8

"I must say that she's a very lucky girl Chris. Spider's venom is very painful and extremely toxic. If you'd taken any longer, her arm may have been permanently damaged." Zane commented as he fixed another gauze and continued cleaning out the wound on my arm.

It was an hour later, and I'd been in bed for a good portion of it. I was finally beginning to come back to my senses. Zane had apparently been waiting for us outside when we'd finally gotten back to the house. I wasn't sure of how, but it seemed like he'd known that something bad had happened to me. I reasoned that it may have been from Saffron, although I wasn't in any kind of shape yet to confirm that.

But when Chris brought me back home and Zane had seen my arm, they'd immediately put me to bed and worked on helping it however they could. The first half an hour was a blur to me because of all of the pain. All I really remembered from it was screaming. But thankfully Zane had finally finished making some medicine that had taken that horrible pain away. As soon as he'd rubbed it into the open wound, it was like it began numbing it. I breathed a sigh of relief. I felt like I was able to get my sanity back now.

My wound was really bad from what I was beginning to see. Once Chris's jacket and my cardigan sleeve had been peeled away, considering they'd both melted from the venom, we had been able to get a good look at it. The venom had put a nasty gaping hole in my arm. Some of it even looked like it was still sizzling a little as Zane worked on getting it out. But it seemed like the medicine he'd put on it had stopped it from going any deeper, as well as numbing it completely.

Chris handed him more gauze to cover the wound before my arm was bandaged, "You know she doesn't have as high of a pain tolerance as we do, so you need to take it easy doing this." he reminded him.

"I'm being as gentle as I can, but I have to get this out before it reaches the bone. Besides, the medicine has numbed it completely, so she can't feel a thing. You were both very lucky about this as it is. This was probably the best place it could've hit her without causing any lasting damage." Zane responded.

I didn't say anything. Instead, I was looking towards the window at the bright moon shining outside. Everything was so normal out there again. But I couldn't stop thinking about our encounter with Norma and all of the things she'd said. She may have been a monster, but at the same time, it felt like she'd been desperate. She was blaming us for driving out her food. If that hadn't been happening, then I didn't think she would've attacked me like she did. The ones after us may have been in Baton Rouge, and maybe they had scared some of the other creatures off. Maybe the ones like her were indeed starving from that and had turned to drastic measures instead of abandoning the homes they'd made.

Chris let out a long breath but didn't say anymore to Zane. I saw him looking down as I glanced back at him.

"At least it didn't end up going to the bone, but this is going to take a few extra days to really start healing." Zane continued as he finished wrapping my arm. He looked at me as he stood up and gathered the medical supplies he'd set on the nearby table, "You make sure to take it easy on this arm until then. I'm going to make some more medicine for the pain and leave it in the bathroom for you. You'll probably need more through tomorrow considering how deep it is."

"Okay. Thanks Zane." I replied, still feeling slightly out of it.

Chris shook his head, "This still shouldn't have happened." he muttered.

"Come now Christoff, it's not that bad. You need to relax now as well. She came out of it okay and there won't be any lasting damage. For now, why don't you stay with her for the night? She may need more help during it." Zane suggested.

"Yeah. I was planning on that anyway, but this still shouldn't have happened." Chris responded.

"Very well. Try to get some rest now. I need to get some too. It's gotten quite late, and I have to leave early for an event in the morning. Try to make yourselves rest and feel free to give me a call if you need anything Ariana." Zane went on.

"Okay." I agreed as I yawned.

I watched him walk out and close the door. I was feeling a bit down now. Chris was right about me attracting trouble. I'd brought Norma right to me and couldn't even defend myself against her. I should've just stayed home or asked Zane to go with me.

Chris finally looked back at me, "You know Ariana, you don't need to keep worrying over what happened with Norma. Things are what they are, and nothing's going to change them now. It's not like I told you about her either."

"I know, but I should've been more careful. You said before that things can come after us, but I let her take me away and try to hurt me." I said weakly.

"Trust me, it's not that hard for a Spider to hypnotize just about anyone, even one of us, and with as young as you are, you wouldn't have the first clue on how to guard against it. Besides, if things had been different then what they are now, I doubt that Norma would've ever even considered attacking you. She's lived here for at least thirty years, and she'd never caused trouble before. I felt a little bad about having to go after her because she was starving, but there wasn't a choice. Especially now." Chris went on.

