Daniel knocked on Aunt Jess's door when we reached it and pushed it slightly open when he heard something. "Mom?" he asked, and his voice shook as if he was nervous about what he would see. "Are you ok?"

There was a bit of shuffling and a small groan that had me peeking from under Daniel's arm to see that she was in bed, looking pale but still vibrant and alert as ever.

"Mom?" Daniel asked again when she didn't respond.

His voice shook some more while he took a step towards her, and I followed him, making sure to keep up with him. His whole body was tense, and I could tell that he was scared that something was wrong and didn't care that he was supposed to be mad at her or whatever.

All he cared about was his mother's safety, and that made me fall in love with him some more.

"Mom?" he asked again and stepped more into the room and closer to the bed but not near it yet. He furrowed his brows and cocked his head while he studied her. "Please, Mom. What is it? Are you ok?"

Aunt Jess nodded and took a deep, shuddering breath. "I am," she said softly. "I am just tired," she added before she looked at me and smiled. "Don't get pregnant. I do not recommend it."

"Mom," Daniel said and walked the rest of the way to her, and I followed him into the room but stayed near the door after I closed it, hesitating in going near her, even though I knew that she was safe.

She chuckled and held out her hand for him to take. "How are you feeling?" she asked, her voice soft and filled with concern.

Daniel set his jaw, and a look of annoyance flickered across his face. However, he grabbed her hand and squeezed it gently. "I have been better," he replied coldly. He looked at me before he looked at her, his eyes darker and swirling with anger and annoyance.

Aunt Jess slowly nodded, and a look of understanding flashed through her eyes. "I know," she said and cleared her throat while she grew serious. "However, do you realize why I had done what I had done?" She looked at me before she looked at him again, and I had a feeling that she wanted me to answer too.

I hesitated before I shook my head no. I knew that she was trying to protect me, herself, and the others that were there, but I didn't know why I had to go there and see him. I didn't know why she made me do that, and I silently wondered if she wanted to know whatever suspensions she had were correct and that was why I was subjected to that too.

Aunt Jess slowly nodded as if she saw whatever response that was on my face and understood it without me saying a word. "I wanted to know if you were like me," she confirmed, "or at least somewhat."

"But you didn't know what you were," Daniel said, "not until that evening."

Aunt Jess looked at him and smiled sadly while she squeezed his hand. "I knew that I was different," she said, "even before researching my bloodline and the genes I possessed." Her voice had a soft hum in it, and I again was amazed about how calm and collected she was in the face of danger.

Daniel set his jaw and narrowed his eyes at his mother. He kept his hand in hers, but I could tell that he wanted to take it out and yell at her for not answering his question fully.

"I tried to do research on my own, but I wasn't able to," she said. "I tried to look at birth records and whatever, but it looked like I couldn't access anything without being stopped by someone."

"By who?" Daniel asked. "Roger?"

Aunt Jess shrugged and looked nonchalant. "That's a bit of it." She looked at me. "I wanted to see if I couldn't get some of your blood. I had a feeling that your father had already taken some and would have taken some more just to confirm that you can be used as a weapon. The chip that was in my mouth had something that would process the data and give it to me before it was destroyed."

I hesitated but nodded before I cocked my head and wondered if Roger or her brother knew that she did that. I stayed by the door, not wanting to come in but wanting to come in further because even though she had done that, I still trusted her with my life.

She knew the risks and knew what she wanted to accomplish, so she did it at the expense of others, of myself.

However, she made sure that we stayed safe, something that I respected and sort of understood, even though I had no idea if I would do something like that without the knowledge and agreement of the other person.

"And what if something went wrong?" Daniel asked while he bared his teeth in warning and narrowed his eyes. "Were you prepared for that?"

She nodded in confirmation. "I was," she said and looked at him with her eyes darker. "I would have made sure that your mate got out of there protected even if it cost me my life."

"And the baby's?" Daniel asked with a scowl. "Why weren't you thinking about Dad? This is his child too." He gestured to her belly while he took his hand out of hers. "Do you think th-"

"You have to understand, Daniel, he wants my child. He wants me. If I died under his care or watch, then he would have gotten in trouble. I was sure that whoever he is under wants me alive."

"So, you're saying that he doesn't work for himself?" Daniel asked and raised an eyebrow, and Aunt Jess shook her head no while she grimaced.

"Unfortunately, I do not," she said, with a small hum in her voice. "I do not know who he is working for, but I do know that he is working for someone else. There is no way in hell that he can be working for himself."

I shook my head and bit my lip, not believing for a second that he was working for someone besides himself. "He's working by himself," I said, my voice barely above a whisper, and Daniel looked at me surprised that I was talking to her. "He has to be, or at least he is a higher person than you think he is.'

Aunt Jess looked at me and slowly blinked before she dipped her head with a small smirk. "I am sure that he is a high person, too," she said. "However, I do not believe that he is making all of the orders and is following someone else. That's the person that we are going to need to at least find and eradicate before anything goes wrong."

"Do you think that you can find that information?" I asked while I cocked my head and stared at her, and the older female shrugged and grimaced.

"I could, probably," she said slowly. "However, I know that I am going to need some help to do it, and the person that is helping me is going to have to work with me to get that and other stuff before there is a war or something."

"Do you think that there is going to be one?" Daniel asked. His voice was hard and filled with a bit of nervousness in it that I didn't like while he waited for her to answer.

Aunt Jess pondered that question before she bit her lip and slowly dipped her head while she looked at him with hard eyes that gave away no emission whatsoever. "I don't think that there is going to be one, Daniel," she said before she paused and sighed, contemplating his answer further. "However, I can not give an exact answer until I know for sure, and at this time, I do not know."