"It's natural, whatever you want the power to do, it will do. If you want it to come out of your hands, it will come out of your hands. If you want it to come out of your entire body, it will come out of every pore in your body."

I scoffed.

"Don't believe me? Try it."

I opened my eyes. My hands were resting in my lap. I thought about the sun and its warmth. Then, I imagined it coming out of my hands. My palms became illumined with a hot light and I stared at it curiously.

"Shoot it."

I extended my hand in front of me and tensed my muscles. Sure enough, the light shot out from my palm.

"Wow." I examined my hands slowly. It was like I was in an entirely different body. My wondrous thoughts were interrupted as I was shoved over. Immediately I sprang to my feet and poised in an attack stance. Eli was doing the same thing beside me. Mithras's palms began glowing.

"You think you can just come in here and take from me?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Go find your own vampires!" he shouted.

"He's crazy, remember?" Eli muttered under his breath.

Mithras had a crazy gleam in his eye. He was willing to kill his own daughter if it meant he got to keep the vampire bites to himself.

"I don't want your stupid bites," I snapped.

He screamed. I couldn't tell if it was anger or pain, but his whole body glowed.

"He's going to explode. We need to get out of here!" Eli yelled. We couldn't get past him; he was blocking our only exit back into the gardens.

"Get behind the wall," I yelled at Eli.

We turned and sprinted away from Mithras. My hands grasped the top of the wall and somehow, despite my fatigue, I managed to heave myself over the wall as a ball of sun collided with it.

Please let him explode before he manages to climb the wall.

Eli wrapped his arms around me and pulled me close. My head was on his chest and I could hear his heartbeat. We waited for a few more seconds and nothing happened.

Eli gestured to me silently that he was going to peer over the wall.

"It's okay," he said, taking me by my hand. "Your friend took care of him."

I peered over the edge of the wall and Anna was standing over Mithras, checking his vital signs.

"He'll be okay," she said.

"Oh, goody," I replied sarcastically.

"We should get him back to his room. We don't want Lucian to find out about this. If Mithras dies, I'd hate to see what that means for you two ..."

"Why are you helping us?" Eli asked suspiciously.

"Because I need a favor."

"No," he replied dryly.

"Wait, hear her out."

"If you ever get the chance to get out of this place, take me with you."

"I don't think so."

"Please, don't leave me here., I need to get out of here. Please?" she begged.

I shot Eli a sympathetic glance but his face stayed hard and tense.

"How do I know we can trust you?"

"Take my hand." She extended her hand to me. "I'll show you."

I took a few steps toward her but Eli grasped my wrist. "I trust her." I pulled my arm free from Eli's gentle but firm grasp and placed my hand into Anna's.

As soon as our skin connected I was transported to another world. It was night time and I was walking home from the shops. In my left hand I had a bottle of milk and in my right was a warm loaf of bread. Someone else was in control of the scene. The road was empty and the earthy scent of fresh rain hit my nostrils. My heartbeat increased as I turned down an alleyway. The moonlight cast a murky glow upon everything, making the shadows darker and more menacing. It smelled strongly of stale urine and trash.

Where am I going?

"You're about to see how I came to live with Lucian," Anna's voice echoed in my mind. Her memories seemed so real to me, the smells, the details, even the feeling of the hard ground under my shoes.

I sighed a breath of relief when the alleyway was well and truly behind me. I climbed a set of stairs and fumbled in my purse for a set of keys. My hands were shaking, I was still on edge. I hated walking alone at night time, especially now with all the strange disappearances and murders that have occurred. I could hear some of Anna's thoughts from that night.

The door creaked loudly as it swung itself open.

Strange. My parents wouldn't go to bed after sending me out for milk and bread.

"h.e.l.lo?" Anna's voice, my voice called.

I ran my hand along the rough wall until I found the light switch.

Click. It remained dark. Click. Click. Still nothing.

I forced one leg in front of the other slowly. The floorboards creaked under my feet, forcing my heartbeat to quicken. I approached the living room door; a faint light glowed through the cracks.

I stretched my hand out in front of me.

"I didn't want to turn the k.n.o.b; I didn't want to see whatever is waiting on the other side ... but I did," Anna said.

The door opened and another creak sounded through the otherwise silent house. I tried to squeeze my eyes shut but I couldn't. I had to see what Anna saw.

A high pitched scream rang through the house as I saw two bodies ripped apart and strewn all over the room. I had no idea where the scream was coming from. Out of the corner of my eye I caught a glimpse of myself - of Anna - in the mirror. She was the one screaming. I could feel my heart shatter and my chest squeeze. My knees. .h.i.t the floor and I wrapped my arms around myself, curling into a ball to try to ease the ache within my chest. A cool hand brushed over my hair and I recoiled, crawling rapidly over to my parents.

A loud chuckle filled the room.

"Now, now, don't be scared. I'm not here to hurt you."

I turned my face toward the door but I didn't see anyone. The man hid in the shadows and it frightened me more. I began chanting in a foreign language, one I didn't recognize.

"I'm saying a protection spell. It's Latin." Anna added. She was my own personal voiceover.

I didn't want to do this anymore, It was. .h.i.tting too close to home, too close to my mother and what Hank did to her.

Please stop! I begged her.

The door of the room slammed shut, separating Lucian and I from each other. It didn't last long. He kicked the door down, sending it flying to the other side of the room.

Please, stop! I believe you.

Lucian zipped over to me and as he reached out his arms, the room faded away. A bright clear sky filled my vision. My heart beat hard in my chest, and I tried to take deep breaths to steady myself and return to my own reality.

Eli now stood in between Anna and I, his warm hands grasped the sides of my face.

