A few minutes later, both Ryker and Eros had arrived at the second floor of Blair's small flat. The boys brought and placed Blair's body on the floor of the hallway in front of the bedroom. I wished there was a more decent place to lay her down but this was our only choice considering the lack of furniture or sofa here.

Ryker seemed to have explained what was going on to Eros because I found my best friend looking at me worriedly. "Are you sure you're going to do this?" he asked once they'd laid Blair down, putting his hand on my shoulder and leaning down to level his eyes with mine. "You've never done it before, Xy. It could be dangerous. What if you won't be able to return and are stuck inside her body forever?"

I shook my head. "This is the fastest way, Er. If I had to break each of those runes, it would take ages. Furthermore, I had to break it in a reversed way as Blair put them and I had no idea in what order she'd placed them. It would take days for me to figure it out, to pry into her magic and find which spells she was using. We do not have the time. We need to get back home, find Alpha Sinclair, and get you fixed. Trust me, it would be easier for me to jump into her body and get inside there without causing any harm. I'll be quick. Once I find her soul, I'll get out and jump back."

"You made it sound so easy but I know it's not that simple," grumbled Ryker, disagreeing with this plan.

I gave Eros a look and then moved toward Ryker. "Hey, come on. You know I can do this."

Both of his hands cupped each side of my face and he planted a small kiss on my forehead. Letting out an exasperated sigh, he finally spoke, "I know you can do it. I have no doubt about your ability and power but what I'm saying is that Blair is smart. Your mum is terrifyingly smart and cunning. This might be a trap. What if there's something inside Blair's body? A rune or a hex or something. What if things go wrong, Xy?" His thumbs caressed my cheeks, his eyes were earnest. "I don't want you to get hurt and I don't want to lose you. So please, I am begging you, find another way. It doesn't matter if it's not the fastest way there is. As long as you don't have to jump into Blair's body, I'm fine with waiting. We don't really have to rush back home right this very moment. Not everything has to have an immediate solution. Please. Think about it. A rash decision might negatively impact our future."

I turned to look at my best friend. Eros heaved a sigh, nodding. "I have to agree with Ryker here, Xy. It's dangerous. You don't know what's in there and there's no guarantee that just because you're in Blair's meat then the runes won't work on you. It's best if we take our time and find a way to break each rune."

Since both of them were adamant about breaking each rune instead of me jumping into Blair's body, I finally caved in. "Okay." The soonest that word left my mouth, Ryker planted a mouthful kiss on my mouth that made Eros tell us to get a room.

"This might take days," I informed the boys once we ended our kiss to catch some breath. "And with my current energy, I am not sure if I could do it as quick as possible."

Both Ryker and Eros nodded. "Take all the time you need," said Ryker before planting a kiss on top of my head.

°°°°°°°

After literally a week of finding a pattern, figuring out each spell and each rune that my mother had used to protect her so-called lair, I had managed to break each rune until the room was no longer protected by anything.

"All the runes are broken, right?" I asked Eros and Ryker as we all scanned the room from where we'd stood. The broken runes would have a crack on them, rendering them useless.

"Yeah, the ones on the walls and on the ceiling have that white slash on them," said Eros, nodding.

"I have a question," said Ryker with a tone that worried me a little and tampered with my little victory here. "What about the rune on this side of the wall? We could only look at three sides of the walls from the door but what if there was another rune on the same side as the door?"

"Fuck, you're right!" Eros growled. "How are we to tell?" His blue-green eyes scanned the bedroom once again. "Could we perhaps climb outside and look from that window?" He pointed at the window next to the dresser.

I bit my bottom lip and listened to these boys trying to figure a way out. In all honesty, I already did. But it was rather refreshing to see them work together like this. Over two years ago, if someone had told me that Ryker and Eros would somehow find a way to actually work together, I wouldn't have believed it. They had the exact opposite personality and the only time I'd actually seen them sort of work together was when the Night Walkers had attacked the Ethereal. Even then, he'd only helped because he'd been indebted after Ryker and the Ethereal had helped him get his consciousness back and saved him from Adelina's spell. Right now was a different matter altogether. So I quite enjoyed sitting at the back and watching them deep in discussion.

"Maybe I could carry you to that tree and while I hold you, you can get a look. Maybe take a photo or something so Xy could figure out what rune that is. Although I am hoping there's nothing on that side of the wall," said Eros. He crossed his arms in front of his chest, his eyebrows lowered and his forehead creased.

"Why do you need to carry me?" asked Ryker, not hiding the incredulity in his tone. "I could climb the tree on my own, thank you very much." He shoved his hands into the pockets of his pants and then cast his gaze on the floor. Frown lines were starting to appear on his forehead as well. "Plus I don't think a photograph would suffice."

"Not if they're blurry," commented Eros, lifting one eyebrow quite defiantly. "Maybe you should wait at the bottom and tell me when you see anyone around. I'll climb and take the damn photo."

