Elizabeth hopped down the stairs in graceful long steps, Marcus and Contessa in her shadow. She was dressed in a leather jacket and a black tank-top with frayed dark jeans. Her heeled boots made a light clacking on the marble once she reached the ground floor. She paused from about to turn towards the hall that led to the garage, grinning when she spotted the older Mezdor sibling in the library. "Master Mezdor," she called.

Avalon immediately looked up from the book he had been flipping through, startled in thinking he'd be scolded for touching such an old tome without proper gloves. It was easily from the early 1900s and it probably belonged to Seren Winslow. His blue eyes searched to see who was speaking to him amongst the people moving about the coven. He paused and withheld the need to blush when he noticed Elizabeth standing there. He gave her a quick once-over at her attire, looking completely different from the business engagements of the last two nights. Her dark hair hung in curls around her shoulders and she had ditched the fancy jewelry for simple earrings. He smiled, closing the book quickly.

"Surely you're exhausted of all the political nonsense," Elizabeth went on, giving him a similar once-over so he would understand what it felt like to be observed. She crossed her arms over her chest. "Some of us are headed out to the local town for some pool and drinks. Think you can tear yourself away from a library for one night to have a little fun?"

He grinned, remembering to not give her his exaggerated smile his mother swore he used when he was nervous or in trouble. "I could be tempted," he answered, shelving the book back into its resting place.

"Good," she answered with a smirk. "Three nights of responsibilities and no time to blow off steam has all of us itching for some entertainment."

He chuckled and nodded as he put his hands in his front pockets. "Definitely. Let me just grab my jacket," he answered, nodding to the stairs.

"We'll wait at the car then," she said before following Contessa and Marcus towards the front door to the driveway.

Contessa looked over her shoulder at her best friend once they hit the front porch. "I'm shocked you're inviting him," she whispered so no one else heard her.

"He's just like us, Tess. I'd rather invite him out than leave him at the mercy of the parents and Seren for the night. Besides, I haven't seen him in fifteen years. Could be fun to see how he's turned out."

The blonde smirked. "You sure that's what it is? Not because he's attractive?"

Elizabeth rolled her eyes at the remark. "Yes, Contessa, that's exactly why," she answered sarcastically. "Keep your voice down or the boys might think they have some competition."

"Malcolm would never be threatened so easily," Contessa giggled as she moved towards the Ford Explorer. "Not unless Mezdor has better jokes."

Elizabeth laughed out loud and nodded in agreement.

Inside, Avalon raced up the stairs for their floor, trying not to move with vampire speed. He made it to his door just as his sister's opened.

"Where are you going?" Eris asked, her eyebrows immediately raising at the sight of his hurried demeanor.

"Out," Avalon responded as he went into his room. He grabbed his leather jacket from the back of his desk chair and quickly pulled it on. He undid a few buttons of his shirt, displaying a peek of his chest and the Egyptian ankh on its chain.

"Really? Is that exactly what you told Dad?" his sister asked from the door. Their father hated it when they only gave one-word responses to questions.

"Nope, haven't told him. Can you be a peach and tell them I'm headed out for a few hours. Where are you going, anyways?"

"Seren invited Dad and I downstairs to check out their gym. I was going to do some routines."

Avalon nodded as he quickly checked his appearance in the mirror above his dresser. "I'm sure you'll do fine," he said, clearly having not heard her properly. He ran his fingers through his longer blonde hair before tucking the front section behind one ear.

"You're going out with Elizabeth, aren't you?" Eris asked, making him glance at her finally. She smiled, looking mischievous.

"Not just her. Some of her council are going, too. Don't give me that look."

"Well, I'll tell you what Mum would say then. Be careful and have fun. I'll let them know you're out."

"You're a life-saver," Avalon told her as he walked past her, shutting his door behind him. He gave her a clap on the shoulder before heading back to the front entrance. He bounced down the steps in hurried strides and headed out the front door. About thirty yards away, he saw the dark-haired coven commander kneeling down near the group as they waited beside a grey SUV. She was stroking the ears of an all-black German shepherd, the dog's tail wagging as it focused on her. Avalon grinned and slowed his speed so he looked relaxed rather than excited.

