Fuck, Fuck, Fuck, Fuck. I couldn't stop the internal roller coaster running through me as I stared at the orange haired beauty with aqua, ocean eyes – that same pair of eyes that were now staring blankly at me.

I remembered our night together; her admission of having the gift she assumed was due to past generations of psychic tellers running in her family which prevented her from touching things or people with her bare hands. She wasn't a shifter – if she was, it would be much easier to tell that her gift was foresight; a rare trait to have especially at the level of inducing visions by touch.

Most individuals with this skill either caught glimpses or fractions of a scene that would occur in the near future. To be able to fully immerse yourself into the past and witness events with enough ability to draw or write them out was unheard of in years.

I had so many questions, wishing Kendrick was here so I could inquire about how strong Scarlet's gift was. I’d never been in this kind of a situation.

I was touched that she was willing to tell me about her gift; this revelation helped me make this examination easier for her. Well, until Ethan fucked up.

Now, with this change of events, I had no idea how her body reacted from these visions or what her visions portrayed. It was only a blessing in disguise that I'd walked into the club that evening, in desperate need to let loose after working on this case – attempting to catch this mass murderer for months.

I would have never imagined meeting Scarlet Sinclair; the girl with beautiful eyes and hips that don't lie. She could swing them back and forth, both on the dance floor and beneath the bed sheets.

I wasn't the type to fall in love quickly, but Scarlet was doing things to my body, and I'd only been with her for seven hours total. Her voice was addicting, like a habit that was hard to break.

When I saw her name on the recruitment list, recommended by Kendrick himself, I didn't hesitate to say yes; the action was greeted by five shocked pairs of eyes during our update rounds.

Now, my heart was affected by the growing anxiety and fear building within as I stared at the woman who was currently in a trance-like state for ten minutes, and my limit had just been reached. I placed my hands on her shoulders before giving her a light shake.

"SCAR." I raised my voice slightly, hoping the louder tone was enough to snap her out of it.

She blinked; her eyes met mine as she stared with purpose. My hand slid from her shoulders as I moved back to give her space. Whatever she'd foreseen must have been long or valuable if she was taking this long to recover.

Her eyes did a 180-degree scan, before they landed between Christian and I.

"Scarlet?" I called out. It had been a while since I'd heard a hint of worry in my voice. I always kept my upfront appearances solid. In this field, there was no room for emotions. Those were only allowed out when I was alone.

"Maybe we should take her to the emergency room?" Ethan proposed.

"Did you forget what I can do? And she's in a dazed state. Like some type of trance?" Michael announced.

"Is this what Kendrick was worried about?" Christian asked.

"Yes. It's her gift." I replied.

I hadn't had time to give the team all the information regarding Scarlet and her gift, not even I knew all the information.

I'd only received the phone call from Kendrick ten minutes before Scar had called me, explaining that Scar should keep her gloves on for the investigation. So much for following orders.

"What is she staring at?" Michael questioned.

I tracked her fixed stare, looking over my shoulder to see the stack of blank paper we'd discovered upstairs in the attic.

It may have been blank sheets of white paper, but I didn't want to leave an inch unchecked and one sheet of evidence could potentially be hidden in the pile. It was one of those perfect hiding spots killers used.

"Christian, grab those sheets of paper and pen. Be quick." I ordered.

He was up and moving so quickly, I questioned if he used his gift of speed – it was one of many he possessed.

He knelt down, presenting a stack of blank paper and a pen to Scarlet who looked like she was having a slow reaction time.

She looked down to the sheets, blinking a few times before reaching out and taking the items – her hand began to dart across the page.

We all gasped as images in immense detail appeared on the full sheet of paper within seconds. Her hand never drew longer than two minutes on a page before it was flicked away as her focus moved on to the next set of scenes. Michael and Junho, who were positioned next to Christian began to collect them. Junho put them in order as Michael did quick scans of the sketches.

Another ten minutes flew by before her trembling hand, which was stained with the pen ink, stopped with the final stroke of the pen – her eyes stared at the image before words escaped her lips.

