Rose and Rory drove for fifteen minutes through the woods, before they finally arrived at a clearing where fifteen-foot stone walls stood tall around several acres of land. A three-story mansion stood in the center. Rose stared in awe at the giant structure. Scorch marks were scattered across the wall, along with what almost looked like claw marks from a bear or something.

Looking at the top of the fence, Rose noticed security cameras and spiked posts. Cat wasn't kidding when she said this place was secure. The road narrowed as it got closer to the giant steel gates. There was a loud click, and the gates swung open.

Rose couldn't lie. The property was amazing. There was a large pond near the wall on the left, and to the right lay a beautiful garden. Rose spotted Legolas and Parker unloading a moving van by what she could only assume was the guest house. Danny lounged in a hammock hung between two trees.

The driveway ended at the mansion's porch. Rose couldn't believe someone had built this lavish home without attracting a lot of attention. She raised her hand to the large knocker on the wooden door; it opened before she could even knock, and Cat wrapped Rose in a huge hug.

"I'm so glad you're here!" Cat exclaimed as Lilith and Cerberus came running out of the house to greet their friends. When Cat's eyes landed on Rory, they didn't have the same hatred as the night before. Cat put an arm around Rory and pulled her into the group hug. Rory reflexively jumped away, which received a confused glance from Rose. "Everything all right, Rory?" Cat questioned, as though she didn't understand what had gotten into her friend.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Rory mumbled, half-regretting her decision to accompany Rose to the mansion. She tried to suppress the feeling that there were mass graves beneath their feet. Just imagining it gave her goosebumps.

"I'm happy to see you made it through the doorman's craziness, but I thought you went to the hospital?" Rose wondered out loud, noticing her friend seemed perfectly fine and unscathed.

"I did. He stabbed me when I tried to get away," Cat explained, pulling her red tank top off over her head. Rose opened her mouth to yell at her for doing something like that in front of her guests, but her eyes landed on the gauze-wrapped wound on her abdomen. Blood seeped through the white bandage.

"Sorry—you don't look like someone who just got out of the hospital. I mean, when Matt got out he looked like hell, but you still look like a supermodel," Rose said, picking up the blue Merle puppy that was tugging on her pant leg.

Cat laughed, moving out of the doorway and motioning for the girls to follow her inside. The entryway had a beautiful skylight allowing the sunlight to flood in, a stark contrast to the dark mahogany wood floors.

"Only one rule, no shoes in the house." Cat gestured to the other shoes inside the entryway.

Rose slid her converse off, but Rory hesitated. She didn't know what was on these floors. Rory looked down at her feet, listening to the sound of her own pounding heart. "I...uh..." she trailed off, aware of Cat's eyes watching her.

"Are you sure you're okay, Rory?" Cat asked. "Do you need a snack or something? I think Bane has some orange juice."

"No, I'm just overwhelmed by this house," Rory covered, and slipped her shoes off, telling herself she had to do this for Rose. She would never forgive herself if something happened to Rose because she abandoned her in the house of Lucifer's son.

"Right this way." Cat smiled happily, escorting them into a living room with black leather furniture. A giant TV covered most of the far wall. Cat continued through a state-of-the-art kitchen to a staircase.

Rory and Rose gazed around, stunned by all of the beautiful artwork in the home. Some paintings looked like they were from thousands of years ago, and sculptures from even farther back in history. A door opening in front of them yanked them back to reality.

"Cat, I have to go to the office and wrap up—" Bane's voice called out as he rounded the corner...stark naked, from what Rose guessed was a shower based on the water still clinging to his body. He appeared unfazed by Rory and Rose standing there. "I didn't realize we had guests. I hope everything is living up to your expectations, Rose."

"Oh my god!" Rose blushed, quickly turning away while shielding her eyes. She had seen Bane in a lot of compromising situations with Cat, but this was the first time she had gotten a full frontal view. She couldn't help herself as she took one more peek at the man in front of her. Fresh bite marks covered his muscular chest and shoulders, some still bleeding slightly. There were also several bruises on his ribcage and legs.

It seemed to take Cat an eternity to realize this was inappropriate before she winked and handed Bane a nearby throw pillow.

"Right! I'll go finish getting dressed, then I'm headed out for a couple of hours. If you need anything at all, call me." Bane kissed Cat and walked into the bedroom.

