"Well, I'm not!" Her beautiful face tightened. The wind picked up and blew her long dark curls past her breaking eyes.

"What's wrong?" I reluctantly asked. I didn't think I really wanted to hear her answer.

"I'm losing you aren't I?" she asked painfully. Lightning flashed behind us. It lit her stunning features. I felt my breath fade from me.

"Asiaa" I shook in a whisper.

"I can feel it and I hate it." She stared through me, waiting. I was stunned. I didn't know what to say. She waited for another painful minute while I shrunk in my misery.

"I'll help you get Madison back and then I'm leaving. For good this time," she threatened in a soft tone.

"Asia you don't need to leave." My insides fell cold. The pain in my ribs doubled.

"Why should I stay? So I can watch you pull farther and farther away from me. I already lost you once and it almost killed me. I cannot go through that again!" She stood up above me with fresh tears in her eyes. It killed me when she cried. Her face was so beautiful, even in the middle of her heart breaking.

"This time you're losing me. At least that's what I'll tell myself," she cried, as her hand found the necklace that I had given her. She looked as if she were going to rip it from her chest but didn't. Her fist closed around it tightly. I had no idea what to say. I sat there with the world spinning from the pain all over my body, and now the ache in my heart. We were over and it was Sam's turn now, but I still felt as if I was dying a little. She waited for me to speak, to say anything but I couldn't. I was drowning. When I didn't respond soon enough, her eyes broke. She turned and walked inside.

"I'm sorry Asia," I whispered up to the sky, as the rain filled my vision with fat cold drops.

Sam was finishing up a long shower when she heard the kitchen door slam close. She slid on her robe and twisted her half wet hair up in a sloppy bun that barely stayed in place. Asia stormed past her with tears in her eyes. It scared Sam at first.

"I hate this part!" Asia cursed under her breath as she stopped dead in her tracks. Sam walked up behind her slowly. Asia caught her from the corner of her eye. She was extremely emotional and pulled from her.

"What?" Sam asked cautious.

"Nothing!" Asia snapped. Sam looked out the broken kitchen window for me and then back to Asia. She filled with a nervous fear.

"Where's Max?"

Asia whipped around and scolded, "With you!"

"What?" Sam gasped, confused. Asia's eyes burned into hers with hate before folding under their own weight. Her body leaned against the wall. It was the first time Sam ever saw her this way. It quickly confused her.

"I don't think his fire burns for me anymore." It almost choked Asia to say the words. Her throat tightened as if the room had lost all its oxygen. She watched Sam carefully. Slow and cautiously she walked up to her. Sam stood her ground, unsure what to say.

"You and Madison have a part of him that I don't," Asia gave in.

"Asia you're not making much sense."

"I never stood a chance." Her fading blue eyes looked back toward the kitchen patio.

"What are you talking about?" Sam asked.

"I thought I had healed him. I thought my love was enougha" Asia drifted off.

"I don't understand," Sam began to speak.

"I thought our vows were enough," Asia spoke in a robotic trance. Her hand slid across the matching tattoo on her shoulder. Sam panicked.

"Vows?" her voice filled with a deep growl. Her nerves made her start to tremble.

"Yes," Asia nodded as her hand squeezed the artwork. Sam glanced quickly at the tattoo. The red lines of the ink slid along Asia's tone shoulder perfectly.

"What vows!" Sam lost her calm. Asia looked deeply into her eyes. Finally she let down her steel walls.

"We are kinda married," Asia said softly, ignoring Sam's bubbling anger. She snapped and grabbed Asia's other arm. Lightning flashed at the windows with a dull hum.

"What?" As she asked the question her eyes followed the lines of the tattoo. Her mind raced as she realized that we had the same one. Exactly the same.

"In Australia, while we were in the outback we embraced their customs. All of them," Asia said soft.

"I don't undera" Sam tried to say but Asia continued.

"How they hunted. The way they lived. The way theyaloved," Asia whispered. Sam gasped. Her head filled with a mind-numbing buzz.

"How?" Sam raged.

"It was an ancient ceremony, very sacred. We spent a day and a half fasting, a night without speaking and finally the morning in each other's arms. We watched the dawn paint our naked bodies as we received our armbands," Asia tried to continue but Sam had heard enough.