"Dark times are approaching, and you, Xerxes, are nothing but a chess piece in this brewing war."

My heart skipped a beat at the mention of Xerxes – our primary suspect and connected to multiple homicides and tragedies occurring across the country. With all the arrows pointing in his direction and enough evidence to get his ass judged and executed after years of solitude and torture, he walked the streets as a free man because we couldn't place one piece of evidence to his blood.

Out of all my years as a private investigator, this had been the most frustrating five of my life thanks to him. Now, a woman who knew nothing of him, pronounced his name fluently with such familiarity that you'd think she'd known who he was.

Before I could ask her to repeat it, her eyes rolled back as she leaned to the side. Myself, Christian and Ethan reached out to her, stopping her from slamming into the ground again. She'd hit her head hard enough after saving the crystal ball which was one of our vital pieces of evidence. With this new development, that crystal ball may have revealed what had happened here.

I pulled Scar into my arms; her head fell lightly to my chest with the help of Ethan.

Christian aligned her legs to lie straight before Michael gave him the sheets of paper, moving to face Scarlet; his hand began to glow.

I looked up to his gold eyes, shining lightly before dimming. His glowing hand hovered over her, starting from her head and slowly making its way to her feet; moving back upward till it stopped at her head.

"She hit her head hard enough to cause bruising. I can heal her, but not here. Garbage duty is approaching, and we need to be out of here before the next team arrives." He explained, before the glow vanished; the light that emitted from his hand faded away.

Thank the gods for giving Michael the gift of healing. That had been a big help a few times; this current situation being another one.

"Um, am I the only who’s totally confused as to what's going on?" Ethan questioned.

"Questions later. Let's gather what we can and get Scar somewhere safe enough to heal her." Junho encouraged as he rose to his feet, already moving and slipping gloves on as he approached the table and gathered our prime evidence.

"Kendrick’s going to be pissed." I mumbled.

"Kendrick knows about her gift?" Christian questioned, taking a final glance at Scarlet before rising and moving to gather the files on the table. I was about to answer when my phone rang – the sound muffled from my pants pocket.

Michael shuffled to my side, pulling the device out of my pocket, knowing my hands were full. He slid his thumb across the screen, before placing it to his ear.

"Cece we can...what? Um...okay, fine, fine. Stop yelling."

Michael scrunched his face before placing the phone against my ear.

"Cece not –"

"What happened?"

"What?"

"Where's Scar." She questioned, her voice, toneless.

"She...Cece, this isn't the time."

"Let me guess. Scarlet somehow got a vision during your investigation, and you’re probably the only one not freaking out as to what to do."

"How do you…I'm not even going to ask. And only Ethan’s freaking out."

"I'm not fucking freaking out." He yelled before a loud crash followed.

I sighed; Michael pinched his nose as he sighed. Junho turned to face the kitchen, moving quickly to the doorway.

"Yup. You're totally freaking out. You become a complete klutz when you panic. Let me help." Junho announced before disappearing into the kitchen.

"ANYWAYS, Cece I'll call you back."

"No, you won't. I'll be there in thirty seconds."

"What do you mean you–" I began but the phone went off. Michael pulled the phone away, staring at the screen.

"She hung up. What did she say?" He questioned.

"That's she's going to be here in thirty seconds." I replied.

"Ten actually." Christian commented, placing all the documents in a small suitcase we stored important documents in.

"She doesn't even know where we are." Michael argued. Ethan and Junho returned with the remaining equipment.

"There's no way she'll–"

The door flew open – Cece emerged from the doorway as the sunlight shone behind her. You have got to be fucking kidding me.

She stormed into the room; Vinzent closed the door behind them. He walked up to us right as Cece knelt down; her eyes scanned Scarlet's appearance.

Her eyes stopped at the blood that dripped from Scarlet’s wound; those eyes clouded with silver, and I thought they would strike us down with lightening. She remained silent for another minute before she rose.

Vinzent looked at Scarlet; his eyes grew wide for a moment before he gave us a look. I knew that look. It was the "you guys are so fucking screwed" look.

