"No, no, NO!" Everyone's shrieks got louder and louder as Xavier guessed what I was drawing within ten seconds from the allotted thirty. My total shyness from before was gone as soon as I realized they took this seriously, and both Xavier and I became one quickly.

"Did we win?" He asked excitedly as Alex counted up the time. He looked up, his poker face on, and looked at everyone. My hands were squeezing the marker very tightly as everyone in the room stood on their toes.

"I'm sorry Xavier..." Xavier's face sunk and Noah stood up to embarrass his son but froze when Alex continued. "That you cant do your dance of celebration fast enough cause you won!"

It was silent for exactly five seconds before he stood up with a giant yelp, and jumped over the coffee table to stand in front of me. He picked me up, taking a shriek from me, and placed me on his shoulders with ease before he lifted his hands up in the air.

"Weeeeeeeee are the champions, my frieeeeend," he began to sing and I threw my head back and laughed, the shock completely evaporating. Everyone groaned as I joined him, our voices echoing around the room, until Alice reminded us of the sleeping children. As soon as that sunk in, he quickly slipped me from his shoulders and set me back down on the ground, taking a step away as everyone frowned. The smiles that were on their faces a few seconds ago were gone, and even a few glares were sent to Alice.

"What!?" She whispered hiss. "I don't want the children to wake up!"

The parents shrugged in agreement and then someone yawned. That was the cue for everyone else to start yawning, which meant game night was over.

"I'll take you to your room as you don't know the way yet." Xavier whispered to me and I nodded, watching as he went along and kissed cheeks or hugged people. I was standing besides the door, so people had no choice but to walk past me. What I didn't expect was for some of them to hug me, or shake my hand again, saying words like 'great game' or 'I'll get you next time.'

Delilah stepped ahead of her mate and made her way towards me. She paused arms length away, and smiled before she spoke. "I hope you liked our little family activity. We didn't scare you or anything?" She was giggling a bit, and I bit my lip as she hiccuped.

Someone had one too many drinks...

"Yes, I enjoyed it, and no, you didn't scare me."

"That's good." She turned around so now she was standing next to me, facing the last three men who were still behind: Alex, Noah, and Xavier. "Mmmm, damn I'm so lucky. Look at that fine piece of ass."

My jaw dropped and I had to cover my mouth as a laugh threatened to escape. Alex turned to look at us, and he winked at his mate, who in return giggled like a schoolgirl, before his gaze turned to me to give me a quick smile.

"Let's resume this later. I got to get your mother to bed before she wakes with a hangover." They all hugged again and then as a trio, began to walk towards us.

For the next five seconds that it took for them to reach the door, my head went into overdrive. As the generation walked down, looking like supermodels, my mind turned blank, and could only repeat two words.

Hot damn.

My lungs stopped circulating air throughout my body, but it's not like my brain was asking for it. It was being stupid with it. My heart had taken the memory of a black cat firecracker as a challenge, and was thumping so fast, I felt like it was going to jump out of my chest.

All in five seconds, my mind forgot that I didn't know these men, but it was still salivating over them.

The five seconds arrived much quicker than my mind expected, and two of the three men stopped in front of us. Alex picked up Delilah bridal style, and quickly ran, leaving no trace of him behind. The only indication was the high pitch squeal of a drunk Delilah, and I saw Xavier shudder from the corner of my eye.

"Let's get you to your room. You must be exhausted from all this excitement."

I was. I could barely feel my feet, as they decided to fall asleep on me, but I managed to make it to the bottom of the stairs. "Can we take the elevator? My feet fell asleep on me." I looked down as a blush spread across my cheeks, and I saw his feet stop in front of me.

"Sure... but it will be much quicker if I just carry you... I'm just saying... since the elevator is not the fastest... aaaaaaand I'm just blabbing right now. I'll be quiet." He murmured and began to walk towards what I assumed were the elevators.

"Maybe next time," I joked as the doors opened, and he stared at me from the corner of his eyes.

"Mmm, we will see," he murmured again with a small grin is his face as we stepped in. The elevator hummed for two seconds, and then the quick jostle happened, the indication that it was moving. It took ten seconds for us to reach the floor —way faster than on foot— and we quickly stepped out. The hallways were quiet and dark, except for the few lamps that were still on every other wall.

"You don't have to walk me down. I know my way from here."

"You sure? I don't want to be killed if anything happens to you from here to your room. I think my mom and ma love you already."

My face threatened to blush at his words, but I held it back and nodded mutely. "I'm sure. Thank you though, for bringing me back up here. For sure I would have gotten lost trying to find the elevator."

