"Excuse me, sir, could you give me an idea on how much this costs? I left my checkbook at home and only have cash on me. I really don't want to charge it."

The sound of a customer’s voice brought Lucian out of his near-torpor. This was so ‘unfathomably’ boring. Wasn’t it close to holiday season? Where were all the waves of customers that his boss kept promising him? All he could see were a handful of people walking around the store and this one flushed customer holding a set of clothes in front of his register. There had to be at least four different pieces in her collection. How on earth did she expect him to remember the prices on all of them? Man, customers were so troublesome.

"Sir?" the lady repeated, moving to the side to make sure that the boy could see her.

"Tell you the truth, ma'am, the only way I can determine the price is to ring the pieces up on the register. But I don’t have the key to erase them from the screen if they’re over your budget," he replied, groaning at what he knew the woman was about to say.

"Oh that’s fine, young man. I’m sure I have enough."

That’s what they all said. Right before they decided that the store charged too much, wherein they would storm out of the line, leaving him with a bunch of useless information on his screen and no way of eliminating it without help from his supervisor. Knowing it was no use to argue with a customer, Lucian reached for the clothes and scanned each item into his register. He hit a few buttons on the system to bring up the total amount and winced as the number flashed in green against the black screen.

"That will be one-hundred and seventy-five dollars and eighty-three cents."

The lady’s eyes widened in alarm and she jerked the items off the counter. "Whoa! That’s way out of my range. Don’t you people realize that these prices are insane? I mean, who can afford anything they sell here?"

"The rich snobs, who make up my paycheck," mumbled Lucian under his breath. Then he raised his head to the customer and tapped his fingers against the register. "Well, the prices are on the stands where you find the clothes. That should have given you some hint that our prices are a bit steep."

"Are you getting smart with me, young man?" the woman growled, suddenly becoming very irritated. Argh! He really hated it when they called him ‘young man’ like that. It usually meant that they were about to tell him off. How come he could pull off the task of befriending most everybody he ran into and still have the suckiest customer service skills ever? Maybe these people just liked to unleash their anger on defenseless employees. He had sure grown accustomed to the nightly rants. It was like they thought it was his fault that the store’s prices were insane. Even with his discount, he wouldn’t even dream of shopping here. Well, that and the fact that this place had the most outrageous lack of style that he had ever laid eyes on.

"Of course not, ma'am. I was just pointing out that we are kind of for an exclusive crowd."

"Oh so now I’m cheap, am I?"

Yep, she was a real winner. Putting words in his mouth and everything. He really wasn’t up to this sort of abuse. He still felt a bit disappointed with himself for snapping at Tashira as he had done. Also, he had to prepare for that talk with Tyrell, which promised major difficulties. Lucian’s eyes flickered down to his watch. Nine thirty-two. Oh well, he only had to put up with this nonsense for another thirty minutes. He could manage.

"Lady, I’m not saying anything like that. I’m just making sure that you understand that we may not be suitable for the general audience," he placated, hoping that it would be good enough to shoo the customer off.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t. His patron glared at him and shoved her hands against her hips as she shot out a hand and yanked the clothes from the counter. "You have some nerve. I’m going to return these things and leave this horrid place immediately," she puffed, stomping away from the cash line and returning to the main part of the store.

"What a surprise?" Lucian bit as he stared at the mocking numerical figures on his screen. He snatched at the mini-microphone near his register and leaned into it. "Tracy, I need the code again."

"Are you chasing off more customers, Lucian," laughed a taunting voice from the other counter. "Tracy’s going to be pissed."

"Hey, at least I don’t have your track record, Jonathan. How many customers have you insulted within the past hour?" the redhead chuckled, checking out his coworker who was busy flipping through a trashy magazine. The other boy’s disheveled peroxide blond hair could just be seen over the edge of the cover. Jonathan lowered the magazine from his face and gave Lucian an arrogant smirk.

"Only five."

"You must be disappointed?"

"I am," moaned Jonathan in a dramatic voice. "How will I ever reach my quota by the time I get off."

Lucian shook his head in mock-derision. "And you wonder why Tracy threatens to fire you on a daily basis."

"I tell you the chick’s just pissed ‘cause I won’t sleep with her. Speaking of chicks, how is your Kathy? She used to come around all the time when you first started and now I hardly ever see her. Are you two having problems?"

"I guess so. We’re just not really into the dating thing right now. I don’t think that we ever really were."

"That sucks, man. She's a hottie. I’d totally date her," replied Jonathan, giving the other boy a look to show his condolences.

"You and about a zillion others, Jon. Besides, Kathy and I haven’t broken up. We’re just not an active couple right now. We need some time apart," Lucian clarified as he gazed at his screen. It was true. He hadn’t gone on a date with Kat for some time. The whole boyfriend thing was such a hassle lately. He was tired of fighting himself. It was wrong to participate in a relationship where he couldn’t help the way he acted most of the time and where he would do things for no reason whatsoever. Such a relationship was a mockery. Of course, he had already mocked Kat enough for the time being. Hadn’t he been unfaithful to his girlfriend by kissing Dominic? Lucian ran his fingers across the keys on the register, hoping the noise would take his mind off the misery that usually welled up in him whenever the name of the older youth was evoked. Why was it getting harder to stop thinking about him?

A sharp whistle from the other counter let him know that Jonathan was currently ogling one of the customers who had just walked in. "Youch! Check that one out! That filly may be young, but she’s quite a piece of work. What do you think, Lucian? Doable?" the blond inquired, leaning against the counter to get a better look. Lucian had to admit that though Jonathan was fun to hang around, especially during the boring hours of the night, he was a real playboy when it came to the ladies. He even suspected that the only reason that Jonathan had taken the job was the chance to flirt with all the young women who came to shop for clothes.

Raising his eyes above the register, Lucian set out to determine whom Jonathan was sizing up at the moment. He couldn’t help the gasp that escaped his lips when he realized that his coworker’s newest obsession was the tender Nadia. What was she doing here at this hour? Lucian wanted to mentally kick himself for having the nerve to ask that. It was obvious what she was doing. Duh! She was shopping for some new clothes just like every other person in the store. Still, he couldn’t quash that glimmer of hope that told him that Nadia had come to tell him something about Dominic. Maybe he had come back. There was the chance that he had just chosen to return to her. She was his sister after all.

"Yo Jon! Chill! She’s not your type," he barked at his lusting companion whose eyes rolled back to him in an annoyed leer.

"Un uh, boy. I saw her first."

