The doors to the room burst open and Zero stumbles in, grey eyes narrowed and wide, searching.

His eyes land on me and I smile, standing up.

His whole face lights up in relief, and he sprints forward while I prepare myself to be crushed in his arms like he has done many, many times before. Even though his hugs send me halfway to death, I secretly love them.

I close my eyes, bracing for the impact......but it doesn't come.

Instead I feel a rush of air as Zero runs right past me and to the base of the three steps, where he appears to be hugging my twin, almost purring as he rubs his head against her as she wraps her arms around him. I stare at him a few moments longer in shock, before it finally clicks.

I glare up at Lager, who's watching Zero with nothing but amusement in his eyes. I also notice how his foot is moving ever so slightly, tapping against the ground.

"Quit it already." I snap at him, and his eyes flick to mine, seeming to plead with me, before he finally sighs.

"Fine." And he waves his hand through the air.

Zero immediately tenses, looking down at his still now truly empty arms, before a growl rips through him. He faces Lager, livid with anger as he makes a move onto the first step.

"Where is she?! Tell me NOW!" He says in a voice promising death.

I give a short whistle and he whirls around as I rock back on my heels, giving  a short wave.

"Hello. In case you haven't noticed I've been here the entire time."

He holds my eyes for a few seconds, contemplating if I'm the real thing or not, before the bone-crushing grip I was so worried about is finally on me and I wheeze out a laugh as I'm nearly swallowed whole by his body.

"Told you we would be late!" I hear a familiar voice snap, and I manage to crane my head up over Zero's shoulder to see Becky walking through the two doors, led by her own escort who she was yelling at. The escort, who was a Darkling solider, held the same blank look on his face, not giving any reaction to Becky's jibes.

I smile at her, before groaning as Zero's arms constrict around me further. I shut my eyes tight, feeling his arms wrap around my whole torso, but something feels off.

"Zero......you can stop now." I manage to gasp out.

That's not me, Zero says inside my head, and I fling my eyes open and look down to see a blue snake wrapped around my body, squeezing.

My first instinct is too scream, but I take a few deep, calming breaths before speaking.

"Max if you don't get off me and change back right now, I'm going to let Zero and Becky pummel you." I try to growl but it comes out more like a choke.

Becky perks up when hearing that and walks closer while Max slithers down me and onto the ground, making me shiver in disgust.

Suddenly, Becky's eyes go wide as she looks at Max who's starting to shift. "No! Don't-" She starts, but Max is already shifting.

"Cover your eyes!" Becky says, lunging at me and I look in confusion at Max, wondering why I would need to cover them. There's a bright blue light, before Becky slams into me, her hands pressing against my eyes and keeping them shut.

"Hey!" I say, struggling to pull her hands off. "What are you doing?"

"Don't look at him." She warns, as I tug her hands forcefully off and stare down at her, her own eyes squeezed shut. Curiosity though, is a weak spot for me, and before I even know what I'm doing I'm glancing at Max.

Who's completely naked.

He stands there, confident with his hands on his hips, not hiding a single thing, his bright blue eyes sparkling in amusement.

I gape for two seconds, before Zero is in front of me with a growl, blocking my view.

"I told you not to look." Becky mutters, but I'm still too much in shock to do anything other than wretch and try to banish that image from my mind.

I look anywhere but at Max, who's still butt naked and see Lager who smiles slightly and waves a hand.

A pair of pants appear on Max, and he stumbles back, looking down at them in awe.

"These aren't an illusion!" He exclaims, patting the black pants.

I show Lager how grateful I am with my eyes, because he must have done his 'create an illusion then turn it into reality' move.

Suddenly Becky, Max, and Zero all start talking at once. Zero and Becky team up against poor Max, upset about the shape-shifting act he just pulled while Max tries in vain to defend himself.

I prepare to throw myself into the battle with them, when Lager clears his throat.

All three of my friends freeze, and slowly turn to where Lager is lounging on his throne, all traces of amusement gone from his face.

"Good. Now that you've finally stopped acting like idiots, can we continue?" Lager says with a bite in his tone, and his question is hopefully rhetorical, because no one answers.

Instead, I'm shocked again when for a second time, Becky takes a step up next to me at the base of the three steps and bows deeply. I stare down at her, stunned for a second, when something catches my eye.

Hanging down from her neck is a necklace made of rope, the only charm on it being a small piece of wood. I try to study it further, but Becky is standing up again, her hand quickly moving like a sniper in tucking it into her shirt without anyone noticing.

Now I'm curious, and as I've learned before, that's very bad.

Max also comes to stand beside Becky and bows, but Zero makes no move too.

Lager stares Zero down, gold meeting silver again in another battle. What exactly do they have against each other? There's a strange tension between them, like they want to rip each other's throats out, but something even more valuable is holding them back. Strange.

"Kay." Lager finally speaks, summoning the silent girl who I almost forgot was there.

She jumps to her feet and gracefully wake up the three steps to the throne, where Lager leans in to mutter in her ear. Her eyes go bright, a small smile lighting them up, before she nods and takes off down the stairs, running down the aisle and disappearing out the doors. I'm almost sad to see her go.

