"Let's just hope it works out."

"But when I use a lot of my sun power I get weak. I'm not strong enough yet."

"It's okay, you just need to kill as many vampires as you can. Every dead vamp increases our odds of survival. As soon as you use your sun power, we'll come in to protect you, killing as many vampires as we can on our way in. When you and I get a chance, we head for the car and we drive until daylight. Sage Sanctum is twelve hours away from Gerald Harbor."

I took a bite of my roll to ease my nerves. I couldn't taste it. There was too much on my mind, so much that my brain couldn't register the taste of the egg or bacon.

"Will we make it?"

"We should be able to. I don't think a vampire can speed-run faster than one hundred kilometers but I guess we'll find out."

The conversation ended. We were both too busy thinking about the night ahead. Thoughts about losing Eli consumed me. He would die for me, he'd already proven that.

Gerald Harbor.

As the car rolled to a stop outside the dilapidated warehouse about one hundred meters from the neglected harbor, a shudder rolled down my spine. The sun had almost set, the last of its rays were warming the land before the cool air of night began to blow. No one else was here. The vampires wouldn't appear until the sun had fully set. As for Mr Aleksandrov and the others ... I didn't know where they were.

"Where's -"

Eli cut my words off by covering my mouth with his hand. He pointed to his ear. It was a gesture letting me know we were in the ear range of vampires.

"Don't talk about it and get ready. We have approximately six minutes before the sun sets."

I nodded and opened my door. In the backseat was my bag. I had stashed two stakes at the base of it. I poured a few items of clothing onto the floor of the car as well as the photo of my mother and I. Adrenaline and nervousness pulsed through me. I grasped the two stakes and tucked them nicely into the back waistband of my tracksuit.

"Two minutes," Eli called.

I closed my eyes and slowed my rapid heartbeat, focusing on the sun. I needed to absorb as much energy as I could. I didn't know if it would do any good, but it was worth a try.

When the warmth that usually filled my chest from the sun faded away, I knew it was time.

I rose to my feet and joined Eli, who was leaning on the front his car.

"Are you nervous?" I asked.

He shrugged. "I've been doing this for a long time. Nerves don't tend to pop up anymore."

"Oh."

We watched the warehouse, waiting for movements or noise. For several minutes nothing happened. Then, Lucian stepped out from behind the warehouse. Hunter and Liam followed closely behind. I was confused. Why had Lucian showed up with only two extras? Where were the other eighteen? Lucian wasn't dumb, I suppose. He probably had them surrounding the place, watching his back. I wasn't going to be able to kill them all. I needed them to be inside the warehouse with me.

"Let's go," Lucian called.

Eli and I walked over to him and he pushed us forward, so they were walking closely behind us. I wanted to kill them now, but if I did, I'd miss any vampires that were inside the factory I would have wasted my power. There was no way Mr Aleksandrov and his guardians could take on forty-plus vampires.

We stepped onto the cracked concrete of the rundown warehouse. The distinctive odor of rusty nails and mold filled my nostrils as they urged us over to the other side of the room.

I stopped in my tracks. "Perhaps Eli should wait outside?"

Lucian chuckled. "No." He pushed my arm, hinting for me to keep walking.

"I just want this to go as smoothly as possible. If the Gerald Harbor vampires get frustrated over something and get lippy or physical with me, Eli might try and intervene. You have at least eighteen vampires surrounding the warehouse. Eli won't be able to do much and I doubt he'd leave without me."

"I don't think that's a good idea," Eli said, playing along. He knew I could never use my full powers if he was in the room, it'd hurt him and I wouldn't risk that."

"Fine. Liam, take Mr De Luca outside please. The last thing I need is for puppy love to spoil my plans."

Eli and Liam headed back toward the small opening in the wall. Lucian prodded my shoulder, forcing me to the other end of the factory floor, where we stopped in front of an elevator. Lucian pressed the barely intact b.u.t.ton to call for the elevator. With loud clanks and screeches, the old elevator responded.

"You're not serious?"

"Get in," he ordered.

I stepped inside the elevator and it wobbled unsteadily. I clasped the wall desperately to keep myself balanced. Hunter clicked the b.u.t.ton that had number three carved into it. With a large clank and a frightened gasp from me, the lift rose. It swayed slightly, causing me to grip the wall harder. Please don't let me die, please don't let me die, I chanted silently.

Lucian and Hunter watched me in amus.e.m.e.nt. Of course they didn't care if the lift was dodgy, if it broke, it's not like they'd die.

