My Shift washed over me in shades of red and crimson, as if it knew I needed the added strength to make my shield hold. I felt each bullet hit like sand in a windstorm hitting bare skin, like my shield was an extension of my body. But despite the stings, the palpable feeling of my shield I had never experienced before, I smiled my razored teeth, knowing it had held, knowing nothing had broken through, feeling my shield still strong and intact.

James was now by my side and I more felt than heard a low growl emanate from him. It rumbled through my mind from my Gift, my Shift from our connection, and my body from his proximity. My smile tipped higher, wider. In my second Shift I knew that anyone attacking my Clan and Ailech, they wouldn't survive, not now that James and I had arrived. In my second Shift I had no fear. James' low sound seemed to wholeheartedly agree.

Ailech was still recovering from his surprise, blinking at the opening where the outside wall to our cabin had previously been, but Kael and Nevaeh's eyes had already found James, ever seeking their leader. I made to step forward into the dust and haze of the ruined room just as James gripped my arm, his touch like a live wire. He tilted his head to the side as if he was listening for something, his eyes closed. When they opened it was with a sneer, showing his tapered teeth for a moment, his face dark and beautiful like the devil himself. Then I realized he hadn't been listening, but looking, using his Sight to see out into the trees. My Gift prodded him as he released my arm.

Not a quad. A pair with two others who are not used to fighting together. One is Ambriel, the other is an old friend of mine. Take the others, and protect Ailech.

I nodded, walking forward and positioning myself in front of Ailech, waving him to stay behind, and though his eyes flashed, he listened. Kael and Nevaeh had already sought each other out, stances ready for the oncoming fight. But before James could warn him, say who was waiting out in the blinding light and forest, Kael straightened, his eyes wide as he stared out into the sun and settling debris as if he sensed something, or someone. As if he could feel his lost love just beyond the tree line.

His fist flew to his chest, pressing his knuckles into the left side above his heart as he stumbled back, sagging against the wall like he had been struck. And then he was gone, across the room and jumping through the missing wall to the dirt in a blur. Forest stretched as far as the eye could see, our train's tracks the only thing dividing the trees. He disappeared into the brush almost faster than my eyes could track.

James called once for Kael to return, but he didn't even turn as he disappeared from our narrow view. James glanced to me, just a reflex, a habit, before following his brother, vaulting over the broken wall out into the light in the silent, swift way only he could. Nevaeh took one step to follow, then paused, looking to me. The entire scene, from our arrival at the cabin, my shield in the initial attack, and now James and Kael's exit, only took seconds. But I wasn't afraid, I wasn't unsure or trying to decide, to comprehend. I felt calm, a deadly calm, dark and secure. And I smiled wider.

I knew Ambriel was here for Kael, someone from James' childhood was here for him, and two others for the rest of us. Four enemies coming for my family. The Collector should have known better, he should have sent more. Hell, he should have come himself.

I waved Nevaeh to go, to follow. She was out in the open space beyond our ruined cabin a second later. I turned to Ailech.

"Stay behind me, close. Heal any of us if we need it."

I followed the feeling of my Pair's power into the forest. making sure to slow myself enough to allow Ailech to keep pace. Soon, the sounds of fighting met us, though Kael was nowhere to be found. Instead, we were met first with Nevaeh as she split time between two enemies, a man and a woman. I sent a bar of air at the man's back, but quickly felt it dissipate before it reached him. So, one was an Air, too.

Ailech hung back as I joined Nevaeh, finding it more difficult working with her, fighting with her, but still enjoying the dance. Soon, the two who had previously been wearing Nev down split, each choosing one of us. The thin woman with cropped hair dove at Nevaeh, just as I spun away from the man, putting distance between our battles. He followed stupidly, clearly not noticing how poor Nevaeh and my sync was.