The doors shut behind her with a resounding Thump, and silence fills the air for a few short moments.

"I have come to the decision," Lager finally says, eyes going from Zero, to Max, to Becky, and finally to me,where they seem to linger a fraction of a second longer, "that you all will remain here in Highclere until certain debts are payed back." He finishes.

My mouth drops open, and I almost sputter. "Debts? What debts?"

Lager smirks, eyes flashing to Zero. "He knows what I'm talking about."

I try to catch Zero's eye, but he refuses to look at me, instead trying to kill Lager with a glare again. Suddenly, I growl, having had enough.

"Someone explain right now what is going on!" I demand, nearly stomping my foot in the process.

Zero turns to me, a mix of pain and guilt in his eyes.

"Ashley..." He trails  off, about to say more when the doors open yet again, interrupting us and making me want to scream out in frustration. Sylvia struts in, looking undeniably disappointed.

"Illusionist, why are you back? Didn't I say two hours?" Lager asks, a stern look coating his features.

Sylvia bows once, standing up but keeping her head down.

"The Doctor had a hidden Posion in the form of powder hidden in his clothes. The first chance he got after the trial he swallowed all of it."

There's a few moments of shocked and solemn silence, and I'm slightly horrified. I've always been horrified of suicide,and I don't like the weird feeling of seeing a person alive and breathing just a few minutes ago only for them to have now vanished from this world.

It's deep and very, very dark.

I glance over at Becky for the first time since Sylvia walked in, wondering about their thoughts on this, but she's not looking at me, she's standing rigid, her eyes a black merciless void as she watches Sylvia.

The eyes of a predator.

But wait. As I look closer, I realize she doesn't look like a predator. Predators are confident and fierce, arrogant and bloodthirsty. Becky does not seem to hold these traits. Instead she is more similar to cornered prey. Frightened, desperate, and ready to fight a bloody battle with tooth and claw just to live.

Whatever is going on with Becky, I need to get to the bottom of this.

It's unlike her to be so submissive and frightened. What happened to that sass and attitude-filled Becky that I know and love? Why has she dissapeared in front of Sylvia?

Not that I blame her.......I mean c'mon, it's Sylvia.

Lagers face turns stormy, his hands clenching into fists.

"Damn." He mutters, eyebrows furrowed. Then he glances back up at Sylvia.

"This incident will go on your record. You can't make any mistakes in the work you do, and letting the doctor do that was a big one."

Sylvia bows her head and I again stare at Lager in wonder. I want his power. I would take shaming Sylvia over illusion powers any day.

"Lager." I finally speak up, and his eyes cross over to mine. Zero growls low in his throat, but we both don't pay attention to that.

"Listen, I know you've shown us a great deal of kindness, and you seem like a nice enough person, but we have to leave. My friends can't stay here much longer."

I saw the strain it was putting on them just being here. Well, at least Zero and Becky. Max looked completely chill, which was kind of disturbing. He's a Lightling in Darkling territory. Shouldn't he be at least a little disturbed?

I focus back on the subject and look just in time to see something similar to hurt flash in Lager's eyes. But it's gone in a heartbeat and replaced with new features, ones that make my hope dwindle.

"Alright." He days coolly, and Sylvia's head pops up, her mouth open in surprise.

I'm just as shocked.

"Alright? You're letting us go?"

"Yes." He says. "Your friends can go-" I pump a fist and smile "-but you will stay."

I lower my fist, my smile freezing.

"Come again?" I ask, looking at my friends to see if I misheard. They look just as confused and horrified as me.

"I will let your friends leave, but on the condition that you stay here, Ashley."

"Why?" I whisper at the same time Zero roars, "Like Hell!"

Lager clenches his jaw, lazily crossing  his booted feet.

"The decision is final. Ashley stays and your friends go, or you all stay. Choose, and hurry please, I have a meeting in five minutes."

I look to my friends, Becky who's glaring at the ground, Max who's fidgeting with his hands, and Zero who's trembling in rage.

"Can we please have more time to talk and decide?" I beg desperately, using my eyes as my main weapon.

Lager falters, considers, then nods.

"Sylvia will show you to the dining hall."

"Oh please no." I mutter, to which Sylvia sends a vicious glare my way.

"Fine. Becky knows the way, she can show you." Lager comments.

"What?" I ask, feeling like this is  the hundredth time I've misheard.

"You didn't tell them?" Lager says with  a smirk, looking to Becky who's staring back at him with  a warning look in her eyes.

"What didn't she tell us?" I ask hesitantly, burrowing my eyebrows at her.

"Becky," Lager says with a small smile. "Is a Darkling."

Dear Readers, the bomb has dropped! Who saw that coming? Sorry this chapter was  a tad bit late, the perks of having  a life I guess are being busy. Just kidding, my schedule is usually empty except for this week. So what are your thoughts? Comment, vote, and do something with your friends. Also, the comments have been  so awesome, but are getting harder and harder to keep up with. So if  u want to tell me something specifically, even if it is just to say you liked or hated my story, message me or post it on my profile.

Lots of love,

Dangeroustoken.

P.s. shout out to my bff who pushed me  to write this. You wouldn't have had this chapter tonight if it wasn't for her.