"Ms. Pierce!" Lolly shouted and began to bounce up and down while holding onto the cage bars.

Ms. Pierce held a finger to her mouth before rushing over to the keypad on the wall. She keyed in a series of numbers and our cell's door slid open.

"Come one, we got to get out of here and quickly," she told us in a hushed tone while also waving for us to follow her.

We walked behind her while she opened the jail room door and peeked around the corner. When she seemed confident that no one was around, she darted off down the metal hall and the rest of us did the same. Trying to escape made the hall feel longer than when we had first arrived. Every shadow made me feel like someone was behind us and put me on edge. At least we were out of the cage and could finally use our abilities.

"Sage, you getting anything," I asked, looking over my shoulder.

As she ran behind me, her face pinched together in concentration. A moment later her eyes opened wide as she turned to look behind her.

"Incoming," she announced.

None of us stopped but each of our bodies tensed, waiting for an attack. Sure enough, the sound of boots echoed down the hall, coming from the direction we were running away from.

"Stop!" a male voice shouted.

When it became apparent that we were going to stop, a gunshot fired. In the small space, the sound caused my ears to ring, halting me in my place as I covered them with my hands.

"Chloe, come one," Wes urged as he pulled on my arm.

Another gunshot rang out and a bullet flew just over our heads before embedding into the metal wall at the exit. Declan multiplied, causing five clones to spread out in the hall around us just as several more shots fired. One flew past me before entering the back of a Declan clone, causing it to fall to the ground before disappearing. The other bullets landed in either the walls or the rest of the clones. Luckily, none of us had been hit.

I skidded to a halt and turned to face the guards. My eyes locked on Sir who was leading the chase. He pulled out a pistol and let off two shots in my direction without any hesitation. My reaction was just as quick. I threw my hand up causing the bullets to stop just inches from my face, and then without thinking, sent them flying back in Sir's direction. One hit his leg while the other hit a wall but it caused enough of a distraction to make the other guards pause and check on him, giving me time to run and catch up with everyone.

"Lolly, baby, you gotta get out of here," Lucas shouted at Lolly.

She shook her head and grabbed his hand before saying, "Hell no, I'm not leaving you guys."

"Go, I got us covered," Lucas told her before turning around to face the guards that were running towards us.

He made sure everyone was behind him before holding his hands together. As he pulled them apart he used the thumb and pointer finger of each hand to create a box. Inside of the box, fire swirled and as he spread his hands wide, the square-shaped flames grew. He pushed the flames forward while guiding them to attach to the walls. I was amazed, he had created a firewall between us and the guards. It may not have been able to stop bullets, but it would keep the guards on their side of the hall, for the moment.

When he was done, he turned to Lolly with a smile and said, "Go, make sure there's a car waiting for us."

"Mr. B is parked in an SUV in the field, tell him to get the engine running," Ms. Pierce added.

Lolly nodded, gave Lucas a quick kiss, and vanished into thin air.

"Let's go," Declan yelled and the rest of us took off running once again.

Just as we made it to the exit, Lucas' firewall was starting to dwindle down. Ms. Pierce tapped on the keypad but a small buzzer sounded and the pad turned red. She tried again but the result was the same.

Declan looked over at the shrinking flames and back at Ms. Pierce as he asked, "Do you remember the code?"

She tried the code again and again but nothing happened.

"They must have changed it," she stated, her voice rising in panic.

Running boot steps echoed down the hall once again, the fire was completely gone.

"Do something!" Sage cried.

The door quickly slid open, causing several of us to jump in surprise. On the other side stood a tall dark figure, whose presence blocked out the dim lighting of the cabin stairwell.

"Xavier," Ms. Pierce sighed.

Mr. B said nothing as he stepped out of the way for us to pass. Once we were all through, he smashed the keypad with a closed fist causing the door to slam shut behind us. In a few short minutes, we were all up the stairs and busting through the cabin door. A black SUV with thick tinted windows was already waiting for us with the engine running. As we approached Lolly jumped out of the passenger door and opened the back doors for us all to get in. With everyone in the vehicle and Mr. B in the driver's seat, the SUV peeled off down the dirt road and into the night.

"What the hell just happened?" Declan asked from a seat all in the way in the back.

Ms. Pierce turned around in the passenger's seat to look at all of us as she answered, "The Organization has been investigating the murders for the past two weeks but they couldn't find anything. Without evidence to whether or not you all did it, they decided it was best to just keep you all locked away for a while. But I couldn't do it, we need you kids."

"Why tonight, why the hurry and the crazy escape plan?" I asked, while also trying to catch my breath.

"Freya called us, she's been keeping a close watch on the ruins, checking for signs of the Gate Keepers. Looks like we were right about the blood moon," she stated as she pointed to the sunroof and added, "they've already started to gather. Freya saw them, they're already at the portal."