"Um, think I forgot to do something at home," Rory insisted, her face crimson. The only man she had ever seen naked before was Matt. She bumped into a table on her way to the stairs and knocked an ornate porcelain vase to the floor. "I—I'm sorry, it was an accident!"

"Calm down, Rory." Cat laid a reassuring hand on her friend's shoulder.

"Don't touch me, you monster!" Rory shoved Cat away, images of Cat's mouth dripping with Komazzi's blood filling her head.

"Hey Rose, could you run into the kitchen and get Rory a glass of water? I think she's had too much sun or something," Cat asked, glancing at her bewildered friend. Rose nodded and went downstairs. "Rory, we need to talk."

"No, I need to leave," Rory cried, realizing she couldn't move. "Rose will be back soon. How will you explain this to her?"

"Rose will give us all the time we need." Cat sighed, leaning against the wall. "You and Matt don't know what you've gotten yourselves into. Maybe Matt didn't get much of a say in his path, but you could have left. Especially after you found out what Komazzi was; what you thought we were. There is nothing glamorous about being involved in this war."

"You're evil, pure evil," Rory whispered.

"It's not that simple. My father may have been a demon, but my mother was an archangel. Do you have any idea what it's like to have two halves of yourself battling for control? Because I do. I have had to live with it for millennia." Cat's eyes changed from green to bright gold. White wings spread out behind her, spanning twenty feet, and she seemed to glow white.

Rory's breath caught in her chest. Cat was beautiful like this; she couldn't believe that she was the same person as yesterday.

"I spent a lot of time trying to be good; but in the end I realized, I don't want to be a holy zealot. They aren't better than us. They just suppress their desire and do horrible things while hiding behind the silver city," Cat said. "Angels are the worst sinners in existence, but they get to write the books. Literally, how do you think the Bible ended up here?"

"You tried to kill me." Rory sobbed. Cat wrapped an arm around her and returned to her human state. Rory felt a sense of calm in her embrace.

"Killing is fun. I won't deny that; but I wasn't exactly my whole self. Self-control isn't part of being a demon. Honestly, Matt needs you, and we need Matt for now. You're safe until that changes," Cat insisted. "When I unfreeze time, are you going to be okay?"

"What?" Rory wiped tears from her eyes.

Cat laughed and snapped her fingers. Rose appeared next to them, holding out a glass of water. As Rory drank, Cat noticed the color return to her face. "Do you feel better now?"

"Yeah, I guess so," Rory said. Her memories of Cat from the previous night seemed to have faded for some reason. As she thought back, she couldn't help but feel maybe Cat's actions weren't as bad as she had remembered them.

"I can't wait for you to see Rose's room!" Cat grinned and led the girls down the hallway toward a set of fancy double doors.

* * *

"Matt, wake up!"

A loud voice roused Matt from his slumber. Cracking his eyes open, he saw a blurry form standing by his bed. A hand gripped his shoulder and shook him. He groaned in protest, burying his face in the pillow. "Five more minutes," he mumbled.

"We're going to be late," Komazzi insisted. "It's almost 9:30."

"Shit!!" Matt flew out of bed and ran into the bathroom. He did a quick mental calculation. After he had taken Chelsea outside to play in the yard earlier, he'd wolfed down his lunch and then went to bed. He couldn't believe he had slept for seven hours. He hastily brushed his teeth, pulled on clean clothes, and scrambled to grab his wallet and phone off the nightstand. "Sorry, I guess I was tired."

"Have you eaten today?" Komazzi followed Matt down the staircase into the living room.

"Yeah, I ordered a pizza for lunch. I'm surprised Kangaroo Pizzeria delivers out here," Matt said. Chelsea barked and wagged her tail as Matt moved the baby gate that confined her to the living room. Balls, plush animals, and squeaky toys littered the hardwood floor, along with crumbs of dog food. "That's weird. I don't remember giving Chelsea any food before I crashed."

"I fed her when I got here an hour ago," Komazzi said. "I don't know much about dogs, but she looked hungry."

"Thanks!" Matt exclaimed. He felt guilty for leaving her to entertain herself for so long, but he would make it up to her later. Rory wouldn't be home until around midnight, because Cat wanted to have a girl's night. He opened the back door and Chelsea took off like a bat out of hell. She loved having a backyard to run in. Matt checked his phone while he waited for her to go potty. Rory had texted him a couple of times.