"She's telling the truth. We have to help her," I gasped.

"What did you see?"

I shook my head and fought back the tears that tried to overwhelm me. It was way too personal to share. That memory was something I could never unsee. It was horrifying.

"We'll see what we can do," Eli said to Anna.

"Thank you."

Eli and Anna picked up Mithras's limp body and dragged it back to the house. Anna said she'd only stunned him and that he'd be awake any minute. When he did, she said she'd be able to convince him it was only a dream. I stayed in the rundown courtyard where I trained. I couldn't shake the images of Anna's memory. It felt so real, how was she able to place me there? Would it work for good memories, too? I thought about the possibility of reliving a memory with my mother. Seeing her smile and feeling her hugs would be amazing. I really needed something like that right now.

I picked up a wooden stake from the ground and slammed it into the dummy.

"You still suck," I said. I turned my back to the dummy. I'd try again tomorrow.

So Close, Yet So Far After a week, my body stopped hating me. My muscles grew tougher, and my stamina increased. For the next three weeks, I trained and I trained hard. I still got my a.s.s handed to me by Eli when we did defensive or offensive techniques but not quite as badly as I used to, which was something. It took me longer to break a sweat. When I trained with Eli, I was able to hurt him, and when I was really in the mood, I was able to pin him. Either I was indeed getting stronger or Eli just enjoyed letting me take charge. All I knew was nothing made him prouder than to see me try and improve, becoming more and more able to handle my own. After the day Mithras attacked me, I no longer needed his help. With his tips I was able to control my sun power with ease. As for my elements? Well, I can move large bodies of water and make it do whatever I want. I can fling fire b.a.l.l.s and turn a small candle flame into a large bush fire. I can heal plants and make them grow, and lastly, I could move the air. Controlling the air wasn't much, but it would come in handy if I needed to incapacitate someone temporarily. All of this I learned on my own, with the help of Eli and Anna, of course. Sometimes If I was really stuck I'd even ask Hunter for help and he had given me loads of good tips.

Hunter and I had gotten close again during the last few weeks. On more than one occasion (with Eli's permission) we went out under the oak trees and hung out. During that time it felt like we were just two normal people. Although we started getting on better, it was still nothing like it used to be, but I was comfortable enough around him to have fun and joke around.

Today was the day before we left for Gerald Harbor. As usual, I was waiting for Eli to collect me for training. The early starts still sucked but at least I got to go back to sleep afterwards until nightfall.

Sure enough, three soft knocks landed on my door. I pulled it open and his gorgeous smiling face greeted me.

"Are you ready for one last training session?"

"More than ready."

We warmed up, we ran, and then went into our usual defense and offense techniques. Eli and I crouched before each other. I could tell by his eyes that he was going to go all out on me. It was my last training session; he needed to see if I was ready. He lunged at me and I dove out of the way. With a tumble roll I managed to find my footing immediately and I was facing him again. His face was tense but his eyes watched me with pride.

He dove at me again and I was too busy admiring him admiring me to react in time. As I tried to side step him he caught my arm.

The double arm grab. I knew exactly what to do. He pulled me toward him but I bent my elbow, using his strength and momentum against him. I dropped my rear shoulder, giving me extra strength in my legs. Before Eli had a chance to regain his balance, I kicked his knee. I didn't kick it hard enough to displace it but hard enough to know I meant business. As his knee gave out from under him, he bent over in pain and I pulled the stake from my back pocket, pressing against his back and above his heart.

Eli stood up, neither of us panting hard enough for his liking. "Not bad."

"Another one," I demanded.

"Someone is keen."

I took twenty paces away from Eli and returned to my crouching stance. "This time, I'll attack you."

He ran a hand through his dark messy hair and laughed. "Give it your best shot." He stood waiting for me, his eyes narrowed, waiting to see my next move. I ran at him and he braced himself for impact. As I got closer, I threw a punch and he blocked it. From there, there was a series of punches, blocks, ducking and diving. He hadn't thrown a single punch in this session. When I thought about it, he hadn't thrown a single punch in any of our sessions. He was taking it easy on me.

This frustrated me. I thought I was improving, but how could I if my teacher insisted on going easy on me. With a growl, I landed a punch to his chest. He flinched slightly but managed to block my second punch. He had me by both my hands.

"Unh," I gasped as he shoved me against a wall of the courtyard.

"You're angry, why?" He didn't drop my hands.

"Because it took me this long to figure out you're going easy on me."

"Of course I'm going easy on you. You've only trained for three weeks ... I'll hurt you."

"Hurt me."

"I can't risk that." He smiled. "Maybe after all of this is over."

"Do you promise?"

"Yes. I promise to beat you up when all of this is over." He laughed.

I pressed my mouth to his, cutting off his laugh. One of his arms wrapped around my waist and the other entangled in my hair. Gently he pulled on my lip with his teeth and tugged on my hair, forcing my head backwards. He trailed hard kisses from my mouth, across my jaw line and down my neck. I shuddered under his touch and a weird knot formed in my stomach. He met my mouth again, only this time his kiss was loving and intimate - apologetic, even.

"I don't want to stop," I pouted as he pulled away.

"I know."

Our foreheads were resting against each other's.

"Do we go back to training now?"

"No. It's your last session, I'll let you off. Besides, there's nothing more I can teach you here." His full lips pressed against my forehead and he turned away from me.

"You didn't want to see how I go with a stake?" I asked.

Eli hadn't taught me how to use a stake properly. He didn't want me to get close enough to a vampire to stake it. It was sweet, he wanted to protect me. Little did he know that I had mastered the technique for staking a vampire.

"You won't need to use one. Stick with your powers, leave everything else to me and the rest of the guardians."