EVABELLE

"Put on a shirt, you ass!" Calandra shouted as she chucked her white mug at the man, who merely tilted his head so that the cup whizzed by his ear and shattered somewhere in the kitchen.

He glanced up at the mage. "You broke one of your precious dishes, princess."

Calandra clenched her fists and screamed. "Did you hear what I said dog!?"

The guy just kept smirking. "It's too hot, majesty. Dogs like me don't like to overheat unless you want me to start panting."

Evabelle didn't know how, but suddenly it clicked. She had met this man before. He had been wearing more clothes at the time. That's why she only recognized the mouth and chin. He'd been wearing a mottled green cloak with the hood up, obscuring most of his face. But his rough voice rang in Evabelle's ears. "Y-you're the guy who was at Kalas Hem. You're the one who told me to stay away from the Anahalians!"

The man looked back down at Evabelle. "Good memory. They say Anahalians have really good memory. Of course, at the time I said that crap to you, I didn't know you were one."

"You said I didn't smell like one." Evabelle remembered. "What does that—"

"He's a werewolf," Calandra snapped. "Raoul Solomon, a bounty hunter with a reputation of taking out his own kind."

Evabelle blinked and felt the color drain out of her face. "A what?"

Raoul's dark eyes flashed. "A brute animal that enjoys tearing throats out, human's and werewolves alike, as she says. I'm sure we're going to enjoy living in the same house." He glanced of Calandra. "Lady Calandra's getting herself a lovely reputation of taking in the monstrously unwanted."

Evabelle craned her neck around to stare at Calandra. Was this part of the plan? What the heck did this guy have to do with it?

But the mage just whirled around and stomped up the stairs. "If you'll excuse me, I have to go tend to an injured idiot."

Slowly, Evabelle turned her head back to Raoul. He didn't extend a hand to her. Instead he just stared at her without any expectancy, just a sort of boredom. She pushed herself to her feet and gaped, realizing just how tall and wide this man truly was. He was taller and more muscular than Lucis. He'd obviously seen plenty of battle. And now knowing that the guy was a werewolf, the marks all over his body could definitely be from claws of other werewolves that he had gotten in brawls with.

Evabelle cleared her throat and forced herself to look into his eyes. "Um, so are you part of the plan?"

Raoul snorted. "No, I'm not a part of anything. I'm just here for the soft bed and black coffee."

The girl swallowed. "Then can I ask why you're here? Why did Calandra—?"

"Let me stay in her castle?" He interrupted. He gave a little sniff. "Let's just say I did her a favor and she owed me." Raoul then slid around Evabelle and started to walk toward the front door, wearing nothing more than a pair of ratty jeans.

"Where are you going?"

The guy rolled his eyes. "That's such a stupid question." Then he opened the door, stepped out and slammed it behind him.

For a long time Evabelle just stared. What in the world is going on? It was so bizarre seeing the guy that had been so cold about the Anahalians in the place where they were now staying. But Evabelle also remembered that he had also been the one to help Shaundee rescue them from the other werewolves that had attacked them when they had first gotten to Kalas Hem. Was that the favor he had been talking about? She didn't know why, but she didn't think so.

Shaking her head, Evabelle walked into the kitchen and got something to eat and drink. Now, she had to focus on this plan. They'd gotten the elves on their side and... Evabelle glanced down at her forearm where the King's hand had been holding and saw a small black ink spiral. At first it made Evabelle tense, but as she ran her finger over it, she could almost sense the magic. This was the seal of the contract. The words that Baldwyn had made her repeat still swirled around in her head. "This Alliance is pure, but if by any means shall I betray the trust of the bind, I shall be marred," They were dark words, but Evabelle knew it had been right. The elves and the Anahalians were united. She was about to go speak to whoever Lucis and Calandra had gotten to discuss other plans to hopefully take care of the Annihilators. The road was a long and dangerous one, but Evabelle had finally started walking.

CALANDRA

Calandra stormed up the steps, her head clanging like crashing church bells. Every nerve in her body was fried and yet still tingled with forced wired energy. She didn't know why she was going where she was going at that moment. It sure wasn't going to relieve her migraine that had started the moment that beast had decided to stay, then there was her other guests too. And now going up to him was surely going to intensify her frustration, yet she still found her feet dragging her there anyway.

