Sipping on a strawberry milkshake in an old school ice-cream parlor, I said what no one else was willing to say, “My Prodigy’s family have to be fucking idiots.”

Ezra’s lips twitched, but he stayed beautifully mute as he ate his rocky road treat.

“Now, you don’t know that,” Vivian stated slowly, poking at her mint chocolate chip ice-cream as if she had never seen the stuff before. “Sin City’s known for many unique individuals.”

Cahal actually chuckled. “Unique.” He seemed to be enjoying his double scoop of vanilla bean on a waffle cone.

“Fucking morons,” Antonio muttered, sipping on his own shake. “Living in plain sight…right now? I mean, come on, who the hell does that?”

“Apparently, the family of the next Shifter Ruler.” I sighed, rubbing my forehead. “An individual I’m going to have to train.”

Ezra rubbed the back of my neck. “The ice-cream was supposed to make you feel better, so quit thinking about the id—” His chin trembled. “Um…the family.”

I chuckled, lightly smacking his stomach. “Nice catch.” After almost four days of hard traveling, my die had led us to Las Vegas, Nevada. We had passed through it…only for the die to pull me back in this direction. Circling the city had the same effect. So, here we were, eating ice-cream after dinner on the outskirts of Sin City, waiting for tomorrow to come so I could begin the more thorough search alone.

“Thank you.” Ezra grinned, his smile satisfied. He tugged on one of my low pigtails, which I was beginning to enjoy wearing, staring at it as he twirled my hair around his fingers. His smile grew before glancing back at my face. Gradually, he lowered his head and purred softly at my ear, “Besides, I want you in a good mood later.”

My cheeks instantly flamed, eyes lowering to the table, knowing his parents could hear.

He chuckled quietly, gently pressing his lips to my ear as he whispered in an intimate tone, “That, too, but there’s something I want to ask you, and I want you in a good mood for it.”

My eyes narrowed. “What question would you ask that I need to be in a good mood for?”

“Nothing bad,” he murmured, kissing my temple softly. “But just try to stay happy.” His green gaze met mine behind our glasses, and I saw a touch of…vulnerability…there.

My eyebrows puckered, my eyes darting back and forth between his in instant concern, and that was right when Antonio jolted…and glowed bright gold, lighting up the entire parlor…his head flying back and a pain-filled shout soaring from his opened mouth.

“Jesus,” Ezra whispered, instantly jumping from his chair, facing the crowd of onlookers.

I felt Ezra’s power erupt throughout the room, so much unleashed that it rocked me, but my heart was still beating frantically as I dove for Antonio when he started convulsing. Cahal and I both caught him when he started to fall. I held his head tight to my chest, feeling time and spells, his power, rush through my system. I grunted, same as Cahal as he held Antonio’s body stationary while he continued convulsing, even as I drew my gun from the back of my pants, physically trembling from Antonio’s and Ezra’s powers whipping around me, and aimed my gun at the onlookers.

No one was watching us. In fact, they were all lined up like ants, filing out the door where Ezra stood, eyes glowing fiercely. I could see his mouth moving, but I couldn’t hear what he was saying, though he was definitely ordering them to leave. And they did, faces slack, their minds defenseless against his will.

“Go into the back rooms and get the tapes,” I shouted to Vivian over Antonio’s screams.

She still sat stunned, motionless, her eyes wide, as if she didn’t realize we needed to leave.

Cahal’s Vampire growled, ordering her, “Now, Vivian. Get the footage.”

She blinked. Nodded hastily, jumping from her chair and blurring into the back room.

Two things happened almost simultaneously.

The first was the sound of a gun firing in the back room.

The second was Cahal’s shout joining Antonio’s, right before his eyes closed, out cold.

The air choked out of me, Cahal falling on top of Antonio and making me take on both of their weight. Oh Jesus, no. My knees hit the ground, even as I trained my gun on the door Vivian had gone through, and I heard Ezra roar. As in, his Vampire actually fucking roared, rocking the tiles under my knees. The next second he blurred, people still moving outside. I lost track of him, but I did see the back door fly open, then swing shut, where I had my gun aimed.

There could have been only one reason for someone as powerful as Cahal to have suddenly passed out in pain, the evidence dark. I breathed heavily through my nose, trying not to get emotional right now, concentrating on the task at hand, carefully lowering Antonio’s body, which was slowly beginning to stop convulsing, and Cahal’s slack form, to the ground. I barely had them there when I heard a man screaming from behind the door as if the hounds of hell were after him.

Ezra’s Vampire roared again.

My hands trembled on my gun, this being a first for me, hearing that terrifying sound from him. Or any other Vampire, for that matter. It wasn’t a sound I wanted to hear again, and I prayed that the man would scream just a little louder so the roar wasn’t so earth-shattering. I stumbled to my feet and quickly closed the door behind the last person to leave, all of them still under Ezra’s mind hold as they got into their cars and drove away. Slowly, I made my way into the back room, even as the man’s screams stopped, my ears ringing from Ezra’s Vampire and feeling like they would soon start to bleed from the pressure.

“Ezra!” I shouted loudly, scanning an area full of refrigerators but not a soul.