"Leave her alone, Jonathan. I mean it," warned Lucian as he climbed out from behind the counter. "Watch the register. I need to go see her real quick. Give me ten minutes."

"Not fair. Next time, I see a good-looking girl, I sure as hell won’t tell you," Jonathan whined, picking up his magazine once more and resuming his scrutiny of the contents. "You can have your lousy ten minutes. But don’t be late. I’m very busy here."

Lucian refrained from commenting and hailed Nadia with an excited wave. "Hey Nadia! Nadia! Wait up!"

"Lucian?" murmured the girl as she gaped at the red-haired boy racing toward her.

"Ah, Nadia. Just the person I wanted to see," Lucian quipped, grabbing her hand and leading her to the side. "Can I talk to you for a little while?"

Nadia gazed down on the eager way that Lucian was gripping her hand as his red eyes sparkled with exhilaration. "Lucian, I don’t know where Dominic is. He didn’t tell me where he was going when he ran away last time so I’m not that shocked that he didn’t tell me this time. I know how you feel, but I’m just in the dark about this as you are. I can’t help you."

As her words fell upon his ears, Lucian removed his fingers from Nadia’s skin and let her hand slide back to her side. He began to feel very dizzy and leaned against the mirror in the pants section to keep himself from falling down. Nadia didn’t know either. She had no idea where Dominic was. He hadn’t even told his sister. Dominic truly wasn’t going to come back. Why had he allowed himself to get his hopes up like this? What was his problem? Why did he continue to torture himself in this way?

But as he glanced back at Nadia, another realization came over him. Nadia was Dominic’s sister so she had to be able to tell him something about the black-haired teenager. Just because she didn’t know where he was right now didn’t mean that she couldn’t yield any other information about him. Maybe she could help him figure out why Dominic had abandoned their group. In addition, she had to know something about his past that could provide a key to finding out to where Dominic had vanished. He had to try to talk to her.

Placing his hand over hers, Lucian looked up at the girl with pleading eyes. "Nadia, could you tell me a bit about your brother?"

"Here?" yelped Nadia, looking at the scattering of customers that still roamed the rows and aisles, searching for the ideal attire.

"No. We could go outside. I’m due for a smoking break."

"You smoke, Lucian?"

"Nah. Not anymore. But Jonathan does and he’s always ducking out on me for a quick puff or two. I think it’s about time I returned the favor," Lucian remarked, tossing an incriminating glance back toward his blond coworker. "So is it okay with you?"

Nadia appeared reluctant, but seemed to loosen up as she took in the desperation etched upon Lucian’s face. She backed away from him and started for the exit. "Hurry up, Lucian. We shouldn’t keep your friend waiting for too long." Lucian grinned and chased after her.

"Hey! No making-out during my shift!" hollered Jonathan, ignoring the disdainful looks that he was receiving from the remaining customers. "What? Was I talking to any of you? Mind your own business!"

Lucian leaned against the wall by the entrance to the plaza, watching Nadia with intent. He didn’t know where to begin with his questions. There were so many things he wanted to ask about and he wasn’t even positive that she would be able to answer them all. The chance to explore more about his runaway comrade was the one thing that he had been waiting for a long time. He decided that it would probably be best to start off with an easy question, one that didn’t delve too deep.

"So...um...Nicky ran away from home, right? What was it like in your family?"

"Well, it sort of changed a few times. Until I was nine, we all lived together. Me, my mother, Dominic and our father. We had our share of problems. After a while, my parents split up because Father...well, he and Mother just weren’t suited for each other. I stayed with my mother, but Dominic didn’t want to live with us. He never liked Mother that much. I think it was because she wasn’t his real mom. Anyway, he went to live with our uncle. He always liked him better than anyone. I think he was happier with Uncle than he ever was when we lived together," Nadia related, twisted the bottom of her shirt with her hands.

"If he was so happy, then why did he run away? And why didn’t your father come into the picture? Didn’t he see you after the divorce?" Lucian persisted, alarmed at the way in which Nadia was neglecting to mention the male parent.

"Oh I saw Father many times after they split up. It’s just that Dominic didn’t want to...He...He never told you about any of this?"

"Nicky never told me much about anything," Lucian said in a saddened tone, averting his eyes from the girl. "I don’t think he really trusted me very much."

"But I thought…Weren’t you...Dominic seemed to..." the younger youth stuttered and quit twisting the cloth within her fingers as she gawked at her companion in quandary.

"Weren’t we what?" urged the redhead, confused at the staggered manner of Nadia’s words. What was she talking about? Why did she think that Dominic would have told him anything about himself? Dominic refused to even call him a friend. Why would he impart such personal and potentially painful information to him? What made Nadia even suggest such a thing? Subconsciously, he placed his hand upon the ring beneath his shirt.

"Nothing. I just...Forget about it. About the other stuff, Dominic told me not tell anyone about what happened in the past, but I think it’s okay if I tell you just a little bit. Dominic and Father, they never got along. Father was always yelling at Dominic and scolding him for everything. I don’t really know why. All I know is that nothing Dominic did could ever make him happy. And Dominic tried. He really did sometimes. After a while, I guess he just gave up."

The redhead stepped back from the wall; feeling like something was clawing at the inside of his chest. He didn’t like the way Nadia was describing Dominic’s father at all. "He yelled at him? What sort of things did he say?"

Nadia appeared fazed by the question, but continued to keep her eyes toward him. "I don’t really remember. There was one thing that he used to say that always made me feel bad for Dominic. He told him he was cursed. I think once he even told him that it was his fault that Selene, Dominic’s mother, died. He said some other things to him too when he got older, even after he divorced Mother. Father was always very mean to my brother," she finished, allowing her voice to break at the end of her sentence.

"H--he just yelled at Nicky, right?" the older youth asked in a shaking tone. He wasn’t sure if he really wanted to know the answer to his question. All the times that the black-haired teenager had become enraged at the mention of the word ‘family’ reappeared in his mind, as well as the cut marks on Dominic’s wrist. If Dominic’s father had been verbally and psychologically abusive, did that meant that he also had been physically abusive?

This time, Nadia’s hesitancy was obvious as her blue-violet eyes wavered and she looked down at the pavement. "I...I don’t think I’m supposed to talk about this. You should only hear about this sort of stuff from Dominic. If he didn’t tell you, then he must not have wanted you to know."

"You sound surprised by this," Lucian noted, following Nadia’s lead in shying away from the current topic. Her anxiety had given him the closest thing he was going to get to an answer. Now, he just wanted to know what Nadia had thought about his association with the older boy.

