"Do you have a toothbrush?" My Dad asked, checking his own bag for a toothbrush. His little "mental checklist" was getting on my last nerve.

I nodded for the millionth time. "Dad. It's fine. Even if I forgot something, we live like—"

"Nope." My Dad shook his head. "You're staying there," He said sternly, one hand on his hip as he stood a little bit like Mom. I knew he missed her. "Do you have your dagger?"

I pulled it out from my waist loop and swung it between 2 fingers, smiling without light reaching my eyes. "Yes. And it's sharp enough to cut through bone."

My dad winked at me and then wrapped his arm around me. "Hear that Golds!? BONE! It'll cut through BONE." He glared at the suave black Mercedes Benz parked in front of my house."Golds. Always showing off." He muttered, spitting on the ground. He turned back to me and kissed my forehead. "Stay safe, Eve."

"You're the one going to Quebec." I retort.

He places his hands on my cheeks and smiles while widening his brown eyes. "You're not scared of witches are you?"

I shook my head, scoffing. "I'm more scared of the weather to be honest." I chuckled half heartedly, not doing a good job of trying to convince my dad that I wasn't scared. "Even though we don't exactly... feel the weather... the roads ya know... they're... icy."

He sighed and let go of my face, pulling away from me. "What does fear mean?"

"Weakness." I replied, shaking my head and trying to walk away, I didn't want to answer the stupid, dark, and honestly depressing family motto.

My dad grabbed my arm and smiled back with the same grin I had. I looked too much like him. "And what are we not?"

"Oh come on—"

"What are we not?" He asked, and I knew he'd ask until I gave in.

"Weak." I said reluctantly. I heard Kasp step out onto the porch, the old wood creaking.

"And why is that?" My Dad tested, not letting me go.

I groaned and stomped my foot. "D-a-d." I complained.

"Why is that, Eve?" He laughed, knowing full well that he was embarrassing me. "You know the—"

"Because weakness means death." Someone finished for me, their voice serious and obscure.

I spun as a girl too darkly beautiful for words stepped to me dramatically, a pair of dark shades covering her face.

If you wanted to feel small, plain, and unbecoming, stand next to the mysterious Constance Dawn; a woman who made the world stop when she wanted it to stop and go when she wanted it to go.

"Is that— CONSTANCE!" Kasparov stormed off the porch and stood angrily in front of her. "I see you decided to come back."

"Oh don't even. You begged me to come back." She took off her shades and cleaned them with the bottom of her black shirt, disregarding her father. She wasn't making eye contact, and to people as old as he was, that was a huge sign of disrespect. "I've been busy saving the world again you know. Hard stuff but... somebody has to do it." She shrugged casually, holding her shades up in the light to see if she cleaned them well enough.

He rolled his eyes. "No, I have a song stuck in my head. Can't remember who wrote it, but it isn't from this era and I can't find it on google." He hummed a tune and she sighed heavily, listening to it intently.

She shrugged. "Is it... Maison Dorée by Vingt Et Une Paniques À L'horizon?" She spoke some French mixed in with some English and my understanding ended there. I didn't know French and I only took spanish for two years.

He snapped his fingers. "Yes! Yes that's it. I heard it once at a bar in England back in 1699 and haven't heard it since." He shook his head and then licked his lip. "And you don't have to save the world. You can't even do the dishes."

She blinked back unemotionally. "And Sherlock Holmes didn't know that the earth revolved around the sun and yet he could solve unsolvable crimes in minutes. Your point is?"

He let out a deep breath and then stood straight, fixing his shirt. "How are the dogs? Still crawling on all fours with their tails between their legs I hope. They owe us a lot."

Constance shot him a gruesome look that had my senses twisted and on alert. Her father, however, just gave her a blank stare back.

"I only fist fought Arlis twice. I won one and tied the next. He has a mate now that's stubborn with mating. He is now full control Alpha. Chleo doesn't have a mate yet. And they're on good terms with Damarion now. Happy?" She started to walk away angrily, but Kasp caught her arm in his strong grip.

