An unseeable entity pulled Christian and Eva apart.

Shocked, Christian couldn't escape the invisible arm wrapped around him, lifted he was hurled across the room.

Eva rubbed her eyes to reaffirm what she was seeing. "What the-?" The bedside lamp flickered and hummed.

"Oomph!" It pinned Christian to the wall, his brain stuttered for a moment, a pained expression spread across his face.

Eva's eyes darted to Kara, who was shaking, hands clenched into fists. Hair lifted from her shoulders, spread like tentacles shifting through the ocean. Eyes dark, almost black, wide and wild.

Sebastian gulped. A powerful static charge radiated from Kara as if she were plugged into the mains. It pulsed and pushed outwards prickling his skin. He grabbed her wrist, her skin burning beneath his grip. "Stop Kara!" he instructed, growling from his chest.

Kara blinked; her concentration broken. Her hair dropped back to her shoulders as she released her breath, panting almost as she acknowledged the tightness around her wrist.

Christian's shoulders slumped as it released him from the invisible hold, letting out a breath. He slid down the wall, landing on his ass.

White dots flickered before Kara's eyes as she realised what had occurred. "Evangeline go to your room... Now!"

Eva scrambled from the bed, not daring to look at Christian. Her eyes locked on Kara's, a darkness so black stared back, sending a shiver down her spine. Never had she seen her so angry. She opened her mouth to speak. Slamming shut in an instant as from the corner of her eye she saw Sebastian shake his head, warning her. Shit, what have I done?

Kara heard the door slam shut. She closed her eyes and silently counted to ten, adrenaline still coursing through her veins. The bedside lamp stopped flickering but still hummed loudly.

"What the fuck was that for?" asked Christian as he pulled himself up from the floor, dusting off his ass.

She shook her wrist free from Sebastian. "What-? You're really asking me that? Have you lost your goddamn mind? What the hell was that?" She pointed towards the bed, her hand shaking.

Sebastian looked from Kara to Christian and back towards Kara. "Calm down Kara, yeah?" He could taste the tension escalating again. She looked like a cat waiting to pounce on a mouse.

Inhaling a deep breath she couldn't stop her hands shaking. It would require a visit to the woods to expel some unused energy. And soon or else it would no doubt affect her mood... and not in a good way. "Don't tell me to calm the fuck down. Have you both forgotten what our job is here?" She looked between the two. "We are supposed to protect her, not fucking... not... What the hell was that Christian? Explain it to me." She glared at him.

Christian could feel her eyes burning a hole in his head. "It was just a kiss for fuck's sake. It's not like I was about to fuck her or anything."

Kara completely stilled. "Well... isn't that good to know," curling her lip, as another thought sprang to mind. "Did you..." she paused. "Were you aware she was outside on the balcony? And don't even try to bullshit me... either of you." She turned to eyeball Sebastian, who glanced at Christian.

Oh my freakin lord, she saw us... saw us naked and having sex. "She was out on the balcony. She watched us... you knew... you both knew she was out there, and you let her watch. What is wrong with you... both of you?" She threw her hands up in the air as she paced the room.

Christian clenched his fists, flaring his nostrils. "C'mon Kara, we have looked after her for years and nothing and nobody has ever got near. But she's almost twenty, and that was the deal. We had to keep her safe till then." He breathed through his nose before continuing. "And we all fully aware what happens when she reaches twenty. She becomes someone's vessel and we all know what that means for her. Basically, she turns into a freakin walking zombie, or a fucking meat suit, for some god damn asshole demon, or angel... if she's lucky. She will have no life after that happens and she won't have had any fun or experienced anything that a normal twenty-year-old should be doing. It's no life at all and you fucking know it Kara."

Kara stopped pacing, placing both hands on her hips. "What so that's - what that was... you were showing her some fun, giving her a little life experience? How much fun was you going to show her Christian?" Her eyes narrowed.