"You have ten seconds to explain to me why my best friend is unconscious, gloveless and bleeding from her head." She said smoothly, her deadpan tone made us shiver. I didn’t know if it was out of fear or the thought of dealing with her shifter side. I hadn’t met her, but from Christian’s description of her, she wasn’t someone you wanted to mess with.

"Cece –" Vinzent began but she glared, silencing him.

"Scarlet's gloves got dusty and she took them off, and then I accidentally bumped into her which knocked the crystal ball over, and Scarlet caught it and face planted the floor before going into a weird dazed state and drawing a fucking manga book and passed out before I freaked out and you magically arrived." Ethan confessed; the words spilled out so fast I questioned if Cece got it all.

She blinked before nodding.

"Got it. Now, instead of us playing house, let's get Scarlet some treatment and sit down and talk about how we're going to explain all of this to her when she wakes up." She announced.

"Wait! WHAT? We're going to tell her. Like, TELL her, tell her? She's human. We can't reveal ourselves. We just met her." Ethan argued.

"Shut that anxiety in a corner, Ethan, we don't have a fucking choice. Unless Scar hit her head so hard that she doesn't remember anything, we better tell her, or gods help us all if Scarlet begins to freak out."

I rose to my feet, lifting Scarlet in a secure hold.

"What happens when Scarlet freaks out?" Christian asked.

"Shit happens, Christian. Nothing good comes out of a situation when Scarlet gets mad or emotionally imbalanced. Now move!" She ordered; her arms gestured to the exit.

Fuck, this is going to be complicated.

We took Scarlet to my place, which was the closest to the school and our office.

Michael, Cece and I went to my place while the others reluctantly made their way to the office to review and continue with the case. With the new evidence Scar found and her detailed sketches, we had a major advantage towards catching Xerxes red-handed.

Michael held the door to my master bedroom. I walked straight to my black and white king-sized bed, laying Scar gently on the black sheets, making sure her head was aligned properly on the pillow. I didn't know how bad the bruising was and wanted to prevent any increase in pressure to the bruised area on her right side.

Michael was already next to me, getting to work; his eyes emitted a gold light once more.

I stepped back to give him some space; Cece walked to my side as we watched him work.

"How did you know where we were?" I questioned, giving her a side glance before my eyes returned to watch Michael.

"I have my ways. You'll find Scarlet usually gets herself into sticky situations without even trying. Always gotta keep an eye on her." Cece admitted, crossing her arms.

After five minutes, Michael was finished. He rose to his feet, moving out of the way to show us his handy work.

Scarlet looked peaceful as her chest rose and fell in a slow rhythm. The large bruise on the right side of her temple had now gone; the wound and blood no longer there.

Her skin looked vibrant with color and her calm, sleeping demeanor was enough to regulate my heart back to its regular speed. Thank the gods.

"She just needs some sleep. I used a bit of magic on her, so she'll probably sleep throughout the afternoon or even till tomorrow morning. She's human so I can't estimate the after effects of my magic on her." Michael explained, wiping the sweat off his face.

"You okay?" I questioned.

Michael's gift to heal was a blessing but the downside was it took a great toll on his body. He already looked pale, and his breathing was faster than usual.

"I'm fine, just a little tired." He admitted. I frowned before taking a step forward to press my hand on his shoulder.

"Go take a power nap. The others can deal with narrowing down the findings and fill you in later. I'll wake you up if anything comes up."

He glanced at Scarlet for a moment before returning my gaze, nodding.

"Okay. But if anything happens with Scarlet wake me up immediately." He urged.

"Yup, I will." I reassured him.

He nodded to me and Cece, before leaving the room.

"He's gonna be knocked out for seven hours." Cece commented.

"How do...should I even ask?" I questioned.

I knew when Michael napped it meant six hours or more. Actual sleeping would probably be a full day, if it wasn't for our crazy work schedule. Michael just loved to sleep.

She smirked before her eyes went back to Scarlet; her concern for her best friend evident.

