"And we move into savasana," Ailin softly directed.

Beyond her, the wind chimes altered in a trickling of water, with a flurry of bird noises that didn't seem quite as relaxing as the rest of the track. I was covered in sweat, feeling tired and stretched in all the right ways and before I could spread out to take a nap post-yoga class, Ailin was clicking her tongue and throwing a couple of the blocks my way with a large cushion.

"I thought we were done?"

"We are, prop yourself up. You can't lay flat on your back now." She sets it up and pats the cushion, so I lay back and instantly sigh.

"I love savasana."

She says nothing, positioning herself on her mat - flat on her back - and exhaling deeply. The windchimes start up again, a harp somewhere in the background. Just as she taught me, I only focus on my breathing, my mind as quiet as the room and peace is found.

Almost.

My toe gets itchy, almost as if something or in this case, someone is touching it just enough for my body to register but not enough to confirm if anything is actually there. I don't need to look, but I do, peeking out of one eye, Ailin is silent and still but in front of me, Cain is looking way too amused by my feet.

"Go. Away." I mouth at him, looking at Ailin again who hasn't moved.

It gets worse as he rolls forward, climbing over my legs to kiss my belly before looking up at me.

"No."

"I need my inner peace," I whisper.

"Come with me, I'll help you find it." He smirks, inching closer and higher so we're practically nose to nose.

It's then I get a hit from him. All I can smell is that uniquely Cain scent that has me moving closer to push my nose into his neck to breathe it in completely. I wrap my arms over his shoulders eager to stay close to him as I can feel the coolness of his skin against the heat of mine.

Seriously Blueberry, you're really messing me up and I'm already insane enough, thanks.

"Please go away, Ailin and I need to talk after this." I don't sound like I mean a word of it.

"We do, so take a seat or get out," Ailin growls, standing up.

She heads over to her desk and I use Cain to get me back onto two feet. "Are you staying?"

"Will you be long?"

"No."

"See you at home." Cain disappears, and I flop into the chair opposite Ailin going for the water.

"He seems in a good mood." She points out.

"It's not all angry faces and that weird, scary aura thing." I shrug. "Not all the time anyway."

"Does he know about last night then?"

"Yes, Mum."

"Well, that makes one of us then. Talk, Elise." Ailin is all business; gone are her leggings and crop top, and she's back to being President in her usual pantsuit and stern expression.

Cain isn't the only one that is all about angry faces.

I fill her in on what I haven't said for a few weeks and try to explain last night with just as much detail only I didn't fully understand either. I put a lot of blame on Hecate because who else would it have been and she also wasn't here to defend herself.

"I am scared that a time of reckoning will soon be upon you. The price this life demands you pay seems to grow with each challenge it throws your way."

"Well, that doesn't make it sound even worse than it already did." A reckoning. This was exactly that. "Uranus is already a pain in my ass, is he about to go around smiting things too for an added touch of dramatics?"

"Seems more like your style?"

"How did I forget all my friends were comedians." Ailin's face threatens to lighten into a smile, but the best I get is a tiny lift of her lip. "See, you think you're hilarious."

"What will you do now?" She asks.

"Demand some alone time with my baby daddy mostly, but then work out what Hecate left us, attempt to listen to whatever Cain got up to last night and I guess get ready for this Reckoning."

Ailin frowns; the second most common expression on her face. "Whatever you do, know that I am here for you. However, you need me. Stay safe, Hunter."

I give her a hug, not entirely sure of its meaning. It wasn't goodbye, but it wasn't a see you soon either. "Thank you, Ailin. For everything."

Leaving her office, I take the long way out only as I hear Drew, I follow his voice to find the Van Helsings, all three of them are in one of the lower-level gyms. Like a creeper, I watch them for a few minutes. It's strange how things can change, and seeing Sam throw Nigel onto his back I almost cheer for her. Knowing her past, seeing how her life used to be and fighting for her people had given me a new level of empathy and understanding. Despite her being sent here with Apollo to kill me and her terrible taste in men, I almost wish we could start over. When Penny comes out of the change rooms, I am surprised to see her high-five Sam as she goes by and starts her own workout, I know the second she sees me as she starts to try harder and when I don't move or act impressed, she simply turns around so her back is to me.

Message received.

"I'm surprised you didn't just go and slam her face into that mat." V muses, seemingly appearing out of nowhere beside me. "Being the bigger person?"