"I never meant it that way." A pink flush decorated his cheeks as he lowered his voice. "I like her Kara and if I don't tell her now, I will never get the chance to tell her what she means..." He stopped, shoving both hands in his pockets.

"You." She turned to Sebastian. "I'm guessing you knew about his feelings for her?"

Sebastian looked at Christian, a sharp ache spread across his chest. "Yeah, yeah I've known for a while."

Kara sighed looking upwards, shoulders slumped. "It's not as simple as you think. She has to stay pure. Untouched." She sighed again. "Daevan will hit the roof when he finds out about this."

Christian clenched his jaw. "Why the fuck do you have to tell him? It was a kiss for fuck's sake."

Sebastian's pulse quickened, adrenalin flew over his veins like a carp through the river. "Please, Kara. You can't tell him; he'll rip Chris to shreds or send him away... he'll send us both away." He took a step towards her, his eyes pleading. "We'll get this figured out between ourselves, let's not make it worse, yeah?"

Kara hesitated. Does he have to know? Does a kiss count as not being pure any longer? Shit! "I'm gonna have to think about it." She paced again. "But I'm warning you two, stay away from her. She's off limits - do you hear me Christian?"

Under his skin, every muscle tensed like a coiled spring. "Why don't we ask Eva what she wants?"

Kara stared at him incredulously, the energy sparking each nerve, ready to explode. "You seriously think she gets a say in this... a choice? I hate this as much as you do, she's like a sister to me. But we can't change the way things are."

The three of them stood in awkward silence.

She could destroy the world, kill us all. Kara opened her mouth to speak but closed it, thinking better of it.

Sebastian ran his hand over his chin. "One of us needs to check she's okay. She won't have a clue what just happened here."

Both Christian and Kara stared at him.

A flash of panic coursed through her body; her thoughts jumbled. "I'll go; your right she will be most definitely freaking out." She exhaled a long breath. "Can I trust you two not to get yourselves into any more trouble?" Kara didn't wait for a reply as she strode towards the door and with the flick of her hand it opened without being touched and slammed behind her.

Christian let out a relieved sigh and walked towards his bed and lay down, placing his hand behind his head, staring blankly at the ceiling.

Sebastian followed, lying beside him. "You okay?"

Christian shrugged his shoulders as a creeping dread spread across his chest. "Dunno, ask me again later."

Sebastian hated the fact that their whole night had turned to shit. He turned and propped himself up on one elbow. "I could take your mind off it?" He raised an eyebrow as he lowered his hand to rest over the top button of Christian jeans.

Christian closed his eyes. "I could do with a distraction right about now."

Sebastian smirked as he popped his button open.

>>

Kara stood outside of Eva's room, blowing out a series of short breaths to gain control. She raised her hand to knock; it still shook. I should have gone to the woods first, got rid of this... The residual energy bubbled beneath her skin. She splayed her hands wide, retracting and repeating the process a few times. Her head was also beginning to pound.

Using telekinesis, on something as large as Christian was mentally draining. But physically, her whole body was charged, running a marathon would have been a walk in the park. It was a strange sensation; she had never understood it. Lifting her hand again to knock on the door, a prickle of sweat broke over her neck.

What am I waiting for? Knock, get it over with, coward.

Eva lay on her bed, crossing and uncrossing her arms and legs, staring hard at the stain from a ball on her ceiling. Anything to deflect from the unease digging a hole in her tummy or the imprinted face of Kara's in her mind, when she had caught them kissing. She swallowed down a wave of nausea.

She hates me; she is having a relationship. Well, maybe not a relationship, but at the very least sex with Christian and Sebastian and I kissed him. She's bound to hate me. She will probably never speak to me ever again! Oh, shit why was I so goddamn stupid? She won't ever talk to me again... And I deserve it. Shit, why the hell did I let him kiss me?

Why didn't I stop him? Because you wanted to, you idiot!

She felt a quiver in her stomach as she brought her finger to her mouth and chewed down hard on her nail.

