XANDER

I'm confused how Ripley finds time to impersonate Alasdair and run his conference while dealing with the bigger picture.

How long has he been 'Alasdair'?

Whatever, I'm bloody glad I don't have to sit through presentations on the Foundation's history and plans. Although, the new agenda in my life isn't much fun either: discuss how to work effectively with the demon who's usually hell-bent on killing us, and vice versa.

So we gather, wary, in the same meeting room as last night. I refuse to sit as I wait for Joss to arrive with Vee. She says she's okay, but there's something different in her eyes; a sharp response to any noise or suspicion about demons. Her repeated threat she’ll kill them.

Joss is currently talking her down from storming in here and taking out Ripley. We’ve told her to listen first, and she wavers between accepting the situation and disagreeing, in the way I do.

Joss needs to stay by her side.

Joss and Ewan are more suspicious than I am, but then they never sat and heard the story. I also haven't mentioned what Breanna said about Joss; as if she’s aware of something we’re not. Her words tugged at my own fears—I don't want my visions any clearer.

Breanna sits here now, quietly, watching. I can’t decide how close she’s linked to Ripley. I sense she’s her own person, because most demons I come across fawn over Ripley, or are scared for their lives if they say the wrong thing. I’ve tried hard to remember if I’ve seen Breanna before the way Joss says he has, but I can’t find her in my memories.

Ripley sits beside her in the same place at the table, but is dressed down today—jeans and shirt. He wears a warm jacket. Planning a quick getaway? I refuse to hand over our knives as we walk in, and when he accepts this without question, I know the situation is really screwed.

Ewan remains by the door, arms crossed and face dark. He's okay this morning, his injury gone, so at least we know Seth's damage is as temporary as any other supe has managed. Or we hope so; we can’t count on anything. Between us, we've agreed that as soon as the meeting is finished we're leaving for home and deciding where to go.

I'm convinced Seth's next move will be to attack a portal, if opening them is his ultimate plan. But which one?

Logan is here too, at a sensible distance from us. The tall fae regards us all with his usual haughty air, and I fix my gaze on him to express my distrust.

"Where are the other two?" asks Ripley, breaking our silent standoff. "You realise this must be an alliance with the five of you, or I won’t be able to trust you."

Trust. Ha ha. "Joss and Vee will be here soon," I say.

"I’m very interested to meet her." Ripley smiles. "I didn’t get close enough before to shake her hand. To sense what she is."

"Believe me, mate, touching her might not be a good idea." Ewan can’t hide his amused smile at Ripley’s disconcerted look.

"So she just belongs to you? I get that."

"Vee is unique," puts in Heath. "And you know that."

"Okay, can we talk about what we know, while we wait for your friends," puts in Breanna. "I’ve seen some of Seth’s handiwork. The rune on Taron. That was Seth," she says. Not a question—a sure statement.

"Yeah, I'd love to know who Seth was working with on that day, luring the guy there to put on a show for us."

"I heard about Taron's death," says Ripley. "Whoever helped Seth was human. Easily fooled."

Ewan laughs. "A human beat Seth up? The guy hits like a fucking truck."

"I have no explanation, but thought it was important you didn't blame me." Ripley places fingers on his chest.

I don't know whether to believe him, but it's irrelevant whether I do or not. Taron's death has disappeared off the scale of what's important. Poor guy.

"Taron told us Seth was Chaos," Heath says in a low voice. "He pointed at him and bloody said the words! How dumb are we?"

"Well," pipes up Ripley. "You are quite dumb sometimes. You've missed dozens of opportunities to find me, and then the time you did...well, big fat fail."

I straighten. "Don't push your luck, demon."

"Aww, did I hit a sore spot? I have noticed that as War, you're less of a strategist than the last one, and more on the brawn above brains side."

"The last what?" he shoots back. Someone else taunting us that we weren't the first? Of course we bloody know that, but never realised Ripley did too.

"Ignore him," Heath whispers. "He's trying to get a rise out of you."

I pull out a chair and sit opposite Ripley, and stare straight in his face.

"Yeah. I can hit first and ask questions later."

To show what I mean, I take my dagger out and place it on the table.

"Can we drop the testosterone battle and talk about what we're here for?" Breanna's voice is quieter than before, less sure, and that worries me.

"Fine. Let’s talk about the facts we have." Ripley tips his chin at Ewan. "Tell me. You've been at the pointy end of an encounter with Chaos?"

"Yeah."

"And you let him get away."

Ewan mutters something and steps forward, but Heath holds out a hand to stop him and says, "I don't think anybody could stop Seth getting away."

"Where do you think he went? Do you think he's still in Seth's form—the human one, I mean," I ask Ripley.

Ripley looks to Logan. "We spoke about this before. I don't think any of us will find Seth until he decides to show himself. We need to count on Seth having fun with the situation before he finalises his plans."

