on social media, which makes things harder, but I was thinking that there could be references to him in books. You know, like history books. Maybe something mentions where he ended up. I mean, do some humans know about Halfbloods?"

"No. My parents made it their sole duty to keep my brother and I from the world. But maybe you are correct. Maybe some people do know of Halfbloods". Her face lit up – and not just because of the sandwich she'd wolfed down. She had to admit, human food had improved drastically since her day.

"It's a worth a try and since we're in such a crowded city, Wolfie won't attempt to take us while we're here," Jake smiled. Alexa found herself returning the expression. In fact, she had to fight her features just to get them to calm down. To distract herself, she opened the bag that contained the muffin. She stopped, staring at it like it was going to attack her.

"Are you gonna eat that?" The human leant over her shoulder. She gave the muffin an experimental nibble.

"Yes! Get your snout away from my confectionary!" she shouted. He laughed and let her be. After she'd finished, they peered out from behind the wall.

"Okay, so we can get to Manchester Library from here and we'll see if we can find anything. If not, then I'm all out of ideas. Unless you fancy trying to interrogate Wolfie the next time she pops up. Emphasis on the 'pop'".

"Indeed," Alexa said grimly. "She does have quite a flare for the dramatics".

"Are you sure you two aren't sisters?" She glared and stuck her tongue out. Jake held his hands up in defence.

"We should probably go. I don't know how we'll get through the ticket gates without a ticket though. Can't you use your Alteration again?"

"No".

"Please?"

"Definitely not".

"No even for another muffin?"

"Done," she snapped. As he walked back into the café, Alexa almost reached out to touch him. She hadn't realised how much she craved the human's warmth until he'd gone.

They emerged from the train station. Alexa was cradling her muffin like a child and refusing to look in his direction. He'd tried to tell her that if she'd hadn't used her Alteration, the police would've gotten involved, but she'd refused to listen. A man shoved him to one side with a brief case. Righting himself, Jake ploughed through the throngs of people until they came to a set of traffic lights. He motioned for her to keep her head down. Hopefully, people would think they were just off to a comic-book convention.

"I really should investigate the situation in Halfirr human," Alexa put in as they came to a stop and watched the cars go past.

"You can worry about it later. I'm sure it's nothing," he said. What he didn't say was that he never wanted to go back to that place again. He hadn't even figured out his own world yet.

"Which way is the library?" Alexa asked, finishing off her muffin. The traffic lights changed to red and they shot across.

"Right, from here. It's a bit of a walk though" he admitted. Not that a walk was much of a problem for her. He was just about to lead her towards the second set of traffic lights, when—

"Jake? What are doing here? And who's that with you?" It was Melanie. Dressed in a similar looking mushroom top and jeans – freshly ripped – she came bounding up to them. In her hands was a small clutch purse. Jake felt his tongue gluing itself to the roof of his mouth. He cleared his throat.

"I was... We were..." he began. Melanie's face lit up.

"Oh, is this your girlfriend? She's beautiful!" She lurched forward and – much to Jake's amusement – gave her a hug. Alexa stiffened.

"Well, actually, the human is"—

"Yes, she's my girlfriend," Jake said quickly. The truth was too complicated and the last thing he wanted was to add Melanie to Wolfie's hit list.

"No way! You guys are such a cute couple!" Melanie jumped up and hugged him this time.

"Is she always like this?" Alexa whispered in his ear.

"Better get used to it". When Melanie dropped her hands, Jake asked,

"Is Danny with you?" Her smile flattened and she started to fiddle with her plaits.

"No...we had an argument," she stammered.

"So, you're shopping".

"It's the grief," said Melanie. He watched her eyeing up Alexa's muffin. Around them, people were starting to stare. Not at him, as usual, but at Alexa. Or, more accurately, her clothes. They were really starting to become a problem. One he had to fix.

"Hey Mel," he began. She blushed. "My mum's actually on a business trip this weekend and I was supposed to be staying with Max, which is why we're here. But Alexa here is frightened of him, so we're a little bit stuck. She'd more used to female friends. She's very shy". Out of the corner of his eye, he could see the 'she' in question scowling at him. He pretend not to notice. Melanie gazed at her sadly.

"That's such a shame. Max is such a nice guy," she said. Jake fought the urge to choke. Easier for her to say. Max hadn't chased her with a knife two days ago.

"Hey!" she cried suddenly. "Why don't you guys come and stay at my place? My parents are out at a conference or whatever, so I've got the house to myself for the week".