"I guess I am a little surprised. Dominic seemed to...well...care about you. I haven’t seen him do that since he was real young. I think he’s afraid of caring for others. He truly believes what Father told him time and time again. Dominic thinks that he is cursed. But with you, I thought that it was...different. I must have just been seeing things that weren’t there. I so want Dominic to be happy again."

"Care about me?" The very notion was beyond his wildest dreams. Nadia had thought that Dominic cared about him? Why? She’d seen the way they acted around each other at the dance. What could possibly make her think that Dominic gave a damn about him? "That’s funny, Nadia. The last time I looked, Nicky could barely stand me, let alone care about what happened to me."

Curiosity filled the girl’s compassionate eyes and she tiptoed over to the other youth and reached over to his neck. Lucian could only stare at her in puzzlement as Nadia pinched the chain of his shorter necklace with her fingers and pulled it backwards. The ring on the end of the chain rose up into his gullet for a minute before Nadia let it fall back across his shirt collar. Nadia slipped her index finger within the loop of the ring and gave it a short tug.

"Then why do you have this?" she questioned with the slightest insinuation of presumption. "Do you know what it is?"

"No."

"Really? Where did you get it?"

Lucian turned from her and peered out into the parking lot, observing a few cars driving up to the highway. "I...found it. Yeah, I found it on the ground. Maybe someone dropped it."

"You are a miserable liar, Lucian. Dominic gave that to you, didn’t he?" Nadia asserted, dropping the jewelry back on his clothes. "That’s Selene’s ring. It’s special to him."

"So what if he did give it to me?"

"Maybe you also...are special," supposed the younger teenager, motioning back to the store. "I think your friend has been waiting long enough, Lucian. You don’t want to leave him alone up there. We’ve been out here for way more than ten minutes."

The boy jumped back and slapped his fist against his palm. "Crap! Jon! Tracy’s going to kill us! What time is it?"

Nadia looked at her watch and then bit her lip. "Five of ten."

No! He had that meeting with Tyrell to worry about and Jonathan was probably having a coronary by now. Groaning, Lucian snatched her arm and ran back through the doors of the clothing store. Jonathan glared at him from the counter where an older woman stood, snarling at the youth for not telling her that Lucian had decided to take a little break. The blond was resting his head on the screen of the register, apparently trying to ignore as much of the woman’s ravings as possible.

Suddenly the lady looked up from Jonathan and turned to the youths that had just scrambled in the building. "Lucian! What the hell are you doing? Why aren’t you behind your register?"

"Uh...it’s ten o clock," replied Lucian, giving his boss a plaintive smile.

"Don’t give me that crap! I’ve been here for the last ten minutes and you’ve been out gallivanting with some girl! Usually it’s Jonathan who pulls these sorts of stunts. This is the last straw for you two."

"Come on Tracy, don’t tell me that you can find better workers than us just before the holiday season," Jonathan protested, still leaning against the screen.

"This store gets hundreds of job applications a day. I’m sure there has to be someone out there who can top of pair of hormone-charged slackers," the woman informed and prepared to say something else to her employees when Lucian’s old customer walked up with the same items as she had previously brought.

"I decided that this clothes are very elegant, despite their outlandish cost. So I take back what I said earlier. Ring them up, sir," she ordered, tossing her bundle onto Lucian’s counter.

Lucian glanced at his now blank screen and then at the clothing before him. This was too much. Nadia had almost convinced him that he had been wrong about Dominic, he was still reeling from what the younger girl had told him about Dominic’s childhood, and his supervisor was surely about to fire him. Now, this huffy beast-lady wanted him to help her after she had just treated him like dirt about thirty minutes ago. Screw that! This wasn’t his game anymore. He didn’t have time for any of this. The Guardian contract was supposed to take priority over everything and right now, he had an appointment to fulfill.

"Lady, you can ring up your own damn clothes. I’m officially off the clock at ten. You missed me by five minutes," he growled, noting the looks of shock on Tracy and Nadia’s faces. Jonathan, on the other hand, was smiling in awe.

The customer’s visage contorted into a contemptuous grimace as she whipped her purchase away from him. "I don’t know how you can still hold a job here if you insist on treating your paying customer’s like this."

"You know what? You have a good point there. So I tell you what. Take your stuff over to Jon because I quit!" Saying this, Lucian undid the name badge on his uniform and slammed it against the counter. His coworker’s enthusiasm transformed into astonishment as Tracy seethed in silent fury. "I have something much more important to do," Lucian added, jerking away from the counter and storming out the door, leaving the rest of the group in disbelief.

"Hey Lucian? Weren’t you joking? Who am I supposed to talk to now? " Jonathan’s voice echoed as the redhead headed for the bus station. "Oh, that’s right. I still have the young princess with me. So...uh...sweetheart, what are you doing later tonight?"

Tyrell was distressed. His family still hadn’t come back yet from their shopping spree and he hadn’t managed to get that odd dream out of his head. Angelique had calmed down by now and was joining him in a snack of mint chocolate-chip ice cream. That was her favorite flavor, though he preferred strawberry. In the time since she had recovered from her nightmare, Angelique had been much more coddling around him. She probably was trying to thank him for promising to help her.

Too bad, he wasn’t sure if he really could. Why did he let people fight over him like this? He had promised Angelique that he would protect her, yet he had also promised Lucian that he would tell him everything he knew. There was no way of keeping one promise without breaking the other one and hurting someone in the process. Kat was right about all those times she had mocked him for being too much of a pushover. He was too nice for his own good. But this time, being nice meant that he would have to be cruel to one of his friends. Life really enjoyed messing with his head.

He heard a knock at the door and shot a glance at the kitchen clock. It was almost twenty past ten. Lucian had said that he would be there at ten, but knowing the older boy, Tyrell knew that he was notorious for being late. That was most likely him at the door this moment. Tyrell prayed that it would be his parents although he knew the chances of that being true were really slim. Excusing himself from his cousin, he pushed away from the table and went to answer his door.

His finger pressed against the button that was connected to the speakers outside the entrance. "Lucian?"

"Sorry I’m late. I had a very bad night at work. But thankfully, I won’t have to worry about that anymore," Lucian’s pert voice sounded through the speaker inside.

"I’m kind of feeling under the weather right now, Lucian. Maybe you should come back tomorrow."

"Tye, you promised me that we could talk. I’ve had a shitty evening and I want to speak to you tonight."

