"I was held up at school so I was late in getting home," he said, pausing for a moment before letting out a deep breath. "I should've called one of the others to watch over you until I got home but I didn't think I was going to be so late."

It was hard to be reminded of it.

"You were in really bad shape when I reached you. I saw you crumpled on the ground in front of your house. I called the others and we all took shifts healing you in the first couple of hours."

I didn't remember that. Vaguely I remember Jared finding me. I remembered him saying, "I got you" and then he had picked me up.

"I didn't think I was going to make it," I whispered. I thought I was going to die. He looked at me and I could see guilt written all over his face.

"Who is he, Jared? And why does he look like you?" It was time for him to come clean.

"It's a long story."

"You owe me an explanation," I stated, not allowing him to think there was any way I was going to accept anything but the whole truth. No more bits and pieces; he was going to tell me everything.

He sighed and let go of my hands. I didn't say anything while I waited for him to start.

"I explained how it all started and the direct descendants from the first humans to come into contact with the meteor crash site. Descendants were born from Archaic and Hue."

I nodded my head.

He stopped for a moment. He ran his hand through his hair. His mannerisms were more agitated and I had a feeling it had to do with what he needed to tell me next. I reached out and covered his hand with mine. His eyes held mine.

"My mom was raped by a Hue Descendant," he told me next.

I was stunned and speechless. It explained the anger festering just below the surface that he'd been struggling with. Being told how evil the Hue were was one thing but hearing about their crimes was something else entirely. Killing human babies, rape—it was like they were built up out of the worst parts of the human race and more.

"Archaic and Hue are sworn enemies so there has never been an occurrence of a child produced from an Archaic and a Hue. My mom became pregnant," he explained. "We think the reason she was targeted was because she was an Archaic Descendant."

He paused for a moment.

"We think they were trying to build stronger descendants by combining both the genetics of an Archaic Descendant with a Hue Descendant."

"Are children born from parents who are both Archaic Descendants stronger?" I asked, trying to follow the logic of what he was saying.

He shook his head. I could not imagine what his mother had gone through.

"Why didn't your mom abort the pregnancy?" I asked. In her shoes I didn't know if I could have gone through with a pregnancy that had come from a violent act like that.

"Hue kill human babies because they're of no value to them. The Archaic cherish every life, so to us every life is valuable. My mom wanted the pregnancy."

After his emotional words I felt guilty for even suggesting what I had.

"So what happened?" I asked, needing to know what happened next.

"My mom had twins."

"You and your brother?" I gasped as pieces of the puzzle started to fit together and I was getting a glimpse of the bigger picture.

"Yes." His brother was Hue. Everything was starting to fall into place.

"I'm two minutes older than Mason."

Mason. My attacker had a name. I thought by hearing his name it would make him slightly more human to me, but it didn't.

"Did it work?"

"What?" he asked.

"Are you and Mason stronger Descendants because you were born from a mixture between Hue and Archaic Descendants?"

He paused for a moment.

"Yes."

His eyes were serious as they held mine.

"Remember I told you that Archaic Descendants have a white scar on their right hand and the Hue Descendants have the same scar in red on their left hand?"

I nodded my head, remembering the scar that looked like a burn in the palm of his hand that looked like a jagged bolt of lightning.

"Mason and I have both."

My eyes were fixed to both of his hands, which he opened in front of me, palms facing the ceiling. In his right hand was the white scar and in his left hand was the same scar in red.

Wow!

"So you and Mason are the most powerful out of the Hue and Archaic, Descendants and all?" I asked.

He nodded. Knowing that made the rest of the puzzle slowly come together and I understood why he was in charge.

"Does that mean Mason is in charge of the Hue?" I asked.

"No," he answered, raking a hand through his hair. "They have a council who control the Hue."

"Will your children be the same?"

"I don't know."

That had to be hard, to be one of two and not knowing the impact of it on your future. In that moment, I found myself looking at him differently, with a little bit more respect for what he had to deal with.

"I don't understand why he attacked me."

Jared's eyes met mine and he let out a sigh.

"My brother's hatred for me knows no bounds, but I don't understand why he didn't kill you."

I frowned.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"If he wanted you to be dead you wouldn't be here now."

That hit me hard. Jared watched me. After a few moments I recovered and more questions entered my mind.

"Why?"

He shrugged.

"We don't know."

There was a reason he'd allowed me to live and I didn't know what it was.

"Do you think he'll be back?" I asked, not sure if I really wanted the answer.

"Yes."

It wasn't what I wanted to hear. Panic set in and I could feel it rising inside of me at the thought of him returning.

Jared soothed me as he sat down on the bed in front of me, pulling me into his arms. His warmth and words soothed my rising panic. I closed my eyes briefly as I tried to calm myself down. My lungs eased and I drew in a breath. After a few more minutes I was able to breathe again. Air flowed easily into and out of my lungs. Jared pulled away slightly and looked down at me. His long, slender fingers brushed my hair out of my face. His touch was so gentle and my skin tingled beneath the soft touch.

"Are you okay?" he asked. I couldn't talk so I just nodded my head.

"I will do everything I can to protect you. Do you understand?" he assured me.

I nodded, but I didn't believe him. Mason had gotten to me once before, so what would stop him from getting to me again? I closed my eyes. I was feeling tired again.

He released me and I lay down on the bed. I yawned.

"Get some sleep," he suggested while he covered me with a blanket. I'd slept so much already. I didn't understand why I was still feeling so tired.

"Your body needs the rest to heal," he said in answer to my unspoken question.

Our eyes held for a moment. He was so close to me that the smallest movement would put my lips against his. Nervously I ran my tongue across my bottom lip. Jared's eyes flickered to the motion and held for a few moments before he pulled away.

I watched as he left the room. The tiredness pulled my eyes closed and I fell asleep.

A few hours later I woke up alone once again in Jared's room. It was late morning. I got up and I went to the bathroom and checked my reflection. I looked a little better than before. The dark bags under my eyes were clearing up, but I still looked a little pale. I was hungry. Still dressed in someone else's clothes, I quietly walked out of Jared's room and down the hallway. As I got to the top of the stairs, I could hear voices coming from the living room below.

I stopped.

"He's up to something," Tyler said in a frustrated tone.

"We know that," replied Jared. "We just don't know what yet."

"Do we know of any cases of humans surviving an attack by a Hue?" another voice, I didn't immediately recognize, asked. It sounded a little like Nathaniel.

"No," another voice explained. There was no mistaking the coldness in the voice. It was Jennifer.

"Until we can find Mason we'll have to just keep an eye on her," Jared said.

"Do you think they're trying to change humans?" Catherine asked.

There was a heavy silence.

"Maybe," Jared murmured.

Change me?

I leaned against the wall for support, suddenly feeling overwhelmed.