When Alex returned to the mansion with Ren and Felicia, the bodies were gone. To make sure no one could use the house again they burned it to the ground.

It had been four days since they defeated Thorsen and returned home and in that time Julia and Alex hadn't really talked. The awkwardness between them over the fact that she was Beatrix's reincarnation had grown enormous, and they were both avoiding each other.

Julia had forgiven her mother for the part she played in all of it. Rosalie promised she would tell Julia everything she knew when she had fully recovered. According to Edrys that was still months away. The wound Rosalie had received was very slow to heal and the wolfsbane wouldn't completely leave her system for another month.

Julia sat on the front porch the swing chair under a thick blanket, rocking back and forth staring into space. Now that she could use magic her dark faerie side had vanished; along with it the unearthly silver eyes. She figured it had something to do with what Beatrix did to her. Although her eyes hadn't changed back to hazel, they were now a blue-grey.

So much had changed since she ran off to Europe. It was only supposed to have been a fun trip to celebrate the start of her last year of high school; yet it had turned into much more. She had her eyes pried wide open and was forced to grow up at lightning speed in the few months since she first met Alex on the streets in Paris. Even though she had suffered great pain and loss, she wouldn't change any of it.

She was stronger, finally knowing and understanding the truth behind who she was. It was now a question of figuring who she needed to become from here on out that was proving hard. Julia was still very conflictedas to whether the feelings she had were her own or Beatrix's. Julia knew the steps she needed to take to resolve her anxiety. She was just scared to sit down and talk her feelings out with Alex.

Ren walked up to Julia on the porch and sat down next to her on the swing chair pulling her into his arms. She relaxed into him and rested her head against his shoulder. "You know this whole avoidance thing you and fang-boy are doing right now is not helping either of you. One of you two needs to grow a pair and tell the other what's on your mind. Because the last time I checked not even dark faerie-witch cross bloods can read minds, let alone the rest of us supernatural folk."

She sighed. "I know you're right. But I'm terrified, Ren. What if he only loves me because I look like her? I have so many questions bouncing around my mind it feels like it will explode. And it doesn't help that I desperately miss him."

"Tell him all of this. It's the only way you two will make it. And for what it's worth, I know he's crazy about you, Jules." He pulled them both up on their feet. "Now come inside."

When Ren pushed Julia inside, she was greeted by Alex standing in the living room holding up a cupcake with a single candle on it.

Ren squeezed her shoulders. "Surprise."

Julia turned and looked at Ren. "Thank you."

Ren gave her a grin. "Happy birthday, Julia. Now I'll leave you two alone but just so you know Ella, Abby, Kuro, Felicia and Edrys will be coming over in a few hours to celebrate your birthday." He gave them a wink and a wicked grin. "So behave yourselves while I'm gone." Then he turned and walked out the front door.

Julia walked over to Alex, he held up the cupcake and said, "Make a wish."

She smiled and blew out the candle then took the cupcake and set it on the coffee table. They sat on the couch and silence painfully stretched out between them. Julia stole a secretive glance from underneath her lashes at Alex.

She had a ton she wanted to say yet couldn't find the right words to express her feelings. She was still incredibly troubled about Beatrix and being her look alike, and the feelings Alex had for Beatrix. Yet, she missed Alex with every fibre of her being; nevertheless, she couldn't keep the confliction inside of her at bay.

He picked her hand up and laced his fingers in hers. "I'm sorry I've been avoiding you. Your faerie-guard-dog gave me quite the talking to today. I just thought you needed some space to process everything."

Julia giggled. "Yeah, he gave me a micro-lecture. But Ren's right, we need to talk." She paused as she dug into her jeans pocket, pulling out the gold locket, with his and Beatrix's portrait in it. Unlacing her fingers from his, she took his hand a placed the locket in his palm.

He looked down and sucked in a deep breath. "Where did you get this?" he asked, surprised.

"Thorsen gave it to me. He told me it was a portrait of you and her celebrating your upcoming marriage," she whispered, trying not to let that thought tear at her heart.

"Thorsen destroyed most of the pictures of her. This is probably one of a handful that remains," Alex replied and tried to give it back to her.

"No, you should keep it." She paused, steadying her hyperactive-bee-hive nerves. "Honestly, Alex, I don't know if you're with me because I'm a copy of Beatrix or not. The first time you kissed me in the woods my eyes were exactly like hers. So in a way I feel you were just using me to love her again. Not to mention me not knowing if the love I feel for you is me or her."

Alex set the locket down on the coffee table and then cupped her face in his hands. "I will be honest with you, Julia. When I first saw you in Ireland and spent all summer tracking you across Europe, I felt a pull toward you. I think a lot of that had to do with the unresolved feelings I had for Beatrix. I hated you for dredging up those feelings and for being her reincarnation. I didn't want to get to know you or even be around you. Yet after we met in Paris, I knew you weren't Beatrix. Every day I spent in this town watching you and interacting with you only reinforced that in my mind."

He paused and looked straight into her eyes. His intense stare made it feel as if he was gazing into her soul. "I know for a fact you are nothing like Beatrix. I also know for a fact that it is Julia Malphas ̶ annoying, general pain in my ass, clumsy, funny and big-hearted ̶ that I love. Not some Beatrix doppelganger. You made me love again when I thought that wasn't possible. Believe me; I fought these feelings I have for you. I fought against them for so long I thought they would drive me crazy."

"So, at the Halloween party when you and I were dancing, was that you giving in?"

He chuckled. "Yeah, I almost lost control on that dance floor, but we were interrupted. In the woods I couldn't fight against my feelings any longer, it was tearing me apart."

Julia rested her forehead against his chest. "I love you too. And it hurts when you're not around. And yet I'm still so confused."

Alex lifted her face with one hand. The tips of the fingers on his other hand brushed against her breast, bringing her breath to a full stop. Placing his palm over her heart he asked, "What does this tell you?"

She answered with no hesitation, "That I can't live without you. That I love you and I might as well rip it out if you're not around."

He smiled bring his lips to hers. He coursed through her whole body as they kissed.

Pulling away he said, "There. You have your answer. We'll take it slow, Julia. I'm not going anywhere and we have all the time in the world to figure things out."

She decided there and then to trust her heart and follow it. And her heart never wanted to spend any more time without him, and she knew only one way of showing him exactly that, with her lips. They kissed each other passion consuming them as their arms tangled around each other pulling their bodies closer together. Their tongues danced together and soon the world and all the troubles in it melted away leaving only the two of them.

+++++++++++++++++

Véronique paced back and forth in front of the two coffins. "Pathetic, simply pathetic," she said in disgust.

"Are you going to get on with it or just talk?" Mormo impatiently snapped.

She shot him a murderous look. "I wouldn't be so cocky if I were you. That half-breed abomination almost killed you. And turned you into the hideous monster you are now." She shook her head. "Such a waste of a beautiful face. Poor Mormo; how are you going to get anyone to love you now?"

Mormo pulled down the hood of his cloak and backed into the shadows. "Just get on with it," he said annoyed.

Véronique turned her attention back to the coffins. "You're lucky I hate Alex and that filthy witch as much as I do, because I would've snapped your neck by now warlock. I have no time for weakness. Thorsen had better give me the revenge I'm after; otherwise I will make you regret you survived Julia's attack."

She viciously yanked out both swords from Thorsen and Damien's chest. Then slit her palms and let her blood trickle into their mouths. When Thorsen and Damien's eyes snapped open, she let out a malevolent laugh. "Let the games begin."

**********************