"Come to me, my sweet girl." A harmonic voice floated through a puffy cloud of mist. Confused, I tried to figure out where I was and only saw that I stood in a pit of mud.

Where the hell was I? I spun in search of anyone or any destination, but the fog made that impossible. All I could see was the sloppy, sticky mud under my feet.

"Emm-berr," The woman beckoned to me in song. Her tone held a magical melody within it, bidding me forward. I couldn't put my finger on it, but she sounded familiar. Where had I heard that voice before?

"Who are you?" I asked. My voice didn't sound right. It had magical tones, like hers.

"Come to me, my girl." She urged.

"Where are you?" I called out. "I can't see anything."

"Follow my voice." She sang the words, and a memory began wiggling itself free. It was from my childhood. "We need you, my child. It's time."

I remembered her singing to me when I was a little girl. Could it really be her? A tear trickled down my cheek. "Mom?"

"Emm-berr," She beckoned to me with tinkling melodic bells in her voice this time. "Let the Pathfinder within guide you to me."

"I'm coming!" I yelled, and the bells were in my voice too.

I didn't know what the hell she meant by Pathfinder. Maybe she meant to follow my heart or something. I ran toward her voice as I sank further and further into the mud.

After I'd ran for what felt like miles, I called out, but I didn't receive an answer. With desperate ragged breaths, I muscled forward until my face was speckled with chunks of grit, and my feet were wedged deep within the mud. Struggling to free myself from the mud's grasp, another sound swept through the fog. Was that a stereo? The sound quickly became louder and louder as I fought to get free from the ground.

My eyelids fluttered awake. Heavy music vibrated through the walls. Relieved to be free of the mud, I recalled my dream. My chest constricted at the memory of my mother. She was alive, and she'd been calling to me. I couldn't seem to remember her face, but I knew her voice. Just like Dad, my mom needed help. If only I knew how to help.

I was gaining a better understanding of what I was capable of, but I didn't understand how to use my powers yet. I knew I had the ability to cross over to realms, but I had no idea how to activate that power. I could turn up the volume on people's conversations and thoughts. I could speak in their minds at will. The downfall was that when someone touched me, they could use my powers against me, which sucked donkey butt.

Besides finding my parents and working on my sharpening my abilities, I wanted to get my hands on that ancient book with all the prophecies or whatever. It would be nice to study the Prophecy of the Bringer. I needed to know what kind of supernature being I really was and what kind of crap I was up against. Every Guardian and supernatural seemed to know what I was except me. And there was something completely ass-backward about that. Shouldn't I know myself better than some prophecy?

I sighed in frustration. I needed to give it a rest for now. There was no way I'd be able to figure everything out tonight. Plus, based on the blaring music, the party was going full throttle. Luckily, it was somewhat muffled in Justin's darkened room. I loved partying, but not tonight. I wasn't in the mood.

I grinned at Justin's even breathing behind me and rolled toward him, hoping that he was still asleep. Maybe I could fall back asleep and try to find my mother again.

Glancing up at his face, I gasped. Instead of Justin's delicate features, I found glowing green eyes staring back at me.

Lucas.

Thinking about how easily Lucas had replaced Justin while I slept, I stared back in question. He'd been so angry lately, which made him hard to be around. My Lucas wasn't as sweet as I first assumed. It didn't help that I knew so little about him.

"Were you dreaming?" Lucas whispered as I caught a whiff of beer on his breath.

And yeah, there was no way I was telling him about my dream. After everything he'd said and done earlier, I couldn't just let it all go. He needed to meet me halfway, or we would never work out long term.

Deciding to ignore his question, I broke eye contact, rolled to my back, and stretched. "Where's Justin?"

"Downstairs." I could feel his gaze scanning the side of my face.

"I thought you wanted to party with your brother. You made that very clear earlier." I tried to sound innocent, but my words held a slight edge to them.

"Shit." Lucas sighed. "I owe you an apology."

I held my breath, waiting on what he might say.

