Carter, you're leaving already?" I said, sitting on the cave floor.

"It's time. You need to get some sleep," he said, pulling on his black coat. "I have to go. The others are waiting for me."

"I want to come with you. I know I can't do much, but maybe I can help with something," I stood up next to him.

"No," he said sternly. "Just stay here with the witches where I know you are safe. I will not allow you to be in any more danger. I should never have allowed you to come with us in the first place. If I had just made you stay back at the cave with Jake, then none of this would ever have happened. I am responsible for Jake's death, and I alone must avenge him."

"Don't you dare blame yourself, if anything, it's my fault."

"No, I'm responsible for all of you, and I let my ego and hatred for my brother take over. I should have stayed with you. This is on my hands, not yours. I must live with the guilt. I am responsible for my family and everything that happens to them. I let you all down," Carter closed his eyes, and I could see the sorrow on his face as he went into deep thought. He was reliving the memory of Jake's death over and over in his head. "Henry is waiting for me. I have to go." He whispered before walking over to me and kissing my cheek softly.

"Carter, you can't blame yourself for this." I touched his face with my hand and kissed him softly.

"It should have been me," he whispered again before turning away from me.

"Carter, the only reason I'm still going right now is that you are here with me. I need you to realize that. If I lose you because of this war, then I have nothing to live for anymore. I love Jake, and I always will, but I can't lose you," the tears were falling from my eyes even though I tried to hide them. I wanted to be brave, but I was breaking just seeing how hard Carter was being on himself. "I need you."

He turned and looked back at me. "You say that now, but I know you will eventually end up resenting me and the anger inside you will eat you until you can no longer take it. I know you will regret being with me, and you will eventually leave me alone and empty. I know how much anger can take over your life and control your every thought. I know what it's like to live with that monster inside you. I should have protected you from all of this. I should never have let you be a part of this world."

"What are you talking about?" I stood up and walked closer to him. "Do you regret me? Is that what you are saying? You regret being with me?"

His eyes widened at my words. "I regret hurting you. No matter how hard I tried to make things right, I always end up hurting you. I brought you into this world. I hired you even though everyone told me it would cost me too much. I brought you into my world, and I was wrong to be that selfish. I had no right to do any of this to you, and for that, I am truly sorry."

"Carter, please don't say that,"

"I had no right to put you in this danger. You should be living a blissfully happy life doing your nails and watching those ridiculous dating shows on the television. You should not be looking over your shoulder every minute, wondering when you might be attacked or who will die next. This is why I don't get close to humans. I bring nothing but death and sorrow. This is why I have held you so close to me. You were the only light in my otherwise dark life, and that was selfish of me." He closed his eyes and shook his head. "I must go before it's too late," he opened his eyes, and instead of his beautiful aqua eyes looking at me, they were the color of blood. He was angry and hurt, and I knew he was trying to push me away like he always did. I knew his words were to convince him of these feelings, not me. I knew he was shutting himself down to protect himself from the pain he was feeling.

"You have every right to be mad right now. He took Jake from you, and I know you are hurting, but pushing me away is not going to stop it. I am not going anywhere. This is my life, and I can do whatever I damn well please with it, and I chose you and this family. I have bled for you. I have fought for you. I have even died for you, and yet you still think of me like some silly little human who always needs protection from the big bad world. This life is my choice, not yours, and I will fight for my family, and I sure as hell will fight for you. You can turn your back on me and let the monster inside you deal with your pain, but I will not give up on you. I will not be the victim here. I'm the damn hero in this story, and you had better get used to it."

He said nothing as he stared at me. His red eyes were twinkling by the light of the candle next to him.

"Listen to me, Carter Morgan," I grabbed his face with my hand and stared into his eyes. "I will fight for you even when you try to stop me. There is no way in hell I'm giving up now. So you can stop with the angry eyes already, they don't scare me. I will always fight for what we have, and I will always try to protect you, even though I know that kills you. I will never stop caring about you, so stop trying to push me away and let me help you. Love doesn't stop because it gets harder. Love becomes stronger when you have to fight for it, and I love you. I'm sorry, but I do," I kissed him softly. "We will get through this together." I watched as his blood-red eyes started to twinkle like glitter.