"Guess one of us has to be, also, I'm sensing a tiny bit of aggression there V. What's going on with you?"

"Never you mind, darling girl. Have things improved since our last chat?"

I think it over. "I wish I could say yes but no. Crossroads trip did nothing, Nieve got what she wanted, Zane is now immortal, no fangs required, Portia is deadish, Furies still want to either tempt me to the dark side or eradicate me and I'm not sure if maternity leave is going to be an option at this point."

"If nothing else, you're consistent."

"Thanks, V. Really putting things into perspective for me." I nudge him with my elbow as we head down to the cafeteria. "What's up with you?"

"I also have an issue with the redhead. I've been following a small group of vampires that I had plenty of reason to suspect of being part of a bigger, illegal blood donor ring. A Hunter in the team I was working with invited her and the husband to come, and she blew our cover. They've gone, I can't get a new lead and now my contact knows not to trust me."

"Wow. Not what I was expecting. I'm sorry, V." We get coffee and find a table. "I can help you, it won't take much."

"You have enough to worry about." He smiles. "I appreciate the offer."

"I was a Hunter first and this sounds bad. Let me help you."

Reluctantly, he hands the iPad tucked under his arm to me and opens the case notes. "This is all I have."

It was pretty clear that his hunch on the blood ring was valid and the few shots of his contact weren't quite enough to work with. The abandoned warehouse was so cliche I had to fight an eye roll at the sight of it and by the time we finished our coffee plans had been made to check it out tonight as had been his original intentions. I lingered on the files of the missing and the dead that had been found, they seemed to like including Slayers in their victim's list and my heart nearly stopped at one familiar face on the list.

"I know her." Mindy had once moved within Reece's circle of contacts. She'd been so nice, too nice for this life and I thought she had taken a backseat with everything a couple of years ago to work in admin for the Council. "Is this the dead or missing pile?"

"Missing," V confirms.

I read over the notes as an unmissable presence arrived, sending the table of young Hunters near us for the door. V looks up, coughing to clear his throat as if I needed to look to know who was coming our way, but I don't stop or look up.

"I'm busy."

"I assumed it would be with me once you'd finished with the demon." Cain sat beside me while Hades hovered at the end of the table. "What are you up to?"

"The demon is called Ailin, remember. Penny destroyed V's case, so I'm going to help him end it."

Cain takes the iPad before passing it to Hades. "Won't be hard."

The King of the Underworld groans as he looks over the screen before looking at Cain, then me and finally V.

"Take the Guardian. I'm not wasting my time with this. I've got my own world problems to deal with while ensuring nothing else gets in or out. Tell me when you're back in the other realm and don't die before then."

Hades vanishes.

"Aw, I think he cares." I smile at Cain.

"More than he'll ever admit. He's annoyed that Hecate got something else past him, and if we ever need to go down there without his approval again, it will be a lot harder than befriending Cerberus."

"The three-headed hell-hound?" V asks softly.

"It's fine. He's an overgrown puppy." I dismiss his worry easily.

"With three heads?" He repeats.

"You don't even notice it, not really."

"I can't even tell if you're joking." The vampire looked like his brain was having trouble processing most of that conversation, which only makes me laugh.

"As you said, at least I'm consistent."

And so were the bad guys as we made it to the warehouse later that night. Black SUV's were lined up against the dark building, the vampires a familiar presence that I almost missed. Being on an actual mission was more a novelty now, and as Zane stood at my side, I thought about the last time we'd gone vampire hunting together.

"Remember when we got those assholes who did that TV thing? This is just like that, fun isn't it?" I whisper to him.

"No."

"Wait until your first mission after being in another world's war." I pout.

"Sounds like you're getting used to the idea."

"I've seen," Stopping myself just in time, I shrug. "I've seen the error of my ways and I think I made a point early."

"That you did, Sunshine." He held his finger up to his lips as we got near the door.

"I didn't think they'd still be here after what happened last week," V admitted.

Cain stood by completely unimpressed, in the open, oblivious to the rest of us attempting to sneak up on those inside. He looked even more over it as a few shadows slipped above us. V's team took up positions all over the place despite us telling him how unnecessary it all was. He was determined to keep things by the book, even if I was willing to skip a few pages and Cain well, I wasn't sure what he was doing.

"Because they think they can outpower you all if you did show up, and it would give them a nice new selection of bodies to take to market." Cain pointed out. "This is essentially a trap, they were still planning on you bringing your team."