"You want me to play the guard?" Ryker's silver eyes narrowed to a slit. "Are you fucking joking with me right now? If anything, you should play the guard. At least if I climb the damn tree and people see me, they won't be as confused as if they see someone with a human head and the body of a wolf."

"Who said anything about shifting?" Eros rolled his eyes, shaking his head and giving Ryker a look as if the other man was actually a five-year-old boy and not a grown man. "You won't be able to hold the phone if you have clawed paws, dickhead."

Ryker took a step forward. Although his posture was quite relaxed, there was definitely a building tension in the air. "Who are you calling 'dickhead' again?"

"Obviously you," Eros scoffed. "Why would I call myself 'dickhead', dickhead?"

This time, I couldn't help but laugh. Both boys instantly broke their eye contact and turned to face me. They both had this similar surprised look on their faces and when they blinked, they did it at the exact same time which was so comical that I laughed even harder. "Oh, boys." I wiped a small tear out of one corner of my eyes. "You both are acting like children, I swear."

Eros shrugged. "Your boyfriend clearly is, but I am most certainly not."

Ryker was about to open his mouth and no doubt came with a snide remark but I placed one hand on his shoulder and another hand on Eros's shoulder. "Honestly, there's no need for anyone to climb a tree and take a photo from a window." I patted both of their shoulders and smiled.

"But, Xy, what about the runes on this side of the wall?" argued my best friend, frowning. "We can only see the other three sides, as Ryker said just now."

"I have already broken the runes on this side too. Remember what I said a few days ago? I told you both that I needed to find the order and the spell that my mother has used and I did. As for the runes on this side, go and look at that mirror on the dresser," I told them and both boys peered from the door. "I've used that mirror to tell me the runes on this side. I just had to manipulate the angle. Here, let me show you." I used my magic to change the angle, making the mirror more like a crystal ball that showed me the side of the wall where the door was. Once I checked that all runes were already broken, I proved it to both Ryker and Eros by walking into the bedroom. "See," I said once I was in the middle of the bedroom. "I've broken all those runes. You all can enter here now although I have to warn you not to touch any of her stuff. They might have some magic in them."

Walking further inside Blair's lair, I noticed that one of the skulls was actually different than the others. It wasn't a wolf or human, it somewhat looked like the head of a dinosaur or something. I moved my attention away and began searching for Blair's soul. It seemed that my mother was quite confident that no one would ever get past her many layers of protection that she hadn't exactly hidden Blair's soul. Instead, it was in plain sight, resting on the dresser.

"It's this one." I pointed at the crystal ball that had moving white smoke inside of them. "This is Blair's soul." I summoned a ball of red smoke and used it to touch the crystal ball. There was no magic in it besides the magic to keep the soul inside which was quite easy to crack. I grabbed the crystal ball in my palm and looked up. "Are you ready?"

"Wait," Eros said in a wary tone. "Ready for what exactly?"

"This." I threw the crystal ball to the floor and it smashed into a million little pieces. The white smoke inside was oozing out and made its way to Blair's body in the hallway. The three of us followed it and watched the white smoke attempt to penetrate the body and fail.

"Why is it not able to get in?" asked Eros, blurting the question I had in mind.

'Because the body has been without a host for more than a few hours. It has been days. Despite your spell trying to preserve the body, it will not accept the soul any longer,' explained Devon.

"My cousin said that because the body has been without a host for far too long," I answered Eros's question.

Then we watched the white smoke finally disperse into thin air. It was gone. Eros rushed toward it, waving his hand in the air but there was nothing. "Wait, where did it go? Please don't tell me it's flying around and attempting to enter one of our bodies."

"No." This time, Ryker was the one to answer. "I believe it finally found peace, Er. It goes to wherever every soul goes, where our soul will go to one day."

'Precisely what your boy toy said, Cousin.'

"He's not my boy toy," I muttered under my breath.

Evidently, the wolves' super hearing was one of the downsides in this case because Ryker lifted his eyebrows and stared at me questioningly. "Pardon?"

"Nothing," I replied with a shrug.

Eros stared at his hands for a while then looked up. His blue-green eyes were filled with wonders. This was also the first time I saw someone's soul and I believed it was only showing because my mother had kept it inside a crystal ball for a long period of time. If someone died normally the soul simply left the body and we wouldn't be able to actually witness it.

"What do we do now?" Eros asked, glancing at me and Ryker before finally fixing his gaze on me.

I gave him a smile. "We are going home."

°°°°°°°

Author Note: Does anyone wish for this trio to be reunited with Dmitry, Trish, and Miles? Because a reunion is clearly overdue! Also, do you think Alpha Sinclair's younger brother will help them? We all know how much the Night Walkers hate Xyrra's dad and wish to punish him through Xyrra. Please share your thoughts! And if you have a spare minute, please write a review (and give some stars) to this story! We are so close to the end! In fact, I am positive there are only a few chapters left!