“Just because I’m having trouble walking doesn’t mean you can just paw my ass like that,” Claire giggled, shoving lightly at Iggy’s shoulder. “You can at least buy me dinner first, I’m not that easy.”

Iggy rolled his eyes. “I will happily drop you back into that bed, then you can find your own way up.”

“Oh, play nice.” Skylar smirked next to Liam, the two of them trying to hold in their laughter. “We all know that you two are friends already, no reason to act otherwise.”

The two of them scoffed to themselves, but they pointedly stopped their bickering, instead focusing only on getting Claire on her feet and standing securely. While her legs were shaking at first, three days of nothing but bedrest not preparing her for sudden movement, she was able to stand on her own strength after a few minutes.

Well, it would have been her own strength if Iggy trusted her enough to take his arm out from around her waist.

“You can let go now Iggy.”

“Not happening, I’m not going to let you just fall over and hurt yourself. We’ll be here all week if that happens.”

“I’m not-” Claire cut herself off, groaning at the rest of the group. “Am I going to be treated like this forever?”

“Think about it this way Claire,” Cayden said, wide grin on his face. “At least you have your very own guardian angel now.”

“Yeah, I’m real grateful for that.” Claire started to hobble over to the wall, Iggy following her every step of the way. “If I’m going to be travelling with you guys I’m telling you, eventually you’re going to have to let me be on my own.”

“Well that can wait until we are certain you can walk on your own, and I would prefer if you could run.” Farah crossed her arms, looking her over analytically. “You were very severely injured, that isn’t going to just disappear overnight just because you’re optimistic.”

“Alright, alright… God you’re such a mom.”

“I- Am not!” Farah would look furious if she wasn’t also blushing, Cayden sweeping his arm over her shoulders and pulling her into her chest. “It is my job to worry about all of you, since you insist on diving head first into danger without proper preparations.”

“In my defense, I didn’t even know who you were when I did it.” Claire sighed when she finally fell back against the wall, letting her legs rest for the moment. “Still don’t know why you even brought me back, you didn’t know who I was.”

“You were an enemy of the hunters, that was enough for the moment. Once Cayden vouched for you we had to give you a chance.” Hayley shrugged. “I trust his judgement usually, so does everyone else, but even I wasn’t sure we were doing the right thing. I have to say that I’m glad that I was wrong about that.”

“Yeah, me too. I’m happier now that I’m not rotting out in a forest somewhere. I’ve gotta say that would affect my looks somewhat.” Claire clapped her hands together. “Alright, when do we get going?”

The rest of the group was quiet, not saying anything lest they speak out of turn. Claire looked across at each member, her eyes staying on Skylar until she swallowed and spoke up.

“Are you sure you want to do this Claire?” She stepped forward, putting her hands out to the side in emphasis. “You can still get out of this if you want, go somewhere they can never find you and just… Lay low until this is all over. You can start over.”

“Oh no, uh uh.” Claire narrowed her eyes, her lips forming a thin line. “You are not just going to push me out like that. I’m as invested in this fight as any one of you, and I’m not just going to forget about that because I have a chance at playing bingo in silence for the rest of my life. So don’t pretend that it’s a question of whether I want to come, it’s a matter of whether or not you want to take me at all.”

“Of course we want to take you! You’re one of the best fighters we’ve ever seen, you’re trying to make a change, to fight for what’s right!” Skylar grabbed her hands, being careful not to strain her still healing body. “Why wouldn’t we want to take you?”

“Because with me around you have even more of a target painted on your backs. Because I took the eye out of his head and gained his eternal wrath, and Christian isn’t going to stop until either I’m dead or he is.” Claire pulled out of her grip, turning her head away from her. “That’s why you wouldn’t want me around, because I’d put you in danger that you can’t even imagine.”

“We’re not exactly going into this with the aim of making friends with him,” Michael said, “Of course we’re going to be stepping on his toes and gaining his anger. My whole goal is to piss him off as much as possible before we kill him, I think that would be a good form of justice.”

