"I don't want to stay here," I yelled at Carter. "I want to help protect my world,"

"I get it, Ebony, but it's just not safe," he said, walking away from me.

"Carter, I'm not some useless thing that can't defend itself. I want to help." I walked quickly after him.

"I understand, but you have to realize that you will have a huge target on your back. Leon would have told them to attack you first. They will be looking for you, and I just can't put you in that situation," Carter said, turning to me.

"What makes you think that Leon would even do that?"

"Because that is what I would do if I was in that situation. I would attack him using his weakness, and I'm sorry baby, but that's how it is."

"So I'm just supposed to stay here and hide?"

"Ebony, enough. I have shit to do, and your whining is not helping right now. I have spoken, and that is it," he yelled sternly as he walked away from me.

"This is bullshit," I yelled as I walked out of the bedroom. "I'm sick of being treated like some kind of idiot around here."

I really wanted to hit something right now.

"Eb, I can hear you screeching from my room. What is your damn problem?" Jake said as he walked towards me, scratching his head.

"Perfect," I smiled to myself.

"Why are you looking at me like I look at your underwear?" Jake said, freezing in front of me.

"I'm just really happy to see you," I smiled.

"No one is happy to see me. Are you going to hurt me again?"

"Yes," I tilted my head and grinned.

"Why?" He whined pouting his lip.

"Because Carter is an arrogant dick who treats me like a child, and I've had enough of him yelling at me."

"Amen to that," Jake said. "What did he do this time?"

"He is demanding that I stay here with his mother and hide until the stupid thing is over."

"Ohhh, that sucks," he made a face. "But to be fair, Eb, he's only doing it to protect you. Maybe, just this once you should listen to him."

"So, you agree with him that I'm just a useless idiot who should just run away and hide?"

"No, but Carter is under enough stress right now, and I don't think you should be adding to it," he said quite abruptly.

"I have a right to fight for something I believe in, as does everyone else."

"Yes, but not everyone else will have an insane wolf after them with the intent to kill."

"He is attacking my world, too, and threatening my friends. I want to show him that I'm not afraid of him."

"That's the thing Eb; you should be afraid of him. If he gets his claws on you, I dread to think what he might do, killing you would be merciful trust me. I'm sorry but I agree with Carter on this one. It's just not that safe for you out there right now," he shrugged.

"I'm out of here; I'm sick of this. Everyone treats me like a child around here; I just want to help," I said, walking away from him.

"Not the time Eb, I'm sorry," he called after me as I walked down the long cold hallway of the castle. This is ridiculous; it's not like I want to be around Leon. Put me somewhere where I can help, anywhere but hiding like a coward with his mother and that stupid bitch of an ex-wife. I'm better than that, and I want to fight for what I believe in.

"Oh, you're still here? I thought you would be out on the field by now," Henry said as he walked toward me.

"Nope, my job is to hide," I said sarcastically to him.

"Excuse me? Hide? Why?"

"You tell me," I said slyly.

"Let me guess, Carter, put his foot down and yelled at you a lot?"

"Yep, now I have to hide in the woods like a coward with his mother and that bitch face," I grumbled. "I'm better than this, Henry, but I'm sure you're just going to agree with the rest of them and tell me to stop whining."

"Well, while I do agree that you should stay safe and away from Leon ..."

"But I ...."

"Let me finish, yes I agree you should be safe. I don't agree that you should be hiding away in the forest when you can help in so many other ways. We need every pair of hands we can get, and I think if you want to help, then you should," he walked closer to me. "You are very brave for offering your services, and I respect you for that," he smiled as his blue eyes twinkled at me.

"You believe that?"

"Of course, you are probably the smartest vampire that I have ever met, and I think you have a lot to give. If we are making others fight for this, then you should be as well."

"Thank you, that means a lot. I just wish Carter would listen to that instead of just yelling at me and walking away."

"I can talk to him if you would like?" Henry smiled.

"No, I would never ask you to that. Besides, you both have other things more important to worry about right now. I'm just pissed off and needed to vent. Thanks though, I appreciate it."

"I'm always available to you, no matter what the reason," his eyes sparkled as he looked at me.

"You really mean that don't you?"

"I will always tell you the truth, no matter what. You deserve that respect from me, and you have certainly earned it. I have seen first-hand what you are capable of, and you're a lot stronger than most would give you credit for. I believe in you," he touched my arm as he spoke. "You are made for great things Ebony Summers and if Carter can not see that, then maybe he is not right for you."