With an abrupt yank, the elevator came to a stop. My legs were weak and wobbly, I needed to get out of this lift. Hunter pulled the door open and we stepped out onto a mostly empty floor. A few chairs and desks littered the room but that was it. The windows were boarded up with thick sheets of plywood. The only light came from the barrel to the left of the room. Inside it was a small fire, that cast freaky shadows on the walls and floors. The floor was concrete mostly, but a layer of cracked linoleum covered the floor sporadically. All those things combined weren't the creepiest thing in the room, believe it or not. The black eyes that watched us approach were creepier. I counted ten vampires, including the big bad one that sat all high and mighty in his chair behind them.

One by one I saw the vampires inhale my scent. They knew what I was. Immediately a few of them scattered, putting out the fire and tearing the boards from the window for moonlight instead. Surprisingly, the moon lit up the warehouse better than the fire did.

"You bought me a gift, Lucian? How kind of you." The leader's voice was deep and husky.

"Not this time, brother," Lucian replied dryly.

"Then what is the purpose of your visit?"

"I have a proposition for you."

The leader laughed and it echoed around the room. "You have come to try and make some kind of arrangement with me? No thank you."

"What if I'm not giving you a choice?"

The Gerald Harbor vampire leader shot out of his chair and over to Lucian. Up close I could see him better, he was a big man standing at least seven foot high. His arms were thick, like a body builder.

"You may be the previous higher power, but I'm older than you, therefore I'm stronger."

"Ruby?" Lucian spoke not taking his eyes off Bigfoot.

This was it, this was my cue. I needed to incinerate every vampire in this whole room... so then why couldn't I? I blinked and my eyes were on Hunter. I couldn't kill him. Even after everything, his face still got to me.

"I - I can't."

"What?" Hunter spat. "If you don't do it, I'll zip downstairs and kill your precious angel."

I shook my head. I knew Hunter was no match for Eli. Hunter was a baby vampire and Eli was a full-grown guardian angel. I'd witnessed Eli take on old vampires and win. I just needed Hunter out of the room so I could kill them all and then I'd help Eli. As I expected, Hunter smashed through the window and dived out. The chilly night air blew in. There were no sounds from outside. I had no idea if Aleksandrov had arrived or not.

I let my barriers down and my body began to warm. It felt so nice, so euphoric. I felt powerful and happy. The vampires gasped and then screeched as I began to glow.

"What are you doing?" Lucian screamed.

All of the vampires in the room began to keel over in pain and their skin burned as if they'd stepped out into the sun.

One by one I shot huge beams of light at vampires, turning them into dust, and before long I was only left with four vampires. Three. Two. One. Only Lucian was left. I dimmed my glow. I wanted to stake Lucian with my bare hands. He whimpered as I got closer to him. He was weak, I didn't need my sun power to kill him. I pulled a stake from my waist band and stepped closer to him. Lucian leapt from his feet and slammed me into the hard wall. My vision blurred for less than a second, but I soon recovered.

"You sneaky b.i.t.c.h," Lucian growled, limping toward me.

He was healing quicker than I expected, Mithras's blood mustn't be fully gone. With every step he took he was building up speed and by the end of it, he was running full bore at me. He reached for me and I dodged, just managing to slip from his grasp. Immediately he jumped at me again, catching me off balance and knocking me to the ground, pinning my arms. I tried to push him off, but he didn't move. I watched as the last bit of burnt flesh on his forehead healed itself. Venom dripped from his fangs as he leaned his face down toward my neck.

"You're becoming more of a nuisance than you're worth!" he spat.

He leaned closer and I felt his fangs graze my neck. The stake was still firm in my hand and I shoved it between us. I didn't get his heart, but I pressed it deep into his stomach. Lucian flew off me, clutching the stake. He groaned and gasped as he pulled at it. I leapt to my feet, pulling the other stake from my waistband. I ran at Lucian, my stake prepped and ready. I dove at him in line perfectly with his heart. Just before I reached him, he moved slightly and my stake went through his left ribcage instead. Lucian fell to the ground, immobilized by the pain and the wood. He grasped at the stake, trying to move it. His scream filled the night. I just watched, trying to decide which stake to pull out and stab him with.

"Ruby?"

I turned abruptly.

"Eli? You're okay, thank G.o.d."

"We need to g -"

Suddenly, he dropped to his knees. Another scream filled the room - my own. Blood from his stomach began to leak onto his white shirt. He lay down, his eyes fixated on me. Suddenly everything went completely silent. All movement around me slowed to an excruciatingly slow pace. I could feel my blood moving slowly through my body.