His eye twitched with madness and his feet were ready to move if need be. My dad went tense next to me, but I knew he wouldn't jump in. None of us would. Constance could hold her ground and Kasp wouldn't... Constance wouldn't let him kill her. I hoped.

"No. Where's Becker?" He asked.

She gulped but that was her only fault. "He's wherever. I don't know."

"Liar." He snapped.

She smiled at him deviously, her brows arched. "Prove me wrong." She said slowly and pulled her arm from him. "Let's see who wins this little game." She snarled and then took a step back. "Are we going to Quebec or not? That Coven has some fine witches." She smirked.

Kasparov shook his head. "No they don't. They're all weak."

"Not what I meant by fine, Kasparov." She responded and I saw the clench in his jaw when she didn't say "Dad," but he didn't reprimand her.

"That Prophesy is coming out this year. I don't want you anywhere near flirting with those witches." He scolded and then pushed past her, getting into the driver's seat of the car.

Oh if only he knew. I almost wanted to tell him, just for the shock value, just because I wanted to see the look on his face. Of course, I didn't actually do that because I value Colin's and my life.

"Remember— I want you too call me. And don't flake. Because if you do... I will come back and nobody will like it. Not you, not the Golds, and not Jesus Christ himself." My Dad nodded firmly and walked to the car, getting into the passenger's seat.

Dallas skipped the steps and laughed as he landed in front of a startled Constance.

"Connie! You comin'?" He asked in a happy voice.

She nodded. "I couldn't pass up a trip to Quebec. I'm going partly home. From Quebec I can find a way back to my house."

Dallas tilted his head. "You're not going back to Arlis?"

She shook her head in exaggeration. "Oh I am. But I Uh... have some... stuff... I need back at home." She said suspiciously.

Dallas narrowed her eyes but let her pass. "This trip just got a whole lot more exciting."

"Et sanglant." She smiled deviously and winked at me, walking proudly and stopping at the backdoor to the car. "Oh and Everly! Ne tombe pas amoureux." She nodded to the Mercedes Benz and then got into the back seat.

I really needed to learn French. Of course, she's had three hundred and something years to ace all kinds of different languages. I'm sure she knows more than any human could dream to know.

Dallas sighed. "I know what you're thinking and yes, me too, I wish I knew French because I have a feeling she's not going to be speaking much English on this trip." He messed up my hair and I groaned, slapping his hand away. It was normally Zach he did that too. "Bye sis."

I waved as I walked to the Mercedes. "Bye Dal."

I slipped inside the leather backseat and sighed audibly, buckling up.

"She knows." Clay remarked, smirking. "Or she suspects, maybe she thinks she can tell the future. Ne tombe pas amoureux. She told me that once." He spoke almost as an afterthought, not adding any context or evaluation. There wasn't any addition to his sentences as he pulled away from my house, not sparing another glance at the car.

It wasn't until we were closer to Colin's house that suddenly Alex slapped the back off Clay's head, making him lurch forward.

"What the hell, woman!?" He yelled, turning to glare at her.

"With her too!? Oh is that another concubine I should know about. When was it?" She screeched, her voice screaming out at Clay.

He pulled into the house and turned to her, shutting the car off. "I didn't sleep with her. She'd kill me before she slept with me. I'm a Hunted, remember!?"

Alex glared at him and then opened her car door.

Colin groaned and then got out of the car, his eyes rolling.

"Oh really!?" She fumed. "Don't fall in love. Why else would she tell you that!?"

Oh. Oh.

"It was the night I met you! She was there. I still didn't have everything under control and she told me not to fall in love, baby I wouldn't cheat on you." He deflated, giving her a loving look.

She widened her eyes and burst into laughter, a scary laugh that made her sound more evil than the nice woman I had grown accustomed too. "Leslie. Jasmine. Tori. Mallory. Shaylee. Shall I continue?"