"He's just under a lot of stress right now, that's all. I shouldn't be walking around here, being such a child when he only wants to protect me. Thank you though, I do appreciate it."

"You are most welcome, anytime you need me, I'll be waiting," he touched my cheek and walked away. "Goodbye Ebony," he called.

"Be careful Henry." he just nodded and waved.

I stood in the hallway watching him walk away. I don't care what Carter says, Henry is my friend, and he believes in me. Carter needs to see that I'm not some useless thing and let me help. He's just so damn stubborn all the time.

"Ebony, are you ready to leave?" His mother said approaching me in the hallway. "We need to get somewhere safe as the troops are heading out any moment."

"Where is Carter?"

"I just saw him, he is outside ready to lead them to battle. We must go," she said, taking my hand.

"He's leaving? He didn't even say goodbye?"

"He is very distracted at the moment; he has so much at stake right now. He told me to take you straight away."

"He would never just leave me without saying goodbye. There must be something wrong?"

"He has a lot on his mind right now, sweetheart, and so do we. We must leave quickly; once those portals open, we will be stuck here," she grabbed my hand and pulled me through the hallway to the stairs.

As we descended the staircase, I could hear yelling from behind the front doors. Carter was yelling extremely loud and he sounded pissed off.

"HOW DARE YOU." he yelled, "I TOLD YOU WHAT WOULD HAPPEN IF YOU WENT NEAR HER."

Oh no.

"SHE WANTS TO HELP, SHE HAS A RIGHT TO FIGHT FOR WHAT SHE BELIEVES IN, JUST LIKE YOU." that was definitely Henry. Fuck!

I ran to the large carved wooden doors and opened them, both Carter and Henry turned to look at me.

"Carter, it's not what you ..."

"I can't believe you went behind my back and told this asshole so you could get what you want," Carter said, glaring at me. "I told you to stay away from him."

"I didn't, I mean I did talk to him but ..."

"You went to him because you knew he would do whatever you wanted, and you didn't care about anyone else. You went behind my back and betrayed my trust when all I wanted to do was keep you safe" he looked so hurt and disappointed as he spoke. "I thought I meant more to you than this?"

"Carter, I didn't mean for this to happen. I just wanted to help out."

"Fine, do whatever the fuck you want. I obviously mean nothing to you, so go ahead, get yourself killed," he turned and walked away towards the troops.

"Carter, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you. I'm sorry, please," I ran after him and grabbed his arm, pulling him back to me.

"I'm sorry," I said, looking into his aqua eyes. "I just ...."

"I have shit to do Ebony. You have made your loyalty very clear to me. I get it," his eyes suddenly went blood red. "I have to kill my little brother before he destroys everything we know, so if you will excuse me," he pulled his arm from my hands and walked away towards the troops again.

"Carter, don't do this," I yelled as tears poured down my cheeks.

"Goodbye, Ebony Summers," he called without turning back. "I wish you the very best of luck," he disappeared into the huge crowd of troops as they all cheered at his pure presence.

I was just about to run to him when a loud bang of thunder crashed through the sky. I covered my ears as the thunder cracked loudly above us again. I looked up and watched in horror as the dusk sky turned red, like a river of blood above us. I turned back to Carter, who was running towards me, yelling loudly. "GET INSIDE." he bellowed as lightning struck just behind him. "SAVE YOURSELF EBONY," he shouted just before he jumped into the air and landed on some vampires attacking his troops.

This time I listened and without hesitation I spun around and headed back towards the huge castle doors. I was just about to touch the doors when I saw Genevieve's face smiling at me from behind them safety inside the castle.

"Goodbye, Ebony," she grinned as she slammed shut the doors in my face. I crashed into them with a thud.

"Open this door, you bitch," I screamed hitting the doors.

"You wanted to fight? Well, there you go, princess, FIGHT," she yelled with joy.

"I'm going to kill you," I yelled but stopped as I heard growling behind me. I nervously turned to see two vampires with blood dripping from their mouths standing right in front of me.

"She is the one we need," one said to the other. "She is Carter's."

"Boss will be so pleased with us," the other one said as he ran towards me.

Without hesitation or fear, I bared my fangs and lunged at him with complete rage in my still heart. It was kill or be killed, and I wasn't about to die again, not tonight.