Darkness. Light. When you’re unconscious for long enough the two start to blend together until you can’t tell which is which anymore. Claire had spent the last two days like that, fading in and out and getting only brief glimpses of the room where she was being kept, a makeshift IV in her arm and an angry looking young man watching over her every minute of every day.

“If I’m going to die already, can we just get it over with?” She didn’t have much in the way of conversational partners, so she had to settle for yelling questions into the void and hoping that the echo sounded like an answer. It never did, but she couldn’t fault herself for trying.

The periods where she could see the outside world were increasing in frequency, sometimes able to spend minutes at a time looking around and comforting herself by seeing something that wasn’t complete darkness. Even if it was a garish yellow wallpaper or… “Oh,” She thought, “He’s really cute.”

---

“You can see why I’m having a tough time believing I should let you do this right?” Cayden looked at Iggy critically, arms crossed and a frown on his face. For his part the vampire only shrugged.

“You need someone to watch over her in case she wakes up, who better than someone who doesn’t need sleep?”

“You don’t need sleep?” Michael said, pointing at the kitchen. “Then why’d you tell me to make lunch while you rested up?”

“I don’t need sleep, that doesn’t mean I’m not lazy.” He turned back to Cayden, his eyes lingering on Claire’s resting form for a second. “Come on, what you were saying really hit me. She was a friend of yours, I know I haven’t known you very long but for you to defend her so much must mean she’s the real deal. I want a chance to show you that I can be trusted.”

“And you think that to do that I should put you in charge of the safety of the person that you obviously hate, no matter what you say?”

“Exactly! What better way to find out, right?”

“Kid, just be honest.”

Iggy sighed, throwing his hands up in exasperation. “Alright fine, if she turns out to be trouble I want first go at trying to kill her.”

“She’ll probably wipe the floor with you but… You know what? Fine. If it means that you stop talking about it and let me eat my sandwich in peace you can knock yourself out.”

“Great!” Iggy started to take a seat at the table before Cayden held his hand out.

“Uh-uh, you need to go eat over there.” He pointed over to the bed, a seat placed at Claire’s side. “You wanted to keep watch on her right? I want you to be thorough, twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week if you need to.”

Iggy opened his mouth to protest, closing it quickly when Cayden looked as though he had another condition on the tip of his tongue. “Fine, just let me grab my sandwich…”

Which was how Iggy came to be sitting here, elbows on his knees and leaning towards Claire, watching her face for any sign of movement or life, anything that was a chance for something to break the monotony.

Cayden for his part seemed to be having the time of his life, sometimes throwing little pieces of paper at Iggy’s back before turning and pretending he hadn’t done anything. “Why are you being such an idiot?” Farah had asked him once, both of them forgetting that Iggy could hear an animal’s heartbeat from half a mile away, a whispered conversation was no challenge at all for him to listen in on.

“It’s fun,” Cayden had replied, “It’s like having a brother, I’ve never really had anyone that I could just annoy with nothing bad happening.”

Liam had snorted from his seat, not looking up from his book. “I can tell you right now that is not true.”

“The not having anyone to annoy part or the nothing bad happening part?”

“Pick one.”

It wasn’t all bad however, Cayden or one of the others occasionally stopped by with a pack of cards, eager to pass the time themselves while they waited for Claire to wake up. Cayden was surprisingly easy to predict, so was Leah, but the more he played with the others the more he was surprised by their tells.

In the case of Skylar and Leila they didn’t have any, which made any victory he gained against them more a matter of luck than anything else. He could see why Sky had such a dedicated group of friends around her, speaking to her was one of the easiest things he could do. He wouldn’t say that he had a crush on her but…

Something was wrong, and he couldn’t figure out what. It wasn’t anything major, like a glass of water crashing to the ground, or the ground starting to vibrate, or a truckload of hunters thundering down the road towards them. This just felt like… He was being watched.