“He’s right.” Skylar nodded. “It doesn’t matter if you think that you’d be putting us in danger, you’re one of us now. So trust me, we absolutely want you to come with us, we just wanted to give you the choice.”

“Are you sure?” Claire didn’t want to get her hopes up too much, but what she was hearing sounded too good to be true after the series of betrayals she had suffered recently. When Skylar nodded however, she couldn’t help the wide grin that spread across her face.

“We’re not going to be intimidated by him, you’re with us. For now and forever.” Skylar opened her arms, Iggy letting go of Claire’s waist so she could step into the embrace.

“You know, for someone who killed my sister we’re getting along a lot better than I thought we would.” Claire stepped back, looking at her with a smirk. “I guess the strangest of friends really do make the strongest huh?”

“Not going to deny it’s… Strange how cavalier you are about that. Are you sure you’re ok?”

“Oh pssh, I dealt with any pain related to her when I was on the run with a hole in my stomach. In fact, to prove that I’m over it and to lighten the mood, I’m going to give you something very special.” She hobbled over to the chair, shoving off Iggy’s arm when he tried to grab hold of her. “I know exactly where Christian is, because I came from there. I can lead you directly there, and I can tell you exactly where to get in that won’t raise any alarms. They won’t even know you’re there until you want them to.”

“And that will really work?” Cassandra looked skeptical. “I thought that his men were highly trained and vigilant, won’t they see this coming from a mile away?”

“Well yeah, you’d think so.” Claire shrugged. “But we killed most of the smart ones in the forest, and any ones that are left are still hobbling their way to hospitals and safe houses. His security is well and truly shot right now, this is the perfect time to strike.”

“And if he has moved on because he knows what you know?” Liam asked, “What then?”

“Well then I lead you to whatever safe house he has gone to. I know every place he has to run, and he has neither the time nor the resources to set up any additional locations.” She grinned. “In short? He’s fucked, and just right for the picking.”

Cayden nodded, agreeing with the plan. “If it sounds simple,” He said to the group, “That’s because it is. He’s trapped, he has nowhere and no one to go to, likely he knows that any other groups of hunters are likely to shoot him on sight purely out of principle. But that’s also what makes him dangerous, he is cornered and more than aware of that, there is no telling what he’ll do to try and protect himself, so everyone needs to look out for that.”

“What he did to all of you…” Claire looked down, not able to meet Skylar’s gaze. “I’ve learned that as horrible as that was, that was routine. Imagine what he will do if he gets truly desperate.”

They nodded, fully appreciating the gravity of the situation and taking a second to themselves. Their revenge was within their grasp, all they had to do was reach out and take it. But they had to be careful not to let it slip through their fingers, or to take their fingers from them outright.

“Alright,” Liam said, nodding to everyone in attendance. “We have a plan, and we have a location. Is everyone ready to make it a reality?”

They all nodded without hesitation, standing and making their way out of the room towards the cars.

They had no idea just what was waiting for them only hours away.

---

“Alright look just… How long are we going to play this game?”

Claire leaned closer, almost brushing Iggy’s cheek before he moved away, her mouth cracking into a crooked grin. “I spy with my little eye… Something beginning with V.”

“Oh, for fuck… Is it me? Is it a vampire?”

“Oh wow! You are good at this!” She titled her head back, cackling at the top of her lungs, Skylar and Leila fighting not to join her.

Iggy looked at them desperately. “Can one of you please help me? Why can’t you entertain her?”

“Because we all agreed, you included, that you would be the one to take care of her.” Leila raised her eyebrow at him, carefully maintaining a neutral expression. “You’re not going to go back on your word, are you?”

“Alright fine, yeah I won’t go back on it,” He muttered to himself, “Just stop giving me that look, it’s scary.”

“That is pretty unfair mom.” Skylar nudged her with her elbow, shaking her head. “Maybe you should be playing nice.

“Oh please, you haven’t seen me play mean.”

Liam rolled his eyes, keeping his gaze on the road as the car sped steadily along. “I think that everyone needs to calm down a little, otherwise we’re not going to have any energy to fight Christian at all. I’m not going to lose this fight because people insisted on playing I-spy.”