He glanced back at the window as he spoke. It seemed like he couldn't face me now. Was he really that upset over what had happened to me and what he'd had to do to Norma?

I couldn't bring myself to ask him. I just kept the subject on Norma.

"Did you know her before?" I asked.

"Kind of." Chris confirmed, "It was really a matter of mutual respect. Creatures like her aren't that unusual in the mortal world, although some are worse than others. Norma was a Spider, and they tend to be a lot smarter than some of the others like a Mantis or even a Centipede. Spiders typically integrate themselves into society and leave humans alone as a matter of respect and principal. Their usual prey are smaller creatures that cross over from the other side and lurk in the shadows. I'd say names for those, but they probably wouldn't make much sense to you considering how new you are to all of this. The best I could offer as an example is that they're like imps, small fairies and things of that nature."

Now I was starting to get the picture. Chris had met Norma before, but she wasn't a threat at the time.

"So why did she start attacking humans? Is it because I came here?"

"I don't know." Chris admitted, "It's possible, although it isn't really anyone's fault. Bringing you here probably brought out the spies for the ones that are hunting us, and they scared off the smaller and weaker things that the Spiders typically hunt. But that would've eventually happened anyway, considering that Zane was already here, and Will was coming around more often. Norma was just being stubborn and refused to leave. She was more than likely insane with hunger."

I looked down, feeling a bit guilty. Norma shouldn't have had to die like that. The whole thing hadn't been her fault. She was just trying to keep herself alive.

Chris rested his head against mine, "I'm sorry. This was my fault. I should've just made myself get up and kept my promise." he apologized.

I blushed but didn't attempt to push him away, "I don't understand. Why are you apologizing to me when I was the one that got myself into this mess?" I asked.

"Because it was my fault. I'm the one who pushed you away today and I'm the one who let you go out there alone when I knew that she was hunting in that state." Chris answered.

"You know, I don't think I understand any of this anymore." I confessed as he sat back a little, "I haven't been able to understand you from the day I met you. You do all these things for me, you risk your life for me, and yet you still push me away a lot. Why are you doing all of this? Are you trying to mess with me, or is it because of Saffron?"

They were hard questions for me to voice, but I had to know now. If anything, I had to know why he kept stringing me along.

Chris let out a long breath, "I guess I'm not doing so well with this, am I?"

"What do you mean?" I asked, not quite following.

Chris was quiet then. I wondered what he was thinking. Maybe he was even trying to think of a good response to what I'd asked.

But to my surprise, he leaned forward again and gently pressed his lips to mine. I blinked a few times, then closed my eyes and leaned into it.

After what felt like a heavenly forever, he pulled back again, "I'm sorry. I've never been that good with others. A lot of that was his fault. I wasn't raised to be with others for the first half of my life, and when I started meeting others like me, it took me a long time to understand how to be around them and be normal. I guess even to understand that I didn't always have to fight alone for my survival. Meeting Zane and Will showed me that. But something's always been missing. It was always something that I couldn't put my finger on. But from the day I found you, it's felt like I may have found that something, and as I've gotten to know you and be with you, it's only grown for me." he explained softly.

"You really do care about me?" I dared ask.

Chris gently pulled me close, kissing me again. I instantly melted into it.

"You know, I didn't start looking for you three years ago just because of Saffron." Chris whispered as he pulled back again. He smiled as he sat with his face close to mine, "I have a habit of not doing anything unless it really interests me. I'd been hearing rumors for years about you being around, but that's all they ever seemed to be. Even Zane couldn't confirm whether they were true or not, although he'd foreseen you being among us through his visions long ago. But I was certain of it deep inside, and the moment that Jade confirmed to me that you did exist, I knew I was going to find you; so, I began traveling across the country and searching myself."

"You seriously looked for me for three years?" I asked, gently hugging him with my good arm. I couldn't move the other that much.

"Yes. I really had no idea of where that woman had taken you, but I kept trying, and eventually I found a forwarding address that she'd left behind by accident in the last place you'd lived. So, I decided to check on it and see if I had any luck, and I did." Chris confirmed.