I looked up at the sky and saw a dark red full moon gazing down on us. Guess we were right.

"So now we just bust in there and stop them? The Organization's not going to help?" Sage asked, sitting next to me and squeezing my hand.

Ms. Pierce shook her head, "No, they'll be there too, but once we're there they won't worry about you guys. They'll be too focused on stopping the keepers."

I couldn't believe it. I mean yeah, this was what we had trained for, but it was actually happening. We would be facing off the Gate Keepers and whatever else was in that cave, and all I could do was hope that we would all make it out in one piece. This wasn't going to be sparring dummies or armed guards. This was going to be dark entities, powers against powers. Even with all our training I still didn't feel prepared for it, but at least Ms. Pierce believed in us. If she hadn't, she wouldn't have risked her own life and position with the Organization to break us out. That had to mean something. Right?

With all the adrenaline running through our veins, it made the drive to Freya's seem so much quicker than it probably was. Mr. B didn't park in front of the voodoo shop but instead parked around the corner by the small grocery store that we had passed so many times before. Freya was already waiting for us on the sidewalk when we started to get out of the SUV.

"Xavier," she whispered as she hugged her brother tightly.

"Be careful down there, I can't lose you," she told him, just loud enough for me to hear.

He squeezed her back with a look of longing and love in his eyes as he told her, "You get to the safe room and don't open that door unless it's me or Madison. You understand?"

Freya nodded and gave him one last hug before sprinting down an alley that connected to her shop.

"Come on, I got some gear in the trunk," Mr. B told us as he nodded to the back of the SUV.

We all lined up as he handed out clothing made of thick black material. All of us must have looked confused so he informed us, "It's fire retardant and bulletproof."

Declan held up one of the pieces and with a cocked eyebrow asked, "How? It's so thin."

"Personal invention," Mr. B said without explaining more clearly.

We all threw the clothing over the thin garments that we were forced to wear in the cage, without any further questions. If Mr. B said it was safe, then we had to believe him, there was no other option.

As I finished lacing up the boots that we were given, I caught Lolly and Lucas walking off to the side for a personal moment. Too me, it looked like a good idea. One last moment of affection before going into battle and risking losing the person you cared about most. Sage must have thought the same thing as she walked over and stood next to me just as I was standing back up.

"Chloe," she said before pausing.

This was scary, for all of us, and even though I was sure Sage could simply read my mind to know how I was feeling, I wanted to say it out loud.

"Look, Sage, no matter what happens tonight I want you to know I love you. We may not have known each other long but you're my sister. I felt connected to you the day I met you and I should have said something sooner. I should have found you sooner."

Sage smile at me, a few tears glistening in her eyes, and she wrapped her arms around me for a hug.

"Chloe, I love you too, and I should have looked for you too. I'm so sorry it took us this long to find each other."

We held onto each other for a few drawn out minutes, much like Mr. B and Freya had, before finally pulling apart. On the side of the sidewalk, I could see Wes putting the finishing touches on his gear and I wanted so bad to go to him. But I wasn't going to leave Sage, she had been left behind too many times in her life for me to do that too her now.

"Go to him," Sage said, giving my hand a small squeeze. "It's okay, you care about him too. Besides, I have someone I need to talk to as well," she added while glancing off towards Declan.

I gave her an appreciative smile and another quick hug before walking over to Wes.

"Hey there," I said and then mentally cursed myself for sounding like an idiot.

Wes looked up at me and smiled, but not his usual flirty smile. This one was along the lines of caring and something so much deeper that it took my breath away.

"Hey," he said back.

I tried to think of what to say. As hard as it was to express myself to Sage, it was so much harder to do it when talking to Wes.

"You don't have to say anything, I know," Wes said as he softly ran the back of his hand down the side of my face.

I leaned into his touch as I replied, "Oh, so you're a mind reader now?"

"No, but I get it," he answered and then paused to think.

A second later he continued, "I care about you so much Chloe, promise me you won't get hurt. Promise me that you'll be safe and be waiting for me after this."

That was a lot to promise but somehow I felt like I needed to say it, just as much as he needed to hear it. We may not make it out of this but maybe making such a crazy promise would bring us some kind of luck, or some kind of hope. Without hope, this whole fight would seem pretty pointless.

"I promise," I answered and as soon as the words left my mouth, Wes' lips were on mine.

He pulled me close to him like he was trying to meld our bodies together, so we could be one. It was more than a kiss, it was an all-consuming fire that wrapped around me and made me feel like I could do anything. Even as he pulled away, that fire, his fire, still consumed me and it was with that fire that I marched off with the rest of my friends and family to battle.