"How did you know Scarlet was in trouble?" I questioned.

I'd known Cece long enough to realize, she would only answer questions she wanted to answer. If she did answer, it was usually short and vague. Would this be one of them?

"I just know." She replied, shrugging.

"Cece. Does she know what you are?" I turned to face her, crossing my arms as I gave her a stern look.

"She doesn't know...but something is going on with Scar." She whispered, staring at Scarlet before she returned her attention to me, frowning. I raised my eyebrow.

"What do you mean something’s going on? I thought Kendrick said her visions are normal."

"They are normal for her, but the whole psychic family mojo-jojo is a lie. Scarlet isn't a part of a family full of psychics. It's just her." She revealed.

"What? Does she..." I began but trailed off as Cece shook her head.

"Her auntie, or should I say, her mom’s best friend, didn't have the heart to tell her. Scarlet got her powers a few months before her Mother's murder. She was already dealing with so much. Not to mention she had a vision...she saw her mother’s dead body in the snow." Cece explained, sadness reflected in her blue-green eyes.

"How old was she?" I couldn't even imagine how that would feel like.

When you looked at Scarlet, all you saw was a girl full of life. You'd never expected her to have a tragic past. But who was I to assume? No one would guess how dark my past was from one simple glance, either.

"Five. She pretended that she was fine...but behind closed doors, it broke her. She still has a box filled with stuff from her mom in her vanity. The nightmares have stopped, thankfully." Cece explained.

"What about her dad?" I asked. “She must have had a father.”

I noticed her eyes darken as she frowned; anger blossomed in the lines of her face.

"That piece of cheating shit was nothing but a burden to Scarlet – an alcoholic. I don’t know the details of what he’d done to Marilyn, but Scarlet did mention he used to beat her Mom. He’d only hit Scarlet once. That’s the same day her Auntie walked in on it all after Scar commented on the beatings. She hadn't believed her, so she came home early one night to check. What a surprise that was to walk into. After he was caught red-handed, he disappeared. We found out later he was living with his mistress. As for her auntie, she stayed for a couple of months…but eventually, she left too, leaving Scarlet alone.”

I opened my mouth to say something – anything, but I couldn't. I already could feel the anger boiling within my blood.

I looked at Scarlet who rolled over, mumbling something and falling back to sleep. The simple thought of her being abandoned at such an age, angered me. I could only imagine what a lonely childhood she must have experienced.

"So...did Scarlet's mom know why Scarlet began having visions?" I questioned.

"Yes..." Cece replied. I gave her a look.

"Then?" I questioned, wanting to know.

"I'm working on it. Her mother never told anyone, including her own mother, Scar’s paternal grandmother. Her auntie knows about our existence. It was already confirmed that Scarlet is not a shifter. She's never heard voices in her head or anything. She's not like us. But..." Cece explained before stopping.

"But?" I pressed. I needed all the information I could obtain from Cece, now that she was talking, especially if it involved Scarlet. I don't know when I got so attached to her, but I wanted to protect her in any way I could. That required information.

"She saw my other form."

"How? Did you shift?" My eyes wide with confusion. No one could see our form without us shifting. No human, anyways.

"Nope. It was when she returned from your play date. She said her eyes were bothering her, and apparently, she saw my red horns. She almost fainted, and I told her she must have been tired and needed sleep. She tried to bring it up, but I brushed it off. She didn’t question me after that." Cece walked to the black chair in the corner of my room, sitting down.

She crossed her legs before resting her elbows on her knees, as she went deep into thought – her head rested in her hands as she stared aimlessly.

"Anything else?" I questioned.

"Scarlet...bad things happen when Scarlet gets angry."

"Bad things like she breaks a glass or whips wind at people?" I questioned. It was common for shifters to accidentally use their gifts when in a rage or imbalance of emotions, but then again, Scarlet was human.