“Oh.” He said, finally looking at Claire’s face for the first time in hours. The same face that had its eyes wide open and staring into his own, dried lips working fruitlessly until they managed to croak out one word.

“Water.”

“Uh, hey!” He shouted over his shoulder, getting Farah’s attention. “She’s awake!”

---

“Hey mom? Can I talk to you about something?” Skylar stared at her mother’s back, Leila framed by the setting sun and looking out at the wilderness. She turned around with a small smile, nodding at Skylar.

“Of course, what did you want to talk about?”

Skylar tapped her toes against the dirt, the topic suddenly a lot harder to bring up than she thought it would be. “Actually… I wanted to talk to you about the night that you were being controlled.”

The smile faded slightly, but didn’t fully disappear, Leila actually looked like she’d been expecting to have this conversation sooner or later. Not exactly looking forward to it but expecting it nonetheless.

“Alright,” She said, “Let’s go take a seat somewhere more private, I don’t exactly want to announce all of this to the entire world.”

Nodding, Skylar followed her along towards the set of seats in the motel courtyard, the two of them taking a seat and waiting for the other to start talking. “So, do you want me to just start talking about everything? Or did you have some more specific questions you wanted to ask me?”

“I was wondering about what it felt like, being controlled by someone else.” She shuddered, “I can’t imagine what it’s like for something like that to happen to you.”

“No,” Leila replied simply, “No you can’t. No one can, not until it happens to them. I’ll spend the rest of my life hoping and fighting to make sure that it doesn’t happen to any of you, I wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy.”

“Are you alright?” Skylar reached across the table, taking Leila’s hands in her own. “We don’t have to talk about this if you don’t want to, I was just being curious. It’s stupid…”

“No, it’s not.” Leila smiled, running her thumb along Skylar’s knuckles. “You’re my daughter, it makes sense that you need to find out answers even if the timing isn’t the best.”

Leila wrung her hands together, trying to calm the sudden trembling that had taken them over. She chuckled, somewhat shakily, “I’m sorry I… It’s not something that I’ve thought about in a very long time.”

“Take your time…” Skylar laid her hand on her shoulder, looking at her with all the earnestness that she could gather. “I mean it, however long it takes, I can wait.”

She took a slow breath, closing her eyes as tight as she could and forcing herself to be calm. She counted to twenty, and when she was still shaking she counted to it again, until the tremor in her voice was gone and the fear in her gaze vanished. She let the memory back in, feeling waves of despair and anguish wash over her that had long gone suppressed in the deepest part of her mind.

“It was like… A dream that I couldn’t wake up from, no matter how hard I tried. I saw and felt everything, but I was locked into my body, and I tried to scream and scream but nothing happened. They all… They all died, and I felt every single one of them.” She swallowed the lump in her throat, massaging the skin to try and relieve some of her nausea. “Right until the end I thought that there was no way it was actually real, that it was just a nightmare that was long overdue from the things I’ve done in my life.”

Skylar bowed her head. “But it wasn’t.”

“No. It wasn’t.” She clenched her fist. “That black hearted monster gave me back control right after I crushed the village leader’s skull between my hands, let me know for sure that everything was real and there was no coming back from it. That fucking smile… I’m never going to be able to forget it no matter how long I live.”

Skylar wasn’t quite sure what to say, or even if there was anything she could say. A horror like that… How could she possibly hope to comfort someone who had gone through something like that? How could she even comprehend the wounds that something like that left behind, regardless of whatever strength you possessed before. All she could do was shift closer, let Leila feel her presence and hope that it did something to help her out of whatever dark hole her mind had gone to now.

Leila nodded her thanks, working up the will to finish what she was saying before she lost the nerve. “I have done a lot of terrible things in my life Skylar. I’ve hurt people, I’ve killed people, for money, for power, and just because I didn’t like them. But I’ve never violated someone’s mind so fully like that, wormed my way in and left them unable to think of anything but what I did to them for decades afterward. I just… I don’t understand how someone can do that.”

