Chapter Aria

Jase is violently ripped from me, scaring the shit out of me, before I understand what just happened. I dive to the ground to check on Jase just before Kellan reaches us in a blur.

"You stupid, ignorant ass!" I scream, scolding the emergent hybrid that just tried to kill Jase. "Have you lost your mind?"

Jase stands, ignoring his wounded side as he shrugs me off. He glares at Kellan, knowing now he can lock him up for striking the commander.

Kellan's eyes are dripping venom as his teeth grind together. Apparently he just saw us. I'm fucking glad he saw. Now I don't have to try and explain it.

"Aria, you might want to step back," Jase murmurs smoothly, not rattled at all by the blow.

He should be bleeding profusely or he should be dead. That strike was meant to do more than leave a mere flesh wound.

I refuse to budge, and instead, I place myself between them before this gets out of hand. Kellan has yet to say a word, but I don't care what he has to say.

"Stop, Kellan. Just leave us alone. You don't fucking own me and you never will," I grumble, holding my hand up to keep him from nearing.

He doesn't even meet my gaze or acknowledge my command. His eyes stay intensely focused on Jase and Jase alone. Jase returns the seething fury, acknowledging only the hybrid who is out for blood.

"You fucking knew she couldn't be touched, and yet you did it. You couldn't stand the thought of her being able to survive without you, so you prolonged her pain to gain an edge. That shit could get her killed. You're a selfish, manipulative son of a bitch just like all of your kind!"

Jase laughs, finding this amusing all of the sudden. "My kind? You don't know the first thing about my kind, but I'll educate you if you continue to push me." His tone turns more threatening toward the end, his fury back and his sardonic amusement gone. "I haven't done anything at all to impend her healing process, so go fuck yourself," he says, refusing to grip his side that is still bleeding.

He won't show weakness right now, and I'm worried this is far from over.

"Oh, you're right about that," Jase says, a wicked grin spreading as he responds to my unspoken fret.

Please don't do this. Not here. Not in front of everyone. He's an emergent hybrid. He's scorned and dangerous right now. He could kill you without meaning to.

Jase ignores my inner panic, and I start preparing myself, praying my gifts don't fail me for once when this goes bad.

"Don't," Jase murmurs softly, pushing me back and fixing me with a slighted gaze.

Kellan smirks, his eyes full of sheer hatred as he takes a cheap shot with a right uppercut, blindsiding Jase and cracking his jaw before sending him sailing backwards.

I screech, but Jase is back before I have time to react, his fist connecting with the powerful hybrid's stomach, forcing Kellan to double over, and giving Jase the opportunity to slam his knee into his face.

Kellan drops hard to the ground, blood spewing freely. I'm forced to step back to avoid the spray. I sure as fuck don't want Kellan's blood in my mouth.

"Please stop," I cry out uselessly.

Others start to gather around as the boys exchange blows like savage creatures - only not the sort of savage we're used to. An admiral pulls his gun, pointing it at Kellan.

"Touch the commander again, and I'll blow your brains out."

Kellan laughs, spitting his blood out while taking a step back. "Figures you'd call in your hounds," he mocks, his antagonistic nature shining clearly.

Jase smirks, wiping his own blood away, and then he holds a hand up. "I've got this. No one touches him but me. Right now, I'm not the commander."

Damn it, Jase. He's stronger! Stop acting like an idiot and bow out!

He ignores me, his pride not allowing him to back down like he damn well knows he should.

Kellan glows with delight, loving the fact Jase just temporarily denounced his title for this fight, meaning no consequences for any damage he inflicts past this point. Shit!

Jase's body sails again after the purple slithers strike with too much force. A shriek escapes me, and the officials grow restless, finding it hard not to defend their commander as they've been trained to do for centuries.

Jase is stupid. This is stupid. He can't fight a level twelve hybrid, and I'm not going to watch him get his ass slain and do nothing about it.

