Autumn held Claria, the older woman from the other days, hands.

“Right now, I want you to focus on a certain memory of mine,” Autumn spoke, Claria’s hands tightening around hers.

“I see you and Mark,” Autumn’s heart broke slightly just hearing his name.

“Can you choose another one? Without him?” Autumn begged. Claria, however, didn’t hear her; she was too enthralled in the memory.

“You guys are walking down a sidewalk. You are having an argument about what movie to see. Mark’s laughing. He’s holding your hand now.” Claria paused, her hands trembling.

“Are you alright?”

“You guys are stopping. He moved some hair out of your face. He’s telling you how lucky he is.” Claria ignored Autumn’s comment, continuing on. Autumn remembered the moment she was speaking of so vividly. She could hear Mark in her head, speaking to her: God, how did I get so lucky? I am spending the night with the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen.

Some blood trickled from Claria’s nose and Autumn ripped her hands from her. Claraia opened her eyes, taking in a deep breath as she wiped away the blood.

“Pace yourself Claria. You have to build it up,” Autumn smiled.

“This is stressful,” Claria frowned.

“I know I know. It’s not the ideal situation. But nothing in life has a quick fix. We just need to work on it.” Claria sighed. Someone opened the door, Autumn and Claria whirling around to see who it was.

“Hey, are you busy?” Tate questioned, eyeing Claria.

“No we just finished,” Autumn set her hands on her thighs before rising off the ground. She spun around to help Claria up. “We can try again in a few days, don’t want to push it.” As Claria rose to her feet, she squeezed Autumn’s arm.

“Thank you, sweetheart.” Claria left the room. Autumn dropped her smile, running a hand through her hair. Her heart still hurt from reliving that memory. She could feel Mark’s lips against hers, she could feel that spark that roared in her belly.

“What’s wrong?” Tate wondered, standing in front of her.

“Nothing,” Autumn shook her head, dropping her hand at her side. “What’s up?”

“I just uh . . . wanted to make sure everything was okay. I mean, things have changed a lot the past week and a half. You’re walking around by yourself now, and hanging out with everyone here-”

“Tate, I’m fine. Thank you,” Autumn lifted the corner of her lip.  “How are you? You seem well rested.” Tate chuckled.

“I don’t have to worry about you as much as I used to. Maybe I’ve gotten more sleep,” Autumn giggled. “Oh! Before I forget, I think Cade wanted you.”

“Me? Why?” Autumn asked, eyebrow raised.

“Beats me,” Tate shrugged. Autumn and Tate headed out of the door and down the hall in unison. “So. You’re the new Ezra around here?”

“I wouldn’t say that,” Autumn laughed.

“How do you . . . know what to do? If I may ask.”

“I can’t really explain it. I just . . . know,” she glanced at Tate. “Does that make me crazy?” Tate held up his thumb and his pointer finger an inch apart.

“Little bit.” Autumn slapped his in the chest.

“I hate you.” Autumn and Tate entered Cade’s office, only to be met with screaming. Cade was in Jade’s face, shouting.

“I will not!” Cade’s face was a deep red, his cheeks flushed and his forehead scrunched.

“Are you kidding me?! You can do it and you know you can!” Jade stomped her foot.

“Doing that would be breaking some serious laws. I’m not taking that kind of punishment for . . . you!”

“You wouldn’t get caught! It’s you, Cade!” Jade growled.

“I wouldn’t even slightly risk something like that for you! Why do you want that anymore? It drove your dad mad, and it’s going to drive you straight into the loony bin!” Jade slapped him in the face, his head whipping around and her chest heaving from anger. Tate stepped forward, separating them.

“What’s going on?” Tate demanded. Jade and Cade shared a moment of intense eye contact, Cade appearing as if, any second, he was going to rip through Tate and punch Jade.

“Go to hell, Cade Lancaster!” Jade spat, literally, at him before shoving past Autumn and storming from the room. Autumn hissed in pain, clutching her sling.