"Ready?" Elizabeth asked, glancing up from the canine.

"Yeah," Avalon answered with a nod. "Who's this?" he asked as he got closer.

The dog turned its head when its mistress stood from her crouched position. It turned to face him, its neck reaching forward to sniff his hand when he offered it.

"That's the lady of the house's vicious attack dog," Malcolm responded, his voice full of sarcasm.

The comment made the others all laugh, but Avalon felt his smile slow, glancing down at the dog as it continued to inspect his hand.

"Her name is Shade," Elizabeth added, giving her security professional a smirk. "And she's only 'vicious' when she's teased with tennis balls."

"Nice to meet you, Shade," Avalon greeted the canine. He grinned when the dog nudged his hand, prompting him to loosen his fingers from their closed fist. He stroked the top of her head and gave her a scratch behind the ears.

Contessa giggled as she zipped up her coat. "She likes you. Fancy that. Guess you're the only one she likes to torment, Malcolm."

"Yeah right," the man lamented jokingly. He pulled a tennis ball from his jacket pocket, immediately tossing it up and down in his hand. "Shall I throw one and we get going?"

"Just one," Elizabeth agreed. She whistled and the dog immediately turned her attention from Avalon. She made eye contact with her owner, her thick tail wagging. "Get Malc," she directed, and the canine immediately turned her head to the man in question.

Shade barked as Malcolm held the neon green ball up. He tossed it up and down a few more times, teasing her. She continued to bark, poised on all four paws to react.

"You want it? You want the ball?" Malcolm asked, making her bark again. "Go get it!" He sent the ball flying through the air towards the side yard, careful not to use his vampire strength.

The group laughed as the dog raced after it, her strides long and purposeful. She retrieved the tennis ball in one quick grab of her teeth before turning to run back. Her claws made contact with the concrete in light clicking noises as she came to a halt in front of Malcolm. She dropped it at his feet and barked again.

"Smart dog," Avalon remarked, grinning.

"Probably my smartest coven member," Elizabeth said with a grin. She clapped her hands and the shepherd came back to her, sitting at attention at the base of her feet. "Definitely my best girl on the job, aren't you?" she asked the dog, running her fingers over Shade's head to her ear.

Avalon smiled again, glimpsing her true self. She was a master at playing the political game, but he had a feeling that wasn't who she really was.

"Should we get going?" Marcus asked from his spot closer to the hood of the vehicle.

The coven commander looked up again, giving the dog a final pat. "Yeah," she answered, standing up. "See you later, pup... You ready, Mezdor?"

"Yeah, absolutely," Avalon responded, nodding.

"Good. You can ride in the back with Contessa and Malcolm," she said with another curt smile. She opened the passenger-side door and hopped in at the same time as he did to the backseat.

They drove for forty-five minutes and Avalon listened to the four talk about the coven and the nights before when the New York coven had still been under the same roof. Music played from the stereo and he found himself tapping his fingers to the beat on the interior door handle, resting the flat of his forearm against the ledge.

"I'm not saying that I downright hate the man, but he can be an asshole when he wants to be," Malcolm was saying from the third-row backseat behind Avalon.

"They all can be. I don't know what it is about the East Coast, but I always get the sense we're being judged," Contessa agreed.

"He's a lifetime politician," Marcus said from behind the wheel. "That's what happens. They only care about profits and themselves after a century and stop thinking about the coven as a whole."

Elizabeth sighed heavily from the passenger seat, her lavender eyes rolling at the conversation. She didn't like the Romanos any more than her council did, but Marcus was right; after decades of service, the elders stopped caring about their brethren and only about what brought them comfort. She paused and glanced down at the radio as a familiar piano melody began to play. She smiled and reached over to turn the dial for the volume.

"I haven't heard this in a long time," Marcus said in response to her action. He glanced over at her after changing lanes on the Pacific Northwest highway.

"It's a classic... 'How can you see into my eyes like open doors? / Leading you down into my core / where I've become so numb,'" she sang along.