"No. Bad things as in the weather can be sunny one moment and a F3 tornado can appear out of fucking nowhere the next, bad. Scarlet's emotions affect the weather or elements. She hasn't gotten that mad since she was seven and that was strong enough to destroy their old house and everything within five blocks. Thankfully, no one was hurt but it was really bad. That's when Scarlet's paternal grandma came over to be with her for a bit and told her not to get angry or people can get hurt." I frowned at her explanation.

"How can anyone expect a child not to act out? Did it work?" I could only imagine a little girl with beautiful eyes and bright orange hair discovering she can only be happy, even if she's sad or in pain. She can never be anything but happy or bad things will happen. It sounded unrealistic for a child or even teenager to follow.

"No, she couldn’t help it. With the bullying, the loneliness, the yearly reminder of her mother’s murder. There was no way she could possibly close off her emotions. There were a few more incidents in her childhood and early teens, but Scar eventually realized her emotions could potentially hurt people. Once she understood that, there were no more incidents. She still thinks it's her fault that her mother was murdered. Even at this age she still blames herself for the tragedy." Cece admitted, sighing.

We remained silent for a moment as I gathered the information in my head. I really want to know more about her, but I think I should ask her myself.

"So, Scarlet gets visions and her emotions can activate elements to do her bidding, yet she's human, and she's not a witch?" I proposed. We didn't have many witches in the shifter or paranormal community anymore. We only knew one and she traveled a lot, so much that it was difficult to get her to stay in one place for long.

"Nope. No witch magic in her blood." Cece replied. I raised my eyebrow at her.

"Cece. How long have you known Scarlet for?"

"As in how long have I known her personally? Five years, fourteen days, seven hours, six minutes and seven seconds." She replied. I blinked.

"You've known her before that?"

"Maybe yes, maybe no. No one but Scarlet will ever know." She sang as she rose to her feet; her usual happy mood returned. I groaned.

"You’re seriously full of secrets." I mumbled.

"I'm full of secrets because it keeps everyone I love safe, Jaxson. Scarlet doesn't deserve to get caught up in my problems." Cece walked to the door.

"Where are you –" I began as I watched her open the door.

"Meow."

What the...

"Whose cat is that?" I watched the blue-eyed cat blink up at me before running to the bed, jumping onto the sheets and walking onto Scarlet. She rolled over, mumbling something before relaxing. The cat snuggled itself next to her face before relaxing; its tail waved back and forth. I noticed a soft smile form on Scarlet’s lips as she slept.

"That is Moonlight, Scar's cat. She sleeps better when he's around." Cece explained.

"How did he...why do I even ask?" I huffed as Cece giggled.

"I don't know why you ask either, haha. Now, let's go." I gave her a confused look.

"Go where? And we can't leave Scarlet." I didn't like the idea of leaving her alone. Even if my house was safe with extra security measures put in place, I didn't want to take my eyes off her unless I knew she was okay.

"She'll be fine. Moonlight's there and she won't wake up for another five hours. I'll be back before then. Now start moving before Kendrick gets mad." She urged, walking out the door.

"We're leaving a cat to protect Scarlet and what does Kendrick have to do with anything? He hasn't called us."

"Moonlight is no ordinary cat." She winked as she walked into the living room. I looked back at the cat who opened his eyes to stare at me. I'm leaving her with a cat...gods help me.

I closed the door, pressed the lock code, and made sure the door was locked. I had an app on my phone that would notify me if anyone entered from the outside. I walked into my massive living room, noticing Michael who sat on the couch, passed out.

Cece placed one of my blankets, which I had no idea how she knew where it was, on Michael before turning to face me.

"Kendrick’s going to call you in two minutes. I suggest we go outside, unless you want to bring Michael along." She whispered.

I took a glance at Michael who looked peaceful sleeping on my black sofa. I sighed.

"Let him sleep. He's tired." I walked to the door; Cece's heels clicked lightly on the black hardwood. By the time we reached the first floor my phone began to vibrate; the melody roared to life.

“Hello.” I answered.

“Agent Jaxson. It’s Kendrick. Just curious as to how Scarlet's exam went.” I stayed quiet for a moment, not being used to Kendrick's professional tone.