The roar stopped echoing, and a furious growl sounded to my right.

Alright, I think that was an answer.

Carefully, I moved in that direction. There was a door that was slightly ajar. Moving past a stainless steel table, I saw…my gun trembled even more…Vivian’s leg keeping the door open, stuck between the doorframe and the door. Slowly, it began gliding back into the other room while Ezra’s Vampire growled in a long soulful tune behind the door.

Oh, God.

Keep it together.

Keep it fucking together.

I shook my head, catching the door as it began to close, the scents of Mystical blood, silver, and a shitload of Com blood filling my nostrils. “Ezra, baby. It’s me. I’m coming inside.” I bit my lip, blinking tears back when I heard his Vampire’s growl sputter on a whimper. “It’s only me, baby.”

I gently pushed the door open, my eyes taking in everything all at once.

There was one Com male, maybe nineteen years old, lying right inside the room with his throat sliced open, blood pooling around his head, and a gun not too far from his slack hand. I gulped, keeping from puking when I saw another Com male lying on his back over an office desk, his age indeterminable because his face was smashed in, his head sitting crookedly on his neck. His shirt was vivid red because his stomach was sliced open, his entrails hanging over the desk’s edge and to the floor, another gun lying on the ground where his arm — that was still attached — hung, while his other arm…who knew where the fuck it was.

Ezra was kneeling on the ground, rocking back and forth while clutching Vivian’s dead body close to his chest, the back of her head missing, blood covering his face and hands.

I swallowed again, breathing through my mouth. “Ezra, baby, can you look at me?”

No response, his rocking and growling not cutting off.

“Ezra, I need you to look at me,” I stated more firmly, putting a little of my power behind my command. I instantly jerked, feeling a backlash of his power. He apparently didn’t like that so much. “Alright. No more of that.”

Carefully, I walked through the room, heading for the video surveillance that I saw in the corner. Through the monitors I could still see Antonio and Cahal lying on the floor, and I quickly shut the computer down. There was a panic button on the wall, bloody fingerprints lining it, which probably meant the authorities were on their way. It was time to go.

Now.

I took all the CDs from the machine recording the footage, stuffing them in my pockets, and then tried one more time. “Ezra, we need to leave.” I carefully edged toward him. “You need to get up.”

Again, no answer.

Taking a deep breath and another step, this time directly behind him…I hit his head hard with the butt end of my gun. He groaned, his body falling, unconscious. Swiftly, I put the gun away, lifted him over my shoulder with my Shifter strength, and raced through the building. I ran outside to the Hummer, gently placing him on the passenger seat. I went back for Antonio. He went on the back seat. I heard sirens in the distance, and I muttered a litany of obscenities as I ran back into the building for Cahal. He groaned when I threw him over my shoulder, but he didn’t wake as I ran from the building. The sirens were almost on us, and I haphazardly threw Cahal on the back seat too, his head banging against the other door as I quickly stuffed their legs in before slamming the door.

Nervous sweat beaded my brow as I jumped onto the driver’s seat, turning the car on, hearing Bonnie and Clyde growling in the back. I didn’t have time to get Vivian’s body, and I didn’t even want to think about the ramifications of that yet. Quickly reversing, I kept my lights off, but let my eyes flare in the darkness. I saw the flashing headlights less than a block away, so I cut the wheel to the right, praying the place had a back entrance.

It didn’t.

I made one.

Bumping over the curb into the next parking lot, I heard multiple Com police car tires squealing to a stop at the ice-cream parlor. I kept the gas pedal down, zigzagging through the parking lot of a grocery store, also exiting their back entrance — they had one —before driving onto a main thoroughfare. Destination unknown.

No one following us, I dug my phone out, having to try three times before I got the numbers right, my hands were shaking so badly.

Elder Merrick answered on the fourth ring. “Hello? Lily?”

God love caller ID. “I have a situation.” The words were flying. “I need your input.”

“Talk.” His voice was dead serious.

“Here’s what you need to know. Vivian was just killed. Cahal is passed out. I knocked Ezra out when he went Vampire crazy. Antonio had a…Mage fit…of some kind, I’ve never seen happen. He glowed, screaming, and then started convulsing before he passed out. I’ve evaded the cops, but I had to leave Vivian’s body behind.” I took in a huge breath. “What I need to know is, what the fuck happened to Antonio, and is Ezra going to be Ezra when he wakes up, or Ezra-Vamp-crazy?” I knew what Cahal would be like.

There was a long pause, then a heavy sigh on the other end. “I’m going to skip past the fact that all fucking five of you were together while you’re searching for the Prodigies, and get to what you need to know for the complete clusterfuck of a situation you’re in.” Thank you. “First, Antonio was having a vision. The more powerful the Mage, the harder the visions hit. He’ll be out for — at least — a day and when he wakes up he’ll want his book. Second, Ezra was reacting as any powerful Vampire reacts when a loved one dies — his predator took control — but when he wakes he should be fine. You know what Cahal will be like when he wakes up and realizes his mate is dead.”