“Monsters often have reasons that they see as justified.” They turned around, Cassandra walking briskly towards them. “He did these experiments to gain power for himself, but he explained to me as he was dying that he saw his powers as a tool to bring our coven to the height of power, to take us to our rightful place at the top of the hierarchy.”

“Your coven?” Skylar raised an eyebrow. “He enslaved dozens and forced innocent people to slaughter entire villages… Just so your coven could gain more power?”

Cassandra took a seat across from them, nursing a drink in her right hand while she inspected her nails. “I suspect that is what he told himself. I don’t know what you know about coven politics, but weakness is typically looked down upon. The higher you are, the safer you are, the more protection you can call upon in the event hunters come knocking at your door. If you’re one of the smaller covens you’re on your own, just more weak blood to be purged.”

She took a sip of her drink, pondering her next words. “At the end of the day however, he still enslaved and murdered hundreds for his own gain, regardless of his reasons there was an ocean of innocent blood on his hands. Anything that can be gained from that… It doesn’t matter what it is, nothing is worth that price.”

Leila nodded. “Especially not when it isn’t paid with your own hands. He isn’t the one who wakes up in the middle of the night wondering where they are, wondering if it’s happening again and they’re going to find their loved ones spread across the room again. He can’t even comprehend what that feels like.”

“Hey.” Skylar nudged her with her hip, waiting until Leila turned to look at her. “I know you wouldn’t hurt me, I trust you. He isn’t here and he can’t do anything to you, we’ve all got your back.”

She smiled, briefly, before she tore her eyes away from Skylar once more. “That’s a nice sentiment Sky, really it is. But those people in that village trusted me too, they had my back no matter what. And look how that ended. With their hearts in my hands and their bodies in three different places.”

“You know that wasn’t your fault…”

“Of course I know it wasn’t my fault, that’s why I can’t make peace with it. It would be easy to blame myself, to say that I could have done something else, but there wasn’t.” She clenched her teeth, the table starting to vibrate in her anger. “He is the only one to blame, the only monster that deserves to be killed out of all this, and the fact that I can’t do anything to him is ruining me. I want to strip him down atom by atom, inflict on him every ounce of pain that he made me give to those villagers, and then I want to send him down to the deepest ring of hell that I can. But I can’t.”

“Not yet.” Cassandra nodded, finishing off her drink. “You can’t do anything to him yet. But you’ll be able to, mark my words you will be able to have your revenge.”

Even though they had only vengeance in mind for him, Skylar and Leila were still surprised by her willingness to take part in her brother’s death. “You’re really ok with that? He’s still your brother after all...”

“I already killed him once, and he deserved it then. Whatever he has been doing since then, whatever it is he plans to do, the only punishment that he deserves is death.” She waved her hand, sighing somewhat regretfully, “I’m sure I will have to relive that same feeling of gaining and losing a brother once more, but ‘tis a price that I am more than willing to pay. If it means that the world can be just that little bit safer then I would sacrifice my entire family.”

In spite of herself, Skylar found herself smiling. When Cassandra saw she couldn’t help but tilt her head in confusion, a small blush creeping up on her cheeks. “W-What are you smiling about?”

“Nothing. It’s just… You seemed so much more... Evil when we first met. Sure you were helping us out quite a lot, I wouldn’t be alive if it wasn’t for you, but I thought that there might have been some other motive.” She grinned even wider, reaching over and pushing her arm lightly. “But you’re just a complete idealist, aren’t you? You’re not evil at all.”

“Why does everyone assume so readily that I’m evil? Because I live out in the middle of nowhere, alone? Many people like to do such things!” She hid her face, trying to hide the blooming blush. “I may not be the most upstanding of people, but I have morals you know. I take them very seriously.”

“That’s why with you in this fight we actually stand a chance, your conviction in your morals gives you a reason to be strong,” Leila said, “You and I are the only ones here who know what he is capable of, and you are the only one who has actually managed to beat him. Without that… We would already have lost.”