Rory 6:30 pm: OMG! Did you know Bane walks around his house naked?

Rory 7:00 pm: You must be sleeping. I'll tell you about it when I get home!

That sounded like something Bane would do, but Matt had seen worse. Rory had only gotten a small preview of Cat and Bane's lives at the manor. Matt whistled and Chelsea raced onto the porch. "Good girl, Chels, I'm sorry I ignored you today." He scratched the excited puppy behind her ear and carried her inside.

"Ready?" Komazzi asked once Matt had filled Chelsea's water dish and locked her in her kennel for a nap. She had improved a lot with training, but they preferred to kennel her when they weren't home. Matt didn't want to imagine the chaos she would create if they allowed her to have free rein of the house.

"I think so." Matt forced a smile. He had been dreading this appointment. The stench of antiseptic, the needles, the pain, would only serve as a reminder of the terror he experienced in the organization's lab. "I'm hoping for good news."

"Me too." Komazzi handed Matt his jacket. He grabbed his car keys off a table by the door, and they left the house. Neither spoke on the drive into town. When they arrived at Crimson Inc., Pamela was sitting behind the reception counter eating a package of M&M's. "Did you steal those out of Icelene's desk?" Komazzi asked.

"I plead the fifth." Pamela tossed the empty wrapper in the trash. She stood up and tugged on Matt's sleeve, guiding him toward the door to Lab 6. "You're a few minutes early, so why don't you come on back and we'll get the routine stuff out of the way before Dad gets here?"

"That depends on what you consider routine," Matt grumbled. The normally bright hallway looked dark as he trailed after Pamela to the medical wing. All the other lab techs had gone home for the night. He knew that Pamela worked long hours, and he felt guilty she was stuck here taking care of him instead of enjoying the weekend like everyone else.

* * *

Komazzi had just finished emailing his biggest client when Paxton trudged into his office. "Dad had me running laps in the employee gym with Matt," Paxton said, his chest heaving. Sweat poured off his forehead. "I'm sure it will make you happy to know that I can't keep up with him."

"You needed the exercise," Mordecai snapped, walking through the doorway followed by Matt. "From what Komazzi has told me, you've done nothing but sit on your ass for a month."

"Paxton, go downstairs and help your sister close up the lab," Komazzi said, noticing the hostile look on Mordecai's face. Paxton bolted out of the room, obviously relieved to escape his father's wrath. Komazzi had talked to Mordecai about his son's poor work ethic, and he agreed to let Bane find Paxton a new job. One that didn't involve protecting lives.

"Wow, I've never seen Paxton move so fast." Matt gaped at the retreating man in amazement. Once Paxton had disappeared into the elevator, Matt took a seat on Komazzi's leather couch. "Let's get this meeting over with, I'm starving!"

"I'll try to be quick then." Mordecai pulled up a chair across from Komazzi at his desk and opened a thick folder. "I spent several hours last night going over the files on those thumb drives. There was a lot of information regarding past victims, so I gave most of the drives to Bane. Unfortunately, this isn't the first time a member of our group has been inside the organization's lab, but you're the first one to make it out alive."

"What?" Matt demanded. "Who else did they take?"

"I think it's best to keep that classified for now," Mordecai said. "My primary concern is what I found in Natalie's reports about you. Most of your scars are from her testing your healing ability. She also performed what's called an exploratory laparotomy, which is a surgery normally used to examine the abdominal organs for injury or diseases such as cancer."

"I'm going to kill that bitch!" Komazzi snapped a pen in half.

"I'd supply you the bullets myself, but we have to be careful how we approach this." Mordecai flipped through his paperwork and glanced at Matt. "She contacted the hospital medical examiner, Dalston Fleming, to assist her during the surgery. They removed your left kidney, spleen, gallbladder, appendix, several abdominal lymph nodes, the tail of your pancreas, and a portion of your liver. The good news is you can live a perfectly normal life despite losing these organs. Your kidney function is excellent, and your liver will be grown back to its full size in about thirty days."

"What the fuck!" Komazzi exclaimed, causing Matt to jump slightly. "Nothing they cut out of him would tell them how his powers worked!"

