Damian and I sat alone later that night on a bed in one of the guest rooms.

"How are you feeling?" He asked. There was a tray in his lap with milk and cookies.

Usually, I'd jump at the idea of scarfing them down but tonight I had no desire to eat.

"Like crap. Like maybe there was something I could've done but didn't. Like it's my fault."

"Don't think like that, Aim. Nothing that happened was your fault and there's no way you could have prevented it."

He tilted my chin up, leaving me no choice but to look at him.

His eyes were light, almost as rarely sea green as his mothers and right now they were filled with sympathy and love.

I threw my arms around him and held him tightly, finding comfort in his touch more than anyone else in this world.

If there'd been one consistent thing in my life, it had always been Damian.

From the moment we'd met at recess, to the endless summer days playing in the woods, Damian had always been there.

Even our parents were friends. In fact, his parents were also my godparents.

I could remember spending more days in the soccer field with him and his dad than with my own family.

Peter had been a second father to me and losing him only a year after losing dad had been like having salt poured into a wound.

"Do you ever feel like your life is spiraling out of control? Like you're on a roller coaster and you can't get off no matter how bad you want to?"

"Sure," He responded. "But I try not to let it get to me. Sometimes...things happen to us that are out of our control but it's up to us to make the most out of it, don't you think?"

Damian set the tray down on the nightstand. He pulled back the covers, climbed into bed and patted the spot next to him.

"I guess that's one way to look at it."

"Let's play one game." He chirped. "To get your mind off of things."

"Fine. But don't think I'm going to go easy on you just because I'm sad."

"Wouldn't dream of it."

He grinned and chucked the game system controller at me while the television started up.

"Daim, I think I've gone crazy." I admitted as we both stared at the loading icon on the television.

"Why do you think that?"

"I just..." I trailed.

My eyes followed a sliver of moonlight that cut through the room and landed on the vanity mirror, reflecting back.

This wasn't something I could share with Damian.

I didn't think it was anything I could share with anyone, really.

If I did, I'd definitely be put in the crazy house, or worse, put whoever I told in danger.

As much as I wanted to confide in my best friend, I knew this was a burden I had to shoulder on my own. It wouldn't be fair to him to put the weight of knowing supernatural creatures existed on him.

"Aim, what do you mean you think you've gone crazy? Did something happen...?"

I bit my lip and shook my head.

"No, I just mean with everything going on it sort of feels like I'm stuck in a nightmare."

Damian's shoulders relaxed and he nodded.

"Don't worry, Aimee. All nightmares must come to an end. We'll get through this together and I won't let anything happen to you."

Why did everyone keep saying that to me?

Did I honestly look incapable of taking care of myself?

Knowing he meant well, I shoulder-bumped him just as the gory fighting game sprung to life on the screen.

After an hour of fun banter and mindless video games, Damian yawned, his controller making a light thud as he placed it onto the nightstand.

"How'd your visit with Christian go?"

"Oh," I said, surprised he remembered. "It went fine. I don't think he was responsible for what happened to my parents, if that's what you really want to know."

"Hmm," Damian mused. "I don't know. I don't trust him. Promise me you'll stay away from him until your family is found?"

"Err, okay?"

"That doesn't sound convincing." His eyes swung to look at me. That sea green churned with concern and something else, something intangible, something I couldn't recognize but knew was there.

"I'm serious. I get a bad feeling about him."

"Okay, fine, I'll avoid Christian as much as I can until my family is found."

Seemingly satisfied with my answer, he stood and stretched, a patch of skin visible between his t-shirt and sweat pants.

"Good night, Aim. See you in the morning."

"Night, Damian."

He kissed my forehead, flipped off the light and carefully shut the door.

I lay my head against the pillow but sleep would not come.

I kept replaying the conversation with Damian, about him not trusting Christian.

To be honest, I didn't entirely trust him either. His entire story was hard to wrap my head around.

A King had sent him to protect me.

Me, normal, human, boring me.

The most excitement I'd ever had in my life was seeing ghosts and now two kings were fighting over me for my powers?

Did I even have powers?

What the hell were powers anyway?

