My eyes flew open to see Zion looking down at me, stroking my hair, tenderly. I was laid out on the floor, my head resting in his lap.

"Are you alright?" he asked, eying me anxiously.

Feeling refreshed, I sat up, pushing myself up out of his lap.

"You were gone awhile," commented Star, "I guess healing Joel takes a lot out of you."

Joel reached over, squeezing my hand in thanks.

"We found it," Tom said, grinning at me, gesturing to the huge room we were in. I looked around, noticing the wide vault with an arched ceiling. It had a bookshelf on the far corner, filled with all sorts of books and a table was in the center of the room, not too far from where we were huddled.

Bay's warning echoed in my brain as I searched the room, looking for the tunnel. My eyes locked on the hole in the corner of the room. That must be how we got here. I had to get away from my friends and meet her soon before the Five attacked again.

I walked over to the book shelf, Star trailing behind me. I plucked out a thick book, realizing it was written in Feres.

"What are you looking for?" she asked me, curiously.

"I'm not sure," I answered as I flipped through the pages.

It was a book of spells. My eyes ran over the pages, reading over the complicated spells before catching something that caught my eye. It was a angel with striking, multi-colored wings like mine.

"Dearis senteu animalur," I whispered to myself.

"What does that mean?" Star asked, looking up at me.

"I'm not sure," I replied quickly, slamming the book shut as I raised a finger up to stop her from replying. I focused my hearing, catching a set of footsteps within earshot getting closer to us.

"Everyone, hide under the table. NOW!" I ordered as I outstretched my wings.

Zion walked towards me, following close on my heel as everyone else decided to heed my instruction, crouching under the table

I flew up through the tunnel, darting quickly through it using my vampire speed as I heard the footsteps near.

I emerged from the tunnel to find Mr. Sharp walking up to us, sighing in relief at the sight of us.

"Saron, where have you been?" he asked, rushing towards me.

"I got out of the infirmary and we came here to hide," I answered, honestly, deciding to trust him by his reaction.

"It's not safe. The Five are searching for you." Panic started to flood my body at his words. I was too late. They were coming for me.

Turning around, facing Zion I leaned forward, planting a kiss on his lips. Fireworks erupted between us, fading quickly as I used my magic to suck the oxygen out of the air surrounding him. He gasped for air, grabbing the wall as he stared at me in shock. My eyes filled with tears as I caught him before he collapsed, gently placing him on the ground. I ran my fingers back through his curly hair, kissing him one last time on the forehead before standing up.

Mr. Sharp watched me, unsure of what to say.

"It's not safe anymore. I have to leave. Tell them I'm sorry." I darted away, heading as fast as I could for the South exit. I fought back tears as I zoomed through the Academy. If I was to die, at least my friends would be safe now.

I spotted Bay, hidden in the shadows near the South exit, emerging once she spotted me.

"We have to go now before the other four find us. Grab my hand."

Hesitantly, I grabbed her hand while she chanted a spell. We disappeared instantly, landing in an open field. I turned to her asking, "Where are we going?"

"To see your father," she said bluntly, walking ahead.

I stopped, dumbfounded.

"My father?"

"Yes, Edward. We need him for this to work."

I raced ahead of her, blocking her path before questioning her again, "You want to go to my father for help?"

When she remained silent, I continued angrily, "The father who abandoned me and my mother as we hid for years, constantly on the run until she had to give me away to protect me. My mom is dead because of him."

Softening her gaze, she met my eyes before replying, "Your father is not the monster you think he is."

"I don't care who he is. He's a coward. That's all I need to know," I yelled, enraged.

Grabbing my arm, she reminded me, "Listen girl. Your life and the life of your friends will always be in danger if the Five remain in power. They will never stop hunting you until they destroy you and everyone you care about. I don't care about your daddy issues. He is the only one who can help us."

I shut up, scowling at her before continuing to walk in silence after her. She was right. This wasn't just about me. I had to think of my friends. I pushed away the feelings of anger I harbored against my father, focusing on the people I loved. Zion. Star. Jeremy, Joel. Tom. This was for them. I'd do whatever it took to keep them safe. If that meant working with my father, so be it.

After a few hours of trudging through the empty field, we came to a forest. She stopped, holding her hand up behind her back to warn me to tread carefully. We walked, slowly through the forest scanning our surroundings for signs of danger. After a few minutes, she motioned me to follow her as she stooped over, walking into a rock, covered in moss. I looked over my shoulder instinctively, before ducking inside after her. We walked deep inside the dark cave, crouching the entire way due to the low roof. Before long, we stepped out into a wide, open space, bright with light. We were surrounded by the stone of the cave but we could now stand straight, looking up at the tall hollow stone ceiling.

A figure stepped out from the wall, camouflaged in moss. I gasped, startled by the sudden movement not having noticed him there.

"Hello, daughter," he said with a serious expression, completely devoid of emotion.

"Hello, Edward," I replied, coldly refusing to acknowledge him as my father.

"I'll give you two some time to get acquainted," said Bay, disappearing into the stone from which Edward had emerged.