"Really? Cheers Mel. I like your top by the way, is that new?" He didn't particularly like flirting, and he wasn't particularly good at it. Then again, having Alexa for company would knock anyone's confidence. Melanie however, blushed again.

"How did you know? Oh, Alexa, I'm ignoring you. Sorry. I have a feeling we're going to be great friends, especially after today".

"Why? What is happening today?" she said.

"Well, first we'll do some shopping"—

"Actually Mel, we kinda need to get to the library," Jake cut in, though he admitted he wouldn't mind a change of clothes himself.

"Then we'll go there afterwards," she cried. "Come on!" Alexa shot him a pleading look.

You're on your own, he smirked. She bared her teeth over her shoulder, their sharpness reminding him of what she was. Inhuman. But she was just a girl.

So was Wolfie. You thought she was just a girl too, the voice interrupted. He told it to shut up. Alexa was different. She had to be. And for a split second, he could pretend that they were normal people, on a normal day, being hunted by no one.

Throughout the day, despite being stared at by half a dozen people, Alexa still hadn't changed into the new clothes they'd bought. He wished she'd put on his jacket – anything – to make her less noticeable, but no matter how much he nagged her and nagged her, she still wouldn't do it. Melanie's presence hadn't exactly helped matters. Keeping his head down, Jake walked briskly down the pavement, ignoring Alexa's insistence that if they truly wanted to blend in, they should stand out. Her illogical logic also wasn't helping. The entrance to the library was mere metres away, and as soon as Alexa caught sight, she bolted to the doors, Melanie calling out after her. If they hadn't been drawing enough attention before, they certainly were now. Jake scanned the people driving past, searching for any sign that they were Vaskels. He didn't how he could tell them apart from other people and he was sure Alexa would alert him if they were close, but still, there was a crippling fear in his mind that they were going to get caught. If not by Vaskels, then by Wolfie. If not by Wolfie, then the police. The list went on. Slouching, he kept his hood low over his face, walked straight under the arched entrance to the library. The doors were those spinning ones and as he looked at Alexa, she was struggling to manoeuvre out of them. Her dress kept getting caught, as well as her cloak.

"Does she like Cosplaying or something?" Melanie asked, pushing past him to help Alexa into the library.

"No, it's a, a family thing," he offered. Right now, with the thought of Wolfie breathing down his neck, it was the best he could come up with. Improvisation really wasn't his forte in a crisis. Finally, Alexa head butted her way to freedom, followed by Mel. Risking one quick glance behind him, Jake headed inside. Fearing the staff would judge him with his hood up, he reluctantly brought it down. When he was satisfied no Vaskels were running at him, he began to relax. Alexa, on the other hand, had already stalked over to the oak panelled reception desk, her eye baying for blood. He quickly rushed over and pointed to the map displaying all the different floors.

"The Archives," she read. "18th Century onwards. That sounds promising".

"What did you two say you were looking for?" asked Mel. Her phone vibrated incessantly in her back pocket and Jake wished she'd just turn it off. With the clothes shopping she'd helped and because of her they had somewhere to stay for the night, but was it worth it? In the vast hall of the library's entrance, with the rattling of Alexa's tone and Mel's tweeting and texting, he felt more exposed than ever. Was he the only one who was worried? Alexa seemed unfazed, especially when she spotted the stairs leading to the Archives and spiralled up like there was no tomorrow.

"Are you coming?" She peered down from the upper floor, eye casting a desert glow across the granite. Jake pulled Mel along behind him until they reached her.

"I will start on 1710, you search the year 1800," she began. Melanie's face scrunched into a frown.

"Is this some kind of history project?" Before Alexa could answer, he jumped in.

"Yeah, you could say that".

"Can I help? What am I looking for?"

"Anything of importance. Search for names and titles under the word Frostbite".

"Like the Vampire Academy Novel?" Melanie asked. Alexa leant back on her haunches like a dog.

"I am both horrified and confused by that sentence". A moment later, she spun away, heading behind a shelf to begin her search. When Melanie just stood there, he sighed.

"You can help me with the 1800's section. Thanks for doing this by the way, I know this isn't exactly what you like to do over the summer. Believe me, this isn't what I had in mind". She only shrugged.

"What I don't understand is why she attacked one of those manikins in Next. They're not that scary. Has she been watching Doctor Who?"