Reaching the top of the stairs, she strode over to the eighth door, which was open. Inside she found the messy Anahalian sitting up in bed rambling to the little boy who, Lucis had informed her, was called Jamie, about Jovis and all the beautiful women scrambling to be with the most stunning man of their race.

Calandra cleared her throat. "You really need to stop talking about the twins like that. People are going to think you're in love with them too."

Both boys looked up, the young child leaping up as if electrocuted. His big dark eyes were wide and his hands shook slightly. Faux, on the other hand, grinned. "Callie, me love! I've been waiting for you,"

"Oh, shut up," she snapped, once again reconsidering her life choices. "You need to get some rest if you ever plan on flinging yourself at women again."

"You obviously don't know me very well," Faux laughed. "I can fling or be flung upon, no kind of rest required."

Calandra shook her head and strode into the room, Jamie tensing as she approached. She almost snatched the child's wrist, but thought better of it. "Come on, I'll get you your own room away from this pig."

"I actually consider my spirit animal to be more of a sexy capuchin monkey." Faux called as Jamie cautiously followed after the mage.

Calandra closed the door behind them to avoid hearing anymore ridiculousness. Then she turned to the boy, who shuffled his feet uncomfortably. "I actually don't mind him so much," He muttered softly. "He's pretty weird and crazy, but kind of funny too. Although, I've only really known him when he's been loopy from blood-loss or high on medicine. They said he probably won't even remember today at all."

Calandra gave a huff. "Well, he's more or less like that anyway. It might by slightly amplified. Maybe. It can be hard to tell."

Jamie nodded. He had yet to make eye-contact with her. Calandra felt a twinge of guilt at the way she had snarled at him when he had first arrived. She had not been happy to see the stranger when she had not officially agreed to taking him in, in the first place. Lucis had mentioned that he had been imprisoned with Evabelle and Faux, but she had learned to be more wary of people that they didn't officially know. However, with all that, looking at him now, he did look very innocent and lost. He claimed to have amnesia and he appeared only a few years older than Gem, even though elves did age differently.

"You're an anomaly." The mage finally said.

Jamie nodded. "That's what the elf said. I can make vibrations."

"A human with a supernatural ability out of the blue is very rare. More likely, you have some kind of supernatural heritage." Calandra explained, but the boy didn't seem reassured. She cleared his throat. "I'll help you, Jamie. We'll find out who you are."

She began to lead him down the hall where the numbers grew, but then paused as she remembered, her insides compressing. With one fluid movement she turned and took Jamie to room number one. "This room has just been vacated." Placing her hand on the doorknob it grew hot under her touch and something small jabbed her palm. Calandra pulled out the key and handed it to Jamie. "This will be yours until we can figure something out." She said stiffly.

Jamie hesitantly took the object from her, glancing up at her face for the first time. "Th-thank you," He whispered. Then he turned to stare at the door now, fingering Kai's old key.

"Just put it in the slot. It will give a bit of a shock and disappear into the door, but then that room will be yours." Calandra calmly instructed, her throat feeling oddly tight, her mind briefly flashing back to the moment over two years ago, when she had opened her front door to see a sanguined elf man, holding his blood-soaked baby sister, ruby eyes wide, tears of blood cascading his beautifully fragile face. "Please! Please you have to help her! I'll do anything!" Calandra shook away the memory and watched Jamie slip into the room with a grateful nod in her direction.

For a while, the mage stood silently in the hallway. Two years. She didn't think she would house them for that long, but she had, and now they were gone. Calandra clenched her fists. She'd gone and done it again. She'd had something and lost it all in a single moment. She'd known that Kai was the prince of the elves. He had told her himself, a long time ago. But she had still let him go back. She'd been soft and let that little sister of his keep that stupid cat and now she was gone too, but the cat still remained. A grim reminder of that little girl's smile that lit up the entire world.

She didn't know how long it had been, probably not that long, Calandra found her hand closing around another doorknob. It was the one she had closed just before taking Jamie to his room. Slowly, the mage pushed Faux's door open again. He was still sitting up, now just staring down, picking at his blankets, but his gaze traveled up as she entered. He smiled. "I knew you weren't so heartless to leave a beaten man alone."