"Are you okay?" Tyrell inquired, disturbed by the unusually menacing timbre to his friend’s voice.

"I’m fine. Let me in," the other youth snapped, rapping on the door again with his knuckles.

"Tonight’s not good. I need to finish my art assignment due this Friday."

"Cut the crap, Tye! I told you I’ve had a night of hell. Let me in now!"

The increased pounding on his door frightened Tyrell and he immediately unlatched the lock and swung it open for the older boy. Lucian stepped inside and noticed Angelique leering at him from within the kitchen. Tyrell remained near the door, leaning on the wall as he searched his brain for a viable method of pleasing both his friends. The redhead pointed at Angelique with a frown and chastised him in a fierce whisper.

"You didn’t tell me that she was going to be here. Do you really want her to hear this?"

"Angie should know what we’re saying about her," uttered Tyrell, shifting his eyes in a nervous manner. "It’s not right to keep secrets about each other."

"What I want to ask concerns her loyalty? I do not wish to discuss it while she is in the vicinity," Lucian argued, keeping his voice as low as he could manage.

"You don’t trust her, do you, Lucian?"

"I don’t know yet."

Tyrell propped himself up from the wall and regarded Lucian with determined emerald eyes. "You don’t have to worry about her, Lucian. She’s...There’s nothing wrong with her. I can handle everything."

His friend seemed to find some deception in his words and pored over the boy with precision. "What do mean you can handle everything? What is there to handle? What’s going on with her?"

"N--nothing."

Lucian flung his hand to the side in frustration, glaring at the younger boy. "Damn it, Tye! Why are you acting like this? You said that you trusted me! I know there’s something up with Angelique. People never act this skittish unless they’re hiding something. So what are you holding back on telling me?" he raged, losing his interest in preventing the girl in the other room from hearing him.

"I do trust you, Lucian. I trust you with my life. But Angie...she’s...she needs me. I won’t let the Guardians come between her and I, not even you, Lucian. Don’t you understand? I can’t. I’m the only one who she really has. None of the others can understand her. I’m the only one who can help Angie. What’s bothering her is between us and us alone. The Guardians needn’t get involved," Tyrell stammered in a thick tone, forcing himself to sound resolute to his friend.

"So you will allow a potentially dangerous girl to hang around you and the Cruce?"

"I have to. She’s my best friend."

The older boy hung his head for a moment and the lifted it back up to Tyrell, red eyes stern and cold. "As your Guardian, I can’t let you make such a choice," he stated roughly. "I have to protect you."

Tyrell hated the harshness of Lucian’s voice. He wasn’t sounding like his friend right now; he was sounding like...like...Dominic. Lucian had appeared to have temporarily assumed the whole ‘Guardian mentality’ that had always surrounded the eldest boy. Somehow Tyrell could see that it was just a front for Lucian’s disappointment in hearing that Tyrell didn’t completely trust him. Why was trust such an important issue to Lucian lately? Tyrell loathed the idea of emphasizing this belief by continuing to deny Lucian the truth about Angelique, but he knew he had to. Lucian had his priorities and he had his: Angelique.

"I won’t tell you about this, Lucian. I won’t," he repeated, turning to rejoin his cousin in the kitchen. "You should probably leave now. I don’t want to fight about this anymore."

A hand caught his shoulder and whirled him around. Without warning, Lucian slammed him against the wall and glowered at him in an almost sinister manner. "I am not leaving until you tell me what you’re protecting her from! She has endangered my partner. She was responsible for what happened to you at school. And she is very suspicious around the Guardians. I know you know why. Now tell me!"

"Lucian! Please, I can’t. I promised her."

"You promised me too. Does that mean nothing? Can’t anybody ever trust me enough to tell me anything?"

"I’m sorry," whimpered Tyrell, pressing hard against the back of the plaster.

"You’re SORRY? And that’s supposed to make it all right? It doesn’t. I want you to talk to me! Please!" roared Lucian, forcing his fingers deep into Tyrell’s skin as he pinned him to the wall.

"You let him go right now!" hissed Angelique as she appeared in the hallway, staring at the way Lucian had her cousin trapped beneath his hands.

"Angie, stop!" the youngest teenager screamed as he realized what Angelique was actually threatening his friend with. She was going to use her power against him. Her talent allowed her to possess the power to make one see their worst nightmares. Lucian’s nightmares were devastating. She couldn’t do that to Lucian. In that moment, Tyrell instantly realized that Angelique didn’t need to touch her Amethyst to use the power like the rest of them. His cousin could call upon the sorcery by herself.

Slowly turning his face from Tyrell, Lucian observed the girl with distrust. "This is the girl you protect, Tye? One who threatens your friends? The ones who would die for you?" he jeered in a cool undertone.

"I care for Tye more than you ever could, Guardian!" yelled the silver-haired youth as the lilac hue in her eyes faded to the empty black. Tyrell could feel the Amethyst in his pocket began to burn against his clothing. Lucian pulled back from him with a start as his legs crumpled beneath him. Having seen what had happened to Dominic that one time, Lucian shut his eyes and clenched one of his fists. But Tyrell could tell that even though his friend couldn’t see anything, he could still hear everything, as the red-haired youth jerked his head to the side and clawed at his crimson hair.

"Stop it! Go away!" cried the boy, snatching at the dull amulet against his chest.

"Lucian, don’t!" Tyrell protested, knowing that it was a futile demand.

"Make it stop! Shut up! Why won’t they just leave me alone?" Lucian sobbed as he changed his ruby into Hades and turned to Angelique, his eyes snapping open. "Make it stop now!"

Tyrell was awash with anguish. His friends were going to fight each other and seeing the half-crazed look in Lucian’s eyes, he was sure that they weren’t going to back away that easily. Though Angelique had her magic, Lucian had his sword and his power was a great deal more painful. Tyrell knew that Lucian was just trying to defend himself from the visions that ravaged his mind, but he couldn’t let him hurt Angelique. He would have to make a choice. His friend or his Angelique.

He saw Lucian raise his blade toward the girl and he made his choice. Tyrell leapt at Lucian, tackling him in the side and smacking him into the floor. The sword flew out of Lucian’s hand, sliding over to Angelique who continued to intense the older boy’s mental torment. Tyrell managed to catch hold of Lucian’s wrists and tried to keep them from aiding Lucian in getting free. Desperate to get at the girl, who was causing him such pain, Lucian fought back against Tyrell, kicking at him angrily. Tyrell tried to force his friend back to the ground, not willing to let Lucian have another chance to attack Angelique.