He winced, and then shook his head. "With her. I'd never cheat on you with her." He clarified and then half ran to the door before she could reply.

Don't fall in love. Love was weird. I wasn't in love with Colin, I knew that. Love didn't just happen over the course of a couple weeks. But then again, thinking of him leaving me left me with a hallow feeling in my stomach.

If he left I don't know how I'd get over it. In a way I was choosing him over my family. I wouldn't use the L word but... what word was I supposed to use? More than a like like?

I got out of the car, following them silently into the house. It wasn't as fun being here when I wasn't rebelling. There wasn't that excitement.

Someone pinched my side and I shied away, giggling softly. I stopped immediately and turned to shoot a dirty look at Colin, who was laughing so hard he was doubled over.

I didn't like my sides touched, and quite frankly, even if it was him, I'd still break his fingers for doing it again. "Don't touch my sides." I snap.

He scoffed, not at all threatened by my annoyance and tried to do it again.

I grabbed his hand with one of mine and he tried to pull it away, unable too. I was stronger than him, I'd always be stronger than him.

"Stop. It." I growled out and he smirked, the one that showed one of his dimples and made him more of a bad-boy than he was.

"Fine. But only for now." He chuckled as I let his hand go.

We finished the walk to the house and once again I was drawn into the dark and mysterious Victorian concept. All the crimson red and gold made me think darker thoughts. Blood plastered against a rich man's wealth. Love and passion torn apart by treasure. Fire and greed.

I never noticed the living room. The golden lamps and the dark red curtains. It was creepy, and I wasn't used to it. My house was all modern, but Colin's was... old and the house had more character than some people I've met.

Someone pulled me from myself and my thoughts.

"... don't you think?" It was Clay. He was standing next to me, clearly asking me something, but I hadn't been paying attention.

I cleared my throat and peeled my eyes away from a painting that pictured Clay, elegantly yet creepily dream.

"I'm sorry, what?" I asked, blinking my eyes to concentrate.

He grinned. "I said, Alex insists that we have this whole Crimson and Red theme, but in my opinion it's kind of creepy. Don't you think?"

I nodded humbly. "Well... it's just not my style."

"Hmm. It isn't mine either." He pondered around the room for a minute before grabbing a dagger— one that was painted with one of the best known Hunters in the world.

I gulped as he studied it, running his hand lightly over the blade. "Do you know what this is?"

I could nod, or I could lie. "No. I've never seen it before." Lies. A true lie.

He rolled his eyes, not believing me in a single way. "It's Felix's. Do you want to know how I got it?" He asked, rolling on his feet heel to toe.

I hope this wasn't a trick question. I did want to know, but at the same time I really didn't want to accept the conclusion that was surely there.

"You killed him." I said, confirming what I believed.

He looked surprised. "Eve, why do you think so low of me?"

"I leave for five minutes— Dad leave her alo—" Colin walked into the room but stopped when his father held up a hand and gave him a killer look.

He clicked his tongue. "I'm talking to the girl. Walk upstairs. Now."

Colin's gaze shifted from his dad to me. I closed my eyes and prayed to whichever God was listening that he didn't leave me down here by myself.

That was Felix's blade. Hunters prided themselves in their daggers, it was their record, their weapon, their eating utensil at some dinners because they were too lazy to clean silverware. Point being, that with their daggers, Hunters took, "over my dead body" to new extremes.

I looked to Colin who gave me a sorry look and left me, heading upstairs. My gut told me to be scared but all I felt was anger. How could he leave me?

"Why do you think so low of me?" He repeated and stalked around the room.

"Because I think lowly of all Hunteds." I retort, eyeing the slick black dagger with a four leaf clover etched into it. "You kill people for a living."

He started laughing right there. "And you don't? We are your kind but more willing to do whatever we have too to survive. How could you think highly of the Hunters?"