"You should be resting. It's the fastest way you'll get your strength back." Calandra ignored his comment.

Faux's smile faded. "Ah, but resting leads to sleeping, and sleeping leads to dreaming," he shook his head. "And dreaming is tormenting."

Calandra sighed and collapsed into a chair by the bed. "Some dreams can be. I know you're talking about your nightmares again, but according to all the stupid love stories, dreams are a form of love. Dreams are light. Dreams are hope."

"No," Faux shook his head. "Dreams are tormenting in any form. Beyond nightmares, dreams are desire, longing, quite often, for something we know we can never have. Dreams bring grief and pain. Even when one reaches their dream, they find they are not happy, that it wasn't what they thought. So many people go through hell to reach their dream only to discover it was not worth the agony they had to endure." Faux shook his head again. "Dreams hurt too much, so I don't go chasing them."

Calandra was silent for a long time and just watched the man on the bed. "Whatever the elves gave you it's got your walls down."

Faux gave a little chuckle. "No, I've been slipping since before this."

"When Aza was kidnapped," Calandra murmured, thinking of the way he had freaked out at seeing the girl going through Etheldreda's dark hallucinogen, but then she shook her head. "No, since Tru got infected." It had been far more subtle, but she knew that's where his mask had begun to crumble, and it only went downhill from there.

Faux put his face in his hands. "Do you know why we left? Do you know why we left Jovis? Do you know why we came after the brothers?"

"Because you didn't trust them." Calandra replied softly.

He shook his head. "Tru said that. I do trust the brothers, and she used to. But that wasn't the reason at all. We left because we didn't have anything left. Her parents had been infected and were quarantined with the others. It was just the two of us. Our only hope was in the princess coming home and finding the cure. Then we come to find that she had no memories, no wings."

Calandra drew in a deep breath, taking his words in. "You didn't seem disappointed or angry with that fact." Tru had been. Calandra had noticed.

Faux looked up again. "I told you, I don't put my faith in things."

"So you don't trust that Evabelle will do it?" Calandra's voice surprisingly started to rise. "You said you trust the brothers, and you even said to her it didn't matter that she didn't have wings."

Faux tilted his head to look at her and a side smile crept back onto his lips. "Looks like you do believe in her. I'm glad you do."

"Faux!" Calandra stood and stared at him. She had never viewed the man as so hopelessly lost as this. There was no joke or flirtation to hide his emptiness. It was a dark, miserable void, and it strangely terrified Calandra.

He put up his hands. "I'm sorry. The words are just spilling out of me. I feel like I can just talk to you, because you have this amazing talent of always putting me right, Calandra."

The mage shook her head, slowly sitting back down. "I think you do dream, Faux. You're definitely a coward in believing in that you don't, but you do. What you're afraid of is disappointment."

"I didn't know you were such a firm believer in dreams." Faux blinked at her, his pupils were round and dilated. "I did think you were more like me in that department."

Calandra straightened in her chair. "I believe in actions. And I believe that through the right actions things can and will be accomplished. It's hard. Do not get me wrong. I'm aware of setbacks, but I do believe in an eventual positive outcome, if the right work is put forth." She smoothed out her robe. "You do dream as I said Faux. You try not to. You act like you don't care. You act lazy and flighty, but I've seen you pouring over books about demonic illnesses and how to reverse spells. You dream about finding a cure for Tru. Your quiet about it but you encourage Evabelle to grow and therefore you dream of her getting her memories and wings. You came with your cousin, not just for her sake, but for your own. You dream of a happy ending, and don't you dare deny it."

Faux's chest was rising and falling rapidly as he stared at Calandra open-mouthed. "You're so..." His voice, already breathless, faded as he tore his gaze away and stared at his hands. "What is your dream, Calandra?"