I start to unleash anything that will come out, but my heartbeat echoes in my ears when I see Kellan's eyes grow wide. He's stunned, shocked, and completely caught of guard by the massive ball of fire that strikes him in the gut and sends him flying backwards, knocking him into the side of a sad, lonely building that turns to dust when his body slams into it, exploding the blocks of concrete on impact.

Everyone is stunned into silence. Jase stands, a wry smirk playing, and he goes for blood. Another ball of fire is released, collapsing what remains of the building, and forcing a cry of pain from Kellan. The emergent hybrid tries to climb free from the rubble, but he stops half way out, unable to go farther with so many injuries.

I watch him lie there, writhing in pain as he gasps for painful breaths. Jase drops to his knees, finally acknowledging his own tragic wounds. No one else moves. No one else knows how to react.

Kellan looks to me, his eyes begging me to come to his side, and I turn to see Jase's mismatched eyes staring into mine, requesting the same thing. It's no contest. Counter or not, Kellan isn't the one I love, and after this, I know more than ever that he never will be.

"Aria," Kellan wheezes. "He's not-"

"Stop it. Just shut up!" I scream, so pissed I can barely see straight.

Simone walks over, her eyes wide after witnessing Jase's secret blazing across the open air. I can't believe he just did this. Now we're all fucked. There's no telling what the committee will do to him. He's the commander, and they'll see this as treason.

I rush over to him, wrapping my arms around him as I drop to my knees at his side. I quickly cut my eyes away from Kellan's pained expression, not giving him the chance to make me feel guilty for feeling the way I do.

Simone brings over several blood packs, and Jase slowly takes them from her, refraining from wincing when he raises his arm. With the adrenaline gone, he's feeling the pain.

She walks away, offering Kellan the same token of ease. He takes them, his eyes finding the ground to avoid my furious glare.

"Com... man... der Eric...son, Sir, I think we... we need to... um... talk," a man stammers out, dread forging trails over his brow.

I stand up, my fingertips buzzing with power, more so than I've ever felt so readily before. "I won't let you hurt him," I threaten, my body separating Jase from their view.

They all take a step back as my violet eyes burn darker, protectiveness driving me forward. They look at each other, uncertain of how to proceed.

"Aria, it's okay," Jase says as his last wound closes up.

He heals so much faster than me. It's the least of astonishing things going on right now though.

"It's not okay," I whisper while turning around. "They could-"

"It's okay," he says again, kissing me lightly on the forehead. "I'll take care of it, and I'll meet you back at the room."

He hands me a key, kissing me softly on the cheek. Though the kiss is meant to be encouraging, it's anything but.

You've got an hour before I come after you.

He looks at me and shakes his head, telling me no, but I'll be a rebel and he knows it. He runs a hand through his already tousled hair as a sigh of exasperation seeps out. Rex and Melania step up, and she walks over to join him, her mismatched eyes in full view. What is she doing?

"If you're taking him, then you'd better take me too."

Their jaws drop, and they glance between she and Rex several times. Rex clenches his jaw, but he apparently didn't see what she was about to do. He would have stopped her if he had.

"If you touch one fucking hair on her head-"

"I'll take care of it," Jase grumbles, scolding Melania with his eyes.

She ignores his admonishing gaze while falling in at his side, walking with him as they become encircled by the United officials. As the simmer dies down, awkwardness and fear settles in to all those still in my line of sight. They quickly scatter, avoiding meeting my blazing fury of violet.

"I'll take care of all the blood spilled," Simone murmurs while affectionately patting my arm, stealing some of my rage and replacing a smidge of it with gratitude.

We need to be careful with our blood right now. Mine might not be good after being out of the vein, but everyone else's still is.

"Aria," Kellan's more normal, less pained voice says in a bit of dread. "I'm sorry. I didn't know. I wasn't trying to out him, but I thought he-"

I whip around, cutting him off before he can continue. "Thought he what? Fucked me? Hindered my recovery process? He wouldn't do that. And believe me, I begged him to because I want him . Not you. You don't own me, Kellan. I don't belong to you, and I never fucking will. You need to figure that out. I'm tired of trying to tread lightly over the obvious."

