The Taylor family had six members. I had always thought that one of the things that fueled our disunity was our number. Six people getting along at all times didn't seem like an easy feat.

However, as six of us—my brothers minus Victor who had travelled to Scotland for a funeral, the Castilla siblings, and I—walked down a street in a less crowded area of the city, we moved cohesively despite not speaking to each other.

I blamed it on exhaustion.

We had been running all around town for the past three days, following Lincoln's leads. They had all resulted in dead ends like Baines predicted that someone would try to go after him and left crumbs leading to different places to throw the seeker off track.

There were two more people on the list. The one we were going to visit now was the only woman who had made it. She was a retired tea parlor owner who was rumoured to have madness. Lincoln had only considered her because she had a great affinity for gossip and had fun slandering people through the little articles she wrote and distributed in her tea parlor. Since it shut down due to lack of business, she had been living on the outskirts of town living off pennies. Hence, if anyone came to her with juicy gossip or at least dropped the hint, she would have immediately hopped on the news and even more likely, if she was promised publicity and money.

"Miss Danbury, watch your step," Lincoln said, grabbing my arm momentarily in case I had really fallen because of the small hole in my way.

Miss Danbury.

It had been 'Miss Danbury' since that night three days ago when Lincoln had looked at me and said.

"It really was a temporary lapse in character. I see that it has made you think up different things. I apologise for any wrong signals I sent."

I thought I would have been fine if he rejected my barely concealed feelings. Clearly, I had overestimated myself, seeing as I had to force a small smile onto my face to express my gratitude for his watching out for me, despite my less-than-warming attitude the past few days.

"Thank you, Mr Castilla. It's a little dark. It's hard to see," I said, grateful for the night sky that didn't allow me to see whatever emotion that would be swimming in his blue eyes.

"You can hold onto my arm to guide you. I know this road quite well," he replied. My smile became genuine and wistful.

Whoever would marry this man someday would be among the luckiest girls in the world.

If only he liked me back.

I held his left forearm. "I'll take you up on that offer, Mr Castilla."

As we walked, I focused on counting my steps, trying to ignore the fact that I was holding his arm like I was walking down a wedding aisle, minus all the hopping over the potholes in the damaged roads.

That would be a nice addition though, as a game at the after-party. Then maybe whoever falls in would get slimed but that would mean I would bring along many changes of clothes. If I'm doing that, then I'm definitely jumping in the chocolate fountain. I wonder if Lincoln likes chocolate.

"Hey, I...never mind."

I bowed my head, berating myself for letting my thoughts get ahead of me. How could I be planning a wedding when he didn't even like me?

"What did you want to say, Miss Danbury?"

"It's nothing."

Lincoln persisted. "I'm sure it's not nothing."

"Then it's stupid."

"Since when did you let sounding stupid stop you from talking?"

The slightly teasing tone made my chest warm."I-I was just w-wondering...um, if you like chocolate, yeah, chocolate."

Silly. Silly. Silly. Why did you have to go and make a simple question sound like such a big deal?

He didn't reply for a minute. Maybe he was rethinking his life decisions and why he was holding such a stupid girl.

"I-I didn't mean to...sorry if I..."

What am I even apologising for?

"I do like chocolate. A lot."

When I turned to him, he was already staring at me with a large smile. "Enough that you wouldn't mind if it stains your clothes because you ate a lot?"

He paused for a moment to think. "I would mind anything staining my clothes but I can make an exception. Is there a particular reason you're asking these questions?"

Our wedding.

"None you would understand."

"This is the place. I had sent a message earlier that we were coming so she would be expecting us. Immy, Mr Castilla, you're coming with me. Henry, Louis, and Miss Castilla, please keep your eyes open. I wouldn't be surprised if more than one host is waiting for us," Harry said, looking at me meaningfully.

Baines could be in that room.

My hand tightened on Lincoln's arm. I didn't want to see that man again. He evoked murderous tendencies I would rather do without.

If he was there however...

I used my left hand to feel the hunting knife strapped to my thigh. It brought me a sense of comfort for some reason.

I nodded, reassuring Harry that I would be fine. Harry smiled at me with concern in his eyes. Those eyes soon strayed to my hand on Lincoln's arm and narrowed. Lincoln and I separated like we had been burned and jumped away from each other.

I awkwardly cleared my throat and pointed into the small house that had seen better days. "Shall we?"

Harry grabbed my hand and he knocked on the front door. There wasn't an answer for a minute so Harry kept knocking at intervals.

"I wonder why she isn't answering. She knew we were coming at this time," Harry said to himself.

"Maybe she's looking for her bullets." When they all turned to me with unimpressed looks, I raised my hands in defence. "What? Why did we tell a woman that we were coming to visit with two law enforcement agents? Best case scenario, she ran away."

Harry clicked his tongue. "It's to avoid the stories that would arise when people hear that three men visited a woman at night but you're right. We shouldn't have mentioned it to her. She's probably not here."

I sighed comically. "That's a shame. I guess we'll just carry our story secrets elsewhere."

Lincoln turned to me with a raised eyebrow. I gestured to the small shadow under the door. His eyes twitched as he played along.

"Where are we going to find another lovely reporter at this time of night who would be willing to take us in?"

Harry frowned, his eyes darting between us both. "What on..."

A thud on the other side of the door made Harry stop and place his ear against the door. I copied his actions. There was very heavy breathing on the other side.

This woman should never attempt to be a spy or a law enforcement officer. She would die on the first day on the job.

Harry knocked. "Ms Simeons. Are you there?"