"But what if we knew it would be a trap and set a trap for them? Who would be walking into whose trap then?" I ask.

"Kid, shut up." Zane groaned.

It's then something hurts my side, slipping down across my abdomen enough to make me take a sharp breath. Rubbing my stomach, three sets of worried eyes have me ignoring it instantly. Another sharp pain keeps my hand moving, attempting to ease the now stabbing pain that is more intense than I'd expect right now.

"Are you sure you're up for this?" V asks gently, the concern on his face sweet but unnecessary.

"I saw her throw Hades off the side of a building, and keep him there. She isn't just a Hunter anymore vampire." Zane huffs as he keeps moving towards the entry point.

V looks at Cain, for confirmation or assurance that I'm as fine as I am acting and he just shrugs, checks his watch and motions to the door. Despite this, the second I go by him, he stops me.

"Just a cramp," I promise him.

"Is this going to go on for much longer?"

"Well, they said no powers so I guess it depends on how things go."

"We could already be home if you didn't agree to that," Cain stops as V and Zane go inside.

"I know I said this before, but go home. I'll be there as soon as it's done." I kiss him on the cheek as the first sounds of yelling, gunfire and screaming start.

"You said that before, and you never turned up. Now, look at where we are!"

"To be honest, not how I saw my afternoon or evening going either."

From the broken window, bursts of light break out into the darkness and as I turn to go in, he's right behind me. We walk into chaos, but one I'm almost happy to see. It's so, normal. No powers, no crazy balls of energy with bad intentions coming at you, or mythical beings like three-headed dogs, berserkers or insane gods. There are guns and fists, commando rolls, on your feet thinking and no dark mists of terror seeking to completely mess with your head.

"Hunter," a vampire, steps out from behind us; fangs bared before he licks his lips. "You'll fetch a good price and-"

Cain's fist smashes into the side of his face; the vampire drops to the floor holding his jaw and from the sound, it made something was probably broken.

"I wanted to do that." I pout.

"Go for it." He points behind me, and spinning around I got a chance to do just that as another charged my way. "Blueberry will make you smell even better. As if being a Hunter wasn't bad enough, you're pregnant too. We may as well put a giant target on your back."

"Oh, live bait. Got it." I can't see Zane or V, but I sense them nearby. Unfortunately, it's only them and the team I can find here. "This really was just a trap, there's no one here."

Cain points out the shipping container in the middle of the room and heading over we get there completely unbothered as the fighting is kept away from us. It's empty, confirming what I thought and as V gets mobbed by three much meaner-looking bloodsuckers, Cain gets in the spirit of things and goes to help him out with his fists, not his powers while I look around for any clues or a reason that this thing was even here. Old blankets, clean and used blood bags, needles and tubes are littered all over the floor so clearly, someone had been there. Just like the women's jacket, discarded gossip magazines and a hairbrush.

The door of the container opens further with a loud creak and looking over, three vampires block the doorway. One of them cracks their knuckles and as I take a step towards them, something pops as I do and looking down, a not-so-empty blood bag has squirted everywhere. My foot slips slightly in the wetness as I take a step away. My throat is burning with a familiar warning as I realise I am also now standing in blood.

It's on my shoe.

One of them closes the door.

Good call - if I can't see the blood, it won't make me throw up or so I hoped as seconds later that's exactly what I did. Again.

One of them laughs as the other groans; the darkness enhances and plays with every sense I have. My skin prickles, the sound of the fighting outside the container muffled yet I am positive I can hear footsteps getting closer, a breath by my ear. I can smell my vomit and death. The air seems to evaporate.

I gag, reaching for the wall as I spit up some more.

"This one doesn't live." It's an order and I laugh. "Are you scared of the monsters that hide in the dark?"

"This one needs a minute and trust me when I saw It's not you, really. It's all me." And blood.

I really do need a minute, only it's been a while since I got to play Hunter like this so I work out where they are because I'm not prepared to make a mistake and keep it otherwise power-free. I already had an unfair advantage, despite how pathetic I must appear to them.

"I want her to scream first." The one furthest away taunts. "It's always better when they scream."

"You sound delightful," I mumble.

"Talks too much. Should we teach her some manners?"