"I didn't say I thought highly of the Hunters now did I? Don't put words in my mouth when I never said them, Hunted." I snapped, taking a brave stance.

While Hunters were stronger than Hunteds, it still really came down to age. He was a hell of a lot older than me, and I knew he'd take me down easily. But I'd fight. I'd fight for as long as I could.

"I'll let that slide because I like you." He winked. "But you're taking this the wrong direction, Dawn, I didn't kill Felix. I couldn't kill him, he's too strong."

I took a startled step back, pointing to Felix's dagger. "Then how did you get that."

He held up a ripped open orange package. "Someone from Quebec mailed it to me with the note, "Konrad thinks you should know, you're on his kill list." Now, that is why I'm going to Qubec." He slid me the package and I picked it up carefully, studying it.

Everything seemed in check. There wasn't a return address however, other than the word Quebec.

"Does this mean that Konrad has already risen?" I asked.

Clay shook his head. "No. It means someone powerful is working with Konrad. Someone like Becker."

I threw the package down. "Becker would never,"

"IT HAS TO BE HIM!" Clay yelled. "Konrad is his dad, family first in the witchy world."

Oh if only he knew. "But Becker wouldn't do that. He'd never do that."

Becker might have been powerful enough to do some things most witches couldn't even dream about, but raising his father was not one of the things he would do.

"You don't know that." Clay shot back. "All I'm saying... is keep a close eye on him."

I'll keep a close eye on you. I thought to myself.

I left the living room and accidently shoves past Alex as I stormed into Colin's room.

He was laying casually on his bed in nothing but boxers and socks as he watched TV. He looked at me when I entered, gulped, and turned the TV off.

My mind was still turning over the thought of Becker betraying us. He couldn't, he wouldn't, could he?

"What's wrong?" Colin asked finally, separating the silence from the air with his knife life voice.

I glared at him. "You left me." I stated.

He breathed out heavily. "I knew he wouldn't hurt—"

"Did you though!?" I yelled, raising my voice higher than need be. "Because it didn't seem like it. He had Felix's blade, did you know why?" I questioned.

He hung his head. "No. But—"

"But nothing. I wish I could leave, and I would. But I promised my father I wouldn't and—"

"You don't care what you promised your father." He stood up and his taller frame leaned against the bed post. "At this point you just want an argument."

I glared at him, understanding that he was both right and wrong all at once. "That's not true." I defended, arguing back with him.

He nodded. "Yes it is. I heard what my father told you, you're trying to deny what he told you, and you're letting your anger out into an argument."

I threw my hands up in anger, my blood boiling and my training flaring to life like a forest fire. "About Becker? I will forever deny that. He would never ever betray us."

He scoffed. "You don't understand Everly, right now... right now is the calm before the storm. Where do you think Becker will flee?"

I rolled my eyes in discontent. "One, you call THIS calm? With Felix dead, children missing, and us together? Two, Becker doesn't flee, he fights. And even if he did flee it would be to us or to Arlis." He didn't know Becker like I knew him. All he had to judge his character were nightmarish children's tales and stories.

"Yes. For what's headed, this is the calm before the storm. And think about this. Why did Becker fail to kill his dad the first time?" He asked.

I shrugged. "Because he wasn't prepared?"

"Because Becker probably wanted his father's power and he couldn't remember the spell or something, so he failed the first time on purpose. Becker is just as power hungry as the rest of us, I wouldn't be surprised if Becker failed on purpose the first time." He sneered.

I couldn't listen to this any longer. "I'm leaving." I stated. "My family may be wild, and violent, and crazy, but I love them. You saying Becker would betray is a terrible fucking move on your part."

Colin rushed to me and grabbed my arms. "This is ridiculous. Who has enough power to kill Felix? Becker. Who could have the motives, Beck—"

I slapped him hard across the face, not caring how much it hurt him. "Your father probably killed him in his sleep, dishonorably like the coward he is. I'm leaving."

I spun around and dialed in a number I hadn't called in along time.