"You're married!" She finally snapped. Her heart pounded from under her robe as she began to taste her lunch in her throat. Asia took a small amount of satisfaction at how upset Sam had become.

"Not in the traditional sense, no signed papers or courts. But as we received our ink we were sworn to one another by royalty." Asia began to cry and the rain fell hard over the house. Sam started to shake and sat down on the nearest chair.

"Sworn together," Sam drifted off in disgust.

"Until we die or the tattoos are removed. At least that's what I thought," Asia cried out loud now. Her blue eyes came alive again with pain.

"Max is married!" Sam tried to convince herself over and over again. The room started spinning.

"Don't worry, it doesn't matter now. He's chosen you," Asia accused and stormed off to my bedroom. With a slam of the door the storm outside intensified. It shook against my house with a dull vengeance. Sam took a moment to settle her rage before wiping her eyes and walking outside to find me.

I had just managed to find the strength to stand up and make my way toward the kitchen door before I drowned in the new torrent of emotional rain. My body throbbed all over in agony. Sam's five-foot frame stopped me in my tracks as the door flew open and she stepped out.

"Sam," I smiled even though I felt dizzy from my wounds.

"Max, we need to talk." Her face was scared. Her big green eyes searched mine nervously. I didn't like this at all. Something was coming. Something bad.

"Okayawhat's up?" I coughed lightly. I wasn't ready for what was coming.

"I've been thinking and I think things are happening too fasta" she almost stuttered. Her famous confidence was nowhere to be seen. A dull hum crept inside of my ears.

"I don't understand?" My head began to pound.

"After we get Madi I think we should take some time." The first tears revealed themselves along her cheeks.

"Time? But I thoughta" I spit out, scared of where this talk was headed but she tightened her robe around her and looked up at me.

"You can see Madi whenever you want. Spend as much time with her as possible buta" she cried in the rain. I felt my legs giving out.

"Sam I don't understand."

"But I need time to think. I need to be alone," she cried louder. I began to shiver in the pouring rain.

"No! I don't want that!" I pouted in confusion.

"That's the way it has to be right now!" she cursed pulling away from me. I reached for her and felt my lower ribs snap, causing me to see stars again. I was sure I would pass out.

"But I love you Sam," I begged. She walked inside the door and looked back at me. Her face looked broken.

"Sometimes that's just not enough." She ran inside. I tried to stop her but fell to my knees in blinding pain instead. She ran through the house and into Frank's bedroom and slammed the door. Behind the thin door she wailed in hysterics until she fell asleep.

"Damn it!" I broke down in my backyard. I had to fight for my daughter in a few hours and I couldn't even move now. I was done. Finished. Sam and Asia had devastated me with their emotional wrecking balls.

"Why can't I be happy? Why do I hurt everyone I love?" I asked the falling rain. I coughed up more blood into my drenched palms. My inner fires receded and left me alone as I crumbled. I felt cold inside as my heart completely broke.

After what felt like an hour, I collected every piece of me and walked inside and passed out on the living room couch. Oz jumped up cautiously with his tender paw and lay next to me with a soft whine in his throat that never seemed to go away. Even my little bodyguard couldn't protect me from the overwhelming truth.

I was done. I was in pieces.

Awakening - 32.

*Bulletproof: Kerli*

6:01 p.m.

Every breath was excruciating, and the taste of blood was constant in my mouth now. It was almost two minutes after six and I pushed the pain to the back of my mind. As I stood waiting for any sign of Madi and her capturers, my fears began to crush me.

Sam and Asia watched from a safe distance. They hadn't spoken a word to me or each other since this afternoon but I knew they were anxiously watching my every step. The thunder rolled over me, hiding the fading sunlight. I grew colder with each passing second.

"Where are you Madi?" I spoke. Across the city skyline a long black shadow of an unmarked SUV appeared and made my eyes strain under their focus. I stepped forward into the street as it drove slowly closer. It stopped thirty yards from me. I held my painful breath.

Lightning flickered through the clouds. It set the tone, as the back door swung open. A tall man in a long black coat stepped out with a smile and a cigarette. The same mystery man that had been stalking me with a camera. His eyes covered in shiny sunglasses, hiding his true identity. I wanted to smash that smile off of his face.

"Mr. Valentine."

