Ava stabbed the pork chop with her fork, getting a whiff of its savory aroma before eating. It melted in her mouth, tasting of herbs and mesquite. Caterina’s cooking was delicious as always, which meant she felt better than ever.

After taking a drink of iced water, Ava finished the last bite of her dinner. Gio bumped into her right arm, making the piece of meat hit her cheek. He reached for one of the last croissants as Josh bumped her shoulder while pouring himself more wine. Since the twins and Darious were now living with them, their seating arrangements changed. Ava was stuck in the middle, and quite frankly, it sucked.

“Well, this is the quietest dinner I’ve ever been a part of. Training must have been swell,” Caterina said, smoothly taking a sip of her delectable red wine.

She sat at the head of the table, swirling the glass, its bowl bigger than her palm, yet fit her overall appearance. She went all out tonight, wearing one of her expensive, airy dresses, strapless for a tease, and her hair twisted into an updo, exposing more skin than necessary. It seemed Darious’ comment got to her and she was out for revenge.

Darious chuckled under his breath, impeccable as ever with his stiff collared shirt. He lounged in the plush dining chair at the other end, finished with his dinner. “If you call trying to kill each other training, then yes. It went swell.”

Marc dropped his fork and it clunked harshly against the ironstone plate, nearly tarnishing the earthenware design. Caterina’s eyebrow twitched yet she maintained her cool. He’d make an enemy of her mom if he kept this up.

“I already told you. Hands-on practice is the best way to learn,” Marc said.

Darious scoffed. “Conversing with your teammate is also a great learning method. Or did you forget our training together?”

“You guys trained together?” Gio asked, taking the words right out of Ava’s mouth.

A twisted smile spread on Darious’ face. “Yes, we did. Although it was more like I trained him.”

Marc stood so quickly the chair scraped against the wood floor. He thanked Caterina for the meal, then made an excuse that he had work to do. But when his door shut rather forcibly, they all knew he was pissed.

Ava itched to check on Marc, more so to find out why Darious got under his skin so much. It probably had to do with his ego, but she’d never seen Marc get this upset over one pompous guy. Josh squeezed her knee before she could move, and boy did it hurt.

“You know what your problem is? You don’t drink enough.” Josh released her, only to snatch the half-full bottle of wine and fill Darious’ glass to the rim. “There ya go. Don’t forget to finish every last drop—unless you wanna be rude,” he said, then poured himself another glass full to compliment Darious’.

“Really, Joshua. That’s too much for one sitting. You don’t have to finish it. I won’t be offended if you don’t,” Caterina said, yet her expression said the opposite. She was challenging Darious and he gladly accepted.

Darious picked up the wineglass and indulged himself in the sweet cherry scent. It was so potent, it intoxicated Ava’s senses. “It’s fine. It’s one of Earth’s most delectable fruits. I might as well enjoy myself before we’re summoned home.”

“Is it really that good?” Mika asked.

The whole time he sat across from Ava, eating to his heart’s content. This was his third helping of mashed potatoes and a fourth buttery croissant. She’d never seen anyone eat so much at such a fast rate. Where does he put it all?

Darious presented the half-empty glass of wine towards Mika. The cherry liquid sloshed up the sides, threatening to spill over. “Do you want a taste?”

The twins glanced at each before they held their glasses up. Guess that was a sign for heck yes. Darious stood without a moment’s notice and poured just enough to get a taste. After pouring some for everyone, one after the other, he ended with Ava’s glass. She swiftly covered the top before any sweet nectar dropped inside. “No, thanks. I don’t drink.”

Darious eyes slightly narrowed, suspicion written all over his face. “But this is wine. I’m told wine is consumed more than water in the Capitol.”

“It’s only wine, honey. Half a glass won’t harm you,” Caterina added between her lavish sips. She no longer held herself back, which wasn’t a good sign.

She raised her trimmed eyebrow, challenging Ava like she always did. Ava’s insides turned, wanting to take her up on the challenge and prove her wrong, except this time she couldn’t. She hasn’t had a drop of alcohol for over a year, and she didn’t trust herself to stop once she took a sip.

Ava’s mouth dried just thinking about it. The tart, poisonous grapes. The burn in the back of her throat from taking a shot. The loose, vibrant feeling of just letting it all go and dance the night away. No responsibilities. No stress. Her hands began to shake.

“If she doesn’t want wine, then don’t push it on her.”

Shocked, Ava looked at Mika. He stared at his plate, picking apart the buttery croissant, piece by piece, bored of this conversation already. But he shouldn’t be sticking up for her. It made them look suspicious and now she had to fix this mess.