"Angie! You have to stop this! I don’t want either of you to get hurt," he begged, hoping that Lucian would calm down once the nightmares disappeared.

"I can’t. He tried to hurt you. He’s a danger to you, Tyrell," breathed Angelique in complete sincerity. She was truly trying to protect him.

Then he felt a biting pain in his side and realized that Lucian had managed to connect with one of his kicks. "Get off me, Key!" the redhead snarled. Tyrell wished that he could believe that it was Tavores making his Guardian act this way, but he could see the bright red eyes of the other boy, unmarred by any sign of brown. It was Lucian all right, but a Lucian unlike he’d ever seen before. He wondered if Dominic had ever seen this side of his old partner.

Lucian kicked him again, harder this time, throwing him off. "I’m not going to let her turn you against us. It’s my destiny to protect you." He lunged toward Angelique, intent on forcing her to release him from her spell. Frantic, Tyrell jumped in between the two, accidentally knocking his cousin to the floor.

"I don’t need you," he screeched. Determined to protect the girl, Tyrell reacted on instinct as Lucian plowed into him. Barely catching the look of hurt surprise that crossed his companion’s face; he swung at him, slugging him near the eye. Lucian gave a tiny groan and fell backward.

As he sat up, Tyrell realized that the jewel in his pocket was no longer glowing and turning around, he saw that Angelique’s eyes were their regular color. She wasn’t trying to hex Lucian any more. Lucian! What had he done? Tyrell gazed down on his hand in horror, not able to comprehend what had happened. In a matter of seconds, it all came back to him. He had hit Lucian. After all those times, he had cursed at Dominic for daring to strike the younger boy; he had just done the exact same thing. He was no different than the eldest Guardian.

Feeling his throat tighten, he whirled around to Lucian who was pushing himself to his feet "Luc...I...I’m sorry, Lucian. I couldn’t let you hurt Angie. I know it wasn’t your fault, but you...Oh please, Lucian! I’m so very sorry."

The older youth turned to him, fury and grief glistening from his eyes. "You don’t need me, huh? Why should that bother me? It’s nothing new. I should be used to not being needed," he spat, grabbing his fallen sword and making it return to the shape of the globule.

"I didn’t mean it that way. I was just..."

"Forget it! You want to choose her over your Guardians, then have it your way. It’s your life. The other Guardians can deal with it when she turns on you. And she will, Tyrell. Maybe it won’t be her fault, but it will still happen. So go ahead and try to handle this on your own. You don’t want my help. I’m out of here."

"You don’t understand," whimpered Tyrell, getting ready to chase after his friend.

Angelique wrapped her arm around his shoulders and pulled him close to her. "Let him go, Tye. This is not his business."

Lucian gave one last glance back at the younger boy and lowered his eyes. "I wish you hadn’t told me that you trusted me. It would have been easier that way," he said in a shattered tone before he shut the door behind him.

Tears threatened to fill Tyrell’s eyes and he clenched them shut, hanging his head. Had he just lost another Guardian? What was this? Gain one, lose two? He couldn’t blame Lucian for being so disgusted with him. After what he had just done, he pretty much deserved it. Yet, he had never wanted to crush his friend like he had done. All he wanted to do was protect Angelique. Why did it have to be so hard? He held a hand to his eyes, fighting to force the image of Lucian’s stricken expression out of his mind.

"It’s okay, Tye. I’ll be your Guardian," the girl holding him promised, caressing his locks of mahogany. "I didn’t mean to attack your friend. I just couldn’t stand to watch him treat you like that. I’m not used to controlling my power yet and it got the better of me. I’m sorry. But it’s better that you don’t associate with Lucian anymore. I think he really wants to split us apart. You don’t want that do you, Tye?"

"No," her cousin sniffled, leaning into her shoulder. "I don’t want to ever lose you, Angie."

"I know. So we must stick together from now on. We don’t need the Guardians. All we need is each other," purred Angelique as she rested her head against his.

The door was hurled open as Lucian trudged inside his house, spying Tashira’s startled look from where she had been reading in the den. Lucian had reached a whole new level of furious. Tyrell had punched him. He couldn’t think of a more unpredictable and asinine action from the younger youth. What the hell had possessed him to hit him? Couldn’t the boy see that Angelique was really hurting him with her spell? Everything that Dominic had said about being caught within the hex was true. There was no way to describe such overwhelming pain. All of Tavores’ victims had flashed before his eyes as well as scenes of Vincient torturing the prince and of Reyna condemning her brother. It had been the most horrendous thing that he had ever experienced since...losing Dominic. So yes, he had planned on taking down Angelique just so that he could get the visions out of his head. Yet, had Tyrell come to his aid as Lucian had done for him so many times? No, he had chosen to stand with Angelique and attack his Guardian.

That action had driven the pain home. He had been upset enough when Tyrell had suddenly refused to talk to him after swearing that morning that he would. His dismay had increased when Tyrell told him that he couldn’t trust him to help him with Angelique. Those words had been too hard to accept. Tyrell was just one another person who hung with him for fun, but had no genuine feelings of trust or friendship toward him. He was sick of receiving this treatment. Against his better judgment, he had snapped and tried to force Tyrell into being honest with him. But he had never really wanted to hurt the other boy. It was just that everything was so confusing now. He didn’t know what to think or feel. Nothing seemed to make sense anymore. He just felt so hollow.

Angelique had had some merit in threatening him, but she had no reason to use her power against him. It wasn’t like he was endangering Tyrell’s life. He hadn’t even been pushing against him that hard. The only times that he had genuinely tried to injure the boy had been when he was trapped within his nightmares. He hadn’t been in his right mind at the time and even then, he had only wanted to make him let him go. It was clear that Tyrell had understood this. So why had he hit him?

He had said that he didn’t need him. That was probably what had torn at him most of all. The phrase wasn’t unfamiliar to his ears. He had heard it once before from the lips of another. It had stung him just as much back then. People sure liked to say that to him. Maybe it was true. Perhaps, he wasn’t needed.

"Luce? What’s wrong?" Tashira’s voice tried to reach him through his haze of anger.

Her brother ignored her and charged into the study where the computer was blinking upon the table, indicating new mail. New information about either Evangel or the Chimera. That was stuff for the Guardians. It was to help them protect Tyrell. But Tyrell didn’t want their protection. What good was it? It couldn’t even help him find Dominic.

