"Rachel, it's time." Calvin whispered in the bed beside me.

I glanced absently over at the clock and sighed, it was almost six in the evening and the sun would be setting in thirty minutes. I knew exactly how long because I'd been lying here awake for hours on end trying to rest, but knowing that sleep wasn't going to come for me. I hadn't fully garnered how to quiet all of the billions of thoughts in my head enough for me to get even close enough to a relaxed state to sleep. On top of that, I was too nervous.

Being a vampire now didn't really make me feel any stronger about our situation than I had before. I was still afraid of what the outcome would be, with or without my extra power. It didn't make my fear subside any. All day long while I'd been lying in bed trying to sleep, the millions of things that could go wrong circulated in my brain. I tried relentlessly to force myself believe that seven of us really could take down an entire compound. Calvin seemed confident in our shot, and so did Cromley and Renard, but it was hard to make my logical thinking mind to imagine an outcome that didn't end in one or all of us dying.

I shook my head at myself, rolling over in the bed to face Calvin. He lifted his arm for me and pulled me over into a hug. "Everything will be ok, Rachel." He whispered. "I'm going to be sure that our daughter and you are both taken care of."

I sat up on my elbow and looked at him seriously. "Calvin, if it comes down to it, and you have to choose between us, please don't choose me." I whispered. "I know you want to keep us both safe, but promise me you'll pick her over me."

Calvin's eyes watered, something I could easily see even with the curtains all drawn and the lamp off. "I promise." He said shallowly and I nodded as he leaned forward to kiss my forehead before he pulled back the blankets. "Anyway, it won't be an issue because you've got all of your hot fighting skills now." He smiled at me, trying to lighten my mood.

I couldn't remember anymore how many times Renard had laid me out when he was training Lexton and me earlier. If I'd been human anymore I'd have shattered every bone in my body. Luckily it didn't hurt too badly, and I finally started to get a few of the maneuvers he was showing me.

"I'll have you remember that I was quite scrappy before my extra training." I pointed out. "Don't you remember me kneeing Marco in the junk on live television, or the time I held that guy at knife point?" I smiled.

Calvin narrowed his eyes. "Oh, trust me, I remember that well." He told me. "It was a sight that would not be easily forgotten."

He shook his head as he smiled at me and went over to the chair by the table where the blue bag with our clothes that Logan had gone out to pick up were. He pulled out his fitted black shirt and long black pants before handing the bag over to me.

The seriousness snuck back in. Our actions became mechanical. Shirt off, new black shirt on. Shorts off, pants on. Hair up, teeth brushed. On and on it went until we were both standing in the center of the room, comically looking a little like we were ready to go rob a bank in our all black and boots. Nothing was left to do. This was it, our last moment together alone before we'd have to join the others and move out.

"Come here." He whispered, opening his arms.

I stepped forward into his grasp and I held him as tight as I could while he leaned his head down on top of mine. "I love you." I whispered into his shirt, trying not to cry. I knew what we were about to do was dangerous and that there was a chance this could actually be it...the it. The last time I hold him and he holds me and we profess our undying love.

He held my face and looked down at me seriously. "I love you now," He whispered. "I'll love you tomorrow, I'll love you next week, I'll love you next year, I'll love you next century, and I'll always love you, Rachel." He kissed my head again. "Nothing will change it, you hear me?" He asked. "I will love you for the rest of time, and that starts with me taking you to get our daughter, and that's what we're going to do." Then he grinned, cocking his head to the side. "When this is all over, I'll take you to get some cobbler."

I laughed into his chest and squeezed him harder. "Can I tell you something?" I smiled up at him. "It's a big secret and you can't go bragging about it to everyone."

"Tell me." He asked, brushing his thumb across my cheek bone.

I inched up to his ear and whispered. "I love you even more than I love cobbler."

Calvin chuckled and leaned down to my ear next. "I'll let you in on a little secret too," He whispered. "I always knew you wanted me more than that damn cobbler anyway."

I never wanted to leave his arms, but we both knew it was time for us to meet with the rest of the group. He kissed me again quickly then led me out of the room and down the stairs out into the lobby. It was easy to spot them among the rest of the people busying around. I almost laughed again at our all black attire. Surely people were getting nervous being around us, wondering what we were up to. I couldn't laugh though because the serious looks on their faces reminded me that there was nothing to laugh about right now.