The red-haired woman stiffened, suddenly finding herself trapped. She stared at Faux's hands too. If one looked closely at them, the faint remnants of old burns could be seen. Her dream. One normally had many dreams, but he was asking about one, just one dream. The one that meant the most to her. Jamie's words suddenly popped into her head about the elf's drugs and she looked up at Faux's face, that was still turned away from hers. "Since you won't remember this, I can tell you." She whispered. "My dream--my dream is one that is impossible." Faux slowly turned his head back to her. She looked into his bright green eyes, the same color as her aura. "My dream is that I could go back and stop myself from destroying everything."

EVABELLE

With all the noise coming from the drawing room, Evabelle was expecting a full-size orchestra. However even with only eight individuals it still felt like a fair amount of people. She had quietly slipped into the room, purposely keeping hushed so that she could take in what she would be facing. The first thing to catch Evabelle's eyes was the large, dark bearded man, tossing back what appeared to be a barrel and slurping down its contents.

"For the hundredth time, Gordon, why must you bring the beer mug with you everywhere?" A considerably smaller woman with the same sleek dark hair as the man that sat beside him murmured quietly.

Gordon lowered the barrel and gave a hearty laugh that shook the couch and the woman. "Gia, I invented a magic mug that refills every time it is drained. How can I not show that off?" His voice boomed contrasting to the girl's almost whisper. "We're here with Patrick Valentine who's always got one of his crazy contraptions with him, so why can't I bring mine?"

The portly balding man, that Evabelle had met briefly from Kalas Hem, popped up from a box that his entire top half had been buried in and gave a stern look toward the large man. "My inventions are not crazy. They are ingenious."

"Well, mine tastes better!" Gordon laughed, and the woman, Gia, closed her eyes as if she wished she could be anywhere else.

Patrick had stopped paying attention and was back to nearly drowning in his large cardboard box as the small woman tried to snatch the big cup away from Gordon, but he just lifted high out of her reach.

"Please, Goro, not here." Gia pleaded.

"You know I must. Someday I will face my adversary once more, and I cannot lose to him again."

"He was an elf."

"An elf!" Gordon thundered. "An elf out drank me, Gi. Me. Elves don't drink, and even the few that do, are all lightweights. I can never be embarrassed like that again. I must practice."

"It's been nearly a year, and you haven't put the bloody thing down." Gia cried.

Slowly Evabelle's gaze slid over the two squabblers and onto the other couch where three individuals sat with Calandra's mother standing in front of them. The four appeared to be having an entirely different lighthearted argument.

"I'm telling you, he's real!" An extremely thin man with sleeked back dark hair, and dark green highlights gestured insistently. "He's practically a god! A Fate, a being that can travel to any world or universe. They use Oblivion just like us!"

Shaundee shook her head, grinning. "Tell us, Lori, why would this all powerful being choose to talk to a lowlife like you? What makes you so special?"

Lori gave a humph. "Laugh all you like. He sat down at my table and we had a truly liberating conversation. And a Fate doesn't do anything for not reason."

"Maybe he was just drunk." Said a muscular black man with a deep rich voice, that sat on the other end of the sofa from Lori.

Lori scoffed. "Please, Fates couldn't really get drunk."

"You were at a bar," Shaundee chuckled.

Lori straightened up. "He was the most charismatic, embellished man of true power and magnificence that I have ever met. He was only there to speak to me, obviously not for the alcohol."

The extremely pale woman who had yet to speak, who sat between Lori and the dark skinned man, finally spoke. "Oh, please you just thought he was attractive." Her arms were crossed, her lips were pursed, and her pale eyes were daggers. She was obviously not enjoying the conversation like the others.

Lori shuffled. "Well, he was sexy of course, but that doesn't mean anything. Tantu decided to talk to me of all people and that means something."

"Just ask him out and be done with it." The woman, who was as pale as Kai, snapped. "You're so enamored with the man, so you've made up this wild story. It's just sad, Lori."

Evabelle's eyes continued up to the last new person in the room. This one was a younger man than the rest. Still older than Evabelle, probably. He was a round, pudgy boy, with thick curly orange hair, and his plump cheeks and long nose were covered in freckles. He wore perfectly circular glasses and a slightly uncomfortable expression.