"Not everyone is going to remember this, Lizzy," Marc teased, but she simply shot him a challenging grin and flipped up the volume even higher, continuing to sing.

"Oh, c'mon," she shot back. "'Until you find it there and lead / it / back / home.'"

The brunette-haired man shook his head.

"'Wake me up,'" Malcolm chanted from the back.

The coven leader grinned triumphantly. "'Wake me up inside.'"

"'I can't wake up,'" both Contessa and Malcolm echoed.

"'Wake me up inside,'" she continued, hitting the switch for the windows.

Avalon grinned as he listened to them, turning his head slightly when Contessa took up the secondary female vocal in repeat to Elizabeth. He had also heard this song countless times in the years before. He turned his attention to hear Elizabeth. She had a good voice, reminding him of some of the singers he had listened to back in their New Zealand home while painting.

The second verse started and the dark-haired woman continued to sing, seeming to come to life with more personality than Avalon had seen before when in front of the elders and other Shadow Stalker politicians. She turned to look at her best friend in the driver's side backseat, the two matching harmonized pitch through the bridge. They bumped fists in a show of feminine solidarity. As Elizabeth held out the riff note, Contessa leaned forward to shake Marcus's shoulder.

"C'mon, Marc," she taunted when Elizabeth continued the belt note in harmony with the radio.

Avalon grinned, seeing the man's hesitation from the rear-view mirror. Perhaps Marcus Augustus was the more subdued of the two leaders. "'All this time I can't believe I couldn't see. / Kept in the dark, / but you were there in front of me,'" Avalon began to sing in imitation of the male vocal on the soundtrack.

Elizabeth turned almost completely around in her seat to look at the Mezdor son, surprised. "'I've been sleeping a thousand years, it seems. / Got to open my eyes to everything.'" She turned back around to face front, adjusting Marc's mirror so she could see Avalon in the backseat clearly.

Avalon held her gaze, continuing along with the song despite the shocked expression on Contessa's face from beside him. "'Without a thought, / without a voice, / without a soul. / Don't let me die here. / There must be something more.'"

"'Bring / me / to life,'" she continued.

The two kept up with the radio, Contessa coming in at the right moments as the female echo and harmony. On the next chorus, Marcus finally began to participate. Elizabeth reached over and shook his arm teasingly as she kept up her effort, singing out the windshield. Her lavender eyes returned to look at Avalon through the mirror. She smirked.

As the song died away, she reached forward and flipped down the volume to a more appropriate level as they entered a suburban area off the interstate.

"Hot damn, didn't know Mezdor could sing!" Malcolm said from the back, making Contessa laugh.

Avalon chuckled and nodded as he finally broke gazes from the staring contest he had been having with Elizabeth. "Upon occasion," he answered sheepishly.

"Any other skills we should know about?" the blonde woman asked, grinning.

Avalon laughed uneasily, his head shaking. "Not really, other than playing the guitar here and there. I like music."

"Maybe we need to take him to a karaoke bar instead," Contessa said. "Do they have those in New Zealand, Avalon?"

He continued to laugh and nodded. "Yeah, of course, but I've never really had a chance to partake in it."

"Well, then there are some things we need to introduce him to," Marcus said from the front seat as he turned off the exit ramp and took a right out towards a strip of lights. His tone suggested to Avalon that he wasn't being totally sincere.

"I'm sure there are some things I could introduce to you in turn," Avalon shot back, careful to keep his tone playful. The last thing he needed to do was insult the second-in-command while in a car full of his own council and the coven commander.

The other two in the SUV chuckled and Elizabeth smirked as she covered her mouth passively with her hand so Marcus wouldn't notice it. She watched the surrounding world as the man drove them down the main drag to an outcropping of bars just off the east side of the suburban area. They normally didn't travel into the heart of downtown in order to stay off the radars of any other vampires passing through the urban area.

"The usual?" Marc asked as he began to slow down to pull into a parking spot.

"Yeah, let's go somewhere we know," Malcolm answered before Elizabeth could.