He winces, my stinging revelation cutting deep. I don't care. I'm sick of sparing the feelings of others. I'm sick of everyone trying to tell me what to feel. I know what I feel.

"Aria, I'm sorry," he strains out, swallowing his emotion to keep me from seeing it. "I just... it freaked me out. I know you don't understand this, but I love you, and-"

"Love me?" I ask incredulously. "Kellan, you don't know what love is. You think you're supposed to love me, therefore you've got this illusion that you really do. Fucking someone is not loving someone... it's just sex. That's all we've had. There's nothing, absolutely nothing, of any substance between us. You're just too blind to see it. You know absolutely nothing about me. I know nothing about you. That's not love. I love Jase!"

I turn to walk off, feeling his heartbreaking with clarity, but I know it's just what he thinks he feels. We're not like all the counters in hybrid history. That connection I prayed for came in the disguise of a full blood. He may not be my counter, but he's my soul mate, just like Uncle Brazen is to my mother, only it's better because he's hybrid too.

Kellan catches back up to me, proving he's more persistent than he is smart. I rip my arm away before his heated touch even has the chance to find it. He drops the hand he attempted to touch me with and he sighs out.

"You're wrong," he murmurs softly, making me slow my stride. "I know everything about you. I've watched you, learned about you... I know everything you went through because I'm so much like you. I know where you lived, how old you were when you joined the United, how long you cried after your father's death. I know it all."

He just doesn't get it. It's almost tragic how completely lost he is. I turn around, keeping my voice softer as my teary eyes meet his false hybrid blues that are full of trepidation.

"Kellan, that's not what I'm talking about. You studied me like a project you had to research. I'm not some experiment or tech toy, I'm a person. You know my history, you know what I am... you don't know who I am. Just let it go."

I turn away, this time escaping him when he stays back. I'd like to think he's finally ceding, but I'm sure he's just dropping back long enough to regroup. This is torture. I'm worried to death about Jase right now, and I'm even more worried what might happen if they touch him. I'll lose it, and I won't hold back if the power finds me again. I won't let anything happen to him.

I watch the clock ticking down, finding the last five minutes before the hour I promised him is up. I start preparing myself, strapping my guns to my side as the door to the suite opens and Rex steps in.

"Hey," he murmurs in a near whisper, looking like he's dressed for war himself.

"You ready?" I ask, my stomach tightening.

"As will ever be. Mom's going to kick our ass for this. We'll officially be outlaws of the United," he says, offering me one last chance to back out.

"You don't have to go in. I do."

"She's my counter. You're the one who doesn't have to go in. You're counter is three doors down. He's probably still licking his wounds he sustained after the fight."

I roll my eyes, standing to strap on my uranium-tipped daggers. As I slip on my last boot, I let myself turn snarky.

"Now you're a Kellan fan? It wasn't long ago you were watching as Uncle Grayson beat the hell out of him."

"And it wasn't long ago you threatened all of us about what would happen if we touched him again, yet here you are... threatening him now. It's just... I think your blood being fucked with has messed up your head."

My head pops back so my eyes can meet his, but I regret that when a bowling ball tries to roll around in there. Without Jase, my headache has become unbearable. "I loved Jase before someone tried to lure me across the country with the call of a blood fuck. I loved him before I knew he'd accept me. I loved him before our lives got even more fucked up than they already were. My head isn't messed up right now, it was messed up when I thought I wanted to be with anyone but him. Don't tempt me to knock you out and make you miss all the fun."

Ending in a joke eases the tension, and he smirks before pulling me in for a hug. "Then let's go get our full blood hybrids."

I smile, nodding after, and we start toward the door when it swings open in front of us. I gasp when I see Jase, and I dive into his arms, drinking in his incredible scent that mingles with soap.

"You showered?" I murmur, confusion in my tone.

I barely even notice Melania coming in to be scooped up by her adoring counter. Jase chuckles lightly, shrugging while pulling back.