When there was no response for a minute, I said, "Hello. I am Imelda Danbury. I am here with my brothers and friends. We're sorry for bothering you but this little game we're playing is pointless. I can see your feet. I just wish you'd be kind enough to open the door. I can assure you that you'd like what we came to offer."

The door clicked open and the face of a young girl who looked no older than seventeen peeked through.

I blinked, surprised. Turning to Lincoln, I asked. "I thought Ms Simeons did not have children."

"I'm not her d-daughter. I j-just take c-care of her s-sometimes as a f-favor to my aunt," the girl said shakily, keeping her eyes on the ground.

The poor girl was probably scared out of her wits because of six strangers on her front porch, four of whom were men.

I smiled softly and lifted her head gently. "We won't hurt you. Just tell us where Ms Simeons is."

The girl paled quickly and began to shake visibly.

Was it something I said?

I replayed my statement in my head. My eyes widened. Why did it sound like I was threatening to hurt her unless she told us where Ms Simeons was?

Henry realised this before I did because he walked up to us and shook his head. "I think I'll take it from here, Immy." He turned to the girl and gave her a little bow. "Miss, we informed Ms Simeons of our arrival but we had been knocking for quite some time without hearing a response. We didn't expect to run into you. If you could go in and inform Ms Simeons of our arrival, we would be out of your hair soon."

The girl didn't reply for a whole minute. Instead, she stood staring at Hnery awe-struck.

"Henry Danbury," she whispered so lowly that only Harry and I heard her. We turned to each other and then to Henry with mischievous smiles.

Looks like Henry has yet another secret admirer. Imelda's surname was probably the only reason she opened the door.

I gave Henry an apologetic smile for what I was about to do. He looked at me confused as I pulled further away from the group to ask the girl her name.

"Anastasia," she whispered.

"Well, Ana. Would you like a meeting with my brother?"

Her eyes lit up. "Really? Yes, I would like that. I promise not to be unpleasant to him."

"Yes, yes. I can see you won't but I do need a favour in return. I'm not sure what it is yet but I might-"

"Anything," she hurriedly said. "For Henry, anything."

I nodded. "Wait here. I'll go get him for you."

"What was that about?" Louis asked as soon as I reached them.

"I was trying to get her on our side just in case she saw or heard anything..."

Henry's eyes sharply narrowed at the pleading look I was giving him. "What did you do?"

I inched behind Harry, hoping that his big-brother shield worked well today. "Anastasia likes you, s-so I...um, if you'll only just spend a little time with her...yeah..."

"So you want me to talk with her until you're done with Ms Simeons," Henry said. The normal response would have been to nod but I was frozen, staring at him. He looked like he wanted to dangle me over boiling oil in the earth's core.

"M-maybe I'll j-just t-tell her to forget-"

Henry held up a hand to silence me. "Don't bother. You've already sold me off. Might as well find out as much information as I can from her."

"Aw, come on. It's-"

"No. No. I understand." He glanced briefly at Anastasia who was playing nervously with her hair. From here, she looked like a little girl who had zero experience in the real world. Granted that most of her age mates were as naive as she was, Anastasia seemed more innocent and childlike than the vicious prestige-driven females of the city. "She doesn't seem like she'd be so bad."

The other Danburys turned to Henry with surprised expressions. Despite his many female admirers, he was known as the opposite gender repellent in the family. Even Victor, the priest sworn to celibacy, interacted more with females than Henry.

Henry flushed. "I meant she'd be easy to ward off." We all continued to stare at him, informing him that we didn't believe a word he was saying. "Just go do what you came to do."

We watched him stomp off to Anastasia. After they spoke for a few seconds, his eyes softened. He lifted her left hand and kissed the back of it.

"We might have a new sister-in-law soon," Louis commented.

Henry must have heard him because he sent a quick glare our way. He said something to Anastasia and they began to walk further away from us.

"Let's not bother them. We came here to find someone and the door had been conveniently left open." I stepped into the house and looked around the small parlor before turning back to the group. "The woman's nowhere in sight."

"Do thieves normally scout out a house before stealing?" someone said behind me. I turned around. A middle-aged woman in a floor-length robe stood in the doorway leading to the back of the house.

"Nope, neither do they inform a person before they come. Besides, there's nothing to steal," I said. The older woman's eyes twinkled with amusement. I knew I was going to like her.

"I like you. Are you here with Harry Danbury? He had requested to see me," the woman said, entering the room fully, her robe trailing behind her on the floor.

I stretched out my hand for a handshake. "Yes. Imelda Danbury. A pleasure to make your acquaintance."

"Imelda Danbury." She walked around me. "I have heard a few things about you recently."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Lincoln said from behind me.

Yeah. I second that statement.

Ms Simeons ignored Lincoln's question and stopped in front of me, gazing at me intently. "You act very differently. I also recall the fact that we've met but looking at you, you don't seem to remember me."

Why was she talking like she knew I wasn't Imelda Danbury? Did she experience it too? Did she know how I could get back?

Get back?

I glanced at Lincoln in a split second. Did I want to go back to my monotonous, lonely life? I was basically married to my job and technology in the future.

For the first time, I experienced a feeling of attachment much stronger than anything I had ever felt. Now, even my love for my sister felt more like empathy for someone in the same situation as mine.

With the Danburys and the Castillas, I was free of expectations and allowed to have flaws and make mistakes. I wasn't sure I wanted to leave them behind at this moment or ever.

I steeled my nerves and asked, "Ma'am, what are you trying to say?"

"Transmigration. Does that sound familiar in any way to you?"