"I'm not sure what you've heard about me." Lucas turned to his back and threw an arm over his forehead, covering most of his face. "But my life hasn't been as easy as Justin's or Tyler's. My dad..."

I held still, careful not to distract him. I wanted to hear about Lucas's life, but if I moved even one inch, I knew he might stop talking.

"He..." Lucas scoffed as he shook his head. "Fuck. Why can't I just say it?"

Slowly, I turned to my side and placed my hand over Lucas's heart. His chest quivered with each breath. Was he about to cry? "Hey, you don't have to tell me anything you don't want to."

Lucas sucked in a jagged breath. "I want to. I just... hate talking about it. It makes me feel like I'm not good enough. Like everything I touch turns to shit, you know?"

"Look at me." I rubbed my palm over his chest, trying to soothe him.

After a long minute, Lucas turned to face me. It was hard to see in the dark, but his eyes seemed to be glistening. "What?"

"You don't turn anything to shit. You make everything better. I mean, you're incredible. You made this soul tracker for me out of thin air." I squeezed my emerald pendant. "You're special to me. I'll never forget that night we really talked for the first time. All I wanted to do after that was touch you again."

"Me too." Lucas chuckled and caught my fingers, pressing them to his lips.

Tingles shot from my fingertips to my heart. "I don't know what's going on with you, but I wanna help. You've been so angry with me, and I don't even know what I did."

"Fuck. Don't think that. It's not you, Ember. You're perfect." Lucas dropped my hand and heaved out another sigh before rolling to his back.

I squeezed my hand into a fist. "Then... what is it?"

"You don't know what it's like growing up in a family of Guardians. Everything is strict and old school as fuck. We're always expected to prove ourselves by serving without question. As you know, my dad's the Alpha of the Earth Clan, and Mason is next in line to take his place. So, do you know where that leaves me?"

Searching the darkness, I tried to imagine myself in his shoes. "Where?"

Lucas didn't speak for a long moment. "I'm the grunt. My father treats me like I'm expendable. He's hard on Mason, but he's even harder on me, and according to him, I do everything wrong, which has put me under my father's whip most of my life."

I held my breath in shock before I whispered. "His... whip?"

"Yeah, amongst other things." Lucas grumbled. "Guardians are medieval as hell. They have nasty punishments since we have to govern over so much darkness. I refuse to follow my father blindly. Over the years I've learned how to get things done my way behind his back, but it sucks when I get caught. I always take my lashes knowing I did the right thing rather than doing horrific crap for his selfish political gain."

I tried to imagine Lucas being continuously beat like my father, and my eyes instantly shut in pain. How in the fuck could his dad abuse him like that? Lucas's kind, sweet soul held so much love.

"You should see your face. Your mouth is wide open." Lucas chuckled lightly.

My mouth snapped shut. What the hell did he expect? Imagining the abuse he'd experienced made me physically sick.

"Are you gonna throw up?" With a serious tone, his hand found my shoulder and caressed.

I shook my head as I shoved the horrible images of his torture from my mind. "No."

"Good. I don't want to leave this room yet. It's kind of nice being alone with you." I could hear the smile in his voice.

I grinned at his change of mood. "How could you even see my face? It's pitch dark in here."

"Guardians have enhanced sight. It's simple. You just need to call on it." Lucas's finger ran down my nose lightly.

Call on it? At the simple thought of wanting to see better in the dark, the room changed entirely. The room lit up as though the sun was rising. The black symbols that Justin marked around the room illuminated with a bright white aura around each one.

"Whoa. How in the hell?" I glanced at Lucas, finding his aura bright white with greens, oranges, and blues flowing smoothly back and forth.

"It's a trip, isn't it?" Lucas smiled wide, and it was wonderful to see him happy.

Nodding, I waved my hand in front of my face. My aura was full of bright pastels. "What do all the colors mean?"

