Ezra rolled his eyes. "They're not dead, you idiot." He walked over to Cassius. Crouching at his side, he placed two fingers at his neck, checking his pulse.

"Yet," Ryder added, brushing his hands down his arms as he can to a stop beside me. His eyes examined the raised red welts shaped like thin fingers that marked his biceps, before looking towards me. "This is the perfect opportunity to get rid of the threat. It'll be as easy as," he snapped his fingers to end the sentence and emphasize his point.

Why eyes widened at the action. With urgency, my head whipped around to Cassius. My heartbeat against my chest rapidly as my eyes zeroed in on the rise and fall of his chest, telling me he was still breathing.

My chest physically caved in relief before anger replaced it. Why did I care?

"Relax, my magic doesn't work like that," Ryder remarked, placing his hand at the small of my back. "Plus, I'm not stupid enough to go after a bonded mate of yours." His voice held a hint of offence.

Suddenly my anger had a viable source to attack. He knew I didn't know much about magic or how it worked. He knew Cassius formed a bond with me, similar to his. He knew his death would cause me distress, yet he still choose to joke about it.

I lashed out in one of the only ways I knew how, I hit him in the chest with the back of my hand. The slight sting I felt was probably more pain than what Ryder felt from the blow.

What I didn't expect, though, was for Ryder to take hold of my hand, making it impossible to retreat.

"Ouch," he exaggerated, rubbing his chest. His hand left more of a mark on his bare skin than my hit did. "Violence is never the answer.... well it is a lot of the time, but not here," he said indicating between us. "Use your words, sweetheart, you would want me to do the same."

I tried to pull my hand back, shame replacing the anger as his words hit home. Though my hands didn't carry enough weight to cause much harm, I was still using violence to express myself. I was doing exactly what I had been having done to me. I was doing what I had been falsely accused of doing, perhaps proving the doubts Ezra once had as valid. I was starting to recoil in shame, but Ryder's next words had me rising my head and blinking at him in surprise, reminding me he was... Ryder.

"At least not until you stand a chance defending yourself against a counter-attack. You'd be flat on your ass right now if I didn't like you. We'll see what you're capable of tomorrow before determining where to start."

"Start what?" Ares's voice asked as he opened the door and walked in. His eyes immediately went to me, scanning me from head to toe. A greeting that was becoming increasingly common for me.

Except, under his gaze, my body heated as I recalled the way those eyes watched me last night.

Ryder's head dropped back with a groan at his arrival. "No. I'm doing this, not you. You can join and watch quietly, but you're not taking over."

Ares paused with his arms crossed. His eyes briefly glanced at Cassius's unconscious body beside Ezra before dismissing it with little concern. He rose a questioning brow at Ryder.

"He's talking about training." I helpfully provided, when Ryde failed to. "He wants to teach me how to fight at the crack of dawn." I scoffed at the thought before adding in a hushed whisper to myself under my breath, "I'm going to need some actual Crack to be awake enough to do anything that early."

"What's Crack? Is that a performance enhancer?" Jaxon's stern voice demanded as he entered the room behind Ares. I flinched in surprise.

Ares couldn't keep the displeasure at the new arrival off his face.

I almost burst out laughing when my eyes landed on Jaxon, his questions weren't helping either. Despite the hard set of his face that would normally terrify me, the syrup dripping from the tips of his hair and nose in long sticky strands dampened the effect.

"Performance enhancers just set you up for failure in a real battle. They do more harm than good," he continued to lecture.

Another drop of syrup fell from his nose onto his shirt. A long string was left to dangle before breaking off under the weight.

"I don't expect much given you're an uncivilized animal, Jason, but you could have at least taken a moment to freshen up before leaving behind a trail of sugar for anyone to follow."

"There would be no need for Jaxon to take a moment if you had learned to better control your anger, Ares," Zev said, emphasizing Jaxon's name.

"Maybe I would have better control if others didn't act so unpredictably. Better to attack first than be left to face the unexpected." His words were a jab at Zev. "

Zev quietly looked back at Ares, deciding if he wanted to take the bait that would lead into a larger argument or not.

"I'm going to be joining you," Jaxon stated, breaking the escalating tension. His eyes drilled into Ryder. He wasn't asking, he was informing.

"Ha! No way lizard boy. If I'm not letting Mr. Assasin join, you sure as shit won't be."

"It's only fair that a representative from each side is present," Zev argued for Jaxon, choosing the easier battle from those that were presented.

"I thought your leader said we were one big family," Ryder teased. "How's it possible for there to be sides?"

"You, I, and every person in this room knows that's a lie." Zev narrowed his eyes. "If you're going to be training her, Jaxon will be present to ensure she is being taught properly."

"Wouldn't it make more sense if it was me? Last I checked I was the decorated war General."

All eyes shifted to the door again as another person made their appearance. Axel appeared in the doorway. His appearance by itself was a surprise, but the blood splattering the collar of his shirt coupled with his words were a bonus.

"Great, looks like everyone's here," Ezra announced with a tired clap despite only being a few hours into the day. "Seeing as we're all gathered, I think this would be a great opportunity to set some ground rules. For all our sakes as well as Nea's. It's become clear that Cassius does not know how to properly navigate this sensitive situation like he claims to."

"Hmm, would have been great to set those up before permanently changing her life first," Ares casually threw out, seeming to want a fight to escalate.

He walked over to me, placing a soft kiss on my lips. I had no doubt the lingering of his lips against mine was to rile up the others. The self-satisfied smirk I could see as he pulled back just confirmed it.