“That does not mean that we are safe, by any means. In many ways I think that he and your Christian are very similar, chiefly in how they choose to weaken and defeat their enemies.”

Skylar leaned forward. “And how is that?”

Cassandra looked back over to the hotel room, Liam sat outside the front door cradling Abigail and reading to himself. “He knows that loved ones are a weakness that many cannot help having. If he aims to kill an enemy, he will strike for their heart first.”

Skylar understood immediately, not wasting any time standing and marching towards Liam. What was left of her family may be at her side, but that didn’t mean that there were not people that they all cared about elsewhere. In fact, she could think of entire colonies filled with people that they cared about that were not under their watch right now.

“Liam, can we talk?” She tried not to let her panic seep into her voice, but the sight of his raised eyebrow and the frown on his lips told her she hadn’t been successful.

“Of course Sky, what’s wrong?”

“The three of us were speaking about Cass’ brother, and I realized... It’s all well and good that we’re hunting Christian to protect our family, but what about the pack? Or Hayley’s coven, or Cayden’s clan? We need to be able to protect them, and I don’t know if they’re prepared for anything to happen.”

“Like what?” He sat up, leaning forward with an utterly serious look in his eye. “What should they be prepared for?”

“In all likelihood?” Cassandra stepped up to them, nodding solemnly. “All-out war.”

That was a good enough answer for Liam, taking out his phone and dialing in a number that he seldomly had to use. He and Michael had made the in hindsight incredibly reckless decision to leave their pack and leave them without an Alpha or a Second, but they had at least taken measures to leave someone in charge temporarily. Though Quint was relatively new blood in terms of maturity, he had shown good initiative in leadership, which meant that he was a shoe-in for a temporary command position. “Quint, it’s Liam. I don’t have time to explain, and I’m not sure I would even be able to, but I want you to put everyone on alert and take measures to protect yourselves.” He looked back into the hotel room, his friends lounging around and playing cards. “I also want you to get someone over to the coven and to the hunters, tell them to do the same. It’s important that you work together on this, I’m not sure any of us would make it through otherwise, have you got that?”

“Yeah I’ve got that but Liam…” Quint paused, his breath still clear over the line. “What’s going on?”

“Something big Quint, something big. Just make sure everyone is safe.” He hung up, dialing in the next number and placing the phone to his ear. “Jim, it’s Liam Conway, how is construction on the bunker going?”

“It’s going well Sir, everyone has the day off for today, but I think it should be done within the next two months at this rate.”

“I’m glad to hear that, but I need you to increase productivity as much as you possibly can. And before you say anything I want you to know that I’ll pay you and everyone there five-hundred-percent more than what I was already paying you to get this done.”

There was no answer for a moment, Jim quite clearly stunned by the offer. “Sir… You do realize how much money you are talking about, don’t you?”

“I do, and it’s inconsequential.” He looked back down at his daughter, felt his wife's hand in his. “Whatever you need to get the job done as fast as possible, you have it.”

“Thank you Sir… I’ll call everyone in tonight, we’ll get this done for you as quickly as we possibly can, you have my guarantee on that.”

“Thank you, Jim, I look forward to seeing the results of your work.” He disconnected, pocketing the phone and bringing Skylar’s hand to his lips. “It’s done, now they should be prepared if anything comes their way. I’ll let Hayley and Cayden know that their groups are preparing themselves as well, once I’m sure of exactly how to say it.”

“Everything has gotten so serious so suddenly, I don’t know how to keep up with it.” Skylar nodded over at Cassandra, who only looked on curiously. “I’m sure you must be having a hard time with all of this, it can’t be easy knowing that your family is out there again.”

“Well, you just went through that same thing yourself only a month ago. The only difference is that your estranged family is a positive addition, and mine is a blight that I will be glad to be rid of.”

“You say that but… Surely it can’t be that easy to know that you have to fight your family again.”