"I was thinking the same thing about you." My stomach settles, powers or not I instantly pick out where they are as all my senses come back on board. "You know, I haven't done this in like, months. So, what now? Um, oh right. Where are you keeping all the people you've kidnapped?"

"You can say hi to them if you survive the night." As he lunges, I'm ready.

He was instantly trapped, and I was just as quickly slamming him onto the floor with more effort than I'd used on Zane the other day. The thud echoed in the empty metal space, just like the muffled screams of his pain and terror as without a doubt his ribs and spine would have been broken.

If Zane asks, I'd deny using my powers. There was a puddle of blood on the floor and he slipped. Hard.

"The fuck?" One of them says right before the remaining pair come at me.

They meet a similar ending as the door swings open. The sudden burst of light has me squinting my eyes, and as Cain appears he says nothing until he's standing by the first vampire.

"You managed to get stuck in here with three vampires." He doesn't hide his amusement at this as he inspects the slightly unconscious, groaning idiots. Cain is not Apollo. "Are you done?"

"Yeah. Any signs of their victims?"

"None. This was all just a trap." I walk faster, getting out into the warehouse where the remaining vampires were now being arrested; completely by the book even if it was obvious from the confused looks on everyone's faces that it hadn't all been that way.

"This was pointless," V says as he finds us, yet he doesn't look at us.

I follow his gaze over to where two very loud and resistant vampires were being led towards a waiting vehicle. Those ones looked different, they were dressed a little nicer. Their age gave them a presence in the room the younger ones we'd been fighting would know to respect and obey. V's team and the backup were already into processing mode, clearly wanting them out of here quickly.

"What are you thinking?" Cain asks, rubbing his jaw slightly where the red mark promises to leave a bruise.

"Just going to introduce myself." I decide, heading over to them.

The Slayers holding them are struggling, even beaten and surrounded, they're not quite done and seeing a pregnant, probably smells like vomit Hunter heading their way is something they stop for.

"Stay back, we have this under control." The Slayer greets, shoving the vampire forward only when he doesn't move. The Slayer does; they both do as the vampires are either too stupid or confident in their own abilities sending them flying back.

The Slayers had nothing under control. They just let them think that and the look they shared as they undid their restraints was so obvious as to what they intended on doing next.

"Where are you keeping them?" I demand.

"Who? You'll have to be a little more specific, sweetheart." The taller one glares at Cain as he comes up behind me.

"Elise!" V calls, making these two look at each other again.

"As in, Elise Bunting?" His friend asks, his accent changing the sound of my surname to Booting but clearly, he knew of me.

"I'm going to say yes, and hope we get through this the easy way." I smile at them, yet they both start laughing.

"Dracula's little bitch?" They laughed harder.

Until they didn't.

The room became still, the cries and shouting stopping instantly as the quiet that replaced it was even more deafening. I had been right about their age, a flicker of resistance tickled against my hold as they continued their fight to gain back their freedom which was never going to happen.

"I asked you a question." It was easy, easier than holding back Powers; fighting against Hades. "Now, where are you keeping everyone?"

"Kid," Zane started.

"What?"

"They need to be able to talk." I look at Zane, and V nods.

"He makes a good point."

I ease up, just. "Let's start over. Hi, I'm Elise Bunting and I'm really hoping you'll give me the fucking location of your little thing, please?"

"Go to hell, Hunter. The only way you'll get anything out of me is if you suck my di-" The taller one started as I rolled my eyes and a sheet of dust instantly replaced him.

"Your turn." His friend starts to look nervous.

"Why would I tell you anything?"

"Because I said please?"

He looks at me like he isn't completely sure if I am serious and all of this isn't actually as bad as it seems. I tighten my hold making him flinch, sweat appeared on his forehead as he looked around for help that wasn't coming.

"I can't."

"Why?" V growls.

"Because a few party tricks don't scare me and Lawrence had it coming." He bares his fangs, until he tenses, looking beyond me and I can only imagine how Cain is looking right now.

He doesn't try and hide anymore, and I wish I knew how he did that as feeling that dark presence grows more intense around us is more comfort to me than something to be scared of. The remaining vampire clearly doesn't feel the same way as I see the fear in his eyes, my powers digging into him.

"You will talk because you know what our other party tricks are? I will break every bone in your body, get him to heal it and then do it again until you do. In case you haven't worked it out yet, I'm not your average Hunter."

"I'm glad I met her before she had these powers." V whispers to Zane.

"Oh yeah, you would have never stood a chance."