And what good were they if I wasn't even able to defend myself from two vampires who'd crawled out of hell to get me?

Not to mention that nobody did something for someone without getting something in return which begged the questions: what did Christian get out of all of this?

With these worries present in my mind, I tossed and turned all night.

When I finally drifted off into sleep, I was plagued by a vision in the form of a nightmare.

I felt her presence glue me to the bed.

My lungs sucked in a harsh gasp, my fingers curled around the sheets as Ally sunk into my sleeping body.

I fought to open my eyes but some unseen force held them shut.

Ally made her way down a long, dark corridor.

At the end of the hall, a single candle lit the entrance to a dungeon.

Metal bars separated a guard from the prisoners within.

I saw my mother first, huddle into the corner of a cot. Her face was streaked with tears and dirt. Her hair had come out of her perfect bun, frizzy strands clinging to her wet face.

Two other forms sat huddled, all on opposite ends of the cell, none touching nor communicating, each lost, in a way, in their own self-pity.

Ally's eyes cast down my mother's hands, curled into fists in her lap. Her knuckles were bloody as if she'd put up some great fight.

Her breathing was ragged, terrified.

I could feel it at the very center of my being.

The wooden door to the dungeon opened with a heavy moan.

Boots clapped against the cement floor.

Marcy looked up, her eyes widening with terror.

"Not again, no, please, no. I don't know anything. I don't," she sobbed. "I don't even know what a Changeling is."

Ally released her hold on me.

I sat up, clutching the blankets to my chest. I gulped down mouthfuls of air, my mind struggling to form coherent thoughts.

I could still feel mom's horror, as if it'd been my own. Could almost feel my fingernails throbbing with pain.

Hyperventilating, I thought nothing would be able to tear that image from my mind tonight until a flutter of movement caught my attention.

I looked to the vanity where I found Ally seated.

She turned slowly to look at me, each movement short and precise.

She had a comb to her hair which she used to brush a strand of blonde hair in slow, long strokes.

I let out a shaky breath.

Someone had opened the window allowing the icy Oregon wind to creep into the room.

In one instant Ally was looking at me and in the next she was sucked into the vanity mirror.

After a few heartbeats, I realized she wasn't coming back.

When it came to paranormal things, to vampires and faeries and changelings, I knew I was way in over my head on this one.

In that moment, what had to be done became crystal clear.

I couldn't allow mom to go on being tortured so I clambered out of bed.

I searched the room for my pack, finding it on the other side, by the closet. I now regretted tossing it there as the cold hit my exposed shoulders.

I shivered as I padded over and searched the bag for my phone.

When I found it, I quickly searched my contacts and punched in the number Christian had given me before dropping me off at Damien's.

"Hello," Was his groggy response.

"I'm ready."

He cleared his throat before asking, "Ready for what?"

"To find my family. I need your help."

Christian arrived in record time.

While I waited for him, I let the window open, finding that I desperately needed fresh air.

I pulled on a pair of jeans followed by a t-shirt and packed as much of the clothes Damian had gathered from my apartment into my bag.

When a shadow cast over the moonlight streaming through the window, I just about had a heart attack.

I turned slowly to see who the intruder was, half expecting to see a red-eyed monster.

Instead, it was only Christian.

I caught him in the last moments of climbing into the room, just as he bounced on the balls of his feet, lithe as a panther.

His dark blue eyes did a search of the room in one quick sweep.

"How did you—never mind."

His leather jacket shimmered in the light of the moon.

"Are you ready?" He asked.

I probably should've thought twice about it.

About running away with a vampire, I mean.

But I didn't.

I had a family to find and right now Christian was the only one who knew anything about the monsters that had captured them.

Nodding, I quickly scribbled a note for Damian, telling him not to worry and that I'd be back soon.

I set down to the pencil and turned to Christian, my eyes meeting his with a steely resolve.

"If you kill me." I said. "It won't matter because I've got nothing left to lose."

He watched me for half a heartbeat.

"People with nothing to lose are the most dangerous."

I titled my head, studying his face.

"Right. So don't even think about crossing me."

His lips pulled up at the corner, the only acknowledgement of my words.

"Ready?"