Cassandra looked off to the side, the sight of the people that she had come to know so well in such a brief time warming a heart that had gone cold for so long. She shook her head, smiling slightly and clenching her fist in resolve. “Family is more than just blood. We may have called ourselves a family once, may have loved and cared for each other with a bond that only siblings can have… But those times have been over for longer than we ever even knew each other. I have people that care for me now, who don’t see others as some sick experiment to run, and I intend to protect that.”

She sighed, “I will not lie and say that the thought of fighting him doesn’t sadden me, I wish dearly that there was some other solution. But that is not where our paths led us, and that is just how it has to be. ‘Tis a shame, but the world is hardly fair now is it?”

Skylar thought back to her mother wasting away from her sickness, the look of resigned acceptance on her father’s face moments before Sarconi pulled the trigger. She thought about exactly what they were doing out here, and all she could do was sigh, “No, no it’s not. But that doesn’t mean that it has to be lonely, or even hard. The friends that I have here… The family that I have here, they make life worth living, and I’m so glad that I can count you among them.”

“I… Thank you.” Cassandra looked taken aback by the confession, but there was no hiding the pleased smile on her face. “I feel the same wa-”

“Uh, hey! She’s awake!”

Iggy hadn’t even finished speaking before they were piling through the door, all of them needing answers to the questions that had been going through their minds for days on end. If Claire could answer even one of them then they would consider that a success, though given their luck so far they weren’t exactly counting on a miracle.

And of course, there was still the small matter of whether or not she could be trusted at all. Whether they would be taking her along for the ride with them, or if Leila would take her out to the back of the motel and bury her in an unmarked hole. They were all hoping for the former, but their past experiences with Christian’s people told them that the latter was a very real possibility.

“Nnn…” Claire groaned, mouth opening and closing before she could croak, “Water...”

Though Iggy hadn’t enjoyed being the one to watch over her, he was still taking the duty that had been appointed of him seriously, reaching over to the side table and filling a glass of water. Slowly, he tilted her head back, letting the water fall into her mouth gradually enough that she wouldn’t choke. She closed her eyes as the icy shock spread down her throat, for the first time in days feeling a little more like a human being again, just starting to cough before he took the glass away.

“Hey Claire,” Cayden said, smiling down at her. “How you doing kiddo?”

“Shit… So that really was you,” She laughed, wincing when her stomach tensed up. “I thought I was actually just dying then and seeing things, weird place for us to meet up again.”

“Tell me about it, I didn’t think that the sweet girl I used to know would end up covered in blood underneath some big slab of murderer, but there we go.” He pulled a chair up, sitting opposite Iggy. “What were you doing out there Claire? Why were those hunters after you?”

“Before I tell you about all that, I think you should introduce me to everyone here. It’s not that I don’t trust you but… Actually, yeah that’s it, I don’t trust you yet.”

“You think that I could be working with Christian? After the way I left? After everything that’s happened since?”

She scoffed, a private reaction that none there knew the reason for. “Let’s just say that I’ve felt stranger betrayals lately.”

“Alright…” He introduced the members of the group one by one, not telling her the exact reason that they were together, starting with Skylar and ending with Iggy. She looked over each one of them closely, noticing the telltale eyes of a shifter and the crackling energy around a witch, before finally looking to the side and seeing the predatory gaze and sharp teeth of a vampire.

“So, you’re travelling with a bunch of paranormals, which I’m guessing means that you’re the ones attacking and killing each outpost of Christian’s hunters that you find?” She smirked at Cayden’s surprise. “I keep an eye on communications Cayden, it’s not hard to see the difference between someone going dark and someone going silent. Permanently.”

“I forgot how sharp you were. I guess there’s no point in lying about it even if I wanted to.” Cayden nodded. “That’s us, we know that Christian needs to be stopped, and we’re going to make sure that happens.”

“Well that’s just great for you isn’t it? You always were pretty sour on Christian right near the end, I can’t say this is really that surprising. Which brings me to my next question...” Claire glanced back at Iggy, her eyes lingering on his teeth and the hungry look in his eye. “Are you going to kill me Cayden? Because if you are I would really prefer that you cut out all the bullshit and just get it over with already, I am in no mood to play any games.”