"You watch Doctor Who?" he said, raising his eyebrows. She quickly shook her head. Scuttled off towards the 19th century bookshelf, just as Alexa emerged from behind another hauling up a huge leather-bound copy. Carrying it under her arm as if it weighed no more than a handbag, she placed it on the nearest reading table. The leather was smooth, like a resin, with dust mites overpopulating each page. Alexa lifted the cover, searching rapidly through the text.

"Useless! Useless! Useless!" she cried, slamming the book shut. He blew a shard of dust away, starting on a textbook of his own. His results were the same as Alexa's. In fact, it was almost as if James had been wiped from history.

"I do not understand. My brother infected the very essence of this human world, so why isn't he mentioned? What worries me is that I am finding many descriptions that depict that imposter. That 'Wolfie'. From what I've read it seems she is three centuries old – if not older," she explained. Jake unfurled his hand on the table, tapped it in a rhythm.

"So, you think she's actually your twin?"

"No, of course not. Perhaps my brother had her made on one of his travels. Like a modified changeling. A clockwork copy. Perhaps..." she trailed off. Jake picked up his textbook, placed it back onto the shelf. Melanie was knee-deep in her phone, absently flicking back to a leather-bound copy she'd plonked on to the floor. He saw Alexa following his gaze, saw her eye widening instantly.

"There!" She scrambled over the table, coming to rest by the book. Melanie stepped back in surprise.

"What is it?" On the page lay a small pencil illustration of a man, around six feet with jet black hair. From the look of Alexa's face, he guessed it was her brother.

"That's him!" She cracked her fingers. With glee, she lifted the book onto the table. The section of writing surrounding James was short and left out obvious details that even he could've worked out himself, but the main message was there. Someone didn't want the world to know about this. Too bad. The language descended from English into something else, but Alexa continued to read. It looked like Italian or something. Seeing as he'd chosen French at GCSE, he couldn't pick out any similar words or phrases.

"Half-speak," Alexa whispered. "No one wanted humans to find this information".

"So it's encrypted?" Melanie asked from over her shoulder. "Cool!" Not cool. Not cool at all. What was Half-speak? Seeing as Alexa appeared to understand it, he didn't say anything else. They had to be quick.

"The Frost Empire," she mumbled.

"Sounds like a bad a name for a band" Melanie piped up. With a crack, Alexa's head neck snapped to one side. He winced at the sound of her bones grinding. She bent closer to the book, so close that he thought it would inhale her.

"From the looks of things, little is known about him except that he was the original founder of this 'Frost Empire', which trained law enforcement and generals for hundreds of years as well as being greatly involved in every other aspect of business and politics. An Empire, of course. Why did I not see it before? If you want to catch a villain, look for him in plain sight".

"What kind of history project is this?" Melanie glanced at him, then back at Alexa.

"The worst kind," he replied. It was as close to the truth as he could manage. Alexa slapped the table with glee.

"London! He has a base for his Empire in London. He must be there."

"Alexa, we're staying at Melanie's tonight remember," Jake pointed out.

"Then we leave in the early hours of the morning. Do we have an accord?"

"Yeah, sure. Whatever". He turned back to Melanie.

"It's still alright if we stay over isn't it?" She nodded steadily.

"Yeah. We should get back. I can order a takeaway".

"Sounds good". He flashed her one of his winning smiles. Sliding the book off the table, he headed down to the back shelves to hide it behind a couple of Byron Collections. If Wolfie was tracking them, he didn't want her to know about their little research detour. She probably knew already. Shoving the book even further back into the shelf, a chill swept over him. It wasn't a draft from an open window that was for sure. This was different. As quietly as he could, he crept back along the bookshelves, praying no one could see him, hoping that it was just his imagination. From down the corridor, a shadow sunk into view. Orange eyes, jet black hair. It was a Vaskel.

Why is it never just my imagination?

Knowledge swarmed in Alexa's belly like a tidal wave. James was in London. London. Of all the places. He knew how much she'd always wanted to visit as a child, how much she'd wanted to live there as soon as she turned eighteen. By simply being there, he was taunting her, daring her to find him. She'd happily oblige. Next to her, the human Melanie was speaking, yet not making any sense. The terms she used were a very insult to the traditional English language she'd grown up with.

"Is Jake coming back in a minute?" Finally, something she could understand.

"I believe so". Alexa snatched her bag of human clothes, debating on whether or not to throw them out of the nearest available window. Magik punctured her senses, and the bag landed by her feet.

"What's up?" Before Melanie could move, she grabbed her by the arms.