As Tashira ran after her sibling, Lucian walked over to the computer desk and swept all his disks onto the floor. He lifted his hands and repeated the action with all the printed files on the top of the desk. A few toppled onto the back of the console. Lucian reached for them and immediately ripped them to shreds, littering the pieces over his computer.

Tashira gasped and rushed her brother, grabbing his hang and yanking him back. "Lucian! Talk to me! What’s the matter?" she pleaded frenetically.

Lucian jerked away from her and drove his fingers into the top of the monitor and pulled it forward, tearing it from its cables and crashing it against the carpet. He didn’t know what madness was driving him to this destruction, but he couldn’t seem to erase the fury from his mind. Reaching behind the desk, he ripped the wires from the tower. Breathing harshly, he dropped to his knees and he collected the papers from the floor, staring at them for a few minutes.

Arms enlaced his chest and Tashira pressed against his back, soft sobs coming from her figure. "It’s okay, Luce, tell me what’s wrong? I want to help you," she assured, burying her face in his mane. One hand reached for the pages in his trembling hands, but Lucian wrenched them from her grasp.

"Nothing’s wrong. I’m just perfect as always. So what if my charge doesn’t need me. Why should I be surprised?" the boy responded with a broken laugh. It sounded wretched and depraved.

"Oh Lucian, please calm down. We can talk this out. We’ll make it better," Tashira soothed, tears soaking her skin as she listened to the hysterical way her twin was speaking.

"What’s there to talk about? I told you everything is fine!" Lucian screamed, ripping himself from her embrace and leaping to his feet. "You’re getting all worried over nothing. I’m just getting rid of some useless junk." He rent the pages down the center and let them float to the floor. "There, all better now."

"Lucian...."

He hated seeing that horrified look in her eyes, but he couldn’t force himself to comfort her. His whole body was being consumed by a terrible ache and his stomach felt like it was flipping over. Everything was going to hell! He just wanted the pain to go away. The two people, who meant the world to him, besides Tashira, had turned on him. And now, he was making Tashira suffer just by acting this way. Yet, he couldn’t stop. He couldn’t even convince himself that he really wanted to stop. Why couldn’t he shake this feeling of defeat?

Tashira took a step in his direction and Lucian shot her a look of pure rage. "Don’t touch me! I’m fine! I’m fine!" he shrieked, watching her freeze in shock. He needed to get away from her. She couldn’t help him now. Nobody could. Turning from his sister, he sprinted up the stairs and into his room, slamming the door and setting the lock. He braced his arms on the door and panted heavily, revolted by the way he was acting.

There was the echo of stumbling footsteps as Tashira dashed up the stairs. She leaned on his door and tapped the surface with her nails. "Luce, you’re scaring me. Please come out so we can talk. We could always talk. If Tyrell said something to upset you, I’m sure that he didn’t mean it. You know that boy adores you. You’re like his idol. It was probably just a misunderstanding," she called out, speaking to him as a mother would speak to her distraught child.

"Go away, Tashira! I don’t want to talk about anything! I want to be alone!" he hissed on the other side.

"Lucian, precious, don’t shut me out like this. I love you and I’m worried about you."

"Well, you’d be the first."

"You know that’s not true, brother. Many people care about you. You’re so good at making friends. You can befriend anyone...I mean..." Tashira paused, realizing her mistake the second the words left her mouth.

Lucian cracked his fist against the door. The one thing that he had been struggling not to think of and she had just brought it up. He slid down the wood and sat on the ground. His hand went for his neck and he withdrew the ring from his collar and ran his eyes over its brilliant gems. Enraged at his action, he flung the ring back against his clothing.

"Leave me alone, Tashira! Just...leave me alone," he demanded in strangled voice.

"Alright. If that’s what you really want, Lucian. You know I’d never force you to talk to me. If you want to wait until you’re feeling better, we can talk then. Maybe tomorrow, right?" the girl consented, sounding as if she was having trouble keeping her voice from being drowned out by her sobs.

He didn’t respond this time and instead leaned his elbows on the carpet and cupped his forehead within his palms. The sound of the shifting floor told him that Tashira had returned to the downstairs. She was probably sobbing uncontrollably this moment and he couldn’t even make himself check on her. He was so busy with his own damn problems. The thought made him sick. He really was a detestable person. No wonder his friends had seen fit to hurt him.

As he wallowed in self-hatred, he noticed the notebook that he had hidden under his bed after he had returned from his drunken frolic a month ago. He had still yet to read it. To make Tashira happy, he had been doing his best to try to avoid anything that would cause him to remember his partner. What was the point of this farce now? She knew that he was losing it. Why bother to even pretend anymore? Besides, maybe if the notebook was a diary as he had guessed, it would be able to tell him why Dominic had run away. Crawling over to the book, he fished it out from under his bed and opened it to the first page.

‘Hey Aiden,

He could hardly believe what he had just read. Dominic had been in love before. More importantly, he had been in love with another guy. Aiden? He recalled the name from his memory. Was his Aiden the same one that Dominic had been confessing to? It was possible. The way that Dominic spoke about the man seemed to point toward the fact that Aiden was gone. Lucian’s Aiden had vanished on him as well. Maybe they were the same. That would be a really cool coincidence. Two troubled youths befriending the exact same man. What were the odds?

It was a little hard to read the notebook due to the frequent water marks and dirty pages. A few were soaked to the point that some of the words ran together and some pages were even missing here and there. Still, for the most part, the book was in remarkably good shape. Dominic had obviously taken good care of it. His elegant penmanship also did its fair share to aid in helping to decipher the passages.

Skimming over the next few pages, he read about the way that Dominic narrated his wolf life to Aiden. It wasn’t that different from what he had encountered in the passages on his net searches. Wolf had found a pack and assimilated himself within it by acknowledging his subservience. He occasionally would be allowed to join them in the hunt and had taken down his own large game several times. Aside from the wolf life, Dominic also told the other man how he had taken time to go over his studies every now and then, perusing through books at the library or hanging out by a schoolhouse. Dominic griped about the point in the studying, but he figured that Aiden would have wanted him to advance his education a little bit to help him when he met his charges. Lucian laughed as he read the passage. It seemed that Dominic would do anything to make Aiden happy. If only he could have shown that sort of affection toward him.

After an hour, he reached a part that detailed Wolf’s first run-in with the Keys.

‘Hey Aiden,

Well, Dominic evidently had thought highly of his young charge. It was still kind of mean for him to sneak around Tyrell without telling him who he was. Lucian could pride himself on being more honest around the boy than Dominic had been. He turned to the next entry, curious to hear more about Dominic’s interpretation of Tyrell.

