“Enzo?” I ask, hearing him talking to me, or maybe he’s talking to someone else, but everything is blurry as I just about croak out his name.

“Take it easy, I'm here, Crowe,” he says, his voice soothing as I feel a finger tuck a piece of my hair behind my ear as I blink my eyes open. The room is bright with the artificial lights on the ceiling, and everything looks so white. From the white walls to the white sheets I'm tucked into.

“What happened?” I ask, turning my head to the side of the bed where Enzo is sitting watching me. He looks worn out, with big dark bags under his eyes, his hair looks like someone has rubbed their fingers through it a million times and his clothes are wrinkled.

“Do you not remember?” he asks me, taking my hand in his and squeezing tightly as everything comes back to me in fast flashes. Verity using her air mark on me and Kelly. Kelly's face turning blue, her eyes panicked, the feeling of suffocating.

“You're okay, relax, Crowe,” Enzo says, but I can't stop thinking about the pain. The feeling of being so desperate to live, the twelfth power taking over without me calling it and how it burned each one of my marks. It hurt so much, my marks still feel sore from it as I feel them on my body. Enzo leans over me, pulling my head to face him and kisses me. I'm in shock for a second as he moves his lips against my own frozen ones, before I relax into the sweet kiss and return it.

“Get out of that head and be with me, Crowe. I will keep you safe, I'm never going to let you down again,” he promises me when he stops the kiss, but he keeps his lips close to mine. Our eyes are locked together and I feel, the promise in them. I feel everything as I stare at him, the emotion, the pain of nearly losing me, the anger and something else I can't even think of. Let alone say out loud, so I just stare into his dark eyes, wanting to get lost in the darkness of them.

“Enzo,” I whisper and he grins.

“So speechless that you can only say my name? I like that look on you,” he grins and makes me chuckle a little as he pulls away, but stays by my side. He pulls his phone out, texting away as I begin to ask questions.

“Where is Kelly, is she okay?”

“Recovering still, but awake and demanding to see you,” he says, “Ryan has practically locked her in the room until the healers say it’s safe for her to get up.” I smile at the idea of anyone stopping Kelly from seeing me, much like I want to see her, and would if every part of my body didn’t hurt. I actually don't think I could get up off the bed without face planting the floor.

“And Verity?” I ask, hoping that she hasn't just gotten away with it. Enzo's face clouds over in anger as he spits out.

“Locked up, and she won't be getting out anytime soon.”

“Miss Crowe,” Mr Daniels breathes out in relief when he slams into the room. He doesn't look any better than Enzo does, with his rumpled clothes and pale face. His hair is messy, but it’s still a sexy mess, and he doesn't move as he stares at me.

“Mr Daniels,” I say softly, and Enzo looks between us before standing up. Enzo leans over me, kissing me lightly before whispering.

“I'm going to find you some food and you two should get rid of all the secrets. Talk about why he protects Verity,” he says, shocking me into silence. He leans away and walks out the room, patting Mr Daniels’ shoulder and the two of them seem to have some kind of silent conversation. Mr Daniels shuts the door behind Enzo and walks over to me as I pull myself up on the bed a little.

“Do you want a drink, Miss Crowe?” he asks me and I nod.

“I asked you to call me Kenzie,” I say as I watch him pour me a glass of water and bring it over, sitting on the edge of the bed.

“I remember, I don't think I will ever forget when you asked me that,” he says as I take a deep drink, and then place the glass on the side.

“How are you feeling?” he asks me, his green eyes seem to be accessing my every move.

“Honestly, a little sore, but I’m more worried about Kelly, and I’m feeling like I never want to see Verity again or I'm going to try and kill her,” I tell him honestly, and he looks down at the ground. I expected him to argue with me, try and convince me she’s all rainbows and sunshine but he doesn't.

“Did you know we had two dads? I believe Verity is my half-sister, but as you know in our world, that means very little,” he tells me.

“Same with me and Ryan, I don't think he is Alaric’s son. He has my other dad's eyes, and he doesn't look much like me or him,” I reply.

“I agree,” Mr Daniels replies.

“You’re still trying to save your sister, aren't you?” I ask him.

“I'm trying to save the little girl I remember. The girl who played with dolls, who loved dogs, and who I used to watch movies with every Sunday after dinner,” he replies sadly.

“That isn't her anymore,” I say gently. “She isn't that sweet girl, she’s pure evil now.”

“I know,” he says, and I reach up to place my hand on his arm. He catches it, bringing it to his lips, and kissing the back of it slowly before looking up at me.

“At some point, I realised I had lost her, but I still couldn't admit it to myself. I just kept repeating the same thing in my head, that she will choose to be good in the end. That she won't betray me...but then she hurt you. The woman she knows how much I fucking care about...and she still did that. Even if you were a stranger, she shouldn't have done that,” he says angrily, and kissing my hand once more.

“She didn't care when she hurt me and Kelly, she liked the power,” I tell him, remembering the look in her eyes.

“I didn't know how far gone she was until I saw you in here, and her smiling when I visited her just now. She isn't sorry, not one part of her is,” he says.

“I'm sorry, and I'm sorry that you can’t save her. Just like I don't know if I can save Ryan, I think Verity may have changed him too much,” I admit, biting my lip.

“I'm losing everything, first my parents, now my sister and—” he starts to list but I lift my hand out of his and place a finger against his lips.

“You won't lose me,” I say and move my hand as he goes to say something else, but the door is opened.

“Mackenzie, how good it is to see you awake,” Alaric says as he walks into the room, pausing to look between me and Mr Daniels.

“Daniels, you are needed in room sixteen,” he snaps out.

“Of course I am,” he replies as he stands. He heads for the door and turns looking at me over his shoulder. “I will come see you later, Kenzie.”

“I'll see you later then,” I reply, giving an awkward half-wave. Turning to Alaric I narrow my eyes. “What do you want?”

“Is that any way to greet your father, Mackenzie?” he asks.

“Not really, it's a good thing the three of them aren't here,” I retort.

“None of them are your actual father though, are they?” he questions.

“They all are. Leave me alone,” I snap.

“And here I was thinking you were finally coming around,” he drawls, stepping around the bed to look at my chart.

“Well, almost being killed by your little psycho soldier doesn't exactly help your cause.” I cross my arms and try to sit up straighter, not wanting to relax around him.

“Verity has overstepped and will be handled,” he says plainly.

“Handled?” I echo questioningly.

“She has her talents, of course, but she is proving too much of a risk. There's really no other choice,” he replies, as if it's obvious.

“You don't mean...?” I ask, trailing off, too horrified to finish the sentence.

“Well, we will have to make it appear an accident. Daniels wouldn't be pleased about little sister being removed. I have a plan that will take him away from the compound tonight in order to ensure it runs smoothly,” he explains.

“Why are you telling me this?” I ask, dumbfounded.

“Because you have no love for that girl, I'm sure. And I need to assure you that your safety is paramount to all of us here.” I can't keep in the laugh at that comment. “Something funny, Mackenzie?”

“Yeah, that you think I'm stupid enough to believe any of this,” I reply, rolling my eyes.

“Well, when Verity is gone tomorrow, then you will believe,” he says firmly, crossing the room back to the door.

“Going so soon?” I call sarcastically.

“I will check in on you later, Mackenzie,” he calls back as he leaves.