When Carmine wakes up again, she's surrounded by a group of concerned looking men and women wearing yellow Kevlar suits marked with reflective strips. Some are dashing back and forth while others are talking to hotel staff. The flurry of activity is dizzying and chaotic.

What the hell?

Then it all comes flooding back to her. Getting trapped in the freezer. The fire. The flaming curtains and burning papers.

Sebastian.

Carmine struggles to sit up; her muscles feeling weak. She looks around and finds Sebastian huddled on the doorstep by the hotel entrance. Tearing the IV needle out of her wrist, Carmine rolls off the stretcher and walks towards him. A voice in the distance tries to call her back, telling her she should rest and stay in one place until they take her to the hospital but Carmine doesn't pay any heed.Carmine keeps walking until she's looming over Sebastian. "Hey. Seb. How are you feeling?"

Sebastian turns around slowly. He clutches the blanket around his shoulders a little tighter, his knuckles growing white. "I'm fine. More importantly, how are you?"

"You don't have to worry about me," Carmine insists. She spins around in a little circle. "See, not a scratch on me."

"Except for the deep cuts on your face. And arms." Sebastian looks away, gritting his teeth. "Why Carmine? Why did you do it?"

Carmine examines her soot-covered arms and runs a finger gently across her face. The pad of her index finger lands on a sensitive area on her cheekbone and when she pulls it away, she notices a spot of blood.

So she got a few cuts and scrapes. Nothing that won't heal in a day.

"I wanted to protect the hotel," Carmine offers lamely. "I don't know. I just got this rush...of adrenaline, I guess. And my brain told me I needed to put out the fire."

"Do you know how reckless you were? You could've been seriously hurt or even killed! Did you even think about how that made me feel? Standing there, watching you? I was so shocked- I- I was such a coward. I was just rooted to the floor and I wanted to help but for some reason my body refused to budge and I-"

"Hey- Hey Sebastian," Carmine purrs, "It's okay. I put out the fire. And I'm okay. These injuries are just little ones that will heal really quick. It all worked out. There's no need to get worked up about it." Carmine instinctively wraps her arm around Sebastian, giving him a tight squeeze.

Sebastian buries his nose into her hair, letting out a frustrated groan.

"Carm? Are you okay!?" Blake's voice pierces through the din and hubbub, filled with concern. He pushes past onlookers and police tape, explaining to an officer that he's Carmine's brother. "Carm! Oh God! I was so worried I came as soon as I heard the-"

Blake stops mid-sentence and looks down at Sebastian.

Carmine quickly pulls her arms off Sebastian and stands up. She puts both hands on Blake's shoulders. "I'm fine. It's all good."

Blake's eyes thin to slits as he glares at Sebastian. Nodding in Sebastian's direction, Blake hisses, "Who's that? And why were you-"

"It's a long story. I'll explain later." Carmine feels tired and sore. All she wants to do is go home and sleep.

"No, explain. NOW." Blake tries to push past Carmine to interrogate Sebastian himself but Carmine holds him back.

"He's my BOSS. Blake. Stand back. We were trapped in a freezer together and the fire was closing in. I put it out and we got rescued by the firefighters okay?" Despite feeling weak, Carmine still gives the crook of Blake's elbow a tight squeeze before leading him away from the crowd towards the waterfront across the street.

Before getting too far, Carmine turns back and shouts to Sebastian, "I'll see you soon. Get some rest Seb!"

Sebastian nods grimly, clearly unsettled by Blake's seemingly unjustified hatred towards him. As Carmine and Blake walk away, Carmine turns her head over her shoulder to take one quick peek at Sebastian. He seems so crumpled and broken under the moonlight. Carmine sees him accept a cup of hot tea or perhaps cocoa from Nyla. The two are chatting quietly but she can still hear them. Sebastian tells Nyla about the freezer and how Carmine put out the fire. Nyla nods, saying something about how brave Carmine is for putting herself out there.