"We'll find him," says Ewan gruffly. I look around, surprised by his confidence, because mine's gone to hell. "He said he wanted to stop Vee and kill us. I hate to agree with a demon, but yes, before he finishes what he came for, Chaos wants fun."

"Why exactly does he want to do this?" asks Heath. "Why destroy the world by unleashing forces that will devastate the planet and everything living here? That won't leave much for him to rule over."

"He doesn't want to rule. He just wants everything gone." I blink at Ripley’s words. "From what Breanna has deduced so far, he's done this before, to other worlds. There are black holes in space—voids—where once there were planets. This goes beyond other realms. Perhaps he wants to wipe the slate clean and start again."

"How the hell could you know that?" snaps Ewan.

"And how do you know his plan is to open the portals?" adds Heath. "Or is that a guess or convenient thing to tell us so we allow you near the area?"

"Because I have read half a story in a book."

"What book?" asks Joss sharply.

"The Collector isn't the only person Syv collects things for," says Ripley with a chuckle. "He likes to collect trinkets, I like books. I've spent the last couple of years tracking down anything that remotely resembles prophecies, and Breanna has helped me translate them."

"And the Collector may have a book we need," puts in Breanna. "One with ancient magic and information about this whole situation. Seth needs to find this book too, so we need to get to it first. We placed one of the runes into Alasdair's foundation's logo. Have you seen a book containing a matching rune at the Collector’s?"

I glance at Heath and he nods. "Yes."

"Then it's even more important I read that book. Does he have something to decode it?"

"No, we have a friend helping find something that will."

"Syv, I presume?" Ripley says with a chuckle. "Quite a special girl."

"Then let’s hope she find what we need before Seth finds her," replies Breanna.

I blink. Shit, I hadn’t thought about him pursuing her too.

Logan interrupts. "One thing we need to consider while we find this item to translate the text is how to protect the portals, because I’m certain Seth will attack them now. You four—five—cannot do that alone. Myself and Ripley need permission to approach them and have our forces guard without you killing them."

I fight the knee-jerk reaction to tell them to fuck off, because we've spent the last ten bloody years keeping Ripley and others away. So far, we’ve succeeded, as the portals are warded by someone, or something, that came before us.

In between dealing with the demon issue, we spend time checking they're intact or responding to any indications they're under attack. In recent years, few attempts have been made to open them; the Order have other plans inside the human world, and I suspect they're waiting until their foothold is established before launching an all-out attack on the portal leading to their realm.

With the portals spread across continents, we can’t be around all at once, but we're hardwired into them, visions assaulting us with a matching panic if any are touched. So far, no magic exists powerful enough to breach any quickly, giving us time to reach them. Even the ones on other continents. Ripley was close once, the last time we met, and we were close to killing him, but he failed.

Six portals. Six realms. We're aware what lies behind four because the evacuees from the worlds have told us. One, a demon realm linked to the Order, and of course the devastated fae realm. Vampire elders told us one portal leads to a parallel world where vampires rule and are at war with shifters, and the humans are subjugated. The last we know about is an elemental plane, but we’ve only read about that in Joss’s books. I'm not a hundred percent sure exactly what an elemental plane contains, or if anything has crossed through in the past. If they did, they're well-hidden and have zero effect on the human society they now inhabit or avoid.

We have no clue what lies behind the other two.

We’re all aware how opening the portal to the demon realm he came from is one of Ripley’s goals. How can we trust he won’t do that?

This pisses me off the most about the whole thing—having to put my trust into these people. What if this is an elaborate trick and they're in league with Chaos?

Heath answers for me. "If we agree, you can't guard the one you're interested in opening."

"Naturally," says Ripley, and I stare in surprise at his agreement. "I’m happy to deploy people to protect any other portals. I have some military connections, of course."

"Like an army will have a chance against a god!" says Ewan derisively.

He ignores me. "What are the chances of getting Portia onside?" Ripley looks between me and Logan. "You could try between you to persuade her. Together."

My shoulders tense. Together.

"Sure, Logan has plenty to explain to Portia," says Heath, and flicks him a tight smile.

"Yeah, Logan, why don't you tell me about the magic you've been buying?" I ask. "What's that all about?"

I wait for a shocked reaction, pissed off when his usually sneering attitude remains. "Isn't that obvious? I was sure Portia and her court wouldn't help, and I need more powerful fae from elsewhere."

"Who?" asks Heath.

"Those who'll listen. Younger, mostly."

"And you think they can contain the powerful magic Mac gives them?" asks Ewan in a low voice. "What if the magic corrupts them? We could end up with even more shit to deal with."

Logan shrugs. "Ripley can help if the fae troops get out of hand. He's already dealt with some just to put the message across."

"Oh great, so no change to the general murder and mayhem then?" I ask Ripley.