"So, where are we?" Avalon asked as he looked out the window.

"Southeast side of downtown Portland," Elizabeth answered him.

"We like to get out of the woods upon occasion and be reminded what the real world is like," Contessa explained as she undid her seatbelt. "And blow off all responsibilities."

"There's a reason the elders used to call us 'kids,'" Malcolm chuckled.

Avalon laughed and nodded, getting the drift. Once the car was parked, he undid his seatbelt and opened the door. He stepped out onto the pavement, looking around at the different bars and restaurants that lined the street. A few groups of people were out, and he could immediately smell the signs of human civilization compared to the coven house, or his New Zealand home that had the unmatched smell of earth and ocean.

"'Used to?'" Elizabeth asked from the front seat as she climbed out to join Avalon on the passenger side of the SUV. She looked up at the tall, blonde-haired man with a grin and a wink.

Avalon returned her expression. "Nothing wrong with that," he said. He turned to head to the sidewalk and glanced over his shoulder to be sure she followed.

"No, but now that we're 'young' adults in their eyes, we can't get away with it as easily," she replied. She moved around him to lead the way off to the right, passing Contessa and Malcolm in two more paces in order to fall in stride with Marcus as he headed up the street.

Avalon followed, putting his hands into his jacket pockets absently. He turned in a slow circle as he walked, taking in the distant view of the mountains and dense forests as nature faded into industrial and suburbanism with telephone lines and bright street lights. He smiled, liking the vibe of the small burg the four had chosen as their destination. He fell into step again as Malcolm hung back to wait for him. "This is really cool."

"Yeah, it's probably our go-to. It's off the beaten path for the downtown Portlandians and we get a little more freedom to roam around without being noticed," the red-headed man responded.

"Do you have a high population outside the house?" Avalon asked, careful not to use the words 'vampire,' and 'coven,' around the human locals.

"Somewhat. But it's usually people who live on the road," Malcolm answered. "They very rarely stay beyond a few nights and keep going up towards Seattle. When we first started hearing about the others moving throughout the country, we began taking bigger precautions to keep our whereabouts and presence secret. Anyone with an internet connection can find out who runs each house by hacking our global system. So, we keep our footprint minimal."

Avalon nodded, relieved to hear it. The stories coming from across the world of Moon Worshippers attacking and killing Shadow Stalkers seemed to become more apparent, despite the years and years of silence where only imagined tension built. While his parents still shielded Eris from hearing about all of the violence, Avalon had remained dedicated in knowing what was going on with the covens worldwide.

He knew what his career path would be for the rest of his life: an advisor and protector of his sister. He had been raised with the teachings of the Goddesses, the history of the covens, and the plan the Shadow Stalker coven had for the Dark Child. He had decided from a fairly young age that he would be the best in everything as his sibling's second-in-command, to protect and advise in all matters. Because of that drive, he had become an expert in many subject areas from basic medicine through healing magic, warfare, weapons, to multiple areas within witchcraft. His magic skills had become formidable and he often found himself consulting with the mages and Scholars of the Capitol in how they could better secure the coven stronghold.

If Eris was going to take on the mantle and crown of the Dark Child, then he needed to be ready.

"That's good," he responded to Malcolm as he followed the group down the side-street to a bar. Above the door, a neon sign hung to announce its presence. "I've seen some of the reports of where they've made contact with us. I think staying off the grid is our best bet now."

"I agree," Malcolm said, nodding to the bouncer as he followed the other three into the bar. He held the door for Avalon and the two stepped fully into the place.

Avalon looked around, taking in the hazy, smoky light while music played through the sound system. The place was fairly quiet; just busy enough that a group of five wouldn't raise suspicions, but dead enough to not warrant any unwanted attention from enemies. He looked around at all of the collections of rock band posters on the walls, souvenirs and deer antlers hanging about the place in decoration.

"What's your drink?" Contessa asked the man as she turned to look at the two, her eyes settling on the newcomer.

Avalon finished checking out the place, looking back down at the petite blonde. "Uh, what's a good stout or porter here in the States?" he asked, his foreign accent noticeable.