Just say sorry and beg for her forgiveness. Tell her I'm sorry and it will never happen again. Eva didn't like that thought. But you want it to happen again. Shut up!

A faint knock at her door, jarred her from her thoughts. Shit! She bit down on her nail, almost ripping it from the cuticle. Well, you got yourself into this mess, time to fix it.

"Come in," her voice barely above a whisper.

Kara wasn't sure if she heard Eva's voice as her heartbeat pounded her eardrums. She opened the door, popping her head inside. She could see Eva lay flat on her bed, staring at the ceiling, chewing her nails. "Hey, can I come in?"

"Sure," she replied wanting to be anywhere else. With short jerky movements she lifted herself up in an upright position, pushing herself against the metal bed frame. Welcoming the coolness of metal bars through her t-shirt.

Kara closed the door and walked towards the bed. "Hey, can I sit?"

Eva nodded and pulled her knees up to her chest, hugging them tightly.

They both sat in silence for a few moments before they both spoke at the same time.

"Kara, I'm sorry, I -"

"Eva, I'm so sorry, I -"

Both made eye contact. It confused Eva. Why is she sorry?

Kara blinked as her jaw slackened. "Your sorry? Sorry for what?" She shook her head.

Eva pulled back her head, frowning. "Because, because I kissed Christian. I never meant it to happen, believe me Kara, I didn't... no I wouldn't... if I... but he said it... but then it..." Stop rambling, idiot!

Kara held up her hands. "Whoa, Eva. You don't have to apologise for that, kissing Christian."

Eva tilted her head to one side, pursing her lips. "What? Hang on. Why were you so angry... and you used your super-powers on him?" Eva had only ever seen Kara lift a pencil and move a glass across the table.

A strangled laugh escaped. "Super-powers? Really? I'm not Wonder Woman Eva!"

All other thoughts pushed aside, a wide grin spread across her face. "It was awesome Kara! Way better than Wonder Woman. I never knew you could do that! Throw someone across a room, like they weighed nothing, that's impressive." Her stomach dropped. "Shit, I didn't mean it was awesome to do that to Christian, not when it was my fault."

"It wasn't your fault, so get that out of your head." Kara eyed her carefully. "But yeah, I guess it would look a little awesome." She'd never given it much thought - the strange things she could do, and the telekinesis was only a small part of her abilities. "I shouldn't have gotten angry, lost control. You both surprised me, that's all."

She watched Eva's eyes widen in surprise, waiting for her to explain further. How the hell am I supposed to explain this? Daevan will kill me if I tell her the truth. "Eva, you have zero experience with boys and Christian should have known better. You deserve better. And your father will kill him if he finds out about this... any of this."

"What do you mean, better?" Her chest tightened. "Christian isn't good enough for me?"

Shit, that's wrong. How do I explain this? "No, I didn't mean that. Christian is great, it's... that... he's not right for you... or rather it's not the right time for you." She sighed inwardly. I need to explain this better, but avoid the truth... "You're a vessel Eva, you've always known this, and it's essential that you remain innocent, pure. That way any demons won't sense you. Demons are drawn to impure things." Please believe this bullshit.

"What... So, nobody can touch me in any way?" Ever?

"It's better that way." The disappointment on Eva's face was a kick to her guts. "I'm not saying forever Eva, just not at the moment, now isn't a good time. You're coming up to your twentieth birthday in a few months."

"Six" Eva interjected.

"Yes, six."

"Father said I have to go to some presentation ceremony next week. The Conclave, I think he called it."

Kara sat up straighter. "Oh." She bit the inside of her lip.

Eva's shoulders tightened as images of what-could-be flashed through her mind. "What? You're worried. What is it Kara? Tell me."

Kara shook her head. "It's nothing. I just didn't realise your father was planning on presenting you... next week." Thanks for the heads up Daevan!

Eva didn't like the look of concern that Kara was trying to hide. The conversation she had heard earlier came to the forefront of her mind. "It wasn't his choice."