Just before we reengaged, I felt dread seep through me, a warning, and then on its heels, James' warning swept through my mind. But it was too late and the sharp crack of a gunshot shattered the previously dulled noises of the woods as James and his old acquaintance burst into view.

A sliver of a second passed as I tried to take inventory of if I had been hit, if James had been. I spun to see Nevaeh still tangled with the thin woman. Then I knew. A savage scream ripped my throat as I launched myself at the man before me, my hands at his neck. But I didn't squeeze, instead, I tore. I turned my fingers in, sinking my nails into him even as he flung up his arms, as he tried to bring his axes down on me. But he was weaker, he wasn't a Half, and so, he stood no chance.

The wet sounds of his collapsed throat showed he had already lost, but my rage wasn't sated. I released his shredded neck with one hand, balling it as I struck the center of his chest, feeling flesh part, bone cave, and his heart still. I pulled my hand back, dripping red, and turned to where I had left Ailech. Where he now lay in leaves and blood, his front soaked with it from the bullet wound, his chest unmoving, his green eyes staring up at the canopy above vacantly.

Nevaeh was still finishing her opponent, but I couldn't care to help. The only thing I saw was the one with the gun. Another scream ripped from my throat as I turned from Ailech, still seeing his empty body in my mind's eye, layered over everything else my vision landed on like a grotesque filter. It was so wrong, he wasn't supposed to die. Not here, not now. I could feel it in my bones, and it hurt.

James and his partner still fought, more evenly matched than I would have expected, closer in age than I would have expected too. And then it came to me, either my own realization or a thought plucked from my Pair's mind: Malachi.

James spared a glance to Ailech's body as he sidestepped a blow from his sparring partner from childhood, who attacked with his gunned hand. Malachi lifted the gun again just as James closed the gap between them, pushing the barrel into his chest instead of dodging or blocking it, his black eyes locked on his old friend's. Malichi's brows came together and that moment of surprise was all James needed, knowing his father would have sent a capture order, never a kill for his prized weapon.

James disarmed his old acquaintance, stripping the gun from his hand, emptying the barrel and chamber, and tossed it aside in lightning succession. But Malachi recovered just as quickly and took a handful of steps back, pulling two short, curved knives from his back. His black eyes skipped between me and my Pair, his sharpened teeth bared like an animal as he resumed a low fighting stance.

"So, this is why you left, to go find yourself a woman?"

His voice was low like ocean waves crashing against cliffs, rolling and rumbling with power, mismatching his pretty features, even Shifted. The lines and curves of his face were so fine and sharp, from his upturned eyes to his high cheekbones, even the shadows falling across his face from his choppy ash hair gave him the look of smoke blowing over slate, or a fogged moon reflected on dark and rippling water. And with his silver locks and pale skin brightly contrasting his black eyes, he glowed like a full moon before me, even through my second Shift.

But his striking looks wouldn't save him, not from me. He had taken Ailech from me, and every atom of my being was begging for his blood. I stepped forward but James held out an arm, and though we were yards apart, though he wasn't physically holding me back, I stopped short. Even in my rage that would surely soon turn to guilt, to mourning and self-loathing, I trusted my Pair.

"And I see you stayed," James replied in his signature voice with an edge of mocking, insinuating that Malachi was weak and somehow lacking for not leaving too, for staying under another's control.

"Like I had a fucking choice. Like any of this is choice." He spat the words out with contempt, his gravel voice sounding painful as his hands tightening on the knives, nearly shaking with his hatred.

Hatred? Why would Malachi hate James? James heard my thought and glanced to me, a line between his eyes before swiveling his head back to his old cohort, tilted like a dog's as he wondered the same question. He stayed like that, just staring, for a beat too long, eliciting another remark from Malachi's low, rumbling voice.

"Come on! What are you waiting for? Either you're coming back with me or I'm dying here. Let's find out which, oh long-lost brother."

Malachi flipped his curved swords over his hands, brandishing them at James, taunting him, but still, my Pair didn't advance. He stayed, seeing something in his old practice partner, almost seeming to look through him, into him.