Cayden was too busy thinking over how to respond to notice Leila at his side, her hand extending and rubbing Claire’s shoulder in a way she intended to be comforting. “That all depends on you, I would like to get through this without having to kill you, but if I have to then I won’t hesitate.”

“Heh, normally people just say no so that the person starts talking. But not you huh?”

“Not me.” She smirked. “I feel like you would just see through all the bullshit anyway, there’s no point in lying to someone like that.”

Claire laughed, “Oh I like you already. Alright fine, what do you want to know?”

“Why were you being hunted by your own? Those wounds of yours weren’t all from that one fight, so clearly you had been on the run, what happened?”

“What happened… Was that I finally managed to discover who the people I loved really were, and I wasn’t satisfied with what the reality was.” Claire shrugged, looking at Cayden. “I guess now I understand why you left all those years ago, Christian really doesn’t hold up as a hero once you know what he’s done.”

“And what was that?” He took her hand, leaning in. “What did you find out that he’d done?”

“I found out about the innocent people that he had ordered to be murdered, about the defenseless paranormals who were otherwise just going about their lives that we slaughtered. I found out that he was keeping me in the dark about all this because he didn’t think I was ready to hear it, that I was still too idealistic to handle being able to ‘Do what was necessary.’”

She ground her teeth together, tears of anger starting to bead at the corner of her vision. “But what really pushed me over the edge was finding out that my sister had lied to me all these years, that she had lost her son and decided that the best thing to do was to dedicate her lives to making other people suffer that same loss.”

“Yeah…” Cayden sighed, “It’s… Hard, knowing that the people that you loved weren’t anything like you thought they were. It’s enough to push you into despair.”

“When I found out that she held a gun to a child’s head… To a baby’s head… That was it, I was done with all of it. I don’t want to be a part of a group that can do something like that and still be self-righteous enough to think they’re in the right.”

Claire looked up at the group, noticing the way that Liam and Skylar had flinched upon hearing her words. She inclined her head curiously, running through what information she had learned and starting to connect the dots. She blinked in understanding, saying, “You’re her, aren’t you? The one that Christian is so scared of, the one who’s been killing all of his men. You’re the one who killed my sister.”

The atmosphere in the room dropped considerably, no one there quite sure what was going to happen between the two women now that the secret was truly out. Cayden kept a close eye on Claire, just because she was injured didn’t mean that she wouldn’t attempt to lead out of the bed and strangle Skylar if she thought she had a chance. Leila did the same for Skylar, watching her hands for any sign that she was losing control of her form and letting her shadows out. She would really prefer not to have to console Skylar over a murder that she didn’t even mean to commit.

“That’s right.” Skylar nodded, voice calm. “She took part in killing my father, she held a gun to my daughter’s head. So I killed her, and everyone else who got in the way of me protecting the rest of my family.”

Everyone held their breath, all eyes alert and on Claire, wondering just what her reaction would be to coming face to face with her sister’s killer. What they didn’t expect was to see her shrug, popping her lips and scoffing, “Good. It’s what they deserved, it’s what she deserved.” She rolled her eyes at the shocked expressions on everyone’s faces. “Don’t worry, you won’t get any pushback from me, if she had been there when I found out I probably would have killed her myself, sister or no.”

Cayden blinked in surprise, leaning back in his chair. “I’m… Surprised to hear you say that,” He said, “You two were closer than most anyone I’ve ever seen.”

“Yeah well that was before I found out who she and her husband were. Feelings change.”

“Which brings us back to the important question, what did you do to get all of those hunters on your tail?” He chuckled, already having an idea of what she might have done. “Knowing you it was probably something very dumb.”

Claire couldn’t hide her audacious grin. “Well a big part of why so many of us fell for him was his face. He’s probably going to have a harder time now that he only has one eye.”