Logan met me at the bottom of the stairs and Calvin went ahead of us to go talk to Renard.

"I'm not sure about this." Logan shook his head, saying what I was thinking.

I put my hand on his arm and then hugged him quickly. "We're going to get Rose." I promised and he sighed.

"I hope so." He said as he stepped back. "Please be careful."

"I will." I nodded. "It's going to be alright." I told him like Calvin keeps telling me.

"I'll be here." Logan sulked.

I pursed my lips. "She'll be so happy to see you, Logan."

That made him smile and he nodded once more to me before he turned slowly and started walking back up the stairs to his room to wait. I knew his pain because it was the same thing I was going to have to do if I hadn't been turned. I might not be sure about how everything is going to go, but I sure as hell knew I didn't want to be sitting here waiting for the results like Logan.

I joined everyone else and they ran down the same plan once more while I closed my eyes and pictured it while Cromley spoke.

"Ready?" He asked, his own voice a little heavier than usual.

Everyone agreed and we followed Lexton, moving at normal speed until we were out of sight of any other people, then we kicked it up into high gear. Running so fluently was amazing, but it wasn't nearly as much fun as I thought it would be. I couldn't really feel the wind whooshing passed me because I couldn't really feel anything at all. During running it was more of a mechanical thing again, my body just doing what it was supposed to do without any help.

The only cool part of it was that I was pretty fast. Faster than everyone else except for Lexton. At one point we lined up with each other and I gave it my all to pass her, but she had me by a second of space.

The woods got thinner and Lexton gave the signal that we were close so I fell back into the group next to Calvin, holding his hand as we slowed to a stop and walked carefully at a safe distance behind Lexton. After a few minutes she stopped and I knew that meant that she was about to go into the clearing in front of the compound. The second she started moving again, we waited exactly ten seconds for her to reach the clearing and for the guards to acknowledge her, then we charged forward.

Renard and Cromley broke free from the tree line as Lexton hurried back behind Pedro, Calvin, Octavia, and me. Renard took out the guy wearing the headpiece first, snapping his head right off of his shoulders before he had a chance to call in an attack. Cromley grabbed the first guy by the arm, swinging his whole body into the second and third man before he and Renard both went to rip them apart with ease. These men might have been dressed as guards, but they certainly weren't warriors.

Everything was happening so fast, and I knew if I'd been human that my heart would have been hammering around in my chest. I wished absently that it was, at least then I'd feel like I was having a normal response to the madness before me. Instead I followed behind Calvin and Pedro as we pushed between Renard and Cromley as they finished destroying their victims and setting their fires.

Calvin ran down the four short stairs in the ground that led to a bulky dark wood door with gold and silver metal detailing across it. He reared back only once and kicked in the door. Immediately he grabbed the first man to his left, taking him by surprise by swinging his leg under his feet and taking the man to the ground before he shoved his hand into his chest with a god awful smashing sound and Calvin tossed the heart aside as he got to his feet and kicked off the man's head while reaching for his next victim.

It was easy to see why everyone had hailed Calvin as such a powerful fighter. Before he'd even be finished killing one person, he's already taking down the next, yanking an arm off this one to trip the other one with. It was maddening, and insane, but yet I couldn't help be a little prideful about it.

Pedro was handling his business too, and I was pretty sure it was mostly because he really needed to get some rage out to feel like he was getting revenge for Patrick's death.

The entrance was dark, definitely much older looking than the one at Castrum and twice as small. Me, Lexton, and Octavia had to keep pushing our backs up against the wall in the small space to keep from getting hit with flying body parts that Calvin was tossing around. Cromley and Renard joined us, helping pop the head off of Pedro's last man and starting a new fire.

I'd never thought I'd enjoy seeing those blue flames or smelling that sweet smell of burning vampire flesh like I was then. These men had been a part of keeping my daughter from me and each deserved what they were getting.

"Alright, flank and meet at the center." Cromley reminded everyone even though I was already pushing over to the right corridor while he and Renard ran for the left.

I was counting the time and the square feet and I knew instantly that the second door that we came to should have been guarded by two men, but there was no one there. Calvin carefully inched up to the room, pushing the door open and dropping into a crouch, ready to attack, but the room was clear. We exchanged a worried glance, but then moved on to the next door that should have had four of its own guards. Again, no one was there.