Ezra's disregarded Ares words while trying to ignore his open display of affection. But I could see its effects in the slight twitch of his eye.

"Did he even discuss our debt or where you stand at breakfast yesterday?" He asked me. "Of course he wouldn't," he sighed having caught sight of the cluelessness on my face.

"We all know we are stuck with one another-"

"And who's fault is that?"

Ezra ignored Ryder's interruption and continued, his voice sounding more strained. "It's time to clear everything up and get everything out in the open. We can only continue forwards once we've dealt with what has passed. We're only leaving ourselves open for failure by ignoring our problems. It's time everyone faces the facts and accepts them before things can go south. Amicably. "

"We're not the ones you should be worried about," Ryder chimed in, his eyes drifting to Cassius.

He must have sensed the attention. His fingers twitched.

Ezra sighed lightly before heading back to the table holding the half-empty vial he had used to incapacitate the man. Preparing a fresh needle, he filled another injection. "That includes Cassius," he said, flicking it before heading towards Cassius's body and administering a fresh dose.

"Remind me not to get on the Doc's bad side," Ryder whisper from the side of his mouth.

"I think it's a little too late for that," I replied.

"Nah, the Doc loves me. Everyone does."

The scoff from Ares said otherwise.

"Fine," Ares said. "If you can get the Demon to cooperate, I'm open to discussing terms to coexist peacefully."

My body tensed at his words. He placed a hand on my shoulder, squeezing in comfort.

"But only if Nea agrees. She's the one who you all have been disregarding the most. I think it's only fair negotiations for ceasefire continue under her terms. That's if she wants them to."

Ryder stepped in front of me to block everyone's eyes as they shifted towards me. He was able to block my sight before the pressure of their eyes could decent upon me. Ares wrapped his arms around me from behind, spinning us around for more privacy.

Not that it would have mattered.

It only took mere seconds for dark, smoke-like, shadows to surround us blinding me with darkness. Almost. It felt like I has just entered a dark room, except when I looked down, I could see my body and Ares arms like nothing had changed.

"They can't see or hear us while my shadows are surrounding us," he said, his voice sounding slightly strained. "Tell me," he continued, getting straight to the point. "What do you want to do?"

My mouth opened and closes, still trying to move past the display of magic. What did I want to do? He already knew that! I wanted out of here.

The answer must have been written on my face. He let out a frustrated breath. Sweat was beginning to bead on his forehead and his brows tightened. I had a feeling that giving me a moment of privacy was taking more out of him than he would admit.

"Nea," my heart dropped at the tone of his voice, knowing I wasn't going to like what he had to say next. "I am prepared to fight our way out of here if that's what you want, but the Alchemist is right, you'll eventually have to face things." He turned me to face him and ran his thumb down the marks decorating my neck, following them with his eyes. "We can run all you want, but you won't be able to outrun the bonds that have already been made." His eyes looked into mine. The pity shining in the depths of them told me everything I needed to know. I could feel his need to reassure me that everything would work out how I wanted it to, but he knew that would be a lie.

"I know you despise them now, but that will change. The small feeling that somethings missing will slowly grow until it's all you can focus on, even if you're realms apart. I wanted you to come to the realization on your own," he stepped forward, placing his palm against my neck as he caress my cheek with his thumb. "Heal on the way while no doubt remained in your heart, but I didn't expect you to catch the eye of a heartbroken Demon King," he failed to joke. "It's better to take control of it now than try to grasp some semblance of it when you can't."

My heart dropped.

He knew they were going to be a part of our lives, even if I didn't want them to be. When he pictured the distant future, it included everyone that stood in this room.

I took a step back as the realization hit me like a truck.

Bonds were new to me, not Ares. He grew up in a world where they were common knowledge. He always knew I would never have been able to escape them.

"You always knew."

My words didn't hold accusation. Just shock.

"I couldn't just abandon you with the Kitsune who's bond already has you panicking, especially after you begged so nicely," he smirked.

I went to hit him, but stopped, recalling the shame I had felt after doing so to Ryder.

His lips softened. "You never would have trusted my words if I told you. You needed to experience it for yourself. Plus, I wasn't going to complain since it bought me more time with you," he shrugged. "The meeting the Alchemist wants is inevitable. They will demand your time, and you will want to give it to them eventually. The question is, little one, do you want to wait till you reach that point?"

At my hesitation, Ares's hands tightened and his lips flattened into a hard line. "Say the word, and I'll get us out of here. I can still buy you the time you need. We can deal with the consequences when they come."

Except, they already had. My fate had been sealed. It had been for a while. All Ares was offering me was time to play pretend. Running now would just put off the inevitable.

"No," I said looking up at Ares.

He looked between my eyes, sweat dripping into his brows. He gave a small nod of understanding just as his control over the shadows surrounding us broke. They disappeared in thins whisp of smoke.

"Next time, I'd like to be included in the bubble of darkness," Ryder remarked as he stood with his arms crossed. His face showed his displeasure at being left out.

"Next time, I'd prefer not sensing my mate in pain if I trust her to your care again."

Ryder's eyes narrowed at Ares's reply, but he didn't push further.

He stepped around him and approached Ezra. He had unexpectedly taken charge in the absence of Cassius's lead.

"How are you going to get him to cooperate?"

"Don't worry, I have that handled." Thought Ares asked Ezra, Axel was the one to respond. "I'll need some time to gather the restraints that'll hold him, but in the meantime," he continued, turning his attention towards me. Excitement light his eyes"You have a few guests waiting."

"Guests?"

The question was echoed by more than one voice in the room.

Axel's smirk grew.