He grinned. "No problem. Have a goodnight Eva."

He didn't move. I gave him one last smile before I turned around, and walked as straight as I could, knowing a set of eyes was following my every move. Once in front of the door, I quickly stepped in, seeing him still standing in the same spot from the corner of my eye.

Without much thought, I quickly washed my face, changed into some comfortable clothes and climbed in the huge bed that felt like a cloud. As soon as my head hit the pillow, I was knocked out.

~~~~~

"Good. Very good. You ate breakfast fine?" Quinn asked as she wrote stuff down on her clipboard.

"Yes. Do you all adopt? Cause I'm never going to want to leave," I joked as I rubbed my still full stomach. She chuckled, her white smile showing as she looked up from her paper.

"Maybe." She winked and continued writing. "Now... off to something more personal."

I gulped as she trailed off, waiting for me to give her the green light to continue. When I didn't say anything, she took that as her cue and very softly, asked me her question.

"When was the last time you went for treatment?"

I flinched, even though I knew what she was going to ask. I looked away, closing my eyes as I thought of the last time my knees had touched the floor as I bowed over the porcelain gods.

"Five years ago," I whispered as I squeezed my eyes even tighter. I heard her sharp inhale and my body slumped in the chair I was sitting on, the words spilling out of my mouth as if I was on autopilot. "My parents healthcare took care of it when I was first diagnosed at the prime age of my teenage years. I battled it, won, but then they died and so did the plan. When I started to show the symptoms again last year, I went to my doctor and he told me it came back." I sighed and opened my eyes, seeing her hands covering her mouth as she stared at me with rimmed tear eyes. "I can't afford it, and I'm too tired to fight it. So, I decided to just let life run it's course and and see how long it gives me. I don't know when I'll be gone, but I'm making sure by the time it comes, my memory is somewhere out there. Let it be with a person, a place, or even a permanent grafiti like a lock being placed on a fence with my initials on it."

When she didn't speak, I gave her the tiniest of smiles and shrugged. "You don't have to say anything. I've heard it all, and I don't really expect for you to react. Just pretend I'm healthy and normal, and not about to die any time now. That is my only wish."

She finally uncovered her mouth and she wiped her eyes. "Does anyone else know?"

I shook my head. "I would like to keep it that way please. I don't want any special treatment." She nodded mutely and I sighed in relief. The weight of someone else knowing left my shoulders, and I relaxed, closing my eyes again, only for them to fly open again a few seconds later. "Wait, can you supernaturals sense when a person is sick? Please tell me you can't."

"We can't, unless we have the power to do so. They can smell your scent, but they won't smell the scent of death until it is almost one."

I froze. "My... scent will change?"

She nodded sadly. "It's more noticeable on humans, so if you're still around when it happens, everyone will know. I knew about it before I ever saw your medical record. I have the gift of healing, plus catching an unfamiliar scent that means you have any health related sickness."

Many emotions were running through me as she told me more about herself. Shock, fright, amazement, but most of all, fear.

"Can you..." I gulped. "Can you smell..."

She gave me a small smile and shook her head, knowing what I was trying to ask. "No honey. I only smell you and the cancer. No death."

I scrunched up my nose at the C word, but quickly changed the topic. "So I'm clear? I'm free to go and enjoy this huge palace?" She bit her lip and thought about it. I frowned and added, "Or am I not free?"

"Oh, no. You're good to go. I just wish..." she sighed and shook her head. "Never mind. It's your choice and I won't push you into anything." She then looked me straight in the eye and hinted, "But, if you ever change your mind, come to me. I can help you. I can't heal it away, but I can try and help you beat it again once and for all."

I gulped loudly at her words and nodded robotically. "Alright," My voice croaked out as I stood up. "Thank you for everything."

I rushed out of the medical wing, not caring if I was going the wrong way. A few people stared at me as I passed them, but they didn't stop me. I ran, and ran, and ran, until I managed to find a door that led outside. Once out underneath the clear blue skies, I placed my palms on my knees, bending down a bit and took deep breaths.

I had just been told I could fight this again, when I thought I never could. I had a lot to think about soon...

_______________________
___________________________

Yuuuuuuup.

That's all I gotta say.

I also decided that this won't be a long book. It will have about 10-18 chapters, since it IS the finally book of this trilogy. If you are upset about it, tell me some scenes you might want to read about from what has already happened, or even scenes from the last two books. I will happily write them :)

Any questions, comments, don't hesitate to ask. Updates have been changed to once a week (sorry ☹️) Hope you enjoyed!

-Gris ♥️

Ps.
This is not edited, so if you see any mistakes, please point them out... NICELY 😀