The boy wasn't joining in on any of the discussions. He just paced around the room, looking up and down the walls as if they were something truly fascinating. Jewels had found her way into the room and wandered over to him and meowed. The ginger glanced down at her and smiled softly, giving her a little pat on the head before straightening up and his eyes finally seeing Evabelle standing awkwardly in the doorway. His mouth fell open, but before he could speak another voice rang out.

"Eve!"

Evabelle was suddenly bowled over as Shaundee's rope like arm practically strangled her. "You're finally here!" Calandra's mother gushed. "We can finally get down to business." She pulled back and grinned up at the slightly stunned brunette. "Oh, I should probably introduce everyone first."

With one arm around Evabelle's shoulder, Shaundee turned back to the group in the room and began pointing to each one of them in turn. "That big fellow with the mangy beard is Gordon Cross, who thinks of nothing but beer and ale." Gordon grinned and raised his enormous mug to Evabelle.

"Next to him is his more reserved twin who does her best to keep the stinker on the straight and narrow. Gia Cross." Shaundee continued, and Gia gave a sigh.

"I'm pretty sure you met Monsieur Cuckoo over there with all his wackyness." Shaundee leered at her brother, who once again reemerged from the box to glare at her.

"Then we've got Duke, the gentle giant." Shaundee pointed to the large muscled dark-skinned man, who waved. "He's brothers with my bosom-friend, Amelia, which you met, I presume."

Evabelle nodded then paused. "Bosom friend? You mean like from Anne of Green Gables?"

Shaundee grinned. "My favorite series, yes!" She cleared her throat. "Anyway, her husband is a stiff old grunt, named Riley Booth, who melt's like putty in his wife's hands."

"Next to Duke, is Thea, who I admit, did not think would be coming." Shaundee leaned in close. "She's very much a stick in the mud." She pulled back. "And there in the other corner is Lori Tracy, who's about as straight as a slinky on a rollercoaster." Lori smirked and nodded toward Evabelle.

"Oh!" Shaundee exclaimed, making Evabelle jump. "I nearly forgot our dear Maxy!" She held out her arm to the tubby boy, who neared them.

The guy cleared his throat. "It's just Max." He gave Evabelle a small smile.

Shaundee nodded. "Right, right, Max. He's just a few years older than you I think. You're about...?"

"Twenty-four," Max whispered, and he slowly held out a freckled hand to shake.

"Right, twenty-four. He's a convert." Shaundee explained.

Evabelle blinked as she clasped hands with him. "A convert?"

"To magedom," Calandra's mother went on. "He was born a warlock...Well, technically we're all born a witch or warlock." Both Lori and Thea made hissing noises. "I'm just telling the truth here." Shaundee shrugged. "He just didn't go through the ritual to become a mage until much later in life. I've heard it's not easy. We don't get a lot of witches or warlocks becoming mages anymore. We do have a few exiled mages that are outcast back into witches and warlocks, though." She reached up and ruffled Max's curls. "He's the most recent, right?"

Max squirmed away from her, but he didn't seem that annoyed. He was still smiling. "Yeah, I've been a mage for nine years now."

"Oh, that's really cool," Evabelle murmured.

Shaundee began to drag Evabelle to the center of the room. "Alright, now we've got all the formalities out of the way, to business!"

Thea, still with her arms crossed tight muttered. "We were wondering if you'd ever show up."

"Well, it would have been faster if I'd gotten some help." Calandra's crisp voice rang out, making Evabelle spin to see the beautiful mage slide into the room.

"All you had to do was ask for help, darling." Shaundee gave her daughter a soft smile, to which Calandra ignored.

"So, I take it you didn't get Averno's kids through?" Duke asked softly.
Calandra shook her head. "There wasn't enough magic. Those two will be here in two to three days, but we can still explain the situation to her, since they are her people." She seems calmer. Evabelle thought. Maybe calmer wasn't the word. She seemed more lost in thought, her eyes drifting back to something else in that moment.

"Right," Shaundee clapped her hands. "My brilliant daughter and Lucis Mendax have come up with a bit of a plan to deal with the growing population of monsters that are currently flying over big cities at the moment. "No one has been hurt as of yet, but we know something's coming. So," She looked Evabelle directly in the eye. "This plan is dangerous and potentially harmful and certainly not full-proof. Are you still interested?"