‘Hey Aiden,

Wow! Dominic hadn’t been lying that one night when he had claimed to respect Tyrell. He had never heard him say such stunning compliments about another person. Why didn’t Dominic ever talk like this in real life? If he acted as friendly with others as he did with Aiden, nobody would accuse him of being a jerk. Lucian twisted the ring around his finger and continued to read through the next sections, learning about the first time that Wolf had saved Tyrell and their first meeting at school. Apparently, Dominic was bitter about being forced to resume his human form to protect the Keys. From his writing, Lucian determined that Dominic felt Tyrell was too nice for his own good. He even compared him to Nadia a few times, though he gave his sister a lot more credit.

Perusing through a couple more pages, Lucian came across a narrative that he knew all too well.

‘Hey Aiden,

It only got better after that.

"Now, you’re starting to sound as snappy as ever, Nicky," Lucian mused as he went through the rest of the diary. Dominic complained about every single thing they had ever done together. Though it was amusing to note the times that Dominic griped about him stealing his notebook in the middle of his writing, it got boring after a while, so he just skipped to the last entry. It was dated the day that Dominic had told him that he planned on disbanding the partnership. This was what he had been searching for. Now, he would finally have his answers. He would know why Dominic had left him when they had seemed to be getting along so much better.

He couldn’t take it anymore. Lucian tore his eyes from the page and lofted it across the room so hard that it crashed against his mirror and skidded to the counter. That was his reason for leaving? Dominic didn’t want to be around him anymore? Dominic hated him? He had known that Dominic had never seemed too pleased with him. But he had never imagined that the older boy could truly hate him. Why was he writing such things? The entry had started out fine. Dominic had sounded like he had some amount of genuine respect for him. It had almost seemed like he wanted to understand him. Dominic had seemed to want to accept him, only he was afraid.

But the sentences had only seemed to get worse from that point. That last paragraph was so unlike the rest and had served as being the most vicious passage of them all. Dominic had even said that he made his life hell. What was the deal with that? He wasn’t that troublesome, was he? All the other people that he had met had never seemed this averse to him. Did Dominic truly hate him?

Shaking, he dropped the ring that he had been twirling around its chain. It smacked against his chest, causing him a slight amount of pain. That prick couldn’t even compare to the agony that had already started to tear through him. He had been wrong about everything. Nadia had been wrong as well and had wanted so badly to believe her. Tyrell really didn’t trust him and Dominic detested him. Why had he even read that damn notebook? Ignorance was bliss, right? He should have just followed that ancient adage. Now, he was reeling from the truth that he could never accept. Dominic was never coming back and it was his fault. Dominic was trying to get away from him. The first person that he had ever felt such a connection with and he hated him. What sort of cruel joke was this?

Lucian fisted the ring in his hand and lay the side of his head upon it. The violet glistened like an ember underneath his skin. He shut his eyes to block out the image, which was trying to evoke bittersweet memories. The sudden dampness on his wrist didn’t even come as a shock to him this time. He brought his legs closer to his stomach and rested both the fisted ring and his head against his knees.

"We should probably get some sleep," Angelique suggested to the green-eyed boy crying against her. I think that Kat and your parents probably ran into traffic trouble or something. That’s why they’re not home yet."

"Maybe," garbled the other youth from behind her shoulder.

His eyes were puffy; telling her that he really had been sobbing for a good ten minutes. He was really upset about forcing Lucian to leave. Of course, he was upset. Tyrell was such a gentle person that resorting to attack another friend would seem like the ultimate sin to him. Still, he shouldn’t be making such a fuss over someone who wanted to break them apart. She knew that Lucian wanted to prove to Tyrell that she wasn’t safe to be around. Interestingly enough, she wanted to prove to Tyrell that Lucian wasn’t safe to be around. The boy chose to associate with characters such as Dominic Solanis of his own free will. How stable could a person be if they hung out with a person known to be incredibly violent? Lucian wasn’t a good influence on her cousin.

"And we have to wash out the dessert bowls. The ice cream has most likely melted by now," she added nudging Tyrell from her side. The boy wiped at his eyes and took a few deep breaths to regain his composure. Angelique gave him a tiny push forward, hoping to get the younger teenager out of his slump. Not paying attention, Tyrell stumbled but caught himself before falling.

"Bad girl, Angie," he scolded playfully, smiling back at his cousin in mirth.

Angelique giggled and raced ahead of the boy. As she ran across the hard floor, something sharp poked at her bare foot. "Ouch!" she whimpered softly, picking up her foot and rubbing the sore spot. She looked down at the ground to see what she had stepped on. Buried under its severed chain, the Amethyst shone against the floor. What was it doing here? Tyrell had told her that he was going to get rid of it. He had all day. Why was it still here?

A feeling of dread spread through her like it had seeped into her blood. She didn’t want to see the Amethyst. As much as she loved it, it made her feel so strange, almost as if she was separated from part of herself. Moreover, the Amethyst was always around whenever she had acted unusual around the others. Although she knew she couldn’t blame the whole situation on the jewel, it could be accountable for some part of it. The worst part was that when she was around it, she couldn’t help but want it. It pulled at her very soul, coercing her into donning its majesty. She could already feel its internal call. The gem wanted her once more.

"What’s up?" Tyrell posed, noticing that the girl was examining something on the ground.

"Tye, you told me you were going to get rid of this," Angelique remarked, reaching down to gather the necklace in her fingers.

"Get rid of what, Angie?" Then he saw the purple luminescence that poured forth from the other’s hands. "Where did you get that?" he gasped, shoving his hand in his pants and searching for a relic that Angelique knew he wouldn’t find.

"Why did you lie to me?"

"I didn’t lie. I was going to get rid off it. I just had to...."

"Liar! You wanted to keep it for yourself!" accused his cousin, appalled at the venom in her words. She didn’t want to say these things to Tyrell. Such violence scared the younger youth and made him react unexpectedly. She had seen evidence of this many times with both the Guardians and herself. But as the Amethyst continued to glow in her grasp, she couldn’t block out the voice that whispered inside her head.

<He doesn’t want to help you. He just wants to covet the power of the Amethyst. How can you believe his lies? Of course, the Amethyst doesn’t affect your personality. It just makes you stronger and more powerful. You were meant to be powerful.>

She was meant to be powerful. The voice had to be right, otherwise why would she have ever come across the gem? It was fate that had led her to it. This was meant to be hers. Tyrell couldn’t have it. Nor could he have the pendant that he surely held this moment.