I curled up against his shoulder as he laid beside me, "How long had you been there before I saw you?"

"About a week. I took some time to wait on looking for you, considering I kind of didn't want you to see me at first. I wasn't that sure of what was going on with all of it at that moment, so I was being careful. But as soon as I saw you walking out of that house that afternoon I finally decided to look, I knew it was you. I could feel the power sleeping inside of you, and I could tell it was definitely from being the child of a Fallen. But there was something else too, something I felt as soon as I saw you, and it made me decide to just say to hell with everything and get you myself." Chris went on.

"I was being hunted, wasn't I?" I guessed.

Chris shook his head, "No. They still didn't know that you existed. It was because of how I felt at that moment."

"Really?"

Chris turned slightly so that I could face him, "You really don't get it?"

"Get what?"

I hated when he did this. But a part of me was a bit nervous too. I hadn't been expecting him to actually tell me the truth, and now I was really anticipating hearing a certain three words.

Chris gave me a gentle kiss on my forehead, "Guess I have to say it out loud, don't I?" he laughed softly, "But it's okay. I think I probably should, especially because it seems like you keep missing it. Maybe that's my fault too. I haven't exactly been that good with this. Anyway, I've met other female Shadow Wings before, but they had always been just like all the rest. You were different. I felt it from the moment I saw you, and since I've gotten to know you and be around you, that feeling has only grown for me. Now I think I know why."

"You do?" I whispered, feeling a bit captivated by his words.

Chris smiled, "You really need me to say it?" he teased.

"Don't do that. It's not fair." I pouted.

"Yeah, I guess you're right." Chris chuckled, "But the truth is there. Even though Jade still tells me that I've lost my mind, I know that this is true. I know that I'm in love with you."

I almost felt my heart stop with those words and that soft kiss that followed. But at the same time, it felt like my soul was lightened too. Chris was in love with me. He'd been in love with me from the moment he'd seen me, and I knew my truth too. I knew that I loved him.

The sound of the clock chiming brought us out of this sweet moment.

"It's getting late. You should try to get some rest for now or that arm isn't going to heal." Chris whispered.

"I guess. It's been a long day too." I reluctantly agreed.

"No kidding, but at least something good came out of it."

I smiled, cuddling up close to him again, "Yeah, and I love you too. I want to stay with you forever."

"I think we can do that. After all, that's what's given to us with these lives." Chris yawned. He gently touched my arm, "Are you sure you're okay?"

"I'm fine. It's still numb, so I can at least try to sleep. Just promise you'll stay beside me."

"Alright."

Closing my eyes, I felt very comfortable in his embrace. It was funny, but I always seemed to have this feeling whenever I was close to him. Was it because I had always been in love with him? I couldn't help but wonder as I drifted off to sleep.

It seemed like I didn't dream much when I slept next to Chris. But this time I opened my eyes and found that I was in a different place again. Looking around, I realized that it was the same room I'd seen Saffron in week before, right before he'd woken my blood. The room was quiet, and I didn't see any sign of him. I walked over to the bed and sat down, looking around again as I anticipated his arrival.

It felt so odd being there. Even though this really was just a dream for me, it was also a reality too. Somehow a small piece of me had come there to see him. Everything, at least in a sense, was real. I could even feel the softness of the blanket I was sitting on as if I was awake and fully alert.

I was bit puzzled though. How had I gotten there again? Saffron must have summoned me there, but I didn't see a sign of him.

I felt someone suddenly hug me from behind. I didn't have to turn to know who it was.

"You've managed to come and visit with me again. I must be getting stronger." Saffron whispered in my ear.

"So, you are pulling me here. Are you that anxious to visit with me in person now?" I responded. I didn't bother trying to move. I knew he wouldn't hurt me, and this did feel comforting.

I could almost feel the smile on his face, "Perhaps a little. I haven't had the chance to even be close to you for a good five years now, and I've missed it so much."

"That was your own fault. You were the one who kept having to go after that woman and ended up getting yourself trapped here." I reminded him.

"Ah, so they told you what they knew about that, huh? I figured that at least one of them would know something of it." Saffron noted.