Evabelle swallowed. "You said it. We're dealing with monsters that aren't going to stay silent forever. We need to do something, even if it's not completely guaranteed." She gave Calandra's mother a nod. "Shoot."

"As you know, mages, witches, and warlocks all portal through the space of Oblivion. You've been using it every time you portal anywhere. You're just there for a short period of time before you get to the location that you wanted. But I also know you've actually been there for some time and know of its dangers." Shaundee instantly got going.

Evabelle nodded.

"Well, what we're proposing is taking a piece of Oblivion and forming a pocket with it to store the Annihilators until there is a cure. It would be like a sort of prison of space and time." Shaundee took a deep breath. "Lucis has said that of course you don't want any of them killed if at all possible so this was the solution."

"That sounds great!" Evabelle exclaimed, but then quieted again. "But how it this dangerous?"

"Well, as I said, it's not full-proof. There are still things that could go wrong. It's a very complex spell, which is why there is so many of us. There would have to be at least three of us there to open it and keep it open. Also, the Annihilators themselves. Being in Oblivion had been known to drive people mad. We figure since the disease messes with the mind as well, that it hopefully will not change anything, and that when the cure it found, it will still work." She paused and took in Evabelle's nervous expression. "But we've figured out a way so that they won't see each other, so they won't attack one another, at least." Shaundee quickly finished, trying to end on a higher note.

Taking in a deep breath, Evabelle processed this. "Okay, I don't think we have a lot of options. And maybe this plan isn't perfect, but I don't think there ever is such a thing."

Shaundee smiled. "Excellent! As soon as Amy and Riley get back we can make the pocket."

"But," Evabelle spoke again. "How are we going to get them into the pocket?"

Duke cleared his throat. "Well, this will be opened on a flat surface, like a blanket for a picnic, and we won't be able to move when we're keeping it open. You and the other Anahalians will have to get them inside."

Evabelle tilted her head, opening her mouth, but Shaundee jumped in again. "That's where my dear brother comes in."

Patrick gestured to Evabelle to come over to his enormous box. She complied, followed by Calandra. "Lucis made a request for a weapon that could knock the Annihilators out without killing them. It took some fiddling, but I think I have come up with something that should work." The balding man adjusting his glasses and reached into the box, past a bunch of pieces of unfinished inventions from the looks of it and pulled out a small, silver handgun.

"A gun?" It was Calandra who spoke.

"Not just any gun," Shaundee skipped over to them and plucked the weapon from her brother's hands. Turning it over she revealed the neat, writing carved into the metal. TACET ARGENT

"What does that mean?" Evabelle asked.

Patrick snatched the gun back. "It means 'silent silver'. She named it because if it works as designed it should be relatively quiet, so hitting the target should be easier."

"And," Shaundee cut in. "Because just calling it a gun is boring. The Tacet Argent sounds cool, sleek, classy. And then we can even call them Argents for short!"

Evabelle blinked several times. "How exactly is it supposed to work?"

Patrick held the Tacet Argent up and thumbed across a latch on top, releasing a lid revealing a smooth interior compartment.

Evabelle knew very little about guns, but she thought that maybe this would be where one was supposed to load the ammunition. Although, she'd also seen them loaded through the handle of the gun. She glanced up at Patrick, still feeling lost.

Calandra's uncle straightened. "It runs on angelic grace, or Anahalian's feathers. You just put one inside of here," he moved his finger and pointed toward the barrel where Evabelle could see what looked like an extremely thin wire mesh. "And the gun will crystallize the particles, inserting them with the narcal drug, knocking them unconscious, allowing them to fall into the portal to Oblivion."

Calandra's eyebrows rose. "So you're saying we're going to have to shoot these things at them midflight? While they're in the air?"

Patrick nodded, not seeing the problem. "If you want them to fall into a horizontal portal, they would have to fall from above. Vertically, so they're perpendicular."

Calandra shook her head, but Evabelle spoke. "I've never fired a gun."

Patrick blinked. "Neither have I,"

Calandra scoffed. "No one uses guns except humans. And as crazy as your best friend is, I don't think she's been using a gun on a regular basis."