“Are you okay?” Autumn shook it off.

“I’m fine just . . . You handle him,” Autumn gestured toward Cade, who was gripping his cane so hard Autumn was sure it would snap any second. “I’ll get her.” Tate nodded, Autumn taking off after Jade. She was stalking down the hall. “Jade!”

The moment she heard her name she stopped, giving Autumn enough time to catch up.

“What was that back there?” Autumn questioned.

“None of your damn business!” Autumn frowned. Jade puffed some air out of her mouth, causing a loose strand of her hair to sway. “I’m sorry,” Jade violently shook her head. “I’m just . . . angry!”

“About?” Jade hesitated. “You can talk to me,” Autumn smiled.

“My dad uhm . . . He made it sort of his mission to find someone called the Uniter,” Autumn nodded.

“Yeah, I know about the Uniter. Tate showed me the legend in the museum.”

“Okay,” Jade crossed her arms over her chest, biting her lip. Autumn suddenly felt sick, as if any moment she’d throw up. She rested her back against the wall, sliding to the ground. Jade joined her, Autumn taking note of the empty hall. “Well, the Uniter is supposed to bring us together. And that’s all my father ever wanted. I mean he searched for years, looking for any evidence as to who the Uniter was. It ended up . . .” Jade’s eyes became glassy.

“It’s okay,” Autumn set her hand on Jade’s knee.

“He lost his life searching for the Uniter and-and all I ever wanted was to be able to carry on his legacy. But Cade!” Jade paused, biting her nail.

“He won’t help?”

“No! He won’t! All I need is for him to break into the files the council locked and get me my dad’s research!” Autumn gave Jade a moment to breathe.

“Look at it from his point of view,” Autumn spoke after a few moments of silence. Jade leaned her head against the wall, staring at her. “You are asking him to break into a very secure place. If he gets caught, he could get in trouble. It’s nothing against you. You know if he didn’t think he could get in trouble, he’d do it.” Jade bore at her shoes.

“You’re right.”

“Maybe we can find another way to get what you need.” It was Autumn’s turn to look at her. Jade bobbed her head slowly.

“Thank you,” she smiled. “I mean it.” The two sat for a minute before Jade rose off the ground. “I think I owe Cade an apology.” Autumn grinned as Jade headed down the hall at a very slow place.

Autumn waited a couple minutes for the feeling in her leg to return. She hadn’t eaten breakfast yet, and figured her exhaustion was due to that. When she felt better, Autumn got up.

“Look who’s all by herself,” someone mocked. Autumn peered over her shoulder at the two figures heading in her direction. She recognized both of them. One of them was the man who Cade had knocked out when she had been helping Sibella. The other was his tall friend who had threatened her. “We’ve never been formally introduced. I’m Josh,” the one who Cade had hit said. “And this is Jonas.”

“What do you want?” Autumn took a defensive step backwards.

“We want you to leave our people alone. We don’t want vermin around here,” Josh crossed his arms over his chest.

“I’m . . . helping them,” Autumn’s voice was tiny. She felt like a tiny mouse being surrounded by two large alley cats.

“Is that what you think you’re doing? Because making Sibella and Claria bleed doesn’t sound beneficial to me,” Jonas stepped forward, causing Autumn to shuffle backwards. They continued this until Autumn was against the wall. Josh slammed his hand against the wall above her head, joining the block they were forming around her.

“You won’t have the chance to exploit my people much longer. We’re coming for you, rat.” Josh grabbed onto a chunk of her hair, smashing her head against the wall; she whimpered.

“I heard a cockroach can survive without its head for a week. I wonder if a human can do the same?” Jonas laughed at his own comment before being thrown backwards. He slammed, hard, against the ground.

Tate grabbed Josh by the collar, forcing him against the wall.

“You touch her again,” Tate snapped through gritted teeth. “And I will kill you.”