For a moment, they nearly forgot how many people they were standing in front of. Their hearts were beating so loud, it was all they could hear aside from the other's breathing. The piano silenced as the song was finished. Felix glanced over to Jasper, seeing if he wanted him to continue. He held up his hand to signal for him to wait.

He approached with the look of a sly fox in his eyes. "I am very grateful Thursday was able to convince you into paying the manor a visit. My name is Jasper Knight. I am the head of this estate and the warden of the asylum. You are welcome to stay here as long as you'd like. We can discuss the details of our unique situation in the morning, but for tonight, I'm sure you'd prefer to spend your time reconnecting with your long lost love."

Sixteen studied him closely. This man, he was the one Thursday had noted as being on par with his skill. He'd never met anyone who could best him, but he also wasn't arrogant enough to think there wasn't someone more powerful out there. There was evil intent in Jasper's eyes. All demons do have it, in a way, but his was different. It was the look of a puppet master proud of his collection of toys.

"Yes," He spoke carefully, "I appreciate your hospitality. Would you be as so kind as to show us to a guest room?"

"I am afraid that we are a little out of room at the moment. Knox has his own room, however, and I'm positive you wouldn't mind sleeping in his bed. I will walk with you to show you some of our amenities." Jasper kindly responded, "The rest of you, please resume the celebration without me."

He glanced back towards Felix, giving him a commanding look. His assistant knew what that meant and started to play again. A few of the sharper creatures in the room could sense a tension between Jasper and Sixteen. Knox was caught between the two like a piece of steak between two dogs. It was for that reason Sixteen kept him close, holding his hand tightly as they walked out of the ballroom.

"May I ask what you're celebrating tonight?" Sixteen questioned him.

"The death of our enemies. An organization that was working against us was recently forced to disband due to the casualties of several of it's members. One of which was unfortunately one of the Six Cursed Prayers. So," He smirked as he glanced over at him, "I suppose there are only five of us now."

"The bat you sent after me mentioned three of the six. He spoke of one in past tense, so I am to assume he is the one that was killed. The other, his name was Asher, he lives because he is on your side."

"That is correct. You're highly intelligent. It would be a great pleasure to have someone of your caliber by my side." He responded.

Sixteen narrowed his eyes, "Tell me, did you send for me to reunite us, or to get another prayer on your side?"

"Both. Actually, if it weren't for Knox, I would've killed you. You see, I'm looking for a very powerful demon to use their body for a soul transfer. You were the first demon we'd found in our two year long search that was compatible, but using you as the vessel simply wasn't an option." Jasper explained, "We are hoping to find the final two prayers, wherever they may be, and decide which would be more suitable."

They stopped in front of the doorway to Knox's room. He'd stayed quiet this whole time, not wanting to speak up in a conversation involving the master. Even with Sixteen there, he still feared him.

"I know the names and locations of the other two. If you remove your branding from Knox, I will give them to you. I will not allow you to treat him like your property. He belongs to me." He sneered.

"I knew you cared for each other a great deal, but I never knew you valued him that dearly." Jasper dusted back Knox's curled red and orange hair. He set his hand on the back of his neck, dissolving the branding until it was completely gone. "There. Now speak."

"Jupiter Zima; You will find him in a small town in Russia called Livny. The other has no last name. His only name is Haven. You'll find him in Alfheim. If one must die, I suggest it to be Jupiter. He's a vile man. Though I do not know your plan or cause, I can't imagine the likes of royalty such as Prince Yoshiko Yasahiro and Princess Katherine, or saints like Beauregard Angel and Finch White would stand alongside you if you meant our world harm. I am very interested in joining your cause, but I will not easily forgive you branding my boyfriend."

"Hm, if you didn't want me to do it, you should've done it first, when you had the chance."

"Trust me, I won't make the same mistake twice." Sixteen seethed.

Jasper turned to walk away, speaking over his shoulder, "Oh, and so we're clear, by the time I got him he didn't smell of another demon. If I had smelled your scent on him, I may have been more hesitant."