Evabelle glanced at her and then back and the weapon in Patrick's hands. Slowly she took it from him. It was lighter than she expected, but it still felt sturdy. "Then we'll just have to learn." She murmured.

The ruby-haired mage stared at her. Yeah, Evabelle totally going for the weapons and fighting, definitely not normal.

"How many shots does it have?" Evabelle asked Patrick.

The man scratched the back of his head. "Well, if I did my math correctly, and I always do, about forty-eight point two shots per feather."

Evabelle's eyebrows rose. "That's really good."

"Yeah, forty-eight point two shots that you could miss. We're firing needles at moving targets with a weapon, that we have no idea how to use." Calandra sighed, shaking her head.

Evabelle turned to face her, gripping the gun tightly . Her hands were shaking a little, just from holding the stupid thing, but she couldn't let anyone see. "Are you sure there isn't anyone who could show us how to use these?"

Calandra's dark eyes, darkened further, but she didn't say anything.

"This is important," Evabelle urged.

Calandra folded her arms, the vein at the side of her head, pulsing. "Alright, fine. As much as it pains me to say it, there is someone who could teach us. He's even here at the Sanctuary."

"Really?" Evabelle gaped.

"He won't agree to it, though." Calandra folded her arms. "He doesn't want to be involved in this in any way."

Evabelle's eyes widened. "You mean, that Raoul guy?"

"Raoul?" Shaundee blinked. "You're keeping here? I didn't think you'd let him stay here in a million years, Callie."

Calandra clenched her fists. "It's Calandra, the name that you gave me. And I was put in a situation where I didn't have a choice."

"Okay, I'll talk him." Evabelle decided, making Calandra again stare at her.

"Alright!" Shaundee clapped her hands together again. "We've got a plan. We'll get started on the spell, since it won't be easy. But we'll wait until Amy and Riley come back to finish like I said. You two can start working with the Tacet Argents to make sure they work and that you'll be able to use them." She was grinning so widely. "I'm so excited!"

Once everything was settled and Shaundee had turned back to her team, Calandra caught Evabelle's arm and dragged her from the room, back into the entry.

"What?" Evabelle looked at the mage.

"Who are you? What was that?" Calandra hissed.

"Huh?"

"What happened in the Spiral that flipped a switch with you, because if this meeting had happened before you left, that's not how it would have gone down. You would have done your best to say as little as possible. You wouldn't have asked as many questions as you did. You took charge." Calandra didn't seem angry, but Evabelle couldn't really tell much beyond that.

Evabelle took a deep breath. "You've been the one saying from the very beginning that I need to step up. I can't be the helpless princess in the tower anymore. I'm not going to let other people do my job anymore. I'm making my own decisions."

Calandra was silent for a long time before she gave a small smirk that surprised Evabelle. "What do you know," Calandra chuckled. "I didn't expect it like this, but it's about damn time."

Evabelle gave a relieved smile. "Okay, so we've got a lot ahead of us. I do have a question I forgot to ask earlier,"

Calandra arched her eyebrows.

"We know that there are Annihilators grouping around populated areas, and as of yet no one has been hurt. But who's keeping an eye on them?"

Calandra nodded. "Right, of course. If you noticed, my father was not at this little gathering. He's returned to the Council to inform them of the situation. The other members don't want to get involved in and angels and demons war as we predicted, but he convinced them to let him use the seeing glass to watch them. He'll inform of us of any attacks, so that we can swoop in an save the day with all of this." She waved her hands around, obviously referring to the portal and the Argent guns, reminding Evabelle of the weapon in that was still in her hand.

Evabelle held up the gun and stared down at it, doing her best to focus on the steps in front of her instead of jumping to the inevitable moment when she would be firing the weapon on someone that used to be a normal Anahalian. She swallowed as her thoughts began to bubble up. "What if we didn't wait until they attacked?" She whispered.

Calandra's eyes narrowed. "You mean, we attack them first?"

Evabelle slowly pulled her gaze up again. "If we go after them first, we bring out the element of surprise, and then--then no one has to get--get hurt."

Calandra lifted her head, her whole body straightening up to her full height as she gave a deliberate nod. Did the mage actually look proud. "We have a lot to do then."