I nodded. “Okay, okay. I can do this. I just need to find a place far enough away that no one will hear their screams when they wake up.” My head continued to bob, a hysterical laugh bubbling, my eyes darting everywhere. “It’s fucking Vegas, after all. They’ll think this shit’s normal.”

“Lily,” Elder Merrick barked. “Calm the fuck down.”

Panting, I giggled. “Queen Ruckler.” Another breathless snicker. “What a fucking Queen I am.”

“Lily, you’re about to have a mental collapse. Take some calming breaths.”

I shakily took one in through my nose, my hands trembling again as I whispered, “She was his mom, Merrick. I told her to go into that back room. When she died doing what I told her to do, I couldn’t even retrieve her body for a proper burial.” A sob escaped. “I can’t fucking believe this.”

“Shh,” he hushed softly. “I know. I know.” He sighed. “Tough decisions can make or break a person. You won’t break. Just keep breathing, Lily. That’s the only advice I can give you right now that will help this pass. Just keep breathing.”

“Okay,” I whispered, doing as told, even as a river of tears drenched my cheeks.

Finding a place to hide wasn’t hard with all of the houses in the immediate area in foreclosure. I had my pick, and I chose the one farthest away from others. First, I took in Ezra, laying him on the light carpet in the front room. Second, I took in Cahal, laying him next to Ezra. Lastly, I took in Antonio, laying him in an upstairs room away from Cahal and Ezra. I didn’t know how they would react when they awoke, possibly blaming Antonio or me or the world in general, but I thought it best to keep him separate. Then I shut the back door I had busted open and went to sit in the front room under a window, resting against the wall with Clyde and Bonnie in my lap and waiting for the inevitable.

One hour later, Cahal stirred. I blinked, my eyes glowing in the dark room and casting his body in blue. He rolled sluggishly onto his hands and knees. Shook his head. He stilled, his gaze flying first in Ezra’s direction. His eyes glowed so dark they appeared like sparkling stars as they surveyed his son’s frame, the flare of his gaze having the reverse effect to the darkness of the barren room. Sharply, his attention snapped to me.

I stared back, not saying a word, feeling empty inside and set to face his condemnation.

“How…” He rubbed his chest. “What…” He blinked, his breathing hitching. His shoulders slumped. “Oh, God…not Vivian.”

It was a whispered breath. “I’m so sorry.”

His throat bobbed as he repeatedly swallowed. His gaze flew around the room. And returned to me with an expression of hopelessness. “Where’s her body?”

My chin trembled, even though I still felt like a hollow, bottomless pit. “I couldn’t get her before the Com police came.”

His nostrils flared, his shoulders hunching even further. “Antonio?”

“Alive and recovering from his vision,” I stated evasively.

He ran a hand over his face before he turned his head from me. “I loved her.”

My mouth was so dry. “I know.”

His shoulders trembled as he whispered hoarsely, “She was my light when it was so dark.”

My lips thinned even further at his palpable agony.

He was quiet for a long moment. “Did Ezra kill the person who killed her?”

“Yes.”

He nodded woodenly. “His predator came out.” A pause. “Did you knock him out?”

“Yes.”

His chest heaved once. Twice. “I’m going to take a walk.”

I watched as he left, his actions stiffer than a one-hundred-year-old Com, then turned my glowing gaze to where Ezra still lay, his only movement his chest rising and falling.

Twenty minutes later, it was his turn to stir.

He groaned, grabbing his head.

I waited.

Like his father, he froze on the ground, his breathing hiccupped, then he shouted, “Lily?”

Continuing to breathe as Elder Merrick had instructed, I whispered, “I’m here.”

His head snapped in my direction, his eyes instantly glowing. And again, like his father, he stared, his eyes roaming my face, and bit by bit, an expression of desolation etched his features before his gaze flew around the room. Voice choking, he asked instantly, “My dad?”

“Alive. He’s taking a walk.”

He nodded jerkily, his chest heaving. After a few moments, he asked, “Antonio?”

“Alive and recovering from his vision.”

His gaze came back to mine. Utter despair watched me. Stayed glued as he slowly rolled to his side, curling in on himself. His chin quivered, his breathing becoming difficult for him. The barest whisper. “I need you.”

Hiccupping air, I nodded quickly, pushing Bonnie and Clyde off my lap so I could crawl to him. I barely made it there, lying beside him, holding his head to my chest and wrapping myself around him, before he bellowed in anguish, his body quaking as soulful sobs overtook him. I hung on tight, keeping him embraced in loving arms. I knew what it was like to lose a loving mother at a young age.

There was no correct way to describe the loss of the person who had raised you, who had loved you unconditionally, who had kissed every scrape, fought every battle you couldn’t. The person in your life who was tender and ferocious all at the same time, the experienced saint to your youthful carelessness, the perfect person to your flawed self and still loved you nonetheless, who was always there with open, warm arms. No, there was no way to describe the horrifying grief which came with losing that too early, realizing your ‘home’ would never embrace you again.

Sorrow beat at me heavily for knowing, not only seeing, the pain that the man I loved was experiencing. My emotionless, constructed shell shattered, and I cried quietly while I held him, only just strong enough to be what he needed.

By remembering to breathe.