What happened to all the loves that got left behind? By the bodies who made the love but who could not withstand time.

Young Heretics - The Lost Loves

I woke to a brisk knock on my door. I sleepily checked the clock and saw it was much too early. I hadn't seen those numbers since I moved in and my groggy mind was protesting the break in routine quite adamantly. I covered myself, took a second to remember words, and thickly yelled admittance.

Kael stuck his head in, his hair looked like he had had a rough night, sticking up at every imaginable angle, unless that was the way he had intended it to be. I was quickly learning that his style was as far from typical as Nevaeh's was from understated.

"Morning, practice is in the training room. We have some gear that should fit."

He tossed a bundle in, his aim perfect. He ducked his head out for a split second before remembering something and appearing again.

"And hey, I'm glad you decided to stay, you'll like it here. I promise."

He flashed a cute smile and vanished once more, closing the door after his extreme bed head had disappeared.

Ten minutes later I was showered and attempting to pour myself into the gear Kael had left. It was all black stretch fabric and felt like a spandex, lightweight and pliable, not something that would get in the way. It seemed impossibly tough for being so flexible and thin, like they had woven durable metal into fabric, it even smelled slightly metallic.

The pants were full length and fit tightly from the ankles all the way up to finish in a high, comfortable waist. The top was long and overlapped the bottoms by a few inches and somehow didn't require constant readjustment whenever I moved, it stayed down as if invisibly fastened. All of the body's weak points had an extra layer of flexible leather that was also ridiculously tough for its thickness. The knees, ankles and hips all had stiff, dark leather protectors as well as the wrists, elbows, shoulders and fingerless gloves that ended at the center knuckle. 'Gear' as Kael had called it, seemed quite fitting.

I expected it to be warm as I pulled and adjusted the last piece on, but surprisingly it felt more like I wasn't wearing anything at all, air moved right through the strange fabric. I looked in the mirror at the snug fit. A cat suit would have felt more modest. But regardless of the odd tightness, the picture I saw in the mirror wasn't an unattractive one. My damp hair fell far past my shoulders, my eyes looked tired but their centers were still bright and their shape had always given me a unique look other than the generic mutt I assumed I really was. I was still deeply tanned from the summer and the dark material along with my dark hair made the angles of my face stand out.

I smiled at my reflection slightly before focusing on the outfit again. The look reminded me of armor with a modern twist. There were straps for weapons and the leather guards gave the entire outfit a hard, stealthy look, like a techwear ninja, I almost laughed at the crossover.

I gave myself a final once over and pulled my hair back as I tried to imagine what was in store for me. Boot camp? Combat training? Cardio? Hell, I hated cardio.

I opened the door to the basement and was immediately met by loud rock blaring from below. Probably Kael's, I thought. The music grew as I jogged down the steps. The men were setting up equipment while Nev beat the hell out of a man-shaped punching bag. Her usual fluid movements turned deadly as she spun and twirled, striking the bag every chance she got. Some of her kicks were so high I thought she would flip over herself. She was definitely coordinated in a way I imagined I'd never master.

The boys jokingly started sparing and ended up rolling around on the floor, pummeling each other but looking to not be doing much damage. I rolled my eyes. The electricity was burning through me and I could tell that James either didn't care that I was attempting to access my Gift, or he hadn't noticed that I'd come downstairs yet. I leaned against the far wall and watched for a while longer.

Suddenly, I sensed angry eyes on me and bitter thoughts invaded my mind.

She looks so dirty in that gear. She shouldn't even be wearing it yet, she hasn't earned it. And the week's not up, she could still back out, especially after her first day of training.

I looked over to Nev, who sure enough was shooting daggers at me from her slit green eyes. She walked over casually, but just as she opened her mouth to presumably say something heinously low, I cut her off.

"Save it, I'm not in the mood."