At the next door we did find two men, and Calvin took them both out in a matter of seconds alone before we rounded the next curve and saw the main double doors, but there was no one there either. My chest ached where my heart should have been sinking. Why was everyone gone? Nothing was going as it was planned and I didn't know where to go from here.

Renard and Cromley met the rest of us at the door and we all looked into each other's eyes. "We took out four on our wing." Cromley mouthed to us.

Calvin held up two fingers and Renard shook his head. "All in there?" He mouthed and I didn't know which thing to hope for. My choices were that the guards were all gone because they'd moved Rose, or she was in there with almost all of them against our seven.

Calvin grabbed my head and kissed the side. "I love you." He said against my ear, then he and Renard both spun around to kick in the door.

Despite its size, it gave way to their strength and the doors slid open revealing the large room that was completely paneled with long full length mirrors. In the center of the room was a big oak table and at least twenty men seated around it.

At the sound of the door they all stood up, fanning out in a line and blocking the table and the back half of the room from view. Each and every one of the men were wearing casual and maybe slightly outdated guard's uniforms and smiles. The man in the center of the line stepped forward, shaking his head while he continued to smile. I could tell by his fair hair and crooked nose that he must be Demetri. The man who had been holding my daughter captive. I was seeing him through a red haze and I knew my eyes must have turned black. I focused on why we were here to keep myself in control. I needed to be ready. I knew the plan had been for the men to attack as soon as we entered, but we hadn't been planning on being this outnumbered in one place.

Demetri kept his ugly smile on his smug face as he folded his hands in front of him and narrowed his eyes at Lexton. "I guess I should have expected this, huh?" He asked. "I should have known you were too pathetic to do something good for yourself for once. Instead, you went crawling back to this one." He said turning his gaze to Calvin. "Too bad you all couldn't have had worse timing." He laughed and the other men joined in. "An hour from now and we wouldn't be in this meeting anymore, we'd be in the positions that I assume miss blabber mouth over there told you about." He shook his head again. "You might have even pulled off your little plan...all except one thing."

"What thing?" I snapped, unable to hold my tongue any longer. "If you hurt one hair on my child's head I will personally shred you to pieces and then eat your heart you worthless son of a bitch."

Demetri tilted his head back and forth. "Oh, darling, you're welcomed to eat any part of me you want." He said slyly and out of the corner of my eye I saw Calvin jerk forward, but Renard held him back. "Calm down, sir." He smiled at him. "Your pretty little queen doesn't have to put her pretty little mouth on me today...a shame, I know, but you see, I haven't hurt your little love child at all." He smiled. "However, she isn't here anymore either."

"You're lying." I spat through my gritted teeth.

"Sadly for you, I'm not." He smirked. "I couldn't be too careful once I let Lexton come around."

I felt hopeless, knowing we'd come this far only to lose. I feared for what would happen to Rose once we were all dead and gone. My sweet little girl, as delicate as a flower, used by these monsters to become a cruel and hard queen. I wanted to cry on my knees but I wouldn't give these people the satisfaction of seeing how they'd broken me.

Lexton pushed forward to the front of the group. "He's lying!" She yelled. "He was the only one coming in and out of this room and she called for him multiple time." She told us. "He wouldn't be here anymore if she wasn't."

Calvin pulled Lexton back into the group and he stepped forward himself, down in a crouch with black eyes and his lips pulled back as he snarled. "I am going to end every one of you, one by one, until someone tells me where the hell my daughter is!" He sneered. "I will kill you, I will kill your family, I will kill your friends, and I'll kill your friend's families." He screamed. "I'll kill everyone until my daughter is in her mother's arms again!"

Demetri tilted his head at Calvin. "You already killed all of my family, or don't you remember?" He asked. "Plus, I'm pretty sure my friends here," He fanned his arms out. "Are going to be the ones killing what's left of your family and friends."

Before Calvin could respond, Demetri started laughing, followed by all of the other men in the line behind him. I hated the way it all echoed off of the high ceilings and the mirrors all around only showed me how small we looked in comparison to the rebels. As much as I was feeling the despair come down on me, I stilled when one laugh began to rise above the others.

A laugh I recognized.

The line of men parted down the middle, spreading out just enough to reveal the wooden table again. Sitting at the head, a smile on his face, and his hands folded carefully on the table in front of him was a man who shouldn't have been here.

He shouldn't have been anywhere.

He was supposed to be dead.

Patrick.