"The logistics of it doesn't matter to me. You touched my boyfriend, you fucked my boyfriend. If you ever even think about him again, I will slit your throat. Are we clear?"

He smirked, "Crystal. I should be getting back to the party. Enjoy your night." With that, Jasper walked away.

Knox opened his bedroom door while his hands trembled. "I can't believe you spoke to him that way." He said, "No one talks back to him."

"I can tell it concerns you, too. I know he's more powerful than I am. I can sense it, but he won't fight me. He needs me. Unlike him, I do know of all six prayers. Jasper is the most powerful, but in his current body, his powers are restricted. Jupiter is the next most powerful and with Jasper not at full strength, he'll need help to take him down. I'd be happy to see him fall, though."

Knox pushed open the door to reveal his extremely dark room. The black curtains kept even the littlest bit of moonlight from coming inside. His room wasn't too big or too small. He walked across the hardwoods to the candle opera sitting on top his vanity. Striking a match, he lit four candles on each side of the mirror.

"Is this where you've been living since the war?" Sixteen asked.

"Yeah." Knox replied, "I don't leave my room much. No matter how many people were around, I always felt lonely without you. It feels like a dream to have you back, but, Baby... Why did you leave me? Why didn't you say goodbye?"

His expression remained seldom. Sixteen removed his katana from his belt. Slowly, he walked over to the vanity and set it down. Around his love, he had no need to keep it at his side. "Please forgive me for leaving you like I did, but I had no choice. King Salome was a foolish old man, but his intentions were good. That was the only reason I agreed to enter in a contract with him, to serve the kingdom from the shadows.

My contract was not to him, exactly, but to the throne. Whomever held the throne gave me my orders." He removed his black jacket, laying it over the chair in front of the vanity. "It never bothered me because it was almost certain that Deacon would be elected the new ruler, but when it became Carmella, everyone was shocked. I was horrified. I knew she'd use me as an instrument of harm, but I could not break my contract.

She ordered me to stop interactions with you. But, she never told me to stop protecting you, and I did as long as I could. I watched over you every second I could. It took all my self control not to step out of the darkness to hold you just one more time. If I could've saved your life without betraying my contract, I would've.

The cost of breaking the contract was I had to give my power to the current ruler. If she had my power, she would've been unstoppable. Even if it meant losing the one person I loved more than anything, I couldn't save one life at the cost of billions. Please, forgive me. I would've never-"

"Sixteen," Knox interrupted, "I understand. We all sacrificed a lot during the war. I just wanted to make sure you didn't leave me for no good reason. I knew you wouldn't have though. Master Knight, he doesn't want anything like this to ever happen to anyone ever again. That's his mission. I know I act like I hate everyone and everything here, but I don't. I believe in their cause. I really hope you do choose to stay here. It means we can be together again."

He took Knox's hands in his gently. "You don't belong to him anymore. You don't have to stay here. You and I can run from this place and never look back."

Knox looked at his partners hands. It was hard to imagine his pale, thin fingers had been drenched in blood countless times. Shamefully, he admitted, "I can't." A stray tear rolled down his cheek, the candle light glistening across it. "Don't you think I wouldn't gone looking for you if I could leave this place? You're not the only one cursed anymore."

"I don't understand." He set his palm along his face, wiping away the vampire's tears with the pad of his thumb. "Your soul manifested into a poltergeist, right? That's why you can stay in the living world?"

"No," He responded, "I'm not a poltergeist. Marci and Casper are, but my brothers and I aren't. Our mom is one of the blessed. He can create tears in the fabric of time and use them to teleport between dimensions. It caused my brothers and I to have a defect in our genetic code that makes it so that we can't move on to the afterlife. Instead, we were sent to a spiritual plane that only exists in Vanaheim.

I psychically can't leave here, but I wouldn't want to anyways. These creatures are my family. I want them to be your family, too. Please, Sixteen," He suddenly wrapped his arms around his mate, burying his head in his shoulder. "I can't lose you again."

"You won't." Sixteen secured his arms around Knox and held him as tightly as he could without hurting him. "I promise."