I have been watching the clock for the last hour and forty-three, now forty four, minutes. I have watched each second pass, knowing what has to be done.

After Daphne left dinner resumed itself as normal. Liam and Jackson chatted amongst themselves about Asher and Petroff's arrival. Max stayed glued to his phone and from the smile on his face I assumed he was texting Daphne. Gabriel excused himself after the meal, barricading himself in his room. He had not spoken a word to me since our encounter at the door. Had not scolded me for our unexpected guest. Had not once mentioned the fact that I had so brazenly let her into the house. All my suspicions were confirmed, tomorrows meeting with the two ex-hunters was not going to go down as he had stated. While I was unaware of what was actually going to happen, I did not plan on being there to find out.

Another minute ticked by, the clock now ready two fifty-seven am. Everyone had long since gone to sleep. I had waited silently in my room, hearing their doors click gently into place. Jackson, or at least someone I assumed to be Jackson, had paused by my room on their way down the hall. I had stared at the knob, waiting for it to turn. It did not. There was a long sigh followed by another closing door.

That was three hours ago. The house had remained silent since then.

I open the door slowly, making sure it does not creak in the process. I sling my bag, packed with only the essentials, over my shoulder and make my way down the hall. My plan has to be executed perfectly. Step one: leave the room. Step two: make it past all the bedrooms without making a sound. Three: exit the house. Four: run like hell until I was far enough away to not be tracked.

I only make it as far as the third bedroom before a pair of hands reach out, pulling me into the darkened room. The smell of citrus and pepper fills the air around me and I look up into a pair of glowing green eyes. Moonlight filters into the room, illuminating his face.

"What the hell are you doing?" Jackson whispers angrily. I look away, unable to hold his stare any longer. This is not supposed to be happening. He is supposed to be asleep.

"I can't..." My words falter. " I can't stay here. Gabriel isn't telling the truth. Those guys aren't just coming to run some tests Jackson. Whatever they are coming here for, it isn't good."

"So what? You're just going to run?"

The anger boils inside me, spilling over into all my thoughts. Of course he doesn't understand. He's lived his whole life knowing what he is, what his purpose is. How could he ever imagine what it's like to not know if you'll even make it to see another day?

"Yes. I am going to run. I know how to control it now. I'll be fine out there. I can defend myself." I shove him away from me. I turn my back, turning the door knob slowly.

"And what about me?"

My hand freezes, unable to finish the motion. I squeeze my eyes shut, wishing he had not said that. I release my grip on the knob and steady my breathing. This has to be done, I repeat to myself. This has to be done.

"What about you?" I ask harshly. "Huh? You think just because we kissed a few times it means there's something there? I'm leaving Jackson, don't you get it? I am leaving and up until this moment I had no intention on saying goodbye."

I see it, the moment the words penetrate his thoughts. I see the hurt splayed clearly across his face as he realizes what I insinuated. That he is nothing to me. That he is so insignificant to me that I was willing to leave without so much as a word. I calm my shaking hands, knowing if he sees how nervous I am he will press the issue.

"You're a terrible liar." He closes in on me and I back up, hitting the cold wood door. I look away, still unable to fully face him. I cannot do it. I cannot look him in the eyes and keep this act up.

His hand finds my waist, pulling me closer to him. The bag slides from my shoulder, landing on the flood with a gentle thump. My breath catches in my throat. Jackson bring his free hand to my face, tracing his fingers lightly over my bottom lip.

"Tell me you don't feel it," he whispers into my ear. His lips graze my throat and my skin begins to heat. "Tell me you haven't felt it since the moment we met."

His lips continue their descent down my throat. He nips at the soft flesh under my collar bone and a soft moan betrays me.

"Jackson..." My voice shakes are he makes his way back up my throat, over my jaw, pausing as his lips hoover over mine.

"Tell me you don't feel it and I'll let you leave. Tell me you don't feel the same way about me that I feel about you and I'll drive you to the closest bus station myself."

I pause, giving Jackson all the time he needs to close the space between us. His lips meet mine and my head begins to spin. He kisses me, not with the slowness of before, or even with the lustfulness from his first night in my room. He kisses me like a man starved for oxygen and I am the air. Like the world is ending and these are our final moments.

His hand leaves my face, bracing against the wall for support as he presses himself further into me. My nails dig into his skin, deepening the kiss. I feel my whole body begin to tingle and do not fight back the electricity raging inside of me. I feel it burst to life on my skin, heightening all of my senses. The feel of his hands as the inch their way up my shirt. The way his heart beats heavily against his chest. I feel it all. I have lived seventeen year and never once have I felt this alive.

We maneuver our way to his bed, his clothing and then mine finding their way to the floor. He eases me onto the mattress, holding himself above me. His eyes glow furiously as my electricity bounces around his irises. I feel the heat rolling off of him in waves as his fingers travel their way down to my thighs.

They make small circular motions and I bite my lip, holding back the moan threatening to escape my mouth. His lips find mine again and I groan into the kiss as he lowers his hips to meet mine. A shudder rolls through his body as he begins to move, pulling sound from me I did not know I was capable of making. My hips move in rhythm with his and I feel his grip on my back tighten.

He buries his head in my in my shoulder, muffling his own sounds, careful not to wake the sleepers in the room next to us. The cord inside me tightens the closer I get and I think I might actually break in half. His thrusts continue, increasing in speed as he whispers my name over and over again. The cord snaps and I cry out, his lips finding mine once against. He begins to slow, easing me down from the high I am on.

We lay there, a mess of heavy breaths and sweat. Jackson with his head on my shoulder and me still clinging tightly to his skin.

"How did you know I was going to try and leave?" I ask.

"I don't know, I just did. I mean, I knew there was something bothering you. Anyone with two eyes could see that worried look you've worn on your face since Gabriel made his announcement at dinner. I figured it was just you being you, overanalyzing everything until I'm certain your head might actually explode." He laughs playfully, planting a kiss on my cheek. "But then I woke up and something felt wrong, like I was falling through a black hole. That's when I heard you close your door."

"I'm scared." It takes a lot of effort for me to admit this, having never been one to openly share what I was feeling. I hear Jackson sigh, moving so that he is no longer laying on me but next to me. He wraps an arm around my waist, pulling me so that my back is pressed against his chest.

"I know. I know there's more to Asher's arrival than Gabriel let on but I don't think he'd purposely put you in harms way. He's not like that. He just doesn't like not having all the information laid out for him."

"What if they already know what I am and that's why they're coming here? What if it's something so bad they have no choice but to take me back to California and lock me up somewhere?" I bite my lip to stop the onslaught on words. I should tell him about what happened once I realized I could control my power. I should tell him how it felt to know exactly how to kill everything near me. I should...but I don't.

"That's not going to happen. You're going to have to trust me. Asher and Petroff are our best chances at figuring out what is going on with you. With us. Admit it or not, there is something happening between us. Something more than just my having feelings for you. The closer we get, the more time I spend around you, the stronger I feel it growing. There's something going here and I know it has something to do with what you are and my gifts."

I close my eyes, letting the truth sink in. He's right. Ever since the attack things had been different between us. Whenever he was around I felt this pull, drawing me towards him. His presence no longer made me feel skeptical, uneasy. When Jackson was around I felt....safe. And it scared the hell out of me.