He closed his eyes and went quiet for a moment. "You are an angel walking with the devil along a path of destruction, but that is what I love most about you. You never give up on anything, especially me, even when you should."

"I never will," I whispered as he opened his eyes, and my heart swelled as I was greeted with my shining silver eyes. "That's more like it," I ran my hand through his dark hair as he smiled softly. "There you are," I kissed him again.

"Boss, I just spoke to Callan, and he said...Oh, awkward, didn't see a thing." Jake suddenly walked towards us and then covered his eyes like a two-year-old. "I saw everything and it was gross by the way."

"See, Jake is alive and annoying as ever." I smiled at a very angry-looking Carter glaring at Jake, still covering his eyes. "We can fix this. I just need you to remember not to let your anger take over. I need you to fight with your heart, not the darkness." I kissed his cheek. "Just make sure you come home to me."

"Always," he whispered in my ear. "I will always return to you." He kissed my forehead and took a step backward. "We will go home soon."

"Be careful, Carter," I said as his fingertips left mine.

"Stay safe, I will return." He turned to Jake. "If anything happens to her, I will hurt you," he growled walking out of the cave.

"Aw, I love you too, boss man." Jake held out his arms to Carter, who just shook his head and hit Jake in the chest very hard. "There's the love," Jake moaned out, bending over and rubbing his chest.

"You're lucky I'm upset that you're dead, boy," Carter said through gritted teeth.

"Thanks, Boss. Safe travels, all the best." Jake backed away from Carter, holding his hands up.

"Look after her," Carter growled again.

"I got this." Jake nodded.

"Thank you," Carter turned back to me. "Do me a favor and watch this one. I have a feeling he might need your protection more." He pushed Jake's head backward.

"I won't let him out of my sight." I laughed as Jake muttered something to himself and rubbed his neck. "Just come home, Carter."

"Always, baby." He nodded his head and then disappeared like a gust of wind.

"Are you guys like that all the time because that was grotesque. I mean, I've seen some things in my time, but that was just stomach-turning." Jake said, shaking it off as if someone had walked over his grave. "Give me some warning next time."

"No one told you to watch us," I rolled my eyes.

"Well, I'm not used to all the lovey-dovey, baby wavy, I love you blah blah talk. You are my whole world, bullshit," he tried to imitate Carter's deep voice, but we both started to laugh. "Sorry, it's just a bit strange to see how different boss is now. He even patted me on the back before. I was scared he might rip out a rib again. That hurt like hell last time." I laughed as he pretended to act out the missing rib scene. "Blood pissing out everywhere and I'm like shit how many did you take out?" I burst out laughing as I remembered so many of Jake's dramatic and gruesome stories he told me. I love his stories...Oh, Jake. I burst into tears as I remembered his last words to me. "Oh, shit," Jake was suddenly standing next to me. "I'm sorry, did I say something wrong?"

"No," I said, wiping my tears. "I'm sorry. This is just so crazy to me. One minute I'm watching you sacrifice yourself for me and the next thing you are back to telling me stories about the glory days. It's just a little hard to remember that you are the same guy."

"I know, and it's ok. If you don't want me here, I can leave?"

"No," I grabbed onto him. "Don't leave me. I can't be alone right now."

"Are you sure this is the safest place for us right now? These witches keep looking at me like I crawled out of the gutter or something. Hey, how's it going?" He waved to an elderly witch as she stared at us and walked further down the cave. "Nice day, isn't it?"

She just glared at him and went back to her business.

"See," he waved his arms in the air. "Hates me,"

"Maybe you never returned her calls?" I teased, giggling into his chest.

"Oh, I would have called her back the saucy little minx she is. I bet she likes it with the lights on and whips and shit...Oh, hello again. Nice to see you." Jake said nervously as the elderly witch passed us with a scowl on her face. "You look lovely today, by the way." He winked at her, and she very quickly turned and joined the other witches by the fire.

We both burst out laughing as she spoke to the other witches pointing back at us.

"Looks like she might be starting a fan club."

"She wants me," Jake nodded, waving back at them.

"Stop it. We are going to get kicked out of whatever place this is," I hit his chest as he laughed. "I'm glad you're here with me."

"Me too. To be honest, I have never actually had a 'friend' before, so if I say something to fuck it up, I apologize now," he smiled.

