"Hey, Parker, what are you doing?"

I bite the inside of my cheek to hide my smile when Parker jumps slightly as he looks up from his computer that's perched on the bar in front of him. He must have been really focused if his vamp hearing didn't give him any warning that I was coming into the room.

Parker watches as I make my way to the fridge. "Not much. Just trying to see what I can do from here to figure out who's working with Payne and Jerome."

"How's that going?" I ask, grabbing a bottle of water before closing the door to the fridge.

He sighs. "Honestly? Not so great."

“Have you found anything out?”

He shakes his head. “I hacked into the cameras and call logs at the Order, but I haven’t found anything yet.”

“Anything on Ada and Aiden?

“That’s the weird thing. I know Ada went missing when she went out for her mission but there’s no record of her leaving the Order. I found Aiden walking into his room but he never left. He simply vanished. It doesn’t make any sense.” He runs his hand through his hair, obviously feeling agitated.

My brow furrows. “What do you mean he never left? He went missing from his own room?”

“That’s exactly it. There aren’t cameras in the rooms for privacy purposes but there are cameras in the hallways. There’s no one coming or going from his room from the time he enters until someone comes to look for him, only to discover that he’s gone.”

I look up and see the rest of the guys pile into the room. "There's no cameras outside that show him leaving?" I ask, bringing my attention back to Parker.

He rubs his cheek with his hand. "Not on the Order's grounds, no." He blinks as if he just thought of something. Suddenly, he turns his attention to his computer and starts typing away at the computer. "There are four different routes to getting to the Order. One of them is underground if I'm remembering correctly," he mutters to himself.

I raise my brow at Hunter who's standing behind Parker, watching what he's doing. "Any idea what he's talking about?" I ask the room, not really expecting an answer since they're all engrossed in what Parker's doing.

Kai comes to stand beside me and talks quietly enough to not disturb Parker but loud enough that I can hear. "There's an underground entrance to the Order that isn't watched as closely as the other entrances. It's usually used for vampires that are attempting to escape from one thing or another and had to use the tunnels because of the sun. It’s also there in case something happens and we need an escape route."

"If it's not watched as carefully, what is he doing?"

"Got it!" Parker shouts, making me jump. Kai chuckles, the sound making Hunter look up to study us. His eyes look between us for a second before a small smirk tugs at his lips. I roll my eyes at him.

It's been almost a week since that night in the gym and neither he nor War have pushed me into doing anything with them. There have been lingering touches from them, but no more kisses. Sadly, I wanted them to kiss me, instead of just teasing me with those touches.

"Got what?" Talon asks from by the door.

"Well, since there aren't any cameras in the actual tunnel, there are some that are at the entrance." Parker grows quiet as he does something on the computer. Hunter's expression hardens at whatever he sees over Parker's shoulders. "I wasn't expecting that."

"Care to share with the rest of class?" I ask dryly, making Kai and War chuckle.

Parker turns the computer so it's facing Talon, Kai, War and myself. He pushes play and shows us a video of someone standing alone near the entrance wearing a dark cloak.

"Way to be a total cliche," I mutter to myself. I double blink when Aiden appears in front of the cloaked figure from out of nowhere. Aiden looks around for a moment, looking confused but then a dazed look appears over his face. The person in the cloak gestures for Aiden to come closer. When Aiden moves within reach the figure grabs his arm and they both disappear into thin air. "What the fuck?"

"How is that possible?" Kai asks. "I don't know of anyone with the ability to teleport other people and do mind control. Especially mind control on a demon."

"Aiden's a pretty low level demon though," I point out softly, eyes still on the computer screen, trying to make sense of what we just saw.

War makes a noise in the back of his throat and looks at the ceiling. I look between him and Hunter. So far, they're the only ones who seem to know what just happened.

"What the hell is going on?" I ask, directing my question to Hunter and War, though neither of them will look at anyone else. Although, I think I'm the only one who noticed that their expressions had turned shifty.

"What do you mean?" Parker asks curiously.

I ignore him and walk to Hunter, hands on my hips. "What is it?"

War sighs from behind me. "Just tell her. She'll be pissed if you keep it from her."