"Blood isn't something people take lightly, so they offered me the chance to shower in the suite where we were speaking."

He looks me up and down, and then his eyes fall to Rex just as Melania steps back to inspect her militant man.

"Going to... war?" she asks, seeming to think he's ridiculous.

"Thought about it," Rex says with a shrug, making her laugh.

Jase frowns while pulling a dagger from my belt, and then he drops it to let it stick in the floor.

"You really didn't think I could handle it, did you?" he asks, his brow arching.

"I gave you an hour to prove me wrong," I murmur casually, pulling him down to meet my lips.

It's incredible he's even here right now.

"What happened?" Rex asks when I become too lost in the deep kiss to interrogate my hybrid.

Mel answers when I refuse to release my hold on Jase. He smiles against my lips as he pulls me closer.

"They were all to scared to make any decisions right now. They can't kill us because they would be crossing a line with Araya. They most likely won't let us keep our rank though. I'm fine with that."

She throws her arms around Rex, and he scoops her up, pulling her to him. I pull away then, suddenly a little saddened for Jase.

"You won't be commander after all you've done for the United simply because of your blood?"

He shrugs, not seeming too affected by it. His dark hair is still dampened by the shower, and it glistens as he strides away, pulling me behind him.

"I don't have to hide who I am anymore. I can live with not being the commander. I hate feeling like I failed Hale."

"I don't like this. They could put someone in office that could lose this war," Rex interjects, seriousness lacing his tone. "If the Unaligned win, we'll all wish we weren't hybrids. Mom is strong, but she can't fend off an army. She'll sure as hell try."

"No hybrid from the United will stand by idly and become slaves," Melania grumbles. "I don't want to talk about this tonight. The committee hasn't even decided yet."

Rex tugs at her as he comes to kiss the top of my head, his hybrid heat making me wince. He frowns as he feels my forehead.

"That did a number on you, didn't it?"

"Adrenaline doesn't play well with my heat, but I'll be fine now," I murmur while nestling into Jase's chest.

His deliciously cool breath chills my pain, pushing it out of my mind and making me smile. Melania starts pulling my brother out of the room, offering me some alone time with Jase for the first time since we left the compound.

"What really happens if you're not commander?" I ask as soon as the soundproof door clicks shut.

His lips tighten as he sits down on the bed. His clothes are still a mess even though he's clean. He tosses them to the floor, stripping down to his boxers, almost making me lose my train of thought.

"I don't know," he murmurs, ignoring my scandalous mind's momentary detour. "I'd like to think they'd choose someone who would be as dedicated and protective as your father. I'm worried they'll choose General Mullins though, and he'll run the United into the ground. He looks really good on paper, but he's a terrible shot-caller. I would have demoted him, but it was shortly after demoting Hedin that I found out Mullins was so terrible. I didn't want to step on too many toes so soon, but I planned on demoting him next month after Hedin's dismissal had some time to breathe.

"For the record, Hedin was never my pet. I only kept him because of his numerous years served. He too looked good on paper. I didn't even question his abilities until I met you. General Mullins is a full blood, but he's old school. He's not far from thinking like the tyrant running the Unaligned, and I'm worried he might strike a treaty that would make promises we - all hybrids - wouldn't want to keep."

Fucking perfect.

"Then we have to find a way to keep you commander. Besides, I kind of like knowing I'm fucking the boss," I joke, trying to keep the conversation light.

He laughs, a short reprieve from his obvious turmoil. He's really worried about this.

"Indeed. It won't be long until you're back in my bed for reasons other than just sleeping," he seduces, though I can tell it's just his way of trying not to reveal how truly taxing this all really is.

"Aria," he sighs out. "Don't worry about this. This is my problem."

My eyes stare devotedly into his mismatched beauties, and I almost waver on the bed. He actually he has to catch e before I topple over the side. He smirks, and his pale blues come out to mask his true beauty.

"Your problems are my problems," I shakily release, still trying to catch my bearings. "I love you."