Before I even realized what was happening, I killed Liam with my sun power. Within seconds he was a pile of dust.

I kneeled next to Eli, caressing his forehead with my hand.

"You're going to be okay," I cried.

"You s-should go."

I rested my head on his and stroked his hair. "Shhh, rest, please."

Hunter entered the room and saw what had happened to Eli. Without so much as an apologetic glance he ran over to Lucian.

"Just get me out of here," Lucian groaned. Hunter smashed the window that led to the back of the warehouse by the forest.

I didn't care if they got away. I just needed to be with Eli, I needed to keep him alive. Hunter leapt with Lucian from the window.

Eli's breathing became more rapid and deeper. He touched his wound and glanced at the blood. I could see the panic on his face despite how hard he tried to hide it.

A shadow loomed over us and I jumped to my feet, shoving the person backwards. It wasn't until I blinked the tears away from my eyes that I realized it was Hunter. My hands lit up as I prepared to kill him.

He smiled. "You're not going to kill me."

"You seem overconfident."

"I know you tricked me into leaving the room so you wouldn't have to kill me."

"Don't make me regret it," I growled through clenched teeth.

"Let me help him."

"And why would you do that?"

"Because even though I no longer have a soul, it still kills me to see you cry."

I let Hunter pa.s.s me and he knelt beside Eli. He bit into his own flesh and attempted to pour the running blood into Eli's mouth. Eli pursed his lips, determined not to let a drop into his mouth.

"Drink, please. It will help you."

If ingested, vampire blood can heal. Eli knew that but his pride wouldn't let him take it.

I think he saw how desperate I was because he slowly parted his lips, taking Hunter's blood. After two swallows his eyes closed.

"What's wrong?"

"Relax, he'll be fine." Hunter walked over to the window he'd taken Lucian through.

"When he finds another Heelian and gets strong, he's going to come for you, Ruby, and he won't stop. I'm going to help him, not because I want to, but because I have to ... He is my creator."

"Tell Lucian we'll be ready for him."

"When the time comes, there won't be a 'we.' He'll kill everyone you've ever loved. He'll kill everyone protecting you, starting with Eli. This has nothing to do with them, this is about you. If you want to protect the ones you love, then you need to face this on your own."

I turned away from Hunter and returned to Eli. He slept peacefully, like he had on our drive to Mount Kuuce. Perhaps I'd made a good decision when I decided not to kill Hunter, Eli would be dead if I had. Would this situation be placing my loyalties in the wrong hands? Can I help them both? I know Hunter's humanity is still there. I'd seen it.

Eli's eyes fluttered open and I wrapped my arms around him. He hugged me back. I helped him to his feet.

"Are you okay?" I asked.

"Yes. Are you?"

"Yes."

"We need to help the others." Eli grabbed his stake off the floor and we ran down the stairs of the fire exit. It was a lot safer than the elevator. A few guardian bodies were strewn over the first floor of the warehouse as well as piles of dust. I forced myself not to look at them. I needed to help the others.

Eli tore from the warehouse and I followed closely behind. The cool air was gone. My eyes searched the surroundings as guardian angels took on vampires. It was like the time outside the abandoned dairy farm, but I refused to get caught up in memories.

A vampire grabbed at me. She was really p.i.s.sed off. There was no doubt she held me responsible for all this mess. My sun power had run out, I couldn't even make my skin glow let alone warm it slightly. However, all wasn't lost. There were fires all around me, and it wasn't until I saw a few of my teachers like Mr Farley and Lillian that I knew they were for the G.o.ds and G.o.ddesses. As the female vampire yanked me toward her, I grabbed her arm, using her own weight against her. Somehow I managed to flip her to the ground. She bounced back, finding her ground quickly. I raised my hand toward the fire and a large chunk of it flew over to me. I positioned the flames between us as we circled each other.

"I don't have time to play with you!" I shouted as I pushed the flames onto her. I controlled the fire, preventing her from putting it out. Burning a vampire takes a little longer than staking or the sun, but it's still effective. Two minutes of relentless burning was enough to turn her to dust.

I didn't celebrate my latest kill, I still need to help the others. I found Eli by the edge of the forest. He was preventing a vampire from fleeing, they were circling each other, throwing kicks and punches every few seconds. The vampire looked nervous, almost afraid of Eli. I pulled more fire and sent it in Eli's direction, burning the vampire. He nodded and I let the fire disappear. The vampire was dazed and Eli managed to stake him.