Once they are across the street, Blake wrangles free from Carmine's grip and crosses his arms. "Are you involved with him? Romantically?" His tone is reminiscent of an overprotective parent.

"No! Jeez Blake. Stop sounding like Mother. He's my superior. I'm not so stupid as to get involved with my boss. Besides, I-"

"-You don't want another Liam situation do you?" Blake interrupts coldly.

Carmine gives Blake the evil eye. "I know," she grinds out, folding her fingers into a tight fist. She slams her fist down on the stone barrier in front of her. "There's nothing going on between us. Trust me. C'mon let's go home."

"We have enough things to think about," Blake warns Carmine.

The two walk in silence for a few seconds. They both understand the hidden subtext in Blake's words.

There's a body in the river. An exsanguinated corpse that they created out of bloodlust and violent impulsivity.

And they will need to be on their best behavior in order to stay off the prime suspects' list.

"Guess what?" Carmine lets out a cold laugh, "Sebastian's cousin is Bill Swanson. The detective Father glamoured. I saw him investigating at the motel parking lot too. Sebastian thinks I should tell Swanson about the assault and enlist his help."

After the initial flicker of alarm in his eyes, Blake enters a thinking mood. As if cogs are turning in his spiderwebbed brain. "It might not be a bad idea. We could put the guy behind bars. Tell everyone he's a lunatic. A hallucinating, violent, delusional rapist. If Chris gets put away, we'll have one less problem to worry about."

Carmine rubs her hands over her face. Her wounds are starting to sting and burn. "Problem is, Father glamoured Chris after the ritual. Chris won't remember anything about abducting me and the struggle and of course, the part where his blood is taken for our ritual. How can we convince people that I'm telling the truth?"

"They probably found his DNA in the motel room. And yours," Blake reasons.

"And what if they found the dead guy's DNA in there? And yours? There's just too many ways this could go wrong. Without Father's skills at glamour, we could be facing criminal charges before we even call up a lawyer!"

"They can't do that. We'll get you a lawyer then."

"And who will pay for it? If we tell Father, he will be livid!" Carmine gliding faster, running her fingers through her hair.

Blake chases after her, biting his lips. "Maybe he won't. What if we just tell Father and not Mother? We can ask Father to accompany us to the police station and let him work his magic."

Carmine shakes her head. "If we tell Father the truth, he may never let us go hunting alone again. And he will most likely tell Mother. We will be put under a house arrest spell."

Blake finally lets out a large, exasperated groan. "We need Father. We can't do this without his powers. We messed up and now we need to wrap up the loose ends before things get out of control."

Carmine scowls, letting out a snicker. "If I remember correctly, when you started drinking the man's blood, you said you didn't care for our parents and their stupid rules. You said you wanted to be free and independent. But now that you've made a mistake, you want to come running back to them for help?"

Blake's nose flares and he kicks a lightpost. "I wasn't the only one who made a mistake. You participated too. We're both equally guilty so don't you dare lay the blame solely on my shoulders."

"I can ask Father to teach me Glamour tonight. I don't need to be an expert at it. I just need to be passable. All I need to do is convince Swanson that I'm the victim and that Chris is guilty. Both for assaulting me and killing his own friend during a drunken brawl. As for your DNA, I'll convince Swanson that you were never there," Carmine's brows knit together. It won't be easy, that's for sure.

"Not to put you down sis, because I know you're a tough bitch but you'll need more than just 'passable' skills in Glamour to do all of that." Blake kicks a rock off the sidewalk and onto the road.

"I have an idea. I'll learn the skill tonight and I have the perfect person to practice on tomorrow. If it works, I'll know that I can move on to the real thing."

Blake arches his eyebrows. "You mean your loverboy?"

"He's not my loverboy," Carmine spits on the ground. "He's target practice."

***Bit of a shorter chapter today but that means I will probably update sooner. I am aiming for Sunday or Monday. Please vote if you enjoyed this chapter and let me know what you think about the change in Carmine's attitude and behaviour after her first kill. Thanks for reading, Chesmok***