His smile comes out genuinely this time just before his lips find mine. His hands tangle in my hair as he starts sliding me back on the bed, his lips greedily taking mine as he steals my breath.

"I love you," he murmurs against my lips, pulling me so close to his body that I can feel his heart beating against my chest.

His powerful, teasing breath trails down my neck when he moves to be there, and I gasp for a breath. He falls between my legs, and my skirt rises when I spread them wider to bring him closer. He suddenly starts groaning in frustration as he stops the teasing hell.

"Less than twenty-four more hours," I mumble, feeling tormented now.

He chuckles lightly before kissing my nose and dropping to his side, tucking me against his chest as he kisses my forehead.

"Seventeen hours and thirty-four more minutes to be exact," he adds, making me giggle like a fool.

"That's very precise of you. I take it you really are looking forward to having me in your bed for more than sleep."

He smiles salaciously, giving me a delightful chill. "Just because I was distracted doesn't mean I didn't thoroughly mean what I said."

Good.

He chuckles lightly before kissing me so softly on the lips, careful not too linger for too long and leave me craving more. He pulls me to him, and I wiggle out of my skirt, kicking it to the ground.

"Really?" he groans, making me laugh too hard.

"That wasn't a seductive attempt," I mutter through my snickers. "I'm hot and I don't want to sleep in a skirt."

He pushes his lips to mine, and his breath slips between my lips, chilling me fro the inside out and making me feel instantly better. I shiver when it's too much, proving I'm getting better finally.

"Need to be warmed up?" he asks, pulling the cover out from under us and draping it around us.

"You read my mind," I joke, making him chuckle lightly.

I yawn, and he stifles one of his own. We slept all the way here, but the night has been exhausting. The sun isn't far from being in view, maybe two hours away.

Jase pulls his right hand up to let his fingers stroll through my hair. This feels so perfect.

"Does it?" he asks in a near whisper, apparently rummaging through my mind.

I nod, smiling my girl grin, and then I curl into him all the more.

"I was worried you'd go to him after the fight," he says softly.

I pull back, seeming confused. "Why would I do that? I told him I love you. I told him it's you I want to be with. Despite the light draw, Kellan and I don't have some magical connec-"

His glorious lips find mine, interrupting my explanation, and then his hand trails down to my lacy underwear. He smiles when I let out a girly moan, one full of frustration. Forty-eight hours? It feels like it's been five weeks already.

"Aria," he chuckles, "you're killing me right now."

I laugh too, enjoying the fact he can still be frustrated even though I did do something for him earlier.

He kisses me, smiling so big, but then we hear screams just before the sound of monstrous howls and deafening gunshots coming from the ajar window.

"What the fuck?" Jase spews, leaping from the bed and rushing toward the window.

I pull my skirt on quickly, wishing I had bothered to bring in my bag full of more suitable fight clothing. Jase has my hand in his within a blur, and he jerks me out the window to join him in the five story drop, landing us directly behind the United firing brigade.

Bullets sound out furiously, striking the air but nothing else, given the silence they're met with. I can't see what's coming, but my stomach churns when I hear another one of those howls.

"What's going on?" Jase asks, his commander hat going on - while it still can.

"Infected hounds just breached the city, Sir," the shaky corporal answers, his hands trembling as he holds his rifle toward the howls. "We started shooting and drove them back, but they're toying with us. They've split up and they're confusing our shots by distancing their howls from their actual bodies, Sir."

"Infected hounds are mindless, vicious beasts. They don't have the brain capacity to launch an organized, clever attack. There must be some mistake," Jase refutes.

"They're doing it, Sir. They're working together."

I almost get sick when a blur of black fur rushes toward us, and gasps ring out when bullets bounce free from their bodies. What the fuck.

Jase spins around, firing his guns uselessly against the indestructible bodies of the savage creatures charging us. They shred through our men with their exposed fangs, slowing enough to enjoy their kill.