"You can't." The vampire didn't sound like he believed that. "Besides, the Treaty-"

"That you are acting in direct violation of?" Zane adds.

"Guess we're past playing by the rules. I'll start with your toes," I barely pinch him yet the sensation is enough to kick him into gear.

"I'll talk. I'll tell you." He blurts, attempting to move away from me yet he stays stuck in place. "I'll do it."

"Good choice." I smile at him.

V takes my place, signalling a nearby Hunter over while the Slayers try again to keep some kind of control over this leech who is happily blurting out the locations of where their merch has been spread out across the city.

"Can we go now?" Cain's face is clear of any bruises now, his knuckles healed too.

"You good V?" I ask.

"Thanks for your help, darling girl." He nods.

"I'll stay, get the teams sorted to do the raids on these locations." Zane decides.

"Okay. Call us if he's lying or you need help." Cain groans, but we both ignore him. "Then we'll do things more our way, despite V being a total little Council do-gooder now."

"I was a Slayer first." He huffs, waving us away as he follows our vampire friend to the waiting car with the other Slayers.

"You were a Hunter first." Cain reminds me as I lean into his hug.

"And I never followed their rules then either."

His kiss is slow and gentle. "Can we go-"

I take us home and slowly pull away from him as I head to the kitchen. "I'm starving. Hungry?"

"Not quite in the same way you are." He smirks and, opening the fridge I look for something to snack on. "Why do we have another plant? I thought you gave up on them?"

"Pretty sure Hecate left it last night. It was a dog, then Hades helped me get to sleep. It was a weird night." I shrug, looking over at it before returning to the hunt. "Ailin said Matt seems a bit less crazy and a little more lucid this morning. Maybe all those visions being taken away was a form of therapy for him."

"Why are we keeping the dog-turned plant from Hecate?"

"Can't hurt, right? Hades said it's pomegranates and what does she always sends when, oh." Cain raised an eyebrow. "I've had one from her whenever I've been near death. It's an energy boost."

"It's a warning." He says what we're both thinking.

"A whole fucking tree of them?" I dropped the dip and carrots, and suddenly I'm not so hungry. "Even after Eris nearly got me, I only ate half of one. This is a whole tree!"

"What if it's a sign? A gift. It could be to change the outcome of, you know. If we can heal you, and have these ready?"

Maybe it was her way of reminding me what could be possible. Visions change. It doesn't always mean what it may appear to be. I watch as he puts his hand out to it, and I'm not sure if he's expecting it to grow limbs to attack or climb in for a cuddle but his face gives nothing away. A few seconds pass before he seems happy to let it be.

"Where did you go last night?"

"An old temple. It didn't turn out to be anything," I felt like there was a big old but coming with that as he looked at the tree again before coming over to me. "Then I remembered seeing it on the big pot."

"Big pot?"

"The one you found, with the first actual evidence of the Fourth."

I had completely forgotten about that, the damn baby brain was already kicking it. "And?"

"It was on there, but it did nothing. I'm sure it was left for a reason, I just don't know what that is yet."

"Can I see it?" Cain hands it over, and I lightly trace along the maze-like pattern of lines. "Is it a rule when you hit a certain age, to become as annoying and cryptic as you can possibly be?"

"How would I know?"

"Oh I don't know, Darius or should I say the illusive Cain, I spent like half a year trying to work out the identity of."

"There had been clues."

"My point exactly. It's been somewhere over six months and not quite seven of playing this damn game, technically longer but whatever. Nothing has changed, they've only become more powerful and we, well I don't even know how we are at the moment."

"We're working it out." He assured me.

"Are we? Hecate seems to think we aren't hence our own personal lifeline of fruit." I sigh. Instead of responding, I was soon wrapped up in the tightest hug, which was a nice little bandaid to put over the gaping wound of our problems. "You've been doing this longer than I have. Be honest, no lies or secrets or anything. Just tell me what to do, like what would you do if this was only your mess to deal with."

"Patience."

"Terrible suggestion. Next?"

"I'd be studying them, going over everything I know already and watching them as much as possible to find out what I don't. That mixed with patience generally pays off in the long run." He shared, his voice low and a little distracted.

Looking up at him, he didn't face me for a second, his neutral expression not hiding anything. Great, while I was terrible at working everything else out, I wasn't useless at picking up a sensitive subject that could end up as an argument.