Angelique shook the side of her head. What was she saying? Was she actually thinking of challenging Tyrell? She would die before she hurt him. He was the only person who had ever truly bared his soul to her. In return, he was the only one that she shared her secrets with. They were special to each other. There was no way she could hurt him.

<He doesn’t understand. You need the Amethyst and the broach to protect him. Are you going to let those brutish Guardians continue to watch out for him? How many times have they just gotten him hurt? They’re not strong enough to take proper care of him. They could never be strong like you.>

That’s right. She needed the Amethyst to protect Tyrell. It was important to be strong. She couldn’t have him constantly being shadowed by those dangerous youths. They were too enigmatic to hang around her cousin. He had promised to protect her. It was only right that she should undertake the task of protecting him. Even if it meant, protecting him from the ones that he felt were determined to fight for his preservation. None of them had any right to protect her Tyrell. They didn’t understand him like she did. This was her fight.

Wrapping the necklace around her neck, she looked back at Tyrell. "Give me back the other relic."

"Angie, I don’t want to keep either of these charms. They’re linked to something really evil. Neither one of us should have them," Tyrell contested, thrown by what Angelique had said to him a moment ago.

<See, he’s naive. You must get the pendant by yourself. It’s for his own good and yours as well.>

Black sparks passed through Angelique’s eyes and she nodded her head in response to the voice. She walked up to Tyrell and watched him shift his eyes from her view. He was nervous. What did he have to be nervous about? Maybe, he truly was hiding something from her. He had lied to her about getting rid of the gems? He had to want them for himself. Why else would he still have them?

"You’re wrong. I should have them. They are mine!" she declared, pushing as she had done earlier. Except this time, it wasn’t a game.

"Angie, haven’t we fought enough for one night? Forget about the jewels. Let’s just go to sleep like you said," the boy pacified as he removed his hand from his pocket. Angelique saw the action and threw him to the floor.

"So that’s where you’ve been hiding my broach?" she sneered, sliding her hand into his pocket and ensnaring the pendant between her fingers. Tyrell tried to push her off and snatched at her hand. The girl elbowed him in the side and yanked the jewel out of its nook.

"You can’t have it!" shrieked Tyrell, flailing out his hands to get back the broach.

Slapping them away, Angelique encircled her cousin’s throat with her fingers, pressing him against the floor. His eyes shone with fear and sorrow, as he tugged at her hand with his own. The silver-haired youth laughed deeply and traced hollow of his neck with the fingernail of her pinkie finger. She leaned down and gazed into his wide gray-green eyes, placing her hand just above his stomach.

"Oh can’t I?" the older youth cooed, running her fingers down the bottom of his shirt as she lowered her face to his. She could feel his erratic breathing underneath her as he trembled at her touch. To her disgust, his fear enticed some part of her. She squeezed slightly on his throat, fingers on the other hand pushing aside fabric to brush against bare skin.

A flush covered Tyrell’s entire face and he tried to turn away from the other teenager, but the way she was holding his neck made it impossible. "Angie! What are you doing? Stop!" he implored as he lifted one hand from his side.

Figuring that the boy was going to grab at her necklace, she moved her arm to block her throat. So she was most alarmed when she felt her head forced to the left from a brusque slap. A stinging sensation rose up under the flesh and she gaped at the youth underneath her. Tyrell used her hesitation to roll her away from him.

He staggered to his feet, holding his throat and exhaling roughly. Angelique laid a palm against her hurt cheek and glared back at him. "You slapped me?"

"I...I had to. You were going to hurt me," explained Tyrell, holding the offensive hand to his chest. "Can’t you see, Angie? Those relics warp your mind. You would have never done anything like that if you were thinking clearly. You have to understand why it’s so important to get rid of them now."

"You had your chance. You didn’t get rid of them then. And you don’t plan on getting rid of them now. I can see through your tricks, Tyrell."

She couldn’t believe she was saying this. Hatred was boiling up inside of her. Tyrell had slapped her. In all of their time together, Tyrell had never raised a hand to her unless it was in play. He most definitely had never hit her as hard as just now. Why had he slapped her? She couldn’t really recall a coherent memory of what had just happened. The last thing that she could pinpoint was when she had tackled her cousin to get the broach back. Had she hurt him like he said? She couldn’t remember. Somehow she just wanted to get away from Tyrell right away. She needed time to sort this all out.

"Stay away from me!" she ordered as she scrambled over to the entrance and flung the doors open, picking up her shoes on the way out.

"Angie, where are you going?" cried the boy, flying over to the door and looking as if he intended on following her.

"I said stay back! I need to get away from you right now, Tye. I don’t trust myself around you. I don’t want to hurt you again."

"It’s not you, Angie. It’s the jewelry. Get rid of it!"

The girl held her hands to her ears to stop his voice from reaching them and ran further into the night. It couldn’t be her jewelry. It couldn’t! She needed them. Didn’t he understand? She needed them to protect him.

Running as fast as she could, she raced through the streets, unable to even stop and think where she was going. All she knew was that she had to put as much distance between her and the other youth as possible. It wasn’t safe for her to be around him. She had to find out what was wrong with her. Angelique wanted answers now.

Suddenly a dark form blocked her escape. Running too fast to slow down in time, she collided with the object and both of them fell to the ground. She tried to lift herself up as a gentle hand grasped her hand and raised her to her knees. A pair of amazing eyes shimmered before her, the color of smooth obsidian.

"Are you okay?" the figure asked, patting her on the hand.

"I think so," she mumbled, unsure if she should be talking to a stranger. The person before her stood up as the moonlight revealed him to be a stocky older man. He looked like he was in his early thirties with wavy raven hair trailing over his shoulders. Holding out a hand to her, the man gazed at Angelique, seeming to take special notice of the Amethyst on her necklace.

"Pretty stone. Can I give you a hand?" he offered in a honeyed voice that sounded almost musical in its tenor. Entranced, she took his hand and allowed him to help her. "A sweet-looking angel like you shouldn’t be running around so late. You could get lost."

The words sounded so familiar. Angelique cocked her head to get a more concrete glance at the man. Why was she feeling like this? It felt as though she had seen him somewhere before, but she rarely spoke to others outside her family unless they were friends of Tyrell. This man was too old for her cousin to know. Yet, the feeling of connection was too strong to ignore.

"Who are you?" she murmured under her breath, more to herself than the person next to her.

"Vincient. Vincient Black."

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