My jaw falls open when I see them in stiller motion. They're massive, larger than the usual mutts I've encountered who've been infected. They should be hairless and smaller. Their tails are short and bobbed, their fur is jet black and sleek, and their eyes... oh fuck... their eyes aren't the blood red of the infected. They're... violet. Shit!

"Get back!" Jase yells when he realizes our shooting efforts are pointless.

Streaks of purple lash out, finding the mutts with eyes like mine. Kellan is at my side, pulling me in a spinning motion to keep me from being ripped to shreds by the hound I never saw coming.

He shields me, launching his purple streaks again, striking the mutt and making it yell out in pain. They have a weakness against electricity... like Mom. That's good news.

"They're not immune to you," I murmur breathlessly, and he strikes harder, making more yelp in pain.

My head is pounding when his hybrid heat becomes unbearable, reminding me I'm not yet in the clear. I ignore the pain though. I'm not going to be some helpless little damsel this time. I can't be. If they've got violet eyes, then they're not infected... they're somehow emergent infused.

"Get her out of here!" Jase yells to Kellan.

"Hell no!" I scream out, glaring at Jase like he's lost his mind.

Kellan grabs me at the elbow, ready to overpower me and force me out, but I manage to shake free a burst of my gift and toss him back, landing him near Simone who is kicking ass. The hounds are apparently not immune to her bloody gift.

The eyes of one burst just when it gets too close to Kellan, and the blood is ripped free from it, leaving it a shriveled up pile. It'd be nice if she could do that in mass quantities instead of a few at a time.

"Aria, please," Jase growls as he rips me out of the line of fire.

A savage mongrel crashes to the ground where I was, and Jase's fire seeps out, exploding the mutt to pieces.

"Gifts. It's all gifts that can breach their invincibility shields, not just Kellan's. Force the ungifted back!"

Jase tightens his lips, not enjoying the fact I'm refusing to budge. I'll deal with the punishment later.

He rolls his eyes, launching more fire - more gloriously hot, intoxicating flames that almost hypnotize me.

"Gifted up front only!" he yells out, heeding my advice. "All others get back!"

I snap out of my trance and release my gift... my gift. I almost squeal when those rabid beasts are flung backwards. Jase smiles when he sees my excitement, but we quickly realize our celebratory moment was premature.

A black wad of darkness thunders the ground as they charge toward us, shredding the gates of the city as they start swarming in with unfathomable numbers.

"Retreat!" Jase yells, grabbing my hand and setting the ground in front of us ablaze to clear a path.

They're are too many. We can't retreat. There's no way out.

Kellan and Simone are back to back as they battle the beasts encircling them. Screams ring out as our fleet starts getting shredded by the hounds passing through our gifted who are overloaded with targets to hit.

Blood sprays, forcing everyone to scramble for masks. Jase manages to find two for us, and he tries to force me in a car. I fight him, knowing he'll be killed if I don't help him.

The car is suddenly smashed when one of the larger beasts lands on it, snarling at us as he drips a silver, heavy drool. This one's eyes are darker violet, its size is ridiculously huge, and its fangs almost remind me of a Saber tooth's fossilized tooth. It drapes far below it's lip, and the silver saliva runs the length of it before dropping from the point.

"Holy shit," I gasp.

Jase launches his fire, making the mutt growl and wince against the flames. We start shifting backwards, only to realize we've been surrounded by hounds just as large as that one.

The hounds start squealing out in the distance, and I look over to see Rex has lost it, his savage in control as the hoards of them start dropping to the ground. It won't be enough.

Melania is using her gift to drop the hounds, leaving them howling out pain from the vicious burn of invisible uranium, but they're are just too many. I lift my hands, praying my gift works again, and then I hear the cries of the hounds ring out as it does.

Bones start cracking, hearts explode, and blood starts spewing. What the hell am I doing?

I feel the power flowing from me, unobstructed and intoxicating. It feels so, so good. Jase runs out, throwing his fire in the direction of Kellan and Simone when Simone cries out, her blood flowing from the gaping wound on her leg.