"I want Madison!" I said, deadly. He stepped closer.

"I know," he laughed under his breath. My fists curled up.

"I'm warning you, and this will be the only one," I promised. I started to steam in the cool wind and he removed his sunglasses in excitement. His brown eyes were dead and focused on my emerging fires.

"Look at you Mr. Valentineayou're even more amazing up close," he chuckled. I growled and my fists ignited into swirling dark red and black flames. I hadn't even realized they had burst with fire at first. Dark rolls of smoke twirled before my eyes and fat chunks of fire dripped to the street. The man smiled even bigger and stepped closer to me.

"Mr. Ryoyo?" I asked, already knowing the answer. He smiled.

"AhhhaI guess my reputation precedes itself. Kind of like a certain boy who can start fires at will." His hands rolled themselves together. My flames grew brighter and hotter. I was so angry that my eyes had already begun to water from the heat pulsing off my cheeks. I was also surprised that I hadn't lost complete control yet.

"I'm not usually the hands on kind of guy, but when you and your gift were brought to my attentionawella" he began to laugh lightly. My head started to buzz with growing hate.

"Madison!" I growled. He just ignored my rage and continued.

"Well, I had to meet you. My partner was right." His smile faded. My head snapped like a laser focused on his words.

"Avery will pay too!" I promised.

"I guess I have no more secrets," he gloated. My mouth pulled down in a steel frown.

"I'll break the both of you!" I dared, with venom.

"Mr. Valentine, I trust we can resolve this situation without violence," he suggested with a wink. My heart sank deep within my throat.

"Probably not," I spoke with fire. His smile disappeared and he replaced his sunglasses on his face.

"Fine. Show him," he called out behind him. Two larger men with guns stepped from the truck. One with nervous eyes locked on my burning hands. The other carefully carried Madison in his arms. She looked fine and unharmed. She was loosely wrapped in a dark purple blanket. Its fuzzy ends flapped in the growing breeze. Her little brown curls peeked from it. I hoped that would have settled my fears but it actually made me crazier.

"Madison!" I coughed, and the flames reached up along my forearms. Thunder tickled the streets with the arrival of cold raindrops. I ignored them as they spiraled into my twisting flames. The hired thug walked up to me cautiously before stopping a few feet from my reach. His eyes dropped to my burning arms and he swallowed. My eyes met Madi's and the rain slowly washed away the fire.

"Now, that's better," Mr. Ryoyo said. I ignored his words as I reached for my daughter. Quickly, I scooped her from the man and pressed her to my broken chest. My body silently screamed from the pressure. I ignored the pain and squeezed even harder.

"Madison!" Sam called out and started to run for us but Asia held her back. Her fingers locked around her fair skin. Sam fought her for a second before giving into Asia's iron grip. She couldn't believe how powerful Asia's grasp was.

"Let me, it is not safe for you," Asia warned with a tilt of her head.

"It's not safe for you either!" Sam pouted. Asia smiled and turned and walked toward me. When she did the clouds above began to pull together and slowly swirled counter clockwise, a disaster movie was born.

"I'll be fine," she said over her shoulder. Sam watched the skies and began to shiver. Asia slowly walked up to Madi and I. She tensed her body with caution and placed her hand on my shoulder. It was electric.

"I'm here Max."

"I'll handle this," I warned. She stepped in closer to me and gently checked Madi with a caress of her hand. Madi reached for her cool, loving touch.

"I know you will. Now hand her to me." She was quite calm. The opposite of me.

"Asia," I grumbled. Her eyes locked onto mine as her hands slid into my lower ribs. My body contracted in instant pain and my face fell white. She winced at the realization of how hurt I was. She knew I was getting worse by the minute. Her calmness began to wither.

"Please," she whispered and the wind covered me with her sweet scent.

"Let her help." Mr. Ryoyo teased. "This doesn't concern Ms. Michaels."

"Is that so." I didn't believe him.

"Yet," he warned, with a slight laugh. His evil intentions shown through the falling rain. I would die before I let him have her. Madison slipped into Asia's strong arms as mine covered themselves in smoke. Asia looked on as she hurried over to an anxiously pacing Sam. When she reached her, Sam grabbed Madison and ran to the Jeep without a word. Asia didn't wait for a thank you and turned back toward me with her pulse quickening.