Josh eyed Mika through a tipsy haze. “You sure Leo checked them out? There might be something wrong with this one.”

“He’s fine. We just called a truce after our fight,” Ava said, hoping the truth would be enough. Josh twisted his mouth, disgusted by her words. “What? I got tired of arguing.”

Darious set his empty wine glass down. Not a second later, Josh refilled it until every last drop was gone from the bottle. But Darious didn’t care, or rather, he didn’t notice. He dwelled in his own mind, rubbing his thumb up and down the silver spoon’s neck.

“Maybe it wasn’t a wise decision to place Ava in the basement with the boys. It’s not too late to change the rooms around. She can have mine, so she can be next to her mother,” Darious said, looking at no one in particular.

Josh snorted and roughly elbowed Ava in the arm. “That won’t be a problem. Pipsqueak hasn’t been interested in boys for a long time. Ain’t that right?”

“If only it were a problem. Then maybe I’d have a few grandchildren by now.” Caterina took a long sip as if those words never left her lips but someone else’s.

Great, now I’m involved in her shenanigans. Ava could very well just ignore her mom and leave, but that was the problem. She never backed down from a fight.

She picked up the glass, its bowl dripping of condescension. While Caterina took another lavish sip of her wine, Ava took a lavish sip of her water. “Like I’ve told you a hundred times before, Mother, I don’t have time for kids. I’m pretty sure protecting the planet is more important. Wouldn’t you agree?”

A slight curve crawled on her mom’s pink tinted cheeks as she waved the glass in the air. “That’s why they invented multi-tasking, honey. If everyone only focused on one goal at a time, then society would cease to function properly.” Then said to Darious, “Thanks to Amaranthine, we have plenty of resources.”

Darious cheered to that, which displeased Ava even more. They were so drunk they started teaming up. This wasn’t a good sign. Ava side-eyed Gio. He pushed his scraps around on the plate, still sulking since he lost the fight against Sam.

“I don’t see you lecturing Gio. He’s always got a one-track mind and has produced nothing either,” Ava said, then smiled at Darious. “He’s the one you should worry about.”

Gio dropped his fork, clattering against the china. Caterina clucked. Josh took a drink. The twins sat there, waiting. With an evil grin, Gio said, “Just ignore her. She’s PMSing.”

That’s it! I’m so done with this dinner. Ava piled her utensils high on her plate.

“What is PMSing? Is it contagious?” Mika asked with hesitating caution.

Josh burst into laughter. His body shook uncontrollably right next to Ava, it was annoying. She stood to collect the rest of her dirty dishes. “It means I will bleed soon.”

Josh laughed even harder, clenched his stomach. Sam choked on his wine as Mika grimaced. Darious coughed into his napkin. “Maybe we should move them both upstairs.”

“Maybe you need to drink more wine.” Still laughing, Josh poured a newly opened bottle into Darious’ glass. Drops of cherry wine spilled on the glass tabletop.

Ava tossed her napkin on the spill. The fabric dyed red, just like the annoyance that grew inside her heart. She just had to keep reminding herself this was a good thing. They were distracted and drunk, so she shouldn’t have a problem tonight.

After rinsing the dishes off in the sink, she went downstairs. Their chuckles and chatter died the further she descended into the basement. It also gradually became cooler and eerily quiet. Goosebumps rose on her arms.

When she opened the door to her room, she found a bouquet of red roses sitting in a gallon milk bottle on the coffee table. Under the moonlight of the window, their shade was deep and rich and full of life. She felt the Earth still coursing through their stems.

Anytime they fought Marc brought her roses or gifts as if those made up for their fights. And every time she always forgave him. Even now, she wanted to run back up to his room and comfort him and spill everything locked inside her heart. But this time she couldn’t forgive him so easily. Ava was tired of living in the dark.

After grabbing a jacket out of her duffle bag, she checked the curse mark on the mirror. The jagged line hadn’t grown an inch, but still threatened her very life. She was lucky nothing happened with Mika today, but she didn’t regret keeping this from Marc.

A slither of energy found its way into her abilities today. She still felt the boost in her hands, her fingertips. It ran through her veins every time she flexed. Ava felt more alert today than ever before. Maybe after she broke into the laboratory she’d tell Marc, but for now, it came in handy. She just had to keep watching it.

Two clipped knocks tapped the wall above her toilet. Gio was back in his room finally. Ava placed a new plaster over her curse mark, just in case, then grabbed the tablet off the nightstand. The chill instantly hit her the moment she stepped in and out of the hallway.

