For the second time in a day, I say bolt upright. This time, I didn't hit my head on a cement ceiling, but it was so much worse. A thousand scalding irons pressed down on my skin and my bones seemed to shake and stretch. Every breath felt like fire and ice battling in my stomach, every twitch like venom in my blood.

My teeth grit together as hot tears leaked out, and what little I could see began to spin. Had I died and the demon was dragging me to hell?

"Alexis, honey, drink this." Aunt Bea grabbed my head, lifting it up.

The edge of a bowl hit my lips and I drank greedily, knowing the pain would lessen. The taste of rosemary and something more metallic burned its way to my stomach, and tendrils of warmth stretched down my limbs as the pain slowly shrank to a dull ache.

"How are you feeling?" Aunt Bea pushed my hair away from my sweaty forehead.

"Like I was dragged across the pavement," I murmured, sitting back with my eyes barely open.

"I'm sorry you were the one who had to make the sacrifice. You should feel better in a couple of days."

I was alive, thank God.

"Haley? Officer Reese? What happened?" My voice sounded like a frog and a cat had a child.

"A few broken bones, but you took the heaviest blow. Finnigan was taken into custody with Kiri's help and the pack's forces, but there was barely a battle. I don't think he planned on her being there or the dead man's blood."

Alpha Daniel had been skeptical of my plan, but in the end, he'd trusted Kiri to use her powers to combat my uncle's Impulse. She would hold him in a trance while the wolves restrained him. I had been bait, one my uncle could not refuse.

"He wasn't planning on me getting out of the crypt. He was surprised we were there, I think. I couldn't read him well."

"He admitted to impulsing the attackers, using a different one each time. It seems you were right, he worked alone." That had been a wild guess, but uncle had always been proud. I couldn't see him working for or with anyone. He barely trusted me to work under him. "Haley hasn't woken up yet, but we're hopeful. I don't know many who could survive being possessed that long." Aunt Bea sat on the edge of the bed, her eyes downcast. "There was one casualty on the officer side and two on The Children of Man. They won't be held responsible for their actions, given the circumstances, and those who were injured are being healed. This is going to be a lot of work."

I sighed despite the ache in my ribs. The tips of bandages poked through my t-shirt. "We will have to honor the deaths of everyone and decide how to handle the situation."

"Alpha Daniel is helping with that, honey. He's been working with Officer Reese."

They already estimated that I would be down for the count for a while. I had been asleep for a while. "How bad am I doing?"

"Other than the sacrifice, two broken ribs, and a concussion." Her callused hand held mine. "I am very impressed and very proud of you."

The words stung. I had wanted to hear them for so long, but not from her. Not this way. He had stolen the meaning of that word from me.

The tears welled up again and she pulled me close, hugging me to her speckled robe. She brushed my hair back as she let me cry, sob and scream.

So many of my memories were made with him. The first time I rode a bike and climbed a tree, he was there to patch me up from the fall. He taught me to fight, defend myself. It shouldn't have been him I was fighting.

It was all so unfair. I had given him everything just for him to turn around and betray me. Uncle was my family. The only one I had left was Aunt Bea.

"Aunt Bea?" I sniffled, holding her away from me. She needed to know, deserved it at least.

"What is it, honey?"

"He killed her... mother. Cypress told me gorgons blood killed her. He did it."

Aunt Bea had to have known her sister was killed by the same person who hurt Nick. She had reacted so quickly and emotionally. I hadn't thought about it before, but there had been no mention of a cure. Aunt Bea, the lovely person she was, must have gone looking for a cure. I wasn't the only one who was betrayed by this, who felt the pain our own flesh and blood had caused.

"I know sweety." She ran her hands through my hair. "He will pay." Aunt Bea just stared at me, her amber eyes losing their shine. Tears built then slowly crept down her cheeks as she pulled me close. "At least we know what happened to her."

"I want to talk to him," I said after we had run out of tears.

"Not today. I can't lose you to him. You need to be strong before we do."

There was so much I needed to do. Uncle wanted to deepen the division between humans and the supernatural to the point it could never be fixed. With a little needle and thread, my job was to sew it up.

"Aunt Bea, will you help me take over the Morill seat? I can't sit around and wait for everything to fix itself. It was so easy for Uncle. We'd trusted him, given him power. He was supposed to be a protection, a Morill. If he had succeeded, there would have been no going back to peace. That can't happen."