I narrow my eyes at Hunter when he doesn't say anything for a minute. Making a frustrated noise in the back of my throat I turn away from him and out of the room. I push the back door open, letting it slam shut behind me as I walk to one of the large trees to sit down.

I really shouldn't be so fucking surprised. He may have said he wouldn't lie to me, and even though I consider omissions to be lies, he clearly fucking doesn't. Leaning back against the tree, I close my eyes and attempt to clear my mind.

The sound of leaves rustling makes me open my eyes and I frown, looking around. I must have fallen asleep at some point because the sun is lower in the sky than it was before.

A branch snaps a few feet away. I bite the inside of my cheek as Hunter walks toward me and I remember why I came outside in the first place.

He stops and sits down beside me. I stay quiet, not wanting to break the silence first. I know I'm probably overreacting but I'm just too pissed to care. Unless he's out here to apologize and explain what the hell was going on then he can go back inside and leave me the hell alone.

Hunter sighs after a few quiet, tense moments. "You giving me the silent treatment huh?"

I don't respond and he chuckles quietly, pissing me off more.

"Talk to me, Mercy."

"Why? It's clearly something you don't do yourself. So tell me why I should even fucking bother talking to you," I snap.

"Me not telling you what’s going on has nothing to do with you."

I snort. "Maybe not, but it still has to be said that you said you'd never lie to me. By not telling me what's going on you're lying by omission." I say the last while turning to face him so I can watch his expression.

Hunter looks pained before resignation appears and he lets out a heavy sigh. "War and I know of only two demons who have the abilities that you saw on the computer." He turns his face to the house, looking like he's a thousand miles away.

"Why is this a bad thing? That should be something simple to tell me."

He lets out a short laugh without humor in it. "You'd think, but it's really not. The demon who took Aiden is my brother. The other is my father, but he's not concerned about what goes on around here."

My mouth drops and I stare at Hunter. "I'm sorry, can you repeat that?"

"My brother is the one who took Aiden. If I can guess, he's also the one who took Ada."

"Why though?"

"This is the part that's going to be hard to tell you," he says slowly. "My brother is Payne's best friend. Jerome has a tendency to work for both of them if my brother needs him to do something. It's how I know him and Payne so well."

My stomach churns as a memory pings through my mind and I look at Hunter with what I'm sure are haunted eyes. "Your brother doesn't look like you does he?"

"Not really, the only thing that's similar between us is our hair."

"He has a scar that runs down the length of his face doesn't he?" I ask quietly, turning away from Hunter, not wanting to see his face in that moment.

Hunter is silent for what feels like forever and I can feel the anger radiating from him in the air. "Yes." He pauses, almost like he isn't sure he wants to say what he plans to. "How do you know my brother?"

"He-" I cut off when my voice breaks with emotion before trying again. "He was one of the demons who would torture me when I was a kid and trapped at Payne's."

Hunter curses and stands up. I pull my knees close to my chest before resting my arms on them and burying my face in my arms.

"You mean to tell me, the scars on your body," Hunter grinds out from a few feet away from me, fury and frustration clear in his tone, "some of those are from my brother?"

"Not a lot of them," I whisper, still not lifting my head. I know that Hunter put space between us and a part of me is hurt by that fact. Although, I'm pretty sure he put that space there because he's so pissed off, not because of me. "A majority of the wounds he made they had to heal."

He lets out a breath, and when he speaks again his voice is shaking with restrained rage. "He hurt you that bad?"'

I don't say anything, I just nod my head, knowing if he isn't looking at me he'll tell me to say it out loud. Thankfully, he doesn't.

Hunter's quiet for several, long, excruciating minutes. Finally, he says, "I'll see you later."

I lift my head from my arms in time to see him stalking back into the house, his entire body tense. A tear slips down my cheek and I quickly wipe it away. I told myself years ago, I'd never let my past affect me the way it did before I confided in Xena what happened. I've held true to that and have no intention of starting to let it get to me again.

“War, keep an eye on Hunter,” I say, reaching out to Warwick telepathically.

“Uh, okay? Why? And why did he just come inside looking like he's ready to destroy the world?”

“Have Hunter tell you. Just don't let him out of your sight.”