Someone was humming a familiar tune. That was the first thought in Lia's head as she regained consciousness. Wait a minute, someone was stroking her hair too.

Like a lioness stretched out to pounce upon her prey, Lia sat up at once with lightning speed. But when her eyes connected with green ones, she froze.

"Asher?"

"Welcome back to the land of the living," He grinned at her.

How was that possible? She must be dreaming, yes, that must be it!

Lia slapped him.

"Ouch!" Asher cried out in pain.

"You're real?"

"Yes, duh?"

A smile broke out on her face.

"So much for trying to keep you safe -"

Lia didn't wait to hear the rest of his grumbles cause she drew him closer by pulling on his bloodied shirt and kissed him.

Her hand went to snake around his neck, drawing him closer as she tasted him. Lia thought she had lost him forever so she wanted to take advantage of this moment with him.

Asher pulled her away.

Lia stared at him questioningly, "What?"

"Those creeps are watching us" He gestured at the camera blinking red at the far edge of the room.

"Yolk," The excitement in Lia died instantly. She moved her hands as if to destroy the camera but nothing happened.

"Bad news is that our powers don't work here," Asher informed her.

"Ahh, should have known,"

"Well the good things news is that they transferred us to a better room with a bed, you should have seen the former place they kept me, "

Lia looked down to discover she was lying on a bed all this while; a soft bed - maybe she would forgive them a little.

The room was spacious, the bed being the only property in there. The walls are white, like insanely white with no stains on them. But then, the lights were blinding as if they were in a photoshoot or something.

"The light's hurting my eyes, how have you been enduring this? " Lia complained, relaxing against Asher's chest, shielding her eyes with the back of her hand.

Almost immediately, as if her request was heard, the intensity of the light was lowered. Lia was stunned.

"Did they just fulfill my wish? "

"Seems so,"

"Feels like I'm treated like a VIP in here," Lia was smug.

"Yeah," Asher drawled, "Just like a calf, they're fattening you to be sacrificed later,"

Lia glared at Asher, he didn't just say that? Way to destroy a woman's pride! Sometimes, she wonders what she even sees in this sharp-mouthed vampire.

Asher sensing her changed mood appeased her at once. He hugged her close, burying his nose in the crook of her neck saying, "On the bright side, we're being fattened together,"

And that did the magic. Just like that, Lia's anger vanished and she began to converse with him heartily. If she was going to die, she better much prefer to spend her last moment with him.

And just like Asher predicted she was being prepared for the great sacrifice; Kun was in the control room watching them.

"I seriously fail to understand your thinking lately, Kun," Vashti strode into the room, furious.

"What do you not understand?" he glanced in her direction, over his shoulder.

"We've gotten the freak already, why wait till midnight to end her when it's obvious we don't have much time left before Islinda and her people strike us?" Vashti inquired.

If not for his previous contribution and undying loyalty to the council, Vashti could have sworn he was purposely dragging out time so the Burning Eaglet could attack them.

"The girl did nothing to receive this cruel fate, we should at least give her time to spend with her lover. Moreover, we have enough people to fight the dark witches, just add the hunters if you're still anxious," He said flatly, eyes fixed on watching Lia and Asher's interaction.

"Kun, you are making a very huge mistake - "

"Kun it's right, we should give the girl time to say goodbye. Moreover, it's just an hour till the clock strikes twelve. I'm sure, you can exercise a bit of patience," Selena told her, a smile at the corner of her lips.

Vashti was infuriated, when did Selena and Kun become this close? If there was any man she could have sworn Selena could never get her claws on, it was Kun. The man was as cold as ice and the most intelligent, reasonable, and oldest amongst them.

Unlike Ian and Pharrell, Kun has no room for pleasure; he was all business. But watching their interaction, Vashti wasn't so sure any longer. And when did they - the council- even start to show compassion on threats? Something was not right.

"Kun," Vashti called him.

"What now?" he was vexed at being interrupted.