He shoots me a tight-lipped smile. "As of now, I'm not interested in petty politics. But a few lives lost is worth saving more, human or fae."

Again, I wait for Logan's protest, but he's nonplussed. Logan indicates he's siding with Ripley to protect the world, but what about afterwards? What happens to the status quo when we fix this crap and everything returns to normal?

Will everything return to normal, because I'm damn sure that's not happening, whatever the outcome with Seth.

"Do we enlist the other races too?" asks Logan. "Vampires? Shifters?"

Ripley wrinkles his nose. "I'm inclined to say not. The more people involved, the more complicated this becomes. They have little to do with us anyway, so they can remain ignorant."

Ewan makes a derisive noise and adds sarcastically, "Yeah, sure. The vamps and shifters won't find out. Not like Seth will miss an opportunity to stir things up."

"I think the time to rally others has gone, Ewan. Didn't Seth say he's bringing forward his plans? We could have days left. That's why we sort out a strategy today."

"We'll think about it," I growl.

Ripley stands and looks out of the window, fists clenched by his side, and the room descends into a thick, tense silence.

"You realise you don't have the option, Xander," puts in Breanna.

The door behind me clicks open and I sense Joss and Vee enter the room.

"What the fuck?" Logan jumps to his feet and backs away, face transforming into a mask of fear.

I whip my head around, in case Vee's changed her mind and prepared herself to take the room out with powers or weapons.

But she's calm, face curious as her eyes dart from person to person, mouth tightening as her gaze lands on Logan. Joss holds her hand, but he looks more exhausted than when he went to bed last night. Is keeping Vee soothed taking more out of him than we expected?

"What's wrong, Logan?" asks Ripley sharply, turning too. "Do they have weapons; I can't sense any magic."

"Only a huge nuclear one." Logan wraps his arms around himself and shakes his head, closing his eyes before opening them again. They remain filled with fear.

Everybody else's expressions match: mutual confusion.

"Is this Ripley?" asks Vee in a soft voice, pointing at him.

"Okay. Get her out of here." Logan gestures at Vee and looks in desperation at Ripley. "I don't know what the hell she is because I have never seen anything like her before, but if she stays in here, we’re fucked."

Ewan moves closer to Vee, so he and Joss flank her. Vee looks up at Joss, who squeezes her hand tighter.

"I want to help." Vee's voice is soft, and as confused as she looks.

"What can you see, Logan?" asks Ripley, tone sharp.

"Energy. Pure energy. Normally I need to concentrate to see a person's true form, but her... she's nothing. I knew I saw darkness, but this... Her human appearance is just a front for others to see."

I swallow hard and ignore my rising panic. If he's lying, Logan's pulling a fucking great acting job.

"She feels human to me," replies Joss in response to Vee's darkening gaze.

I clench my teeth. This could be my excuse to smack the guy at last. "If you want our help, I suggest you calm down."

Breanna studies each of us in turn. "He's right. If I focus hard I can see yours and the others, Xander, but it's constrained and doesn't burn as brightly as Vee's. I can't see it as readily as Logan, but there's a heat and power from her. Perhaps not quite nuclear though." I scowl as she laughs. This isn't fucking funny.

"Was this in your book?" I snap.

"Super Vee?" Breanna rakes a gaze over her again, then points between us with a slender finger. "No. You are. There's talk of your power, which it seems burns out over time. But Vee’s is different."

The room spins sideways. This was supposed to be a conversation about saving the world, not a headfuck about who we are.

"What do you mean?" asks Heath and stands too.

"I mean, Vee's energy is reversed. Darker." Breanna chews her lips and studies Vee. "The Four Horsemen are here to keep portals closed, so does this mean she’s here to open them?"

Logan straightens. "I fucking knew it! She is here to side with Seth. To destroy you."

"No. That's bullshit. Vee is part of us." Ewan jabs a finger at Breanna. "This demon is only saying these things to keep us worried enough to help you, Ripley."

"Oh, I see and know more than you realise. That's why Ripley has enlisted me. I thought Truth would be a way to defend the portals from Chaos, perhaps even kill him, or maybe she's more."

"Stop this," snaps Ewan. "This is the wrong way to get our help."

Vee speaks up softly and points at the trio wanting to ally with us. "I sense you'd rather I was dead? Funnily enough, I'd like to kill you too."

"Vee!" hisses Joss and pulls her closer.

"What? If they're putting their cards on the table, I am too." She pauses. "I'm telling you all the truth."

"Yes, but what are you, Truth?" asks Logan. "Are you going to bring the apocalypse your lovers were sent to stop?"

Vee stares back, unblinking, and I will her to deny his suggestion.

"I don't know."

As she says the words, her eyes widen and she places her free hand on her chest before gasping.

"Vee?" Ewan reaches out to take hold of her other arm and I push my chair back, as does Heath, ready to prevent or help whatever the fuck is about to happen.