More and more hounds drop under my invisible, unexplainable force. The sky thunders, offering me the same gift of my mother, and the red lightening begins crashing to the ground for the first time ever under my control.

I almost feel high on the power, wondering if I can go savage and save us all. There are still hundreds of them, possibly thousands. It's too messy to fully see.

Blood stains, bodies piled up, and dusty air all mingle and block the sight I'm not sure I can fully take in. The lightening streaks more, lighting up the gruesome scene with more power than I've ever held before. The streaks stab the ground, singeing it before making way for the next red beauty.

I realize I've lost sight of Jase, and his flames are absent. I start to panic, my lightening mimicking the beat of my rapidly pounding heart as they crash in at a frantic pace. Then my heartbeat echoes in my ears when I see him.

His body is still, splayed on the ground with a ragged, devastatingly tragic placement. His distorted body is contorted in agonizingly painful positions, his blood is flowing from his mouth, his legs, his chest, his whole body is gashed up to the point he's almost unrecognizable. The beasts have ravaged him, and his eyes are vacantly staring at the sky with death's glaze.

"No!"

My screams echo through the air, too powerful for the ears of some. The stir inside me grows, gathers, and then explodes. The air ripples and whines as the power rips through it, and it strikes all the hounds at once, vaporizing their bodies to ashes in one powerful burst.

Everyone gasps before the silence around us becomes deafening, their eyes finding the same ghastly sight mine have. I feel sick, disgusted, and terrified as I rush to Jase, diving to be beside his mangled body.

Deep, deadly wounds are still gaping open, his precious blood gushing free. I push my hands to his wounds, trying to stop the blood from falling out more, and crying uncontrollably as I beg him to come back to me.

"Blood! We need blood!" Rex yells to the standing United. "The commander is down!"

They rush around to fill the order, but I tune it all out as I stare at the mismatched eyes that have been left devoid of all life.

"Jase," I sob out. "Please."

Kellan walks over as Melania pours packaged blood down Jase's throat that has almost been ripped out.

"Fuck. He's not down, he's-"

"Don't you fucking dare say it!" I scream.

Kellan tightens his lips, but he becomes a blur when my tears overwhelm me, hindering my sight completely. At least my watery blindness has shielded me from Jase's destroyed sight.

"Nothing," Mel sobs out when Jase refuses to come back. "He's not healing."

I cry harder, falling over his chest as I bury my head. I could have saved him. I never saw him getting shredded, and he wouldn't have cried out for fear I'd lose concentration and be killed myself. This is my fault. This is all my fault.

The ache in me starts hurting more, making me sick to the point I actually lose the control to hold back the gagging reflex. Simone holds my hair as I cry hysterically and vomit to the ground, keeping one hand on Jase's lifeless body.

"No," I whimper out between sobs. "Please, God... no. Please don't take him from me. I need him. I love him."

No one speaks, everyone remains silent except for Melania and myself. We both deafen the ears of all with our wails. Kellan tries to touch my shoulder, but I fling him back, barely even exerting any effort to do so.

"Don't touch me! I hate you! I hate all of you!" I scream, turning my attention and my burning fury toward the cowards of the United who stood there and watched him die, doing nothing to save him for fear of losing their own life to protect a hybrid they didn't see fit to live.

"He was mine. He was everything! None of you will ever be half the man he was!"

My tears drip harder as my knees wobble beneath me. They all start backing away from me, fear spreading as they see the rage in my eyes. I feel it coming. For the first time ever, I feel the call of my savage threatening to emerge.

I refuse to let it. I refuse to be forced into Kellan's arms right now. It hurts so bad to deny it, but I somehow manage to swallow the desire, and the savage stays subdued just as it has for centuries.

That doesn't stop me from using my gifts on these sons of bitches though. The vehicles all over the ground lift to sky and start spinning in a spiraling death trap. My rage seeps out more, making me feel the rush of power, a need for release.

"Aria! Don't!" Rex yells, his voice pleading and terrified.