His Gift. He was trying to search Malachi's soul. Though I didn't think the sickening, twisted thing in front of us had one. He should be put down.

I heard Nevaeh finish her opponent behind me, appearing by my side just as Malachi dove for James, knives first, faster than even my Shifted eyes could follow, apparently no longer able to contain his malice. But before he had halved the distance, he fell to his knees, his weapons falling from his grip, gasping in pain and shock as he clutched his chest. He let out a choked noise, then stared at me, no, past me, with surprise painting his fine features.

I turned to find what he was looking at, and saw Ailech on his knees, one arm extended, his fingers stretching toward where Malachi lay, now curled into a shuddering ball on the forest floor.

"Finish him off, now," Ailech ground out to James, his voice strained, looking white from blood loss or effort or both. James was on Malachi in a flash but I didn't see any more as I ran to Ailech and dove into him, knocking him to the ground as I hugged him. I pawed his shirt open where the bullet wound should have been, had been, to see no mark beneath the bloodied fabric.

"You were dead!" I shouted as I clutched him, making him cringe away.

"No, I was almost dead, big difference. I started healing as soon as it hit, got enough in those milliseconds before it hit my heart that the shot wasn't immediately deadly, made sure to fall backwards, letting gravity help my blood stay put, then, when I came-to the next time, I healed more. Though I must say, healing bullets out of myself is getting old. Where's another healer when I need one?"

I froze. Where was our other healer? Where was Kael? Nevaeh was already dashing between trees, apparently likeminded, and I followed. As we broke the next tree line, what I saw made me come up short.

Kael stood in a sunlit clearing, his arms wrapped around a thin woman who embodied glass and ice. From her silver-blonde hair to her parchment paper skin, even her eyes were icey-blue, which were clearly visible as she wasn't Shifted. Kael wasn't either, and instead stared down at Ambriel like she was a true Angel. Adoration painted his face, his big hands on either side of her head as he gazed down at her.

Just as I stopped, he dropped his face to hers, kissing her deeply as he crushed her body into his. Her thin, pale arms encircled his neck as she stretched herself up onto her tiptoes for the kiss. I had to fight down the nausea, knowing what she was, what she had done, how she was the most impure being. And to be with Kael, to trick him like that, someone so inherently good, at least in my mind. It made me sick. She made me sick.

But then I saw the knife, saw it rise clean and fall away red, saw the pain on Kael's face as he stumbled back. As he fell to his knees, his head hanging. As he dropped the bloody knife.

Ambriel shrieked, her ice features cracking as her Shift ripped forth, showing a pale monster with black pitted eyes. She clutched at the wound in her chest, a crimson stain running down her light dress as she sneered at where Kael still hung his head.

"So, you've made your choice then, my love," She spat the last word. Her voice like an off key piano, hissed through the shock that the one she thought she could manipulate, the one she thought she could control had turned against her.

"So be it. I'll come back for you all. Especially you, my mate. You cannot kill what is already dead."

She raised her hands from the wound, proving her words. And then disappeared, only her blood on the forest floor proof that she had ever really existed at all.

My goodness I love this chapter. Did you all think for a split second that Ambriel had gotten to our dear Kael? Remember, he's more a Darkling than any of us like to admit. He might be our sweet golden retriever boy - but he isn't naive and he isn't a fool. He just acts it sometimes.

But what will this encounter do to him? Our perfect actor? How will seeing and then 'killing' his love affect him?

And Jordan, wow. Ripping a guy's throat out. And heart? My my, our little girl is growing up.

I wonder most about Malachi though. Is he a born-again (or raised-again?) ghostly follower as well? Or has he simply been living all this time with the Collector...has he been enduring what James did...but for many years more, all alone, always alone?

Almost makes me feel sorry for my little moon-beam. Hm...I wonder...

What if.