I turned so that I could face him. He didn't look that different from the last time I'd gotten to see him, yet he didn't look that human now either. A large black tattoo laced up the side of his neck to the top of his left cheek in an intricate pattern, and his arms extended to large, black, claw-like hands. This was a truer form for a Fallen.

"By the way, your seal on my memories is wearing off now. I'm starting to remember you around more when I was a kid." I informed him.

Saffron wasn't concerned, "That's fine. You need to remember now that you've woken up."

I did remember him fairly well now. The unsealed memories were coming more and more every day. Now I understood that I had known him for most of my life. Saffron had a habit of just popping in to visit me from the time I was a baby, but he never told me that he was my father. He'd simply acted like an old friend who loved me very much, and even brought me gifts from time to time.

But the last time he'd been able to visit me when I was fourteen, he'd apologized and put a hand over my eyes. I'd blacked out immediately. That must've been when he'd sealed my memories of him. I hadn't had any since that time.

"Why was it so important to continue going after her? You had me. You came to see me a lot, so you must have had some kind of feelings for me." I reasoned.

Saffron gave me a knowing smile, "Are you jealous? I wouldn't imagine so, especially considering that I'm letting you have that boy now." he responded.

"I'm not jealous. It's the fact that you just left me like that when you knew that I could be hunted down by those things and by angels. You knew that I would get these wings eventually too." I argued.

I decided it might be better not to get into the subject of Chris. No telling where that one might lead to.

Saffron laughed, the sound echoing off the walls of the cavernous room.

"Darling, do you really believe that I'd just leave you stranded? I always have a contingency plan for everything I do. That is the difference between myself and many of the others who are like me." he boasted.

"A contingency plan?" I repeated, feeling skeptical.

Saffron pulled me close, pushing my hair back, "Of course. I always knew that boy would find you. I told Jade a long time ago that we would always have a connection, and it has continued through our children. I knew that Christoff would wait for the one he felt he was born for, and you are that one. The connection was formed from the moment you came into this world, even if the two of you were thousands of miles and hundreds of years apart, and it will always be there."

"You really think that we're destined to be together?"

I found that one a little hard to believe. It just seemed too strange to me that two people could be destined for true love from the moment they were born.

"There are a lot of things that you cannot understand yet." Saffron told me, "But trust me, I know what I am talking about with this, and I know that he understands it now as well. If you trust anyone, you will trust him. He is the one who will protect you when I cannot. Although I may still consider breaking his arm for the damage that was done to yours in his carelessness."

"You're not going to hurt Chris. He feels bad enough about what happened." I informed him.

"I'll consider it if that would make you happy. However, I know what I'm talking about with that boy too. You have him wrapped around your little finger now. He'd do anything and everything for you, so you need to make sure to use that to your advantage and trust him no matter what." Saffron continued.

I looked down as I took in his words. I knew that I trusted Chris. I had trusted him from the moment I'd met him. I couldn't explain why. I hadn't really trusted anyone in my life before, yet I trusted Chris with my life from the start. Was there deeper meaning to that?

Forcing my mind off of the subject, I faced Saffron again, "Are you coming back soon?"

"I plan to once I can get myself out of here. I'm already working hard on that one. He won't keep me locked away forever, and I can feel the punishment coming to an end. He's probably acquired some other souls to torture and is growing bored with me." Saffron answered.

"I know that you're asking me to trust Chris, but I'm still scared. Jade is still there." I reminded him.

"You have no need to worry about Jade. He has no intentions of harming you. I know that much. I think he's more fascinated with you than anything else. He probably had begun to think that this would not happen. Besides, he always did say that he wouldn't mind having a girl as well for a child." Saffron continued.

He stopped as we both heard a sudden, strange sound enter the room. It reminded me of a low, whistling wind.

"What is that?" I asked, looking around and trying to figure out where it had come from.

"It seems my time is up for now. He's coming back, so I'll send you back to your love. But don't worry my dear. I promise you that I will be with you soon enough."

The next thing I knew, I was waking up. I blinked my eyes as I tried to register where I was now. Every time Saffron did that, it threw me off. But looking at Chris, who was still sleeping soundly, everything came back to me. That was right. Saffron was still trapped, but he'd managed to somehow pull me back to visit with him again. I couldn't help thinking that Saffron really went to extremes to get what he wanted, but maybe he was just used to getting his way too.