"Honey, you should rest for a bit." She finally let me go, but it left a cold, empty space between us both figuratively and literally. We shared pain, but it was too early to know if we would heal together. I had so much to do, Aunt Bea must be just as overwhelmed.

If I rested, I would go mad. I always worked toward something; taking that away now would only make things worse.

"No, I want to get to work as soon as possible." I sat myself up, leaning heavily on the headboard.

"Then as soon as you're healed enough, I'll make a call. You need to convince Alpha Daniel if you want to call an early meeting of The Gathering, but I'll support the decision." She stood, pulling the blankets up. "You have some people who want to see you, can I get them?"

Kiri, Anya, and Nick. They would be worried. "Is Nick alright?" I couldn't believe I forgot about him.

"He recovered two days ago, but his limbs are still healing." Two days? It couldn't have been that long. "You've been asleep for the last four days." Aunt Bea filled in the gap at my blank look.

I blinked. That was a lot, I estimated maybe a day and a half, but four was worrisome.

"I'll send them in." Aunt Bea left me alone in the room with only the dull thump of the ceiling fan keeping me company.

"Alexis?" I looked to the door and my face broke into a smile despite the pain. They were alive.

"Christ, I thought you said you were going to be fine," Kiri said as she enveloped me in a hug.

"I am." I laughed as Anya pushed Nick over in a wheelchair.

"I thought I was going to be the hero when I woke up, but you had to outdo me." Nick's geeky smile was back.

"Yeah, the hero who won't let anyone forget it," said Anya.

"I won't forget it." Kiri glared at Anya. "Nick, the idiot, purposefully pushed me out of the way. Saw the damned needle coming at me."

I looked between the two. So, it was Kiri who my uncle wanted to poison. He had never liked her, but that was going too far. Strategically, she was the only one who could put him down, as she had proven. I would have to ask him about it.

"That was stupid Nick, but pretty brave."

"Not compared to what you did. Banishing a demon? Seriously, I have the coolest friends." He grinned like the day he found out he was a wolf.

"Yeah, until your coolest friend gets herself killed." Kiri finally released me from her hug and my muscles thanked her.

This is what I needed to protect, why I needed to keep working. And the way Kiri looked at the two of them, she understood as well.

"My aunt said you managed to knock my uncle out?" I beamed. "Don't think he saw that coming, the bastard."

"It took a lot, but it was enough to give the wolves a chance to overpower him and get dead man's blood in him." The thought brought a smile to my face. He wouldn't have liked that one bit.

"What's going to happen to him now?" Nick asked.

"The Gathering will meet, find him guilty, and he will be given two choices: overdose on dead man's blood or imprisonment for the rest of his life."

"Death? That's a bit extreme." Anya pushed back. "Wouldn't it be a bad show for the vampires?"

"Two charges of murder at least, and conspiracy to commit more. He impulsed someone else to kill and attack, which would be consorting, but it's enough."

"Don't forget kidnapping," Kiri hissed.

"And kidnapping," I agreed.

Nick's voice was small. "He killed your mom. We heard it on the tape."

"He killed my mom and probably had a hand in my dad's murder. Either way, he won't hurt anyone again."

"Why would he do that?" Nick's cheeks went red. "You don't have to tell me. I've just been thinking about it."

I gaped at the boy. I'd always underestimated him. "You heard it all?"

"Bits and pieces, and it didn't make sense."

"You really want to know?" I gave them one last chance to back out.

They all nodded, and I leaned back, closing my eyes. Where to start?

"My dad was human. I take after him. The demon was my second solo mission. Looking back that shouldn't have been the case. The thing got in my head, making me hesitate. It promised me power, the same deal my ancestors took, and I almost agreed. But in the end, I didn't need it."

"So, you're not a witch?" Nick snorted. "Didn't see that coming."

"I told you the truth." I smiled, peeking beneath my closed lids long enough to see the smile on his face.

"What are you going to do now?" Anya asked as she sat at the end of the bed.

"Take my seat as the Morill head, among other things," I smirked. "I have a lot to do, want to help?"

"How?"

"I don't know yet, but it's going to be a lot. First things first, I need to see my uncle."

They offered concerned looks, but they didn't know. I was fine, better than fine. Once I grieved, nothing would stop me.