I checked my phone for possibly the hundredth time this morning and released an enormous yawn. A drop of drool escaped my mouth, but I swiped at the mishap in time. When was Trevor going to arrive? I groaned, dropping my head onto the scratch marked kitchen table. Stupid cat, always has to ruin the furniture. Next time, I'm opting for a turtle: low maintenance and a slow retreat.

"Waiting for your boyfriend are we?" Sebastian drawled as he jumped on the table.

This little brat. I growled, earning me a snicker in response. What the devils is his problem? "No, I'm not waiting for my boyfriend. If that's what you call Trevor. We both know it's not going to happen. Rather, I found myself a new target." I sat up and crossed my arms, smirking at him.

Oh, I was so going to get a rise out of him. My eyebrows rose repeatable in mockery of him.

"Hard to believe given your infatuation with Trevor. Who's the unlucky soul?" He sat down, licking his front paws.

"Erwin."

Sebastian jumped up, hissing at the name. "You know better than to get involved with him. Do you want to anger your Mother to such an extent?"

Who cares about that old witch, bad enough she involves herself without my respect. The thought of making her squirm in distaste from my choice in men shocked me to a blissful place of solitude. "Won't that be fun," I retorted.

He sighed. "You are an idiot."

"Seb, you act like defying her is everything. For once, why don't you stop siding with that old coot?"

Sebastian walked the table's perimeter and his tail flicked back and forth. "Because little witch, your mother was the one to designate me your foolish protector. She found me. Not you. Why would I listen to a fledgling that still has problems with flight? Pity me."

"Oh please, we both know she holds you on a tight leash. The stupid collar carves into your neck. You literally squirm under her gaze."

"Ha, and you don't?"

I drummed the table with my fingers. "I never said I didn't." A shiver crawled over my skin at the thought of facing the beast head on. "My animal instincts tell me to run. I can't help it."

His tail curled and unfurled as he eyed me with his ghastly yellow tinted gaze.

"What would the rest of your species say, if they knew a little witch scared you gutless?" I mocked.

Sebastian pawed the table then sunk his claws in and dragged them across. I rolled my eyes. There goes my table.

The doorbell screeched, and I jumped out of my seat. "Oh! My baby is here, later." I pranced towards the door connecting the rooms, but paused. Turning, I narrowed my eyes at his destroyed pride. "Seb, you're coming too."

"Whatever nonsense you're involving yourself in, I refuse." He hopped off the table, heading towards the stairs.

I groaned at his retreat. Well, whatever. Quickly, I pulled out my hand mirror, checking my makeup. Good, everything was in order. Heading to the front door, I straightened my snug tight plain navy dress one last time before opening the door.

"You're slow," Trevor said, leaning August's less appealing machine. His hair was swept back, matching his casual clothes.

"Seb was blocking my escape," I retorted.

He raised an eye at my questionable excuse. "Let's go." He opened the passenger door for me.

"Trevor, aren't you the gentleman?" I slid into the beige leather seat with ease.

Trevor took the driver's seat, reeving the engine and changed gears. "What do I need to know about this place we're heading to?"

"What a smart question Trevor. My expectations of you have been rewarded. The Orchard is an underground city where ancient Supernaturals gather. It has a different set of rules than normal civilization, so don't go strutting around in cop mode."

He sighed. "Do you always have to explain things in a condescending tone?" Trevor muttered.

I giggled, enjoying his retort. "If I didn't, I wouldn't be me. Plus, most Supernaturals my age treat Normals far worse, get used to it." I forced the amusement out of my voice, transforming my tone to highlight my warning. "Which means, don't under any circumstance try to involve yourself in the transactions taking place in the Orchard. Understand, Trevor?"

Trevor glanced over at me, his grip tightening on the steering wheel. "And what exactly would I try to stop?"

"Drug exchanges. Organ vendors. Extortion. Slavery. You name it. The usual in any black market area. They'll ignore you because you're a Normal. So don't try asking questions. This is the world us Supernaturals have lived in since the beginning of society. Strength means everything."

He grunted but made no push to argue with my statement. Good. All I needed was Trevor to exhibit his justice within the Orchard and get himself killed. I'd be mocked for centuries. If that old witch found out, old Verdina, she'd have another blackmail card at her disposal.

The brisk Autumn air streamed through the side window. In fifteen minutes, central Etheria divulged into picturesque townhouse developments, another five and the city landscape would lose the scrape of appeal politicians marketed for tourism. No matter where on Verdina one lived, all popular vulture coves had an insect infestation. A place the sane had embedded in their feeble minds not to travel. Yes, the slums.

The last skyscrapers and well-polished building fronts melded into the background, replaced by broken, forgotten tombs. You could punch a wall, toppling the place like dominoes. A certain fragility existed, not with just the looming brick and wood structures, but with the people. Normals in these parts were slaves to Supernaturals.

Only idiots used the main entrance to the Orchard, which today I was, sadly.

"How much farther?" Trevor questioned with his gaze flickering between the road and our surroundings.

"Pull over here." I pointed to an empty parking space before a building missing a chunk out of the middle.

The car rolled to a stop nudged against the sidewalk. Swinging the heavy door open, I waited for Trevor to assimilate with my pace. We headed towards the narrow alleyway, my heels clicking in our wake. Passing the building front, I grimaced at the prickling sensation traveling up my spine. A barrier—it left a nasty after taste, akin to the feel of humidity during a hot, sizzling summer.

A doorway stood alone in the middle, blocking pedestrian traffic. To the inept magic users and the energy starved Normals, the frame would lead to nothing. A hidden truth revealed only to the worthy.

I grabbed hold of the gold knob. The fine cherry wood was inlaid with gold artwork of birds pierced by arrows. Their blood drippings fed the earth below and satisfied the lust of the damned. Seriously, why create an entrance point out of immaculate materials in the slums was a recipe for disaster. Pure foolishness.

My focus was drawn to the hot metal siphoning my core energy, threatening to swallow me whole. I pulled on the strands linked to the knob and imagined a knife slicing through them. Instantly, the threads frayed and snapped back to my core like a rubber band. It felt like a kick to the stomach.

With the drain halted, the door swung open. I stepped to the side, avoiding the impact, but Trevor stopped the door in its trek.

"Suave, aren't you? Acting all gallant and cool by stopping the door with minimum effort," I joked.

"It's a door, Lanna," he replied in a monotone voice. However, his gaze and focus were not for me. He stared into the bleak abyss constituting the entrance point. "Where's the city?"

"Just step through. Oh, but I should warn you, during the time required to be transported from here to the Orchard, you'll feel like you smacked against concrete at supersonic speed. On the downside, you'll still be alive."

"Reassuring," Trevor muttered.

I stepped through the gate ahead of Trevor, letting the darkness wrap its claws around my neck. The air thinned and my vision blurred with specks of white blotting my peripheral. Within seconds, the darkness curled back, releasing me and revealed the dank underneaths of society—the Orchard.

A/N: I'll be posting chapters regularly again. I was moving the last few weeks and hadn't had the chance. :)