I closed my eyes tightly as I tried to move my arm. The pain was back full force. I carefully readjusted it, lying still and watching Chris as I allowed my mind to wander.

After seeing Saffron these two times and recalling when I was a child, I had to wonder about the other Fallen who created children like us. Saffron and Jade were the only two that I knew personally as of that moment, and I had learned through my dreams that Jade had saved Chris's life when he was a child. He protected him then and perhaps still did to an extent. When I thought about it, Saffron had done a lot to protect me in my life so far too. Could this have meant that some of them loved us as parents should? It seemed so strange to think that Fallen Angels could love. Yet it almost seemed possible.

I felt Chris start to move beside me and turned to see him slowly opening his eyes.

"Are you awake?" I asked, keeping my voice soft. It felt wrong to break the wonderful silence in the room.

"Yeah. Don't really want to be, but I don't have a choice. You probably need some medicine again for that arm. How's it doing?" he asked as he sat up.

"It hurts pretty bad now." I confessed, letting him help me sit up. I was trying hard not to move my arm that much.

"It'll probably be like that for another day or so, but the medicine should help. Come on. Let's get downstairs and I'll redo the bandage." Chris offered.

I agreed, letting him help me off the bed. May as well get myself patched up again. But at least that medicine would help with the pain. I wondered what they were using. I didn't think even morphine could be as strong as this stuff they'd rubbed into it was.

The house was quiet as we came downstairs. I wondered if Zane had already left. He had said that he had a meeting early that morning. I wanted to ask him what it was about when he came back. From what I'd come to know, Zane had a lot of involvement in Baton Rouge. For what he was, he certainly wasn't keeping that low of a profile. I wondered if that would change with the start of another hunt.

I sat on the side of the tub in the large bathroom as Chris unwrapped my bandage.

"So, I was wondering, how is Zane able to afford all of this? Is it because he does things like painting and cooking?" I asked him.

"It's partly that. Actually, what he does with all of that are hobbies to him, even if he does make a good living off of them. He also owns a few Michelin star restaurants in a couple of different countries. But his main wealth originally came from his father. Most of what we have comes from them." Chris explained as he looked at my arm. The wounds were scabbing over, but still hurt like hell.

"The Fallen help us with money too?" I pressed. It felt easier to keep up a conversation through this.

"I'm not sure I'd call it that." Chris admitted. He made sure he had everything he needed to continue, "It's more like giving us a starting point to establish ourselves in the world. All of us are born with the ability to integrate and hide, but we do need some financial backing to start that. So usually, they hav accounts set up for us in national and international banks through manipulation of the mortals involved in various criminal activities around the world. They use them and eventually steal all the wealth they accumulate. Typically, we end up with a couple million scattered throughout these accounts, then it's left to us to decide what we do with it once we change. Personally, I've always liked investing in things and staying in the shadows. It's a lot easier that way when you have to disappear again. If you've got a good knack for business, it's easy to figure out what's good to invest in and what's not, although a little bit of insight from the other side always helps too."

I was staring at him as he began wrapping my arm up. The medicine was kicking in so that it didn't hurt half as bad now.

"You have to be kidding. That's more money than anyone could possibly imagine having. You mean to tell me that all of the Shadow Wings are millionaires?" I asked him.

"Pretty much, unless they blew it early in their lives and didn't make it grow. Then they're out of luck. But most don't do that. We all tend to be good with making it grow and last. A good deal of us even go into the business world like Zane and Will have. It's really just a matter of spreading yourself out enough to make yourself disappear when you need to, not to mention manipulating memories along the way at times. But like I said, I prefer just going behind the scenes and investing. It's too much trouble running businesses like a lot of them do." Chris explained.

"No kidding. No wonder you weren't that worried about that college book. You could probably go to any college you want at any time." I noted.

"Actually, I did attend Harvard about ten years ago." Chris admitted.

"No, you didn't." I scoffed.

"Yeah, I did. It was only one semester, and it wasn't that impressive to me for such a prestigious school. Not to mention I didn't want to throw away a boat load of books once I was done." Chris told me.

Smart ass, I thought. But I kept it to myself.