"We don't know that for sure," Mordecai insisted. "The drug that Bane gave Matt succeeded in masking the vampire blood, but there's a chance it didn't hide everything. The spleen produces lymphocytes, a type of white blood cell that helps fight infections. It also recycles old red cells and can hold extra blood for later use. Blood stored in the spleen may not have been affected by the medication."

"So they could discover Matt's a hybrid." Komazzi swallowed the lump in his throat. Just like that, their secret would be out. What if the organization took that knowledge and tried to create an army of hybrids from Cat or Bane's blood? The results would be horrific.

"It's a possibility, but I think we need to have trust in Bane. He seems confident he made the right decision." Mordecai paused, as if hesitant to say anything more. He gazed out the window at the night sky, a black vault lit by pale starlight. "We got lucky that their experiments didn't cause any permanent damage, but there were complications you need to be aware of."

Komazzi's eyes flashed. "Spit it out, Mordecai. What happened?"

"According to Natalie's records, they perforated the small bowel during surgery, and Matt developed an abscess," Mordecai explained. "They took him back in for emergency surgery to clean out the infection and removed a foot of infected intestines."

"When I woke up after surgery, it felt like they had twisted a knife in my stomach," Matt said. Fragments of conversation hovered on the edge of his mind, drowned out by waves of pain. "I don't remember going down to the operating room a second time."

"I'm not surprised. You had a dangerously high fever." Mordecai shoved the folder aside, his expression grim. "Your immune system should have taken care of the infection before it progressed, but you weren't fully recovered from the T.V. The blood loss from all of their procedures was too much stress for your body to handle. I think you would have died if they hadn't forced you to drink that blood. It saved your life."

Matt picked at his fingernails. He hadn't yet grasped the reality of his first brush with death. Knowing these people had nearly killed him again was terrifying. He probably needed counseling, but Dr. Cabot didn't specialize in the supernatural. "I'm okay now, right?"

"Yes, all of the tests show you're in a strong remission." Mordecai smiled. "I feel comfortable sending you back to work. Just try to avoid contact with vampire poison—do we have a deal?"

"I have no plans of getting into poison anytime soon," Matt agreed.

"There's one more thing I think you both should know, but it doesn't leave this room." Mordecai anxiously wrung his hands together, and his eyes darted around. "In the records, there were some emails between Natalie and Bane...Bane knew what she had planned when he sent you in. They were unclear as to whether Cat knew, but I find it hard to believe she didn't. That's why he gave you the masking agent, to ensure Natalie wouldn't find anything."

Komazzi's jaw dropped, but Matt's eyes filled with anger. The blonde stormed past the two larger men and headed for Bane's office. Komazzi and Mordecai ran after him, trying to call him back, but it was useless. Someone needs to knock Bane off his fucking high horse, Matt thought to himself. He threw the heavy wooden doors open to see Bane in a meeting with two men Matt hadn't met before.

"You son of a bitch! You knew what they would do, and you fucking sent me there anyway!" Matt exploded as Komazzi sprinted into the room. Before Komazzi could stop him, Matt swung his clenched fist at Bane with all of his strength. It felt like punching a stone wall.

Without even flinching, Bane slammed his own fist into Matt's face.

* * *

Matt's head pounded as he opened his eyes. He could feel something in his nose and reached up to pull it out, but Komazzi stopped him.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." Komazzi chuckled half-heartedly. "I think your nose is broken, but after that stunt, I'm glad it was just your nose."

"Here, take this for the headache," Mordecai said from behind him, and handed Matt a couple of pills and a glass of water. "I remember when I tried to punch Bane. You were in critical condition at the time, and Bane wanted to stop the transfusion Komazzi was giving you. I'm wondering if he wanted you gone because he suspected then that your mom was connected with the organization."

"I wasn't involved with any of that!" Matt protested. "What would he accomplish by letting me die?"

"He must have thought Michael would try to use you against us. I didn't want anything to happen to you, so I took a swing at him." Mordecai cringed and rubbed his knuckles. "It was a hard lesson, but you only do it once. No matter how strong you think you are, you can't touch a healthy Nephilim, let alone one who is the Prince of Hell."

"I wish someone would have told me that before I hit him," Matt muttered.

"You didn't give us the chance," Komazzi scolded, helping Matt