“Um...good afternoon, Sir. Scarlet did well.” I replied, not knowing how to inform him about what happened.

“Is she there?" He questioned.

“No."

"Where is she, Jaxson?” He questioned; his voice low and stern.

I sighed, knowing I wasn't going to get away with lying.

“She's asleep.”

“Asleep?”

“She removed her gloves because there was dust all over them, and it was causing her to sneeze. Ethan tripped, yet again, crashing into Scarlet who bumped into a piece of furniture that had vital evidence. Scarlet caught it, and they both crashed to the ground, and she hit her head hard. She saved the evidence but went straight into vision mode and drew everything on multiple sheets of paper before passing out. Michael healed her and now they're both KO'd at my place. Oh, and her cat's here." I explained, making sure he knew the fur-ball was at my place.

Didn't know what difference it would make, but couldn't leave any information out when it came to Kendrick. There was a moment of silence before he sighed.

"Sir. Before you say anything, Scarlet didn't do anything wrong. In fact, she may have found key evidence for the case. I just don't want you to get upset with her or put her exam in jeopardy." I defended.

"I know Jaxson. How about you gather your team and meet me at my office at headquarters. Let Michael sleep, as long as Moonlight's there, him and Scar should be fine." He replied.

"Why are you guys so confident over a cat?" I questioned. He laughed.

"I'm gonna assume Cece's with you. Tell her to come along. " He continued.

"Uh, sure." I replied, glancing at Cece who was staring at the glass windows. She looked deep in thought, her expressions alternating from time to time.

"Alright. See you soon." He ended the call. I stared at my phone before looking up at Cece who stared at me

"Ready to go? I already texted the boys. They'll be there."

"When did...never mind. Let's go." I replied, shaking my head as I passed by her, pulling my keys out. I could already see the smug smile on her face from the corner of my eye.

Demons...

The silence in the stuffy room began to get on my nerves; my index finger anxiously tapped my bicep as I relaxed in my seat with my arms crossed.

“Any questions?” Kendrick proposed, leaning against his desk as he looked around the room.

We were now in his office at PINC Headquarters. I looked around the room. I sat right in the middle, Ethan and Junho on my left while Christian and Cece were on my right as we faced Kendrick Hartwell, the boss of our team at PINC. Everyone in the agency knew his professor job was merely an alibi to be closer to the headquarters and easier to blend in. I just didn't know how close he was to Scarlet until now.

"Wait a minute. So, let me just sum this up. Scarlet is an Ace at Mc. Ryerson who has the gift of sight but is a fucking human? Not to mention that small, minor detail, her gift is so strong she's worn gloves to prevent her from getting visions her entire attendance at school and was assigned to us for her final exam. So, that’s why after saving the crystal ball she went into vision mode and went all zombie on us before passing out after drawing fifty pages of the most detailed artistry I've seen, since Kai Akiyama's work, in less than ten minutes." Ethan said in a matter of one minute. Kendrick opened his mouth to answer till he raised his hand up to continue.

"Not finished. So, Michael's at Jaxson’s place with Scarlet and they're both asleep, meaning no one is watching them, but a CAT! Like a C.A.T? Isn't that giving anyone other than myself warning signs?" Ethan asked.

"Well, he's a pretty good cat." Cece pointed out.

"Could scratch the living daylights out of someone." Christian commented.

"Cats are very protective when they want to be." Junho noted.

"Moonlight won't let anyone hurt Scarlet." Kendrick pointed out.

"The door is locked, and Michael can defend himself. My condo’s safe enough." I reminded.

“So, everyone, but myself, is fine with a CAT protecting not one, but TWO unconscious people,” Ethan confirmed.

“Yeah.” We all nodded in agreement. Ethan groaned.

“I think we're gonna have to tell them everything from the beginning. Plus, we need a backup plan just in case Scarlet wakes up and we need to explain. I don't think we can keep the whole paranormal thing a secret much longer." Cece admitted. We all frowned.

Kendrick nodded, walking around his desk before sitting down.

"Why don't we start from the beginning?"