"How are you supposed to help us?" I asked, getting straight to the point.

Surprised, Edward stepped forward into the light, his camouflage disappearing. I inspected him closely, noticing his dark hair, deep brown eyes like mine and tall, lean figure. He looked no older than 25 and was in good shape. I looked away, not allowing myself to look at him any longer than I needed to.

"Don't you have questions?"

"I don't care what you have to say to me. I'm here to protect the people I love because I won't abandon them," I said, taking a jab at his character.

"Is that what you think I did?" he asked, hurt in his eyes.

"My mother is dead because of you."

"Your mother is the one who made me leave," he snapped, furiously.

"What are you saying?" I asked, in disbelief.

"When I met your mother, I was on the run from the Five. I fell in love with her instantly. I hid who I was, telling her I was just a vampire because I was afraid of losing her, like everyone else in my life. I'm sure you know what I'm talking about. People fear us without bothering to understand us and I didn't want to lose her. When we got pregnant with you, the Five found me again. When she found out who I was, she became terrified of me just as I had feared. Nothing I said or did could change her mind. She told me to leave. That she could protect you. If I didn't leave, she threatened to tell the Five about you. I knew if they ever found out the power you held, they'd kill you so I left. I loved you so much and I wanted to protect you. So I left your mother. I tried to leave them trails to follow me but they would always discover they were fake. They decided to go after your mother, chasing her around the country to find me. When I heard they killed her, I thought you were dead too. Bay came to me and told me you were alive and the Five had discovered you and I couldn't believe it. But now that I'm here looking at you, I know you're my daughter."

I listened quietly, tears streaming down my face. No. No. No. It can't be. The mother who I loved so dearly, who spent her life protecting me, a monster had driven my father away. I trembled in anger. Not just at my mother. But at the Five. They had driven my father away from me and now had driven me from my friends. I wanted them dead. Every last one of them. My eyes slowly began to shift to scarlet as I felt flames peeking out from my fingers. I felt my rage spread, burning my body as it heated up hotter and hotter, threatening to explode.

I felt myself being yanked forward, into my fathers arms as he grabbed me, pulling me into him. My heartbeat slowed and my angry thoughts began to clear from my head as I slowly wrapped my arms around him, letting out a sob I had been holding in for a long time. Everything that had happened came crashing down at me. I felt myself begin to melt in his arms as I held on to him. My father. The flames extinguished from my fingertips and my eyes reverted back to their brown color as I regained control of my body. Wiping my wet face with my sleeve, I backed away from him. I noticed his face was also wet, streaked with tears.

"Okay," I said, "how do we stop the Five?"

"Follow me," he said, disappearing into the stone wall. I stepped in after him following him into a dim room lit with candles. There was a huge table taking up the majority of the room covered with weapons, books, notes, photos, etc. It was clear he had been working on something.

"What's all this?"

"Let's start with the Five. The Five consist of an angel, a dragon, a witch, a vampire, and a werewolf. The five most powerful factions. Alone, they are no stronger than the average supernatural. Their power comes from dark magic. They are bonded together with dark magic, causing them to be incredibly strong. We have to break their bond and you're the only one that is able to break that bond."

"How do we do that?"

"It's only a matter of time until they find us. There's a spell that you have to cast to break the spell. It takes an enormous amount of magic that only Arogens possess."

"What's the spell?"

He motioned me over, pointing at a piece of paper in the center of the table. A spell was scribbled on the paper with the same words that had caught my eye from the spell book.

"Dearis senteu animalur", I read aloud.

"You're familiar with the spell?" he asked, raising his eyebrow in surprise.

"I've seen it before," I answered, vaguely.

Nodding in understanding he turned to face me before asking, "So tell me everything I've missed."

I took a deep breath summarizing everything from my childhood with Mrs. Gerbin, meeting Star and the others, training with Narxus, finding my mate, up to getting discovered by the Five.

"I wish I could have been there and you never would have been left alone to figure this out on your own," he said, sadly.

"It's alright," I said, grabbing his hand and squeezing it as reassurance.

Bay appeared out of thin air, rushing towards us before telling us, "They're a day's journey away."

"Are you sure?" Edward asked

"Maybe less. Liam is an impeccable tracker so we might have even less time."

"Alright. Saron, get some rest. It's getting late and you need your energy. I'll take the first watch."

"Are you sure? You look worse than I do," I asked, noticing the dark circles around his eyes.

"Yes. Bay will take second watch and I'll wake you up in 10 hours."

Too tired to argue, I nodded looking around for a place to crash. Flinging the rug off the ground, he revealing a compartment in the ground. He opened it up and to my surprise there was a bed with an adjoining desk inside it. I nodded in satisfaction, heading down the stairs before jumping in it. I watched as he reclosed the entrance, throwing the rug back over it with a thump. I fell to sleep immediately.

"DAMMIT!" I woke up to Bay's yelling, muttering a string of curses I didn't understand. I sat up, reaching out to knock at the door. After Bay slid back the rug and released a few latches, the door swung open and I climbed out.