It was amazing how different yet familiar this Jake was. He looked just the same, but his hair was slightly shorter on top and longer on the sides. He still had the same amazing blue eyes and a cheeky smile, and although it sounds weird, he smelt different. Not bad, just different. His clothes were not as stylish as they once were, and the stubble on his chin was thicker. It was like I was talking to his twin brother, not my Jake.

"You probably will say something wrong. You literally did it all the time." I smiled sweetly at him. I actually miss him trying to touch my butt and boobs all the time. Is that wrong?

"Good to know," he winked. "So, you want to go for a walk or something. I don't think standing here next to these witches is doing me any favours right now. I don't trust these bitches around my dick. I'm literally the only male here, and that one looks hungry," He said, turning his head away and making a face. "Is she looking at my ass?"

I turned to look at the young witch, making puppy dog eyes at a very nervous-looking Jake.

"Yep, and apparently the rest of you as well." I teased.

"Ok, we need to get out of here. I'm not popping any witch cherry again. I'm not a smart man, but I know for a fact that that never turns out good for me. Fool me once shame on you, fool me four times, that's on me." He grabbed my hand and pulled me towards the outside of the cave.

"It took you four times to realize that it was a bad idea to mess with a witch?" I laughed as we walked.

"Hey, they were all on the same night, and to be fair, they were sisters, so they looked the same in the dark," he grinned as his blue eyes twinkled. "They were savage too."

"You're an animal." I laughed, rolling my eyes.

"Thank you." He winked proudly.

"Not a compliment."

"Trust me. It's a compliment."

All of a sudden, I felt the ground shake beneath us. The wind picked up so much that it was hard to stand without falling over. The ground shook again, and trees started to fall over in the distance.

"What the hell is that?" I looked around, watching the witches almost too calmly run back inside the cave. I could hear them start to yell at each other in the cave. "Get the coven together. We must prepare for an attack."

"What the hell?" I grabbed onto white Jake's shirt. "What is going on?"

He slowly scanned the ground around us, not saying anything. His eyes gradually changed from bright blue to blood red, and I felt his body tense around me.

"Jake? What is it?"

"They are coming. They are close." He said calmly, still scanning the area. "They know you are here, Eb."

"Who?"

He said nothing as he continued to stare into the wind. I saw his fangs suddenly appear over his lip as he pulled me in closer. His red eyes still scanning the darkness in front of him for any kind of movement or sound.

"Jake," I yelled, snapping him out of his trance-like state. "What do we do?"

He looked down at me. "I need to get you to safety,"

"Come, quickly. We must prepare for an attack." The elderly witch said, grabbing my hand and pulling me away from Jake.

"No," I yelled, trying to reach out for Jake. "Not without him,"

"No vampire is to be with the entire coven. Never." She said, sternly pulling me again. "He stays here."

"The girl stays with me. You want her them you get me." Jake yelled, staring at the witch behind me.

"I will not dishonor my ancestors by letting a monster into our coven. I allowed you into the cave because Mr Morgan has helped us out and he was owed a favor from me but you will not go near our coven. I have lost too many of my sisters to monsters like you. You could slaughter us all as we are trapped in this cave with no escape. You stay here." She snapped at Jake. "Creatures of the night belong in the shadows."

"Are you serious lady? This is not a negotiation. She goes, I go." Jake was becoming frustrated.

"Please, let him come with us. We mean no disrespect to you or your beliefs, but he is my family, and I can't lose him again. I promise he will cause you or your coven no harm. We want this war over just like you. Please." I begged the witch. "He can protect you from what is coming and trust me when I say, he will die to honor his promise."

She glared at Jake, who, in return, bared his white fangs.

"Please," I begged her again.

"Fine, but if you cause any disruption, then you are on your own." She said through gritted teeth. "I'm watching you and I will protect my sisters with everything I have if you decide to attack. First and last warning, vampire."

"Thank you," I reached out for Jake's hand. "I promise he will be good."

She just glared at him again. "Quickly, we must the others inside." She yelled as the wind around us suddenly become cold as ice.

"Is this Leon again?" I held onto Jake tightly as we followed the witch into the cave.

"It's something. I just don't know what." Jake said looking back without another word.