"There's no telling, but I've never seen anyone with your colors. Most people have a standard color signature, but you change colors when you're with different people. I've never seen anything like it." Lucas frowned and swallowed hard before his eyes locked on mine. "When you were in Purgatory... you lost every bit of color. You were barely alive, Ember. It worried me since without the soul, the body dies quicker. There were so many nights I laid next to you, hoping to see one blip of color, but your soul was gone. I think it broke me. Every day you were gone, I lost touch with my sanity more and more."

My eyes grew wet as I shook my head. "No. You were making sure I was safe and coming back."

Lucas's palm found my cheek. "I lost myself when you were taken, Gorgeous. When you came back, I was a complete bastard. I never rage out like I have recently. Everything pisses me off. I don't know what my problem is. I know you're upset with how I've handled things, and I just want you to know that I am trying."

My heart tightened. I had no idea how much self-torture he'd endured while I was gone. Gripping his shirt, I closed the distance between us. My legs tangled with his as I pressed my forehead to his chest, inhaling his sweet scent.

Lucas wrapped his arm around my waist and tugged me closer. He spoke with his lips pressed against my head. "I'm so sorry for everything, Gorgeous. I promise to work on controlling my anger. And you have permission to slap me when I fuck up, okay?"

A stray tear escaped the corner of my eye and dripped from my cheekbone to the bed. "Okay."

I really didn't know what else to say. He'd just told me a horrible truth about his life and now wasn't the time to make him feel any worse. If I ever came face-to-face Lucas's dad, I'd make him pay for what he'd done. And I vowed to never let him hurt Lucas again.

Suddenly, a hard knock came at the door, causing both of us to jump.

Lucas groaned in protest as the person knocked again.

"Lucas?" Missy tried to turn the knob, but thankfully it was locked. "I know you're in there. Open the door. I wanna talk."

I jolted up. "What's she doing here?"

Lucas got to his feet and raked a hand through his messy faux hawk before stalking to the door. "I have no idea."

"I thought you guys erased her memories." I said.

"We only erased the memory that you two are cousins. She still knows our past, and she's been calling me non-stop since I've been absent from school. There's a lot of people downstairs. Maybe—"

"Lucas, open the door, man." Mason instructed. "Your girlfriend needs to talk to you. She's flipping out."

"Your girlfriend?" My lip curled. "What the hell?"

Lucas gave me a look of regret just as they pounded on the door again, which pissed me the fuck off. People were so damn rude.

Lucas flung the door open, revealing Missy and Mason.

"Lucas!" Missy leaped into his arms, hugging him for dear life. "I'm so happy to see you. I'm so sorry."

Lucas set her down slowly and glanced over his shoulder. "I gotta talk to her."

I nodded in confusion.

Missy squinted in my direction. "Is that Ember? Are you screwing her too? I thought she was with Justin."

"Come on," Lucas wrapped an arm around Missy's shoulders and led her out of the room.

Jealous as fuck, I didn't move from the center of the bed as Mason smirked at me. I looked away. I didn't need his shit right now.

"Hey, dude. This is the girl you're looking for, right?" Mason flipped on the light and pointed at me. What the hell?

I sat straight up, ready to defend myself from someone or something horrible. To my surprise, my ex-boyfriend stuck his head around the corner. Shock rippled through me. How was he here?

"Josh?" I scrambled off the bed. "What? How?"

Josh's hair was a mess, and he looked exhausted. With a look of relief, Josh smiled and walked over to me, pulling me in for a hug. "Em, thank God. I knew I'd find you. I've been so worried."

I tried to pull out of his embrace, but he only hugged me tighter. My eyes met with Mason's over Josh's shoulder. Mason sent me a small grin before his jaw tightened and he gave the back of Josh's head a death glare.

Josh yanked away from me and smacked at the back of his head. "Holy shit. Put it out. It burns."

"What?" I sprung into action to find where Josh was burning. I grabbed his hands and searched his scalp, but only noticed a red mark on his skin. "There's nothing here. You're okay."

"Shit. Are you sure? It felt like the back of my head was on fire." Josh kept rubbing the back of his head in pain.

I threw an angry glare over my shoulder toward Mason, but he was already gone.

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