"So, what did you go to Harvard for?" I asked him.

"I did it on a bet with Zane. I'd never really been able to sit through a course without falling asleep and horribly flunking it, but I told him that I could pass one if I wanted to, so he bet me on taking a few classes one semester there and passing with the highest scores. I did and I won the bet." Chris explained.

I had to laugh. That sounded like something him and Zane would do. They tended to be competitive at times.

"Okay, so what did you bet?"

"It was just a small bet. If I lost, I had to give him my motorcycle, and it he lost, he had to give me his Corvette."

"You really do love that motorcycle." I noted. But then it dawned on me what he'd said that Zane had betted, "Did you just say he betted you a Corvette?"

"Yep. I still have it here too. I just don't like driving it that often." Chris answered.

"You mean to tell me that you have a Corvette and you picked me up on a motorcycle?" I said flatly. Unbelievable. I could've ridden down there in real style, and he'd left that car in a garage!

"I told you I like my motorcycle. But moving on, it took me another three years after that to get the keys to the damn car. Zane can be a sore loser at times." Chris continued.

Well, I'd learned some new things that morning. It seemed like a lot of it was about Zane too. He never did talk a lot about himself. Thinking about that, I decided to see if maybe Chris would tell me more about him.

"Hey Chris, who is Zane's father? Is he like yours and mine?"

"He's close enough, and he is a well known Fallen. Zane wasn't his only kid either, but he is the only surviving one now." Chris admitted.

"I guess there could be more than one of us born to them, huh? They live forever." I noted.

"Well, most do. I've heard that some have been destroyed, but I have no clue as to what happened there. I do know that you and I are the only children to our fathers. Jade and Saffron never were the types to show a lot of interest in human women. I've also heard that the ability to create children with human women was stripped from the Grigori a long time ago, so there aren't that many Shadow Wings left in the world now." Chris explained.

I couldn't help thinking that was a bit sad. We didn't ask to be born this way, and we were hunted down just because of where we'd come from. Our numbers would only keep falling. None of it seemed fair.

"You know, it almost seems like they're protective of us sometimes too." I commented as Chris helped me stand, then guided me to the kitchen so that we could get some breakfast.

"I guess as protective as they know how to be, but that only does so much. It's not in them to be loving on a whole, and most of them, especially the ones like our fathers, have psychotic personalities in general most of the time. One moment they may comfort us and the next they may consider attacking us. It's just something that makes us have to fend for ourselves that much more and be one step ahead." Chris told me.

I could definitely see where that could be true. After all, the ones who created us were basically demons. Their minds had corrupted a long time ago, and no matter how much they might want to care about what they created, there was always the chance they'd turn on us. We probably weren't even children to some of them; only objects to use.

"I guess Saffron and Jade are the same." I surmised as I sat down at the bar.

Chris glanced back at me from the sink where he was washing out two glasses, "Trust me, I know all about it, but to be perfectly honest with you about the whole thing, I personally fear Saffron more than my father."

"Really?"

"Look, don't get me wrong; I've had to defend myself before when Jade's lost his temper with me, although it took a lot for it to happen, but he also has a good level of sanity still in him. Somehow, he's always managed to keep it where a lot lose theirs when they're sent to the Abyss. Saffron's a different story. It's not even really his sanity that could be called into question. It's just the way he'd always been." Chris went on.

"Always been?" I repeated.

Chris turned to face me, "From what I know, Saffron fell with my father. Both of them were caught at the same time, although Jade's never bothered to explain to me exactly what happened then or what they'd been caught doing. But he's told me many times since then that Saffron's one of the most dangerous Fallen Angels in existence, and it's because of what he likes to call unassuming viciousness."

I looked at my pendant again, "Unassuming viciousness, huh? That's a scary way to put it."

"Yeah, I thought so too," Chris agreed, "But then he started telling me things about him here and there, and I began to get it. I know he's probably listening to me, but I doubt he'd be bothered by any of what I'm about to say. Saffron's the type that doesn't care one way or another what most think of him. I doubt that he's even that worried about what Lucifer thinks at times. But his favorite trick from then and even now is luring in others to believe that he's absolutely harmless. Even Jade was fooled for a while before they fell. Saffron manipulated him into thinking it after they met and had him thinking that perhaps he was controlling his actions. But before they fell, Jade figured out that was anything but the case. Saffron was killing other angels behind his back just for the thrill of it, and the same kinds of scenarios repeated themselves after they were cast out.