"Stay here. I will be back". It looked as if she was about to argue, but after a short sigh, she nodded. Gratefully, Alexa gave her a smile, though wasn't quite sure why she did so. The girl was only human. Footsteps – Jakes – pounded on the hardwood floor, followed by the heavy clonking of a Vaskel. A Vaskel. She shot forward, used her Sight to scan over the second floor of the library. Multiple shelves away, Jake was running, grabbing the heaviest books he could find and throwing them at his pursuer. Dashing out of Melanie's line of sight, she leapt over a bookshelf, using it as a stepping stone to launch herself into the air. Flinching from the force of her jump, she almost lost her footing, but regained her balance just in time to land squarely on top of the Vaskel. Her fist connected with his head and he went down, scrambling up at the last second. It was too risky to use any of her Magik in the open like this. Well, almost.

"You're coming with us," bellowed the Vaskel. She swung lightning-fast, propelling her shins into his neck with such strength he flew backwards into the adjoining bookshelves, knocking them over like dominos. Jake finally had chance to catch his breath.

"Thanks. We should get out of here, right now". Ignoring him, she stalked toward where the Vaskel lay.

"Your opinion is duly noted". Her face flushed with anger. The Vaskel fished about the fallen books, yanking a small dagger into his hand. Alexa took no notice. The blade posed no real threat and she was so sick, so sick to the teeth of being hunted that now, she could think of nothing better to do than fix the crux of the problem. As she lifted her index finger, she re-located the blade into the far wall. The Vaskel whimpered as the top of his fingers burned. For Demons reigning from Undergod – a world of fire – they were rather pathetic.

"Alexa, think this through," Jake warned, but his words came too late for her to care. He was a mere human, he couldn't tell her what to do. Before the Vaskel could even contemplate running away, she hauled him up by the neck and threw him over the balcony onto the main reception of the library. The following screams told her that he'd landed right on time. Another scream echoed. Her eye shot towards the corridor and Jake started running. Melanie.

"Call the police!" someone cried from below. That was definitely the last thing they needed. Knowing James, he most likely had the entirety of England's law enforcement under his thumb. If they got caught, they'd die. In front of her, Jake ground to a halt. Two Vaskels had Melanie by the hair, but she'd managed to snag a book off the shelf and began to hit one of them with it. Not bad. For a human, at least. Now it was her turn. Eye blazing, she leapt onto the table for higher ground, then threw herself onto the first Vaskel's back. Like a lioness, she clawed at its head, blinding it until letting go was its only option. Moving on to the second, she abandoned her energies and decided brute force would be the best course of action.

Or the most fun, a voice inside her whispered. 

Flashes of that night entered her mind – her parent's screams, a flash of light. The fire. Those flames – orange like the Vaskel's eyes – burned her even now. A sense of entrapment glided over her, and the sensation of being imprisoned in that coffin returned. She'd lain in a deep, dreamless sleep for so long that sometimes she felt as if she were still in it. The fear and the grief encompassed her so deeply that she didn't notice that she was beating the Vaskel. Again, and again and again. Every time his head rose, she slammed it back down. The first Vaskel had already left. Seeing red, she kept punching. Between the violence, tears threatened to fall, but she held them back. The Vaskel couldn't see her cry, and neither could Jake. Vaskelian blood coated her fingers, making her knuckles slide further into his jaw until the bones broke.

"Alexa!" Sirens coupled with Jake's voice made her stop, think. Only for a moment and then she started up again. The Vaskel was already unconscious, but she kept on going anyway. They'd helped to destroy her brother, the least she could do was destroy them.

"Alexa". Briefly, she met his eyes.

"Stop". His eyes. Pleading. Begging. Melanie stood next to him, silent for the first time since they'd met. The sirens kept on howling and footsteps rampaged on the floor below them.

"Alexa," he put his hand out. She looked down, stared at the Vaskel lying limply underneath her. Revenge. It didn't feel right, it felt empty. There seemed to be no other word or feeling to describe it. There'd been no passion in what she'd done and although part of her longed to feel satisfied, she found she couldn't enjoy the violence, or the emptiness that followed. Jake's hand found her shoulder.

"Alexa? I told you, revenge isn't worth it," he said. Helping her away from the body, they peered at the commotion on the ground floor.

"But if I cannot have my revenge then who will I be?" He didn't answer. Even as he draped his jacket over her to hide the blood and they crept out of the library. Even as police cars drew up outside the doors, and even as the receptionist stared at them as they left, he remained silent. Melanie did too. 

They didn't understand. 

Revenge was her only option, it was what drove her, and without it she was nothing.