“Oh, come on Liam…” Skylar batted her eyelashes at him, his knuckles squeezing white around the steering wheel. “Are you sure that you don’t need to relax a little?”

“I can’t with all these people in the car, otherwise I’d be plenty relaxed by now, trust me.”

“Oh,” Iggy said, “Ew, can we not?”

“Oh, shit.” Liam blushed, running a hand down his face. “I’m sorry, I forgot that- Fuck!”

He slammed his foot down onto the brake pedal, the wheels locking up and skidding against the asphalt, a dark plume of smoke coming from the burning rubber as the car dragged itself down the road. They rocked in their seats, bracing themselves and Abigail in her seat to stop everyone from flying around helplessly, just managing to make themselves safe before the car shuddered to a halt. The two cars behind them followed suit, coming inches within slamming into their back before stopping just in time.

“Liam! What the hell!” Skylar looked at him with wild eyes. “Why did you stop?”

“There...” He pointed forward through the windshield, a lone figure standing in the middle of the road without a care in the world. Their eyes widened in shock once they recognized him, half his face disfigured and his clothes disheveled, but it was undeniably the man they were seeking, the man who had caused them so much grief and misery.

Christian waved a hand in greeting, his smile turning vicious once he saw Claire, but his composure not faltering for a second. Without a second thought, their group exited the cars, guns drawn and claws extended, Liam looking like he was two seconds away from leaping towards him and tearing his throat out. A hand on his arm was the only thing that stopped him from doing so but to his immense surprise it didn’t belong to Skylar.

It belonged to Leila.

She stepped in front of the car, arms out as she made herself known to Christian, his face morphing from one of mocking joy to complete confusion once he recognized her. “Leila?” He said, shocking everyone, “What the hell are you doing here?”

“I’m here with my daughter.” She looked back at Skylar, swallowing regretfully before saying the words that she had gone years dreading having to say. “Our daughter.”

Skylar’s heart plummeted, the earth feeling unsteady beneath her feet and her blood running cold, so certain that it had to be a bad joke that she almost started laughing. Everyone else’s reactions were no better, ranging from complete shock to bordering on betrayal, but all of them were concerned for Skylar, who could do nothing but stand there and look weakly at her mother.

“But… But how?” She said, “You said that my father was a paranormal!”

“He is. How do you think he can get people to follow him so easily? How do you think he can convince people to damn their souls so easily by giving themselves into depravity and violence?” She looked back at him, a mixture of disgust and sorrow clear on her face. “He’s a siren.”

“What the hell are you talking about?” Christian laughed, narrowing his eyes at the women before snarling when he noticed the pity in her eyes. “Bullshit! I’m nothing like you, I’m not one of you freaks!” He pointed at Skylar, the fury of his gesture making her flinch. “And that thing isn’t my daughter! It never will be!”

“Christian…” Leila took a step forward, clenching her fists. “Don’t do this…”

He put his arms out, stepping back along the road. “It’s already done, you just didn’t know it yet.”

Behind them, Cassandra gasped in horror, hand flying to her mouth and her eyes widening in shock. “No, no no no not now…”

From behind Christian, seemingly from out of nowhere, her brother stepped into view, his face twisted with malicious glee and his hand raised in greeting. “It’s been a long-time sister. I have so been looking forward to this reunion.”

“Aidan, please…” She froze when he snapped his fingers, creatures shambling out of the trees alongside him, all of them in pain and clearly not under their own will. If she was right in what his plans were for them, they likely would never have their own free will ever again.

“I think we’re a little too late for requests, don’t you think sister?” He cracked his neck, hands pulsing with energy at his side. “It’s time that I show you what I’ve been working on all these years!”

The two sides squared themselves, knuckles white and mouths foaming with anger. Guns cocking and fingers swimming with anticipating power. Skylar looked between the two sides, dread growing in her chest and her hands beginning to shake.

“Oh my god…” She whispered, “It’s begun.”