When Ava walked into Gio’s room, she was greeted by the sun. Oranges, reds, and yellows exploded across the room, decorating Gio’s walls and pieces of furniture, and piles upon piles of vibrant clothing. Back when they were children, Caterina told tales of her ancestors as a bedtime story. How she came from a line of spirit users. How she believed every living thing—including objects or trinkets—had a spirit inside them like the sun and the moon. Gio had been infatuated since.

Ava walked further in and quickly surveyed the area. The twins were nowhere in sight. She thought for sure they’d follow Gio here. Maybe they decided not to help after all.

Suddenly, a finger swiped across the back of her neck. Out of fright, she stepped forward only to be yanked back by the necklace. It unclasped and fell through her shirt, thunking to the wood panels until it rolled to a complete stop by her socks. She leaned down to pick it up. A hand snatched it before she could. Shit.

Mika walked around Ava, Sam flaking the other side. They closed her in, her back faced the bathroom door. Mika dangled the golden medallion from his fingers, the chain glinted as another sun in this sunset painted room.

“Is this what stopped my spell? A little trinket?” His gaze caught the design etched into the surface. “Wait, isn’t this—”

“Let me see it.” Sam snatched the medallion from Mika’s hand. He inspected it closer, held it up to his widening eyes. “This is… why do you have this?”

“It’s just a necklace.” Ava grabbed for it, Sam easily dodged the attack.

He held it above her head, using his new height to outdo her short stature. His eyes narrowed in suspicion or jealousy. She couldn’t tell. “This isn’t just a necklace. It has our family crest on it and is doused in Aureate’s flakes,” he said. “It’s a precious keepsake.”

This necklace represented more than just a protection spell. It showed Marc had a strong connection with Ava and Sam saw this as a threat for multiple reasons. He tightened his grip and frowned. Or he was jealous.

Refusing to play his game, Ava presented her palm up, a platform just big enough for the necklace to safely drop in. “I don’t know who Aureate is, but Marc gave me that necklace for protection against you guys. That’s it and nothing more.”

Sam still hesitated, but his grip loosened on the chain. Tension eased out of his shoulders as he carefully placed the necklace on her palm. Mika tsked, and before she could stop him, he took her hand and suffocated the medallion between their grips.

This brat was being too familiar… again. Maybe it wasn’t such a good idea to call a truce. Ava tried yanking her hand free, but he stuck like superglue.

Frowning, he said, “You can’t give this back to her. This necklace is too dangerous, Sam. What if it falls into the wrong hands? What if she—”

“She said Marc gave it to her, so we can’t take it back. You know the rules.” Sam stared at Mika until he eventually released her. Ava clasped the necklace back around her neck in a flash, thinking of all the ways she could secure it to her body. One involved a knife.

After a moment, Mika rolled his hand around the air in a sarcastic tone. “I guess we could consider this a compliment.”

A cocky grin spread on Sam’s face, although it wasn’t beaming with confidence as it normally would. “He must think we're stronger than her.”

“Oh, does he? I wouldn’t know.” Ava crossed her arms and leaned against the bathroom door. This gave Mika an invitation to step closer. He stared her down, eyes penetrating beneath long eyelashes. It made her heart quicken and she hated it.

“Don’t act like you didn’t enjoy our fight,” he said, voice deep, seductive in a way until he playfully winked.

Ava cocked an eyebrow. Maybe he should get checked out by Leo.

The bathroom door swung open. She fell back into Gio and his new green shirt. He smelled of fresh soap and shampoo. As she looked up, water dripped onto her forehead from his damp hair. Steam drifted by them like a cloud of smoke.

“You guys are so loud, I couldn’t wash in private,” he said, pushing her out of the way. “Let’s get this over with before they get a wild hair and come down here.”

Gio dried his hair with the towel as he strolled towards the only sofa in the living room. He then swung it his shoulder, looking even more chillaxed than ever before. “What happened to you?” she asked.

He pursed his lips. “Wine.”

“Tasty wine,” Sam said while Mika added, “It’s too sweet.”

The twins plopped on the couch; Sam draped his arm over the top cushions as Mika lounged back, resting one jean covered leg on top of the other. They were both a little too comfortable. How many times has Gio let them into his room?

Mika picked up the remote and aimlessly surfed through the digital movies on the monitor. “So Mika told me you need our help,” Sam said, grinning ever so deviously.

“Correction. She asked for my help. You’re only my back up.”

“I’m back up?” Sam chuckled. “Mika, you’re more like a sidekick.”

Mika slapped the remote on the armrest. They narrowed their eyes at one another, a challenging pose Ava knew far too well. They didn’t have time for this.

She picked up one of Gio’s many dirty shirts off the floor and tossed it at them. Sam swat it as Mika ducked. This one simple act had Sam grinning in victory. Boys.