"According to Jade, he had decided to team up with Saffron again after their fall into the Abyss. I couldn't tell you the exact reasons why. He's never told me, and it always seems like for whatever reason those two are just drawn to each other. But when my mother ended up pregnant with me, things turned really sour between them again. Saffron has this real jealous streak to him, and he had been thinking of my father as completely his at the time. The two ended up fighting a lot about it, and Jade had to defend my mother during her entire pregnancy. If he hadn't, I probably wouldn't be here right now."

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I couldn't imagine Chris not being around. But his words were also very revealing. Saffron must have had a disjointed personality. Although he acted so loving towards me, he was obviously brutal towards others that he decided he didn't like.

"But he managed to stop Saffron. You wouldn't be here if he didn't." I pointed out.

"For the most part. My mother ended up dying when I was born, which is nothing unusual for our kind. Our mothers never survive our births. But right after I was born, Saffron tried one more time to get rid of me. Jade ended up hiding me until he could drive him off, but that wasn't before Saffron managed to hurt him pretty badly. If you look at his right eye closely, you'll notice that it looks lighter than the left. That's because he can't see out of it. Saffron managed to blind him in that eye." Chris told me.

I looked down as a vision flashed through my mind. Jade and Saffron in an old room similar to the one I'd seen in my dreams of Chris as a child. They'd been fighting, and Jade was holding his right eyes with black blood running down his cheek. Saffron backed off, laughing menacingly at him. He'd been so proud then. He'd wounded Jade. It was a wound that would always remain.

Chris sat beside me, gently pushing my hair back to look me in the eye, "You know, you ended up with a pretty superior ability. Even just speaking of someone you've had contact with lets you pull of pieces of their past. Maybe that's why Jade's so uptight about you." he noted.

"How'd you know?" I asked.

"It was obvious that you'd been seeing something, and with what we were talking about, I'd assume it was that." Chris answered.

"I guess," I sighed, "but it still seems like I can't pull anything out of you. The most I've ever gotten to see is when you were a kid and Jade saved you, and maybe a little bit of him taking care of you. Other than that, I haven't been able to see anything."

"That's partly my fault. I tend to block a lot of things without thinking about it. Trust me, once you've been around Will long enough, it becomes a force of habit. He's as nosey as they come and never hesitates to pry whenever he gets the chance." Chris admitted.

"Will can do that same thing I can?" I guessed.

"To an extent. He's a powerful reader and he's good at picking up people's thoughts even when they're trying hard to hide them. It gives him something to use against people at times. No matter how nice him or Zane seem, just know that deep down they'll always be looking out for number one."

"You don't believe that they'd turn on us, do you?" I dared ask.

"I doubt it. They're not the types. They just like to manipulate things in their favor. I guess it's just the demon blood that runs through their veins. I think in the end we're all the same way at times. I wouldn't worry too much about it. They both also know better than to piss me off." Chris assured me.

That made me smile, "Sounds like you're a little possessive yourself."

Chris smiled back, "It never hurts to be." he responded. He looked at the clock near us. It was nearly ten now, "Hey, I still want to get in some training today. You don't mind, do you?"

"I guess not, but I don't think I can do anything like that." I admitted, glancing at my arm that was now in a sling.

"It okay. I don't expect you to be able to train today, but do you think that you'll alright on your own for a few hours?" Chris asked.

"I think I'll be fine. You won't be that far away either, right?"

"No. I'll be in the same place we always go. Zane should be getting back soon too, but if you need anything, you can always come get me." Chris promised as he stood up.

I smiled as I stood with him, "Okay. That sounds good."

"Alright. I'll see you soon then." Chris nodded, giving me a quick kiss goodbye.

I felt a lightness in my heart as I watched him leave. I finally felt like I knew where I stood and that I actually had his love. But in the back of my mind, his words about Zane and Will bothered me. No, I never wanted to believe that either of them would ever betray us. Besides, would they even have stood a chance against Chris if that ever happened?

I hoped that I would never have to find out.