"How are you doing beautiful?" Jake winked at a pretty blonde witch as he entered the cave. I could tell she really wanted to be horrified at his presence but no girl can resist Jake's gorgeous charm, she blushed like a schoolgirl and smiled softly as she looked away. "I won't hurt you, baby.." He winked as she looked back at him. "Not until you tell me too." She gasped at his words but I saw a smile as she covered her face with her hand.

"Stop it, you are going to scare her. She is not used to males let alone cute vampire males." I hit Jake on the arm.

"I bet she's a virgin too." His blue eyes twinkled as she looked over her shoulder at him. "God damn." He locked eyes with a pretty brunette in the corner and pressed his lips together. "Hold me back Eb, I need you right now."

"Oh my goodness, what the hell is wrong with you?" I rolled my eyes.

"Don't be all judgemental and shit. If you had a dick you would be acting like this as well." He snapped back.

"Really? Callan seems to be controlling himself just fine." I said in Jake's face. We watched as Callan spoke with the witch elder and then walked towards us.

"Wait for it..." Jake said smugly.

"You are an animal. Not all males think like you." I crossed my arms over my chest.

"Just wait.."

"Not every male is as perverted as...."

"Dude, this place is like a smorgasbord of perfect ass," Callan said quietly to Jake. "I just want to try them all." He laughed as they gave each other a high five. "Where do I even start? Oh, dibs on the redhead." Callan smiled waving a curvy girl smiling at him.

Jake looked over at me smugly. "I believe you owe me an apology."

"Get bent." I shoved him backward as he laughed and walked over to Leon who standing by himself at the back of the cave. He was leaning on the wall and avoiding any eye contact with anyone as he looked up at the ceiling.

"Hey, you," I said nudging him slightly. "You okay back here?"

His dark eyes met with mine as he shrugged. "Honestly, I kind of feel like I want to run away from here. I don't really like confined places."

"You want to get some air?"

He nodded without hesitation and followed me as we walked towards the exit. The sudden cold air on my skin as we walked outside made me realize just how hot that cave was. I took a big breath of fresh air and closed my eyes as my body relaxed.

"Ebony, I don't think I can do this," Leon said next to me. "I'm not Carter, and I can't be all diplomatic about this shit. We need to capture the darkness with or without the help of these witches. If they refuse then we make them listen. I don't understand why we are even talking to them."

"I know it's frustrating but Carter knows what he is doing. He just doesn't want any more enemies and he is trying to do the right thing for Henry."

"He's just so different from what I remember. He was never told no and if he was he just took it anyway. I mean he was never one to negotiate on anything. He just took whatever he wanted and no one ever questioned him and now it's almost like he's a different vampire. I mean I tried to play along and be friendly with everyone but we are wasting time here." He was getting frustrated. "I should be out there tracking it down and not feeling uncomfortable because some female said she wants to kiss me all over and devour me." He stopped talking and looked at me uncomfortably as he ran his hand through his dark hair. "Sorry, I just feel like...."

"Wait, some girl in there said she wants to devour you?" I tried not to laugh. "Which one?"

"It doesn't matter, what matters here is that we are wasting time negotiating with these females when I could be tracking it down."

"Was she cute? Blonde or brunette? Tall or short? Tell me everything." I said excitedly.

He just smiled shyly. "It doesn't matter.."

"Leon, do you know how many girls have asked me about you?"

"What?" He raised his eyebrow sharply at me.

"I'm serious. You are a lady magnet my friend and whether you like it or not I'm afraid you are going to have to get used to it. Maybe you should talk to one of them? Get to know them, become friends with them." I teased him.

"What?" He looked horrified. "No." He shook his head. "It's been too long for me and I ......No."

"Oh come on, when all of this is over and you can finally meet someone and...."

"I appreciate what you are trying to do for me, but I'm good. I don't want to hurt anyone anymore and I'm fine just being by myself." He walked away and shook his head as he mumbled to himself.

"Leon, you're not that vampire anymore. You didn't hurt anyone on purpose."

"You don't know that Ebony. I appreciate what you are saying but the reality is I don't know who I am or what I'm capable of until I know for sure that I'm not going to hurt anyone. I'm fine by myself." I could see he was upset by his own words. "I just need to capture the darkness and make sure it doesn't hurt anyone else."

"Okay, I'll back off," I said watching him pace back and forth in front of me. "But for the record Leon Morgan, I think you are truly one of the good guys and I honestly cannot wait to learn more about you. You compare yourself to Carter but he has had hundreds of years to change and adapt to this new world and you have had days. You saved me from the darkness and I will never forget that and trust me when I say that if Carter was not here then this conversation would be going in a very different direction, but I love him so it won't." I pressed my lips together and looked away nervously.

He stopped pacing and looked back at me. "Thank you." He said quietly as he watched me. "My Brother is a very lucky man."

"I know," I said crossing my arms over my chest and agreeing as I smiled. "Just don't give up on yourself okay. One day you will find her and trust me when you do it will change everything."

He just nodded approvingly. "You have any friends that are single." He smiled.

