Hi everyone! Sorry about the delay in updates once again. It's been kind of crazy here.

As I am sure many of you know, I'm just about six months pregnant now. I've had a lot of appointments, ultrasounds, tests, and so on to deal with since my last update. All is well. I'm healthy, as is our baby girl. I'm off work now for the foreseeable future (per doctor's orders), so I hope now I will be able to get more writing done since I no longer have work draining all my free time and energy. Some days I am still very tired, and others I am not, so there are some days I get a lot accomplished and other days where I do nothing but lay on my couch and nap with my husky. At any rate, while there is still a ton to get done around here before September, I am at a point where my usefulness in those things is very limited, so most of those tasks are falling onto my husband, and he has been very good about letting me relax and attempt to write.

What I really need to do is stop getting distracted by my Infinity War story and actually focus more on this and One More Night. But I suppose as long as I am getting something written I'm making progress.

Anyways, again, I am sorry this took so long, and I hope you all enjoy it!

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    Alex opened the door to find Sebastian sitting in a chair with his hands cuffed behind him still. His head hung low and she could see blood on his t-shirt. Alex grabbed a napkin and dipped it in an ice bucket on the bedside table that had partially melted ice in it. Sebastian flinched and then looked around, looking anywhere but at her. Alex walked back to the front of him and saw that he had blood coming from his nose and the corner of his mouth, plus a small cut over his eye.

    She pulled up a chair and straddled it, resting her arms on the back of it. "Heard you were giving Butler and Holly a hard time."

    Sebastian looked at her. "Why did you do it? Why did you kiss me when you could've just shot me or something?"

    "I've actually been wondering that myself," Alex responded calmly. She stood up and moved the chair. She kneeled down in front of Sebastian and began wiping away the blood Butler or Holly so clearly left behind.

    Sebastian made sure to look directly into Alex's eyes when he spoke next. "Maybe you really do feel something."

Alex caught herself and stood back up, backing away and leaning against a wall, tossing the napkin into a nearby trash can. "Why did you steal from Artemis and who'd you sell it to?" she asked, getting right back to business.

    Sebastian smiled. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

    Alex didn't buy that and continued to press for answers."You stole a very important fairy artifact. Did you know that?"

    "That's what the short green guy said," Sebastian muttered.

    "Short green guy?" Alex asked, raising an eyebrow.

    Sebastian sighed. "Yeah... said he needed me to get some gem from Artemis Fowl. Said it was an important fairy artifact and the key to his plan."

    "What's his name?" Alex pressed on.

    "Ortherion. He said he was a part of some fairy extremist group," Sebastian went on. "Seems to be kind of a dumb thing to admit to someone but who am I to judge?"

    Alex immediately went for the door. Holly had to hear this. She would be the only one who would have any incite on a fairy extremist group.

    "Wait!" Sebastian called after her. Alex turned with a hand on the door knob. "You never answered my question."

    "Now is so not the time," Alex said and shook her head as she opened the door. The young woman quickly left the room and rushed to the living room where the others were gathered. "He's talking! Hurry up."

    "What did he say?" Holly asked.

    "He said he sold the gem to some green guy named Ortherion from a fairy extremist group," Alex explained rapidly.

    Holly muttered an expletive under her breath before the entire group rushed back into the interrogation room. She glared at Sebastian, even more ticked than she had been previously. "You seriously sold the gem from the first fairy king to the leader of the fairy extremist party?" Holly asked immediately, resisting the urge to shake the restrained human. "How stupid are you?"

    "Yeah, what's the big deal? He's just a short guy with an affinity for human women," Sebastian said, shrugging nonchalantly. "Couldn't cause too much trouble."

    "Uh, the big deal is because he's going to use the gem to repopulate the earth with fairies," Holly said bluntly. Everyone began talking amongst themselves. This was seriously bad news.

    "What the hell are you talking about?" Sebastian said impatiently.

    "You just pretty much just extinguished the human race is all," Artemis snarked, trying to be calm. "No wonder it's been so cold lately. He's likely using the gem to start an Ice Age. He's going to use the power to destroy human life as we know it."

    Sebastian sighed to himself, finally realizing the weight of the situation. He really had messed up this time.

    "We've got to go back underground. We have to get to Ortherion before he launches the final phase," Holly decided. "The sooner we stop him, the better."