"Should I have some fun with her before the time's up then?" she had a mischievous smirk on. The Kun she knew would let her do whatever she wanted with a traitor on the promise of keeping her alive.

That comment enraged Kun who shot up to his feet, "Don't you dare touch...!" it dawned on him, it was a test.

"You're not Kun!" Vashti huffed.

Selena, knowing this discovery was dangerous to their plan, tried to take her out from behind but Vashti was smart and faster. She vanished.

"We have to find her! " Kun was in a state of agitation, "Islinda would not like any disruption to her plans,"

"Of course,"

******************************

A loud coughing sound was heard.

"What the hell?" Ben spat out sand from his mouth. What the hell was going on? He had a dream where he was swimming, there was no way he swarmed in mud, right?

But he was not alone, others around him were throwing up the same stuff too.

"What the hell happened?" Trevor was the first to ask openly.

"Well, I teleported all of your ass out of quicksand. You're welcome by the way," Dan answered, leaning against the wall. No wonder there was mud all over the passageway.

"Quicksand?" Sabrina asked this time.

"Yeah, a quicksand started after one of the ugly witches took my mate away, huge thanks to you Devon," Daniel said sarcastically.

"Lia has been taken! " the ignorant ones were shocked.

"This is all your fault, only if you had been one less selfish," Trevor yelled at Devon's face.

"Really?" Devon scoffed, "I'm selfish?" She couldn't believe her ears.

"Yes, you are selfish, Devon!" Ben surprisingly joined in standing up to her.

Devon was dumbfounded, even Ben too.

"Just because you got badass witchy power and great knowledge doesn't mean the world should revolve around you! "

Silence reigned. No one dared to say a word.

"Just because your mother died doesn't mean you're the only one in pain hence becoming insensitive to others' feelings. Everyone here has lost someone, might not specifically be a family member but a loved one. We are in pain too, Devon! I am in pain! " Ben pointed to his chest.

He went on, "Thanks to you, because you could not control your jealousy we're about to experience the witch apocalypse and you should be worried too since you're half-witch," He informed her and for the first time saw a trace of fear flicker across her gaze.

But Ben was too angry to care about that, he has failed in protecting his goddess. He was about to leave when he remembered, "And I'm done being used to satisfy your sexual urges whenever you feel like. Go find your mate!"

Done with his speech, Ben had only taken a step only to realize he had no idea where he was.

"And where the hell are we, Dan?"

A scream answered him.

Whatever that was, it certainly needed attention. Everyone rushed to the source of the shout, only to stumble upon...

"Oh my God," Sabrina murmured, bewildered at the scene. It was funny, and not funny.

Though supernatural kids grow at a much faster pace but not this fast because the kids who were clearly newborns when they last saw them, were now toddlers. And that was not all.

One of them suspected to be Hailey the eldest since she still had that red string tied around her wrist from birth, was floating around in the air happily while Jenny was trying her hardest to bring her down.

Her sister, Hazel, was in her wolf form- pure white furs like her mother's- biting her incomplete canine werewolf teeth on anything furniture she could find. One could swear she was teething. But then, she was so agitated she kept running around, bumping into things as Helen chased after her.

Now come to Arthur, this was a different case altogether. He and Rex were sitting on the sofa, having a staring contest, however, there was a rain cloud hovering over the boy's head. Suddenly, he stretched his hand, hurling a lightning bolt at Rex who bent and it missed him, coming in the direction of….

"Dock!" Dan issued a warning as everyone, bent down, the lightning striking the wall instead.

Surprisingly, they had thought Rex would run away after that frightening experience, but both started laughing. Wait a minute, they were having fun?

"Who never told this boy about the 'Do not try this at home' disclaimer?" Ben cried out. The boy almost cooked him!

From outside, lightning flashed, it lit up the room with a bright flash while thunder boomed, rattling the windowpane.

"And I'm guessing my little brother can manipulate the weather, father would be so proud," Electra groaned, rubbing her temple. This was just extra trouble.

Sabrina facepalmed, "Raising Lia's kids should have come with an instructional manual,"