"Yeah, but they are so not good enough for you." I laughed. "I have a brother if you want to swing that way? He looks just like me."

"I'll keep that in mind." He winked and smiled. "We should probably go back inside and finish this so we can leave already." He sighed loudly walking back to the cave.

"Oh, Excuse me, Mr Morgan." A beautiful young witch with long black hair said as she bumped into his chest walking out of the cave. "I'm so sorry." She blushed as she pulled herself from Leon's large frame.

"It's perfectly alright. It was completely my fault." He said as he smiled down at her. "I should have been looking where I was going."

She stared up at his handsome face and bit her bottom lip nervously. "It was completely my fault but thank you." Her big green eyes sparkled at him as she shyly smiled.

"You don't need to fear me. I will not hurt you." He said gently.

"I've just never actually met a creature of the night before. I mean face to face. You don't look like the creatures that roam these woods." Her voice was so soft as she spoke.

"I should hope not." He smiled. "I'm not a creature like that anymore."' He looked away from her and went quiet. "Anyway, I should get back inside. It was nice to meet you...."

"Raven." She said shaking Leon's hand. "It was nice to meet you too Mr Morgan."

"Leon, please."

Raven just smiled and blushed even redder. "I should let you go." She said stepping aside from the cave entrance.

"Oh, Yeah. Thanks." He walked back into the cave without another word.

Raven took a deep breath and closed her eyes as she put her hand on her chest and she took another breath.

"Is she okay?" I heard a voice in my ear making me jump. I looked over to see Henry looking very confused and concerned at Raven as she took deep breaths.

"Where did you come from?" I gasped.

"I just arrived and I have to talk with the witches. I thought you knew this already?"

"I meant, what are you doing being a creeper?"

"Is that a good thing?" He smiled sweetly.

"No, it is not." I laughed at his innocence. "Good luck in there, the other boys are drooling over the young witches."

"I can assure you, Ebony, a king does not drool over a girl. It would be completely improper."

"You might meet the girl of your dreams in there though."

"Maybe, but there will be no drool I can assure you. Are you going back in?" He smiled as he fixed his hair.

"I don't want to and I'm not needed anyway. I think I'll just stay out here out of everyone's way." I shrugged.

"I see and where is Carter?"

I shrugged. "I haven't seen him in a while actually. I think he may be with his mother? I don't know. I just feel like I'm in the way."

"Nonsense Ebony, you are the reason we have gotten this far."

"No, Ariel is the reason we got this far. I'm just the interpreter and according to some of the witches in there. I'm just the vampire sex slave."

He raised his eyebrows sharply at me. "That's a thing?"

"Apparently and I'm the queen of it. All hail queen sex slave." I bowed dramatically as I rolled my eyes. "Sorry, I'm just getting really tired."

"I can appreciate that. I sometimes forget that you humans need so much sleep. If you like I can arrange for someone to watch you while you rest?"

"Thanks but I...."

"Ebony, where are you, baby?" I heard Carter's deep voice behind me. "Oh, there you are." I turned to see his handsome face smiling at me from the cave entrance.

"Hey you, I thought I had lost you." I smiled.

"You already know my answer to that." He ran to me in a second and scooped me up in his arms. "Are you feeling alright?" He kissed my cheek softly.

"Other than extremely tired, yes I'm fine." I yawned loudly.

"My poor little girl. Come on, let's go back inside and you can sleep on me while the witches have their meeting. It hopefully won't be much longer and we can continue." He said as I wrapped myself around him and fell instantly asleep on his shoulder as he rubbed my back.

All I could see was the darkness around me. I could feel the air become cold and thick as I tried to take a breath but my lungs wouldn't take in any air. I grabbed my throat as I struggled to breathe and then I heard a voice all around me like it was a part of me.

"I'm coming for you Ebony Summers and together we will rule the world. It's finally time and there is nowhere for you to hide anymore."

I froze in fear as the cold dark air started to fill up my lungs and take over my body. I couldn't fight it, I couldn't even blink as the darkness entered my body like smoke.

"You are finally mine." The voice hissed in my head as searing pain suddenly took over my body.

I tried to scream but no sound was heard.....

"Ebony, are you okay? Baby?" I heard a voice and my eyes shot open as I screamed out in pain.

"Baby, what happened? Tell me."

I sat up suddenly gasping for air as I tried to cover my ears from the voice inside my head. "No," I yelled as I tried to escape the grip on my arm. "Don't hurt me," I screamed in terror as tried to run away.

"Ebony, you had a bad dream baby. It's okay. I'm right here and nothing is going to get you." Carter said as he pulled me towards his chest. "It was just a dream." He said calmly as he kissed my cheek. "Everything is okay." He held me to him as I cried on his chest. "What happened?"

"It's coming for me." I sobbed as I tried to stop the voice repeating over in my head.

"What is coming?" He said lifting my head with his finger.

"The darkness is coming for me and I don't want to die." I crashed my head to my chest again. "I don't want to die that way."

"What do you mean baby? You had a dream that's all."

I shook my head. "It's coming for me and nothing is going to stop it. Nothing."