“Jesus Christ Claire,” He said, “You took the man’s eye?”

“In hindsight I should have taken a lot more, it would have saved us all a lot of trouble down the road.” She gestured at her torso. “I’d have a few less holes in me, that’s for sure.”

“So that’s why you were almost dead when we found you…” Farah spoke softly, “Because you saw what was wrong and immediately tried to find some way to fix it.”

“I don’t know if fix is the right word but… Yeah, I guess you could say that.”

Leila nodded, turning to the rest of the group to address them all. “A few of us here have been in this same position before, and we’re only here now because someone gave us a chance. I think that we owe her the same opportunity, to be able to prove what kind of person she is not to us, but to herself.”

Skylar chewed her lip, mulling over their options for where to go from here. On the one hand Claire would make an extremely valuable ally, she had knowledge of what Christian would do and where he would go, not to mention that she had already proven herself to be a more than competent fighter, the sheer number of bodies she left behind in the forest could attest to that. But on the other hand, she was the sister of the woman who had attempted to murder her daughter, who had taken her father away from her and was more than prepared to do the same to the rest of her family. That wasn’t something that could just be ignored, no matter how Claire felt about her sister now.

Regardless of what her feelings were on the matter, Skylar knew that she would have to come to a decision. It was a group effort of course, she wouldn’t dare to try and assert complete control over her friends like that, but she wasn’t blind to the fact that they would accept her decision as the unanimous one, so she had to carefully consider each option.

But of course, there was one very important thing that she needed to know first.

“Claire… If we let you go, what would you do?”

“What would I do?” She scoffed, wincing as she pulled her sheets off against Cayden’s protests. She pointed down at her stomach, bandages covering what was still a very serious wound. “I would get in a car, drive back to the outpost and shove my knife directly down Christian’s throat for everything that he’s done. I’m lying here in a bed half dead while he’s probably knuckle deep in some new fan that he picked out of the rank and file.”

“Wait…” Cayden said, eyes wide. “Did… Did you two…?”

“I don’t want to think about it right now.” She looked back at Skylar. “So yeah, that’s what I’d do. Why? What are you planning to do?”

“We’re planning to do just the same actually, and if you wanted…” Skylar took a deep breath, calming her shaking nerves and steeling herself. “If you wanted, I would be more than happy to take you along. If everyone else felt the same of course.”

“No protests here,” Said Hayley and Michael, soon joined by Farah and Cayden. Leah took a few more seconds to come to a decision, still not quite sure what to think about working with someone related to that whole mess, but she recognized that Claire at least seemed to have a good heart. Those were in short supply these days.

Cassandra and Leila nodded their approval as well, and Liam was willing to trust his wife’s judgement, which left only Iggy as an unknown vote. He stared hard at Claire, those deep eyes boring into her skull while he tried to see if she was being dishonest in any way.

“Why would you help us?” He said, “You’ve spent your entire life fighting against people like us, you’ve made killing us almost into an art form. Why would you give that all up now?”

She leaned forward, meeting his gaze unflinchingly and speaking slowly, “Because I have seen those that I loved for what they really were; ugly, twisted people that were transformed by hatred and who fell in love with death. I have realized what I was a part of and I feel nothing but shame for all of it.”

Reaching towards him, she took his hand, squeezing it while she whispered, “Because now I know that not all monsters have fangs.”

He was silent, her finger running along his knuckles and her heartbeat pounding in his ears. There was no lie in what she was saying, even if he wanted to try and convince himself there was. Huffing to himself, he said the only words that he thought made any actual sense at that point, much to his surprise.

“I think she can help us, we should give her a chance.”

Claire smiled, laughing while the rest of the group gave her their welcomes. “Don’t get me wrong, I think that this whole group is a weird mix. But I’m glad that you can trust me enough to let me try and help.” She looked up at Skylar, smiling widely. “Thank you.”

She smiled back, any doubt she had crumbling in the face of that radiant grin. “You’re welcome.”