"What do you mean?"

"His choice that I go." Looking down, Eva rubbed one hand over the other. "I overheard him speaking with someone, someone I've never met, earlier in his study."

A deep frown shadowed Kara's face. "What? Were you spying on him? You realise your sneaky ways will get you into trouble one day... right?"

Eva rolled her eyes. "Do you want to hear what I heard? Or not?"

Kara folded her arms across her chest. "Continue."

"I heard him say that he killed someone and that I'm marked with a sign? But I've not seen any such mark on me? Have you?" Eva again looked down her bare arms, almost expecting a mark to magically appear.

Shit, Tell her half truths. "No, I don't know what they were talking about, but I know that your father would protect you with his life. So maybe the person or demon or whatever they were, found out you're a vessel and they wanted you for themselves. Your father told me once that a higher demon mating with a human means you can hold a powerful demon and your body could survive hundreds of years." Kara's stomach clenched, she hated lying, but it seemed Eva was buying her lies. "And you know how protective he is of you? He would kill anybody to stop you being possessed."

Possessed. A shiver ran the length of Eva's body. Hundreds of years - under the control of someone else, or something else... "Yeah, I guess." She put her finger back to her mouth and nibbled on her nail. "I wanted to ask him, but I know he would have been so mad at me eavesdropping on his conversation."

"Smart move." Kara watched Eva chew on a nail. She needed to move away from this line of questioning, the bitter taste of her lies coated her tongue. "So anyway, how was your first kiss?"

A flush crept across Eva's cheeks.

"C'mon, you grilled me earlier about my experiences."

"Excuse me, you didn't give me naff-all. In fact, if I remember this correctly, you more or less ran from the room!" A grin spread across her face, unable to hold back her laughter.

"Yeah well, looks like we gave you quite the visual."

Eva blushed again, curling her toes. "Yeah, I won't have to ask you about that again, the image is burnt into my brain!"

Now it was Kara's turn to blush. "Don't remind me, I can't believe the boys let you see that, it's so embarrassing!"

Boys? Christian had told her he knew she was outside... but Sebastian as well! Oh my god..."Sebastian knew I was outside on the balcony the whole time?" Heat flushed over her skin as she groaned inwardly, hiding her face in her hands. How can I look at him again?

"Yeah, tell me about it."

She dropped her hands. "I'm sorry I watched; I know it was wrong."

"Yeah, pervert!" Kara grinned.

Eva bit her lip. "Are you mad with me?"

"Yes, and no. Next time I should make sure the curtains are fully closed and I will threaten to kill Seb and Christian if they ever do that to me again."

"What, so you will keep on doing...?" she still wasn't sure what to call it.

Kara realised what she had said. Shit! Well no point in hiding it now... "I'm not sure, I will have to think about it. But stop changing the subject – how was your first kiss?"

A tingling feeling swept up the back of Eva's neck and across her face as she touched her lips at the memory. "It was... nice, I guess."

"Nice... that's it... just nice?" She laughed. "So not earth-shattering or anything?"

"Yeah well you interrupted, so it was... nice."

"Well, if I was you, I wouldn't tell Christian you thought it was just nice. He aims high and that would crush him."

Eva cupped her face. "Oh god, don't tell him I said that."

"I won't, don't stress it. But I'm sorry I interrupted your first kiss. Seeing as it will be your last one, for quite a while!"

Eva's shoulders slumped. The realisation of it not happening again with Christian or anybody. Again, the blue-eyed man popped into her thoughts. "Well, at least you get to have fun for the both of us." She gave Kara a weak smile.

Kara raised an eyebrow. "Are you and me okay then?"

"Yeah, we're good."

"Good." She pulled Eva in for a hug. "Soooo, you wanna come to the woods with me, whilst I expel some of this pent-up super-power of mine?"

"Hell yeah! Don't suppose you've been hiding that you can fly too?"

Kara shook her head and laughed.