I brushed by her and walked across to where the guys were still rolling around, throwing punches. James caught my eye right as Kael rolled over him, pinning him to the ground. It looked like James was done for when suddenly the end of Kael's hair, hanging in front of his face, caught fire. Immediately it extinguished with a slight puff of smoke, but James took the opportunity to spring forward, knocking Kael backwards and ending with his forearm pressed to friend's windpipe.

Kael fixed him with a steely stare.

"That was cheap, fucker, guy and you know it." His voice was strained from the pressure on his throat, but a smile broke across his face as James let him up, clasping his forearm to help him off his back. Kael looked up and gave me a once over.

Damn, new girl's looking like a natural. She fills that as well as Ambriel did.

Kael's thoughts drifted into my head, laced with an odd mixture of admiration and sadness I didn't quite understand. I wasn't used to my 'Gift' being so outright and without thinking I spoke.

"Who's Ambriel?"

Silence fell over the group. Nevaeh came up from behind and answered in a nonchalant tone.

"She was our last member, killed in an ambush last year, you're her replacement. Hopefully you'll last longer." She somehow managed to make the word 'hopefully' convey the opposite.

James looked at me curiously, my eyes flicked to Kael quickly before ending back on him. I watched as understanding dawned on his face.

"She heard you think of Ambriel, Kael. That's one of her Gifts; she can know others' minds." He shifted his gaze to Kael. "So watch what you think around her. She doesn't hear everything, not yet at least, maybe with training, but her Gift is already getting stronger from mere proximity to her kind, I'd say. Her power was starved for so long, now it's trying to make up for lost time."

He looked back to me, hard lines creasing between his eyes as his tone sobered.

"Ambriel was our fourth member, our kind is strongest in fours; quads they're called. A Clan may have many members, but those who fight always do so in double-pairs, fours, if possible." He looked over my shoulder, across the gym, carefully avoiding my eyes. "She was killed two springs ago in an ambush with me, she was my pair. She and I were out alone and outnumbered. She died quickly, through the heart."

I didn't know what to say, but a sick part of me was happy she had been his pair, that meant I would be now. We would spend time together, we would fight together, and I would be able to continue feeling the electricity he gave off, when he allowed it, at least.

Kael spoke up, breaking the silence that had settled over the group.

"We aren't easy to kill, but James brought her body back and it didn't look like she had suffered. We usually only die if our body is destroyed, by fire or crushed or drained, some demonic magic and poisons are strong enough to kill us too. However, if our hearts are destroyed or we're decapitated or torn apart, if enough damage is done to our bodies, that kills us just the same as it would a Human, no heal can bring us back from that."

He tried to sound as if he was teaching a class, purely academic, relaying the facts, but a pain was in his eyes that showed me he had been close to Ambriel.

"We can heal each other, with the help of certain words and our...well, our blood. Basically calling on our nature, on our lineage to help us. We can call on Angel names that hold power and heal others, though usually only Earth Signs can heal themselves, like me, otherwise you need another Darkling to use their own power to heal you, it's one of the reasons we need each other. Darklings, Angels, we were never meant to be alone, we were created for relationships, community, unions. At least that's why I think most can't heal themselves...others say it's a curse from Heaven to stop us from becoming too strong, too close to immortal. Ambriel was a Fire Sign. Fires are the least apt at heals. James couldn't heal her either. She died instantly."

Kael's voice was steady, but I felt a deep sorrow radiating from his mind and it made my chest feel tight.

"I'm sorry, Kael, to all of you." I looked down at my outfit. "Were these hers?"

James gave a short nod.

"Then I will try to live up to her memory. What do I do first?"

The awkward subject was pushed away as James threw me a wooden staff that had been leaning against the wall.

"Hit me." He said with a cocky smirk.

Well there you go, never say I didn't do anything for you. You wanted to know about Ambriel and now you do, a bit at least. Is she a major player? Well, no, she's dead, silly. But does that mean we've heard the last of her? Seen the last of her? Or will I pull a Supernatural non-twist-twist and have her waltz back in, alive and well?

Spoiler: No. She really dead.

But I still have some tricks up these sweatered sleeves... Stay tuned, lovelies