    "Supposedly he's having a rally tomorrow night. He might start the final phase then," Sebastian added, suddenly wanting to help. Everyone looked at him curiously.

    "Why are you cooperating now?" Alex asked, beyond annoyed.

    "Do you want to be extinct because I sure don't," Sebastian said. "Call it a change of heart or whatever but I can give you guys intel and an agenda you could only dream of."

    "You really expect us to believe that?" Butler said calmly.

    Holly crossed her arms. "Your rap sheet isn't exactly convincing."

    Alex studied him for a moment. "I think he's serious."

    Holly looked at her as if she was crazy. "You have got to be kidding me."

    "I think we should trust him," Alex said as she pulled out her gun and set it on the table. "But so help me if you get us in trouble, I will not hesitate to shoot you first."

    "What are you?" Sebastian asked. "A cop?"

    Alex glanced over at Holly and then gave him a completely serious look. "Something like that."

    "You have my word that I will help," Sebastian assured, making sure to look her in the eyes. His eyes were a vibrant emerald as they seemed to bore through her blue ones. There was no hint of a glaze over his eyes like there had been before. His eyes were completely sincere and if he was in fact lying, it was a very good one. She saw the real him, and she definitely was attracted to it, even against her better judgment.

    "D'Arvit!" Holly swore, breaking Alex's thoughts. "Fine! We'll trust the damn thief." Holly pulled out her set of handcuff keys and unlocked his cuffs, shaking her head the whole time.

    Sebastian sat forward and rubbed his wrists gingerly. He stood up and stretched his stiff muscles and turned to Butler. "You have a hell of a right hook, ya' know that?" Sebastian complimented. Butler didn't respond.

    "He screws us over and we all get dibs on him," Diana disapproved as she left the room. Everyone else followed after Diana, leaving Alex alone with Sebastian once again.

    Sebastian walked closer to her. "Well I don't know whether to thank you or verbally assault you."

    "Don't push your luck," Alex muttered as she grabbed her gun from the table and put it back in her holster.

    "Look, I'm sorry for everything. I can't explain what I was doing or why but you have to believe me when I say I'm sorry," Sebastian pleaded, grabbing her arm gently.

    Alex just gave him a stern look. "Don't do that." She pulled away and he released her.

    "You know that you have some sort of feelings for me. That kiss in the alley was not pretend," Sebastian argued.

    "You're imagining things," Alex replied, heading for the door. She left without so much as another word. Everyone was waiting in the living room, talking quietly amongst themselves. The moment Alex walked into the room they all went silent. Alex stood stiff and looked around. "What?" she questioned.

    "You like him don't you?" Diana broke the ice.

    Everyone just stared at Alex expectantly. "Psht, " Alex tried to play it off, "no."

    "You just defended the guy who single handedly destroyed humanity," Holly said.

    "There is no way you can do that and still say that you don't like him," Diana added, continuing to stare at her friend.

    "Oh God, I do, " Alex sighed, sitting down in a chair feeling rather upset with herself.

    Diana was instantly at her side. She placed a hand on her friend's back. Alex should've figured even with how irritated Diana was with the situation, she of all people would've known what she was experiencing. "It's okay; we can handle this."

    Alex practically started crying. "What am I going to do? He's helping us now!"

    "It's okay; we just need to keep you guys separated," Holly suggested.

    "That is so not how it works," Diana said, giving Holly a stern look.

    "Absence only makes the heart grow fonder," Artemis quoted, almost gleefully.

    "It's totally okay, I can handle this," Alex decided. "I can stop this; I know I can."

    "Well you better do it soon because we're leaving first thing tomorrow evening," Holly said, sighing. "And no offense, the last thing we need is more complications."

    Sebastian came into the room. "Do what?"

    "Go to the firing range and get my gun sighted," Alex replied quickly, trying to cover up the real conversation.

    "Everyone get some sleep. We're definitely gonna need it for tomorrow," Holly dismissed. Everyone started to stand and began to make their way out of the room, fully knowing Holly was right about getting some rest.

    "What are we going to do about the rally?" Sebastian changed the topic.

    Holly got the loveliest gleam in her eyes, and it scared him. "Oh, I've got a plan forming. No worries."