"Is that what you've already been doing?"

"Yes."

"You're not always off with Hades and Zane and everyone, are you?"

"No."

"This afternoon?" I push.

"The portals Hermes has set up make going back and forth a lot easier and faster than it's ever been before," Cain admitted. "I saw you with the vampire, knew you'd be busy today. Hades has been more focused on Hecate, especially after last night."

"So patience and waiting, then what?"

"Once I have a solution to my problem, I fix it." Just like that apparently.

"You fix it? Doesn't sound like a team effort on any level." I point out.

"More often than not, it isn't." Cain flinched slightly as I narrowed my eyes at him, a wave of hot anger starting to rise up on my cheeks. "The more involved, the messier it gets. If I see an opportunity to end this, I intend to take it. Hades will too. You asked me what I thought we should do and I told you."

"What you think we should do and what you're already doing, or intend to do are very different."

"You want to know why it feels like nothing is changing and we're not getting any closer to ending this? It's because we, the team effort, never will. The reason why? None are quite as invested in this as us. Yes, it's bad with the Furies being around and even with the Fates being one sole being. Until they make an actual move, with clear intentions against any of the others, it's just another Elise problem that you are bound to work out and fix on your own for them."

"Wow, that's cynical and super paranoid, even for you!" I thought we'd been able to move forward to the point where it wasn't such a firm line between us and them.

Clearly, that hadn't changed for him at all, which of course it hadn't. The chat around forming my own council, having a friend like Zane over there on my side, it was so much more than I had given it all credit for. His distrust of Kara and well, everyone was obvious with only Hades being let in an inch more than anyone else.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean it how it sounded but if that's what you think, why not speak up more then? We can get Kara to listen and be reasonable about this. If we give them a plan to follow, even tell kara first to give the orders to the rest. She knows we aren't a threat."

"Kara knows nothing and do you think I have not tried? Deimos understands, Circe of all creatures too, yet she will not listen to me, not completely because if she does then she is showing weakness. Change takes time, more than its' been and despite how it appears on the surface, I am older and have been doing this longer than you to know it hasn't changed at all." Pinching the bridge of his nose, Cain takes a deep breath. "If anyone even suspects what she says comes from me, Ares will latch onto that with all he has. He wants a war, he wants this to last centuries. He will never have enough and the best outcome will be getting what he wants which is control of a more powerful army. Kara's burden is she has to always appear to be in control, despite what backroom deals and discussions may occur, it has to be her and she is still desperate to prove herself."

"It's not like that with Kara." I wasn't sure who I was trying to convince now.

Cain shook his head, his own frustration growing. "Her issues with you are one wrong step away from becoming so broken even you could not forgive her and no amount of sorry, and kind words will fix it. It hasn't happened yet because she thinks you have me in control and despite her progress with Deimos, she still keeps him at arm's length for the same reason. He is loyal to you, he feels he owes you a debt that will not be easily repaid. I am the biggest threat to her because she is my successor. And yes, Elise. It is just like that."

I can't even argue because this is a discussion we've also been having for months and it's also not changing. He wasn't in the wrong, and maybe I was just being too hopeful - naive, that we could all play happy families without all the politics and Power assholery about it. Days ago Ares tried to swing me to his side for that powered-up army and he rarely agreed to anything Kara said unless Cain or even me, seemed to be in favour of it. I'd gone over this when he and Zane first put the idea of a council out there, whose side each would fall on if push came to shove.

"We have to be united," I tell him, barely hearing my own words. "We burn brighter as one."

"I know." He sighed, taking me back into his arms. "It's one of two reasons I haven't pushed Kara further, or spoken up more in these, meetings, everyone loves having."

"What is the other reason?"

"You. You see the good in them, the potential, and I want to believe it's there too. I'm trying. For you, for Blueberry. I am mostly following their rules but its not going to be how we get through this. How we win." Cain paused, his heart a steady thump under my ear as I held him just as tight before the hum of his words took it away. "The change you want, that they need, will happen. I'm just not sure if it will be enough in the time we have so Hades and I will keep doing what we're doing and hopefully, things will resolve themselves in our favour."

A coldness replaces the warmth of his body and I shiver as he steps away, heading towards our bedroom. I'm not sure what else to say and go back to my snack as he stops in the doorway. All the things we haven't said filled the space between us, and I couldn't tell if that was a good or bad thing.