“It doesn’t matter. We need all the help we can get. Right?” Gio slyly peered from the corner of his eyes.

Without so much as a word, Ava switched the monitor to tablet mode. After a few taps, they were ready to begin. “How do you feel about breaking the law?”

White lines scrawled across the monitor and its black background until the floor plan was complete. The picture of the laboratory popped up in the corner. The mossy covering, hill and vines brought back the bitter taste of failure. But this time, she wouldn’t fail.

“This is one of three laboratories where I was created.” She tapped the screen and circled a room in red digital ink. “And this might be the room where I was born.”

It was dead center of the laboratory, close, yet far from the front entrance. An easy mission once they were inside. She secured access to the database—thanks to Harry—and if that didn’t work out, they always had Plan B.

Sam leaned both arms on his knees. “Might be?”

“We’re not exactly sure.”

“Then how can we be so sure this is the right laboratory?”

Gio motioned for the tablet. After handing it over, he quickly pulled up the pictures from the other secret missions. “This laboratory was blown to pieces. The other drowned in the sea and almost took it with us,” Gio said. “Since all three laboratories were on the same system, they shared the same data.”

“Which means it should have my birth record,” Ava added.

“Wait. So then how is this breaking the law again?” Sam asked.

She glanced at Gio. He stared at the tablet, refusing to meet her gaze. So he actually kept this one secret. The one she wished he told. Ava clenched and unclenched her hands. It was so hard to open up to someone. She was used to others just knowing what happened, so there was no need for an explanation.

Sighing, Ava crossed her arms. “After I lost control, they stripped me of my General duties and placed restrictions on me. One—I don’t have permission to travel without authorization. And two—I can’t use my guardians to solve a personal problem.”

And many other restrictions they didn’t need to know about since she bore full responsibility in the end.

Sam and Mika glanced at one another, brows furrowed. “Look, I have access. We’ve already attempted it once. Gio just needs help with killing the demons. I’ll do everything else,” Ava said.

“There are a lot of demons.” Gio brought up the image just to prove his point.

Sam ran a hand through his black hair, possibly stressed about this whole situation. One might think Sam would reject the plan, but the growing mischief smile told her otherwise. “Marc will notice we’re gone.”

Of course she thought that far ahead. “Marc will be out of the house all morning tomorrow for a bi-monthly officers meeting. And everyone else will be too hungover to notice we’re gone. This is the perfect chance.”

“And if we run into Junipea?” Mika asked.

Right. They don’t know about the ID. Ava’s gut instinct told her the Black Rabbit slipped that paper inside her coat. It had to be a trap or a way to lure her out into the ruins and laboratory where he'd likely be. But it was worth the risk.

She bit the inside of her cheek. “Our main priority is to retrieve my birth record. We’ll just leave if he shows up. I don’t want any unnecessary bloodshed.”

“And if I want to stay and fight?” Sam said.

Leaning further onto his knees, he locked his hands together. His whole body went rigid, hardened at the shoulders and in the eyes. He still had a bone to pick with the Black Rabbit and so did Ava. She hoped to find the Black Rabbit and kill him for good this time.

There was a loud knock at the door: twice, thrice, four times. Gio tapped the monitor off as Ava quickly said, “Meet tomorrow morning at the crack of dawn.”

The door swung open and in stumbled a drunk Josh with Darious right behind him. Josh looked like a walking travesty, while Darious looked just the same. But when he stepped under one of the ceiling lights, the damage unveiled itself. The top button of his collared shirt came undone—a small but measurable defeat.

Josh leaned against the wall, his eyes searched the room. He took a swig from the beer bottle. “What are you brats scheming in here?”

“We’re just hanging out,” Gio automatically responded.

“Well then, go hang out in the living room.” Josh pointed towards the open door only to poke Darious in the shoulder. Neither were phased by the direct contact.

Great. Darious got in his head and they might even be friends. If only she had proof that Darious was a god, then Josh might come back to his sense.

With a sigh, Ava walked towards them, the scent of grapes and bitter piss grew stronger the closer she got. “It doesn’t matter. I’m going to bed.”

Josh made an hmm sound, both suspicious and agreement. He then ran a large hand through his messy mohawk, messing it up even more. Darious continued blocking the door. He took a moment, flitting his tired eyes from Ava to the twins and back again. A smile crept up his lips under a slight pink flush and into the second victory grin tonight.

The moment he stepped aside, she quickly stepped past him, but not quick enough to escape his parting words. “Sweet dreams, Avalyn.”

He may have gotten close to Ava’s family, but he’d never win her over. Once she fixed her abilities, she’d send the twins home packing and make sure Darious stepped through the portal first.