"I need a shower." And then he's gone.

The silence I'm left with is uncomfortable and picking up the disc I notice something on the back of it. Holding it up to the light, tiny little fractures ran in zig-zags every which way, yet a thin covering of something makes me wonder if hadn't been broken and put back together at some point.

Right on cue, the TV turns on to show a lady wearing the completely wrong outfit for a stroll through an ash-covered forest post-fire with a rather attractive fireman. Her white jacket has smudges of grey all over it and the pair of boots she has on do not match the tight pencil skirt or silky blouse.

"Fire isn't just destructive. It has a very important role in environmental ecology. It has the ability to trigger natural processes, like stimulating seed germination and creating all kinds of benefits to biodiversity." The man explains as they stop by a particular burnt-out tree.

"So you're saying we need fires like this? That fire is actually important to these environments?" She asks, not looking or sounding like she believes that.

"Yes. Exactly. It clears thick undergrowth and opens up the canopy letting in the sunlight. This helps to encourage the germination and regrowth of native vegetation." I take my snack to the sofa, and sit to watch the fireman with the voice of a romance novel narrator explain the germination process to the lady who is probably thinking a lot about pollination, rejuvenation and the rest by the end of his talk then she has in her whole entire life.

I know I was.

"Before great things can happen, all it takes is for everything to burn to the ground to make way for everything coming back every stronger." He says with a smile that would rival a younger George Clooney.

"That sounds like a life lesson," She grins back, a large black smear now running up the side of her thigh as she brushed against a tree.

"It is. Why do you think I call her my little Phoenix?" Hot Fireman laughs, and so does she, while I just stare at both of them, not even sure I heard that right.

Looking around, everything is as I remember it and pinching my arm, I am sure I'm not asleep like the music box incident. Listening out, I can still hear the shower and feel way too aware for it to be a dream. It doesn't help the disc I left behind me is now on the sofa beside my dip. Carefully I pick it up, running my finger along the broken lines while the duo on the TV continue to discuss regrowth and plantlife post-fire as if nothing had happened.

Empress.

The word was a whisper by my ear, a breath against the back of my neck that sends goosebumps racing across my skin. I look over to the table, half expecting to see Hecate there as her presence surrounds me. She isn't there, but I also already knew that and just as I felt her leaving, I got another chill.

Emperor.

"Elise?" My name is loud and clear, Cain's voice much more real than the whispers that had just taunted me. "Elise!"

Turning towards the bedroom, Cain's still wet from his shower. I can see the water all over his bare chest, his pants clinging to him from how wet he still is. He's ready to fight, the look on his face murderous. In seconds he's surveyed the room, yet it isn't enough to put him at ease. Each step is with purpose, his muscles are tight and he keeps angled just so that it would take him not even seconds to respond to anything that comes his way. It doesn't stop as he does behind me, and as those dark eyes meet mine, beyond the fury and suspicion I see his fear.

I'm standing almost instantly and quickly leaned over the sofa to wrap my arms around his neck as he holds me back, helping me climb up and over the furniture to get to him. I can feel the tremble of his hands against my back, his heart racing now as he still hasn't relaxed.

"It's nothing. I'm okay. She isn't here." I tell him, the words falling out faster than I can think to say them. "She was. I think, but Cain, breathe. It's okay."

"I expected you to be gone, or about to be." He mumbles into my hair.

I give him a weak smile when I finally get his attention, and I almost wish I hadn't. If even an inch of the malice that he had written all over his face was for me, I'd be making a run for it as even I wasn't stupid enough to poke the bear when he was built up like this.

"No wonder Hades is on the warpath with that witch. There are lines, and she keeps crossing them." He went over to the table, grabbed the plant and went out to the balcony. "Fuck her gifts. What happened?"

"What if it dies? We might need it?" I point out, already on Team Plant.

"It's only outside and that's the only reason why I didn't burn it to fucking ashes." He snapped with so much ice in his tone I felt the cold from where I stood. "Remind me again why I am not going back to that fucking world and burning it all down to end this once and for all, right now?"

I smiled, trying not to laugh at the ironic choice of words considering what Hot Fireman had just been going on about. Cain looked me over with a newfound caution and with the plant taken care of, he switched off the noise now coming from the TV. He left barely a centimetre between us as he looked down at me, the need for an explanation I wasn't sure I wanted to give obvious.

"I think that's exactly what she wants us to do."