"They watched him die. They didn't care!" I cry out, my tears feeling like a river of uranium as they burn down my cheeks.

The dull pain in my chest becomes a merciless stabbing, an endless throbbing that devours me. The pit of my stomach feels so hollow, just as my soul feels to have left me, following Jase to the grave.

"You feared him because why? Because he was different? You're all cowards! He was beautiful... perfect! You want something to fear?" I take a step forward, reveling in the terror falling so freely from their eyes while their mouths tremble. My voice becomes low, a hollow whisper as I continue. "I'll give you something to fear."

The winds pick up, aiding my twisting fury full of metal as it spirals its promise of death. My tears burn holes in my clothes as they race down, refusing to relent. My savage pounds against me, begging to be released so it can free me from my pain, but I stay me, refusing to let my suffering stop.

I owe it to Jase to give these assholes what they deserve. They love fear so much, so I'll forever be that monster that strikes terror in their hearts. I'll show them what they should fear. He was perfect. They're the undeserving. They're the ones who deserved to die, not him. Oh, God, not him.

Rex steps in front of me before I drop the first one to their knees, and he pulls me to him, jerking me up from the ground and forcing me to lose my concentration. His arms wrap around me harder, and I fall apart, letting the pain consume me with its shredding force.

The chaos stops, and the air stills. The vehicles crash to the ground, causing a few explosions, but everyone remains silent as I sob violently, convulsing in the arms of my brother as I shatter like glass.

Broken is a word used to describe so many things, but it's a word most use too liberally, never fully living up to its true meaning. This is what broken really is... me.

"Aria," he murmurs soothingly. "Just let it all out."

The burning stench of fabric rises between us as my river of tears fall to his shirt. He pulls my head tighter into his chest, muffling the sobs and the gasps of hyperventilation. Everyone remains frozen, too scared to move.

Rex lets me drop to my knees, but he comes with me, keeping me clutched to his chest as I wrap my arms around him and continue to unravel in his arms. In all my life, I never imagined such pain to be possible.

Very slowly, Simone walks over to Jase's body. I pull back to watch her, feeling so protective over the man already gone. She trembles as she forces his eyes shut, and Rex bring my head back to his chest when I lose it all over again.

"I'll take her up. Get him to the lab. Let Simone clean him up before..."

Rex's voice trails off when the wind picks up and the lightening starts striking again. He checks my pupils, releasing a relaxed breath when he sees me still subduing the demon within.

A cold rush of hope hits me as an old story rattles around in my mind.

"My blood," I murmur, though it's so mixed with my sobs it comes out as nothing more than an unintelligible ramble.

"What?" Rex asks, keeping his voice low to be sympathetic to my crumbling state.

I push away, crawling on my hands and knees back to Jase. His body is so cold, but it's not his delectable chill I love so much. It's death's icy breath that has encased his body now.

"My blood," I repeat, this time making my words more understandable.

"What about it?" Simone asks, her voice remaining considerate of my manic state as well.

"Mom's blood healed Dad. He was dead. She saved his life once. I can save Jase."

I bite into my wrist, drawing my blood into my mouth. I start pushing it into his mouth, cringing when it flows down to the wound in his neck and pours out just like the packaged blood did.

"Simone, keep it inside him," Melania whimpers. "Please."

Simone nods, but her eyes don't hold the hope I need to see right now.

"Aria, Mom did this once. Once. It only ever worked one time and she didn't know how she did it. She's tried it since. This-"

"Once is all I need. If it worked one time for her, then it will work once for me," I sob out, my tears falling despite my will to restrain them. "It has to," I murmur in a strangled whisper.

"Aria, this is farfetched at best. I don't want you to get your hopes-"

"Just let her try, damn it!" Melania scolds, her eyes holding the only bit of hope around us. "He's my brother."

He's as much her brother as Rex is mine. She needs him to live just like I would need Rex. But no one needs Jase to live as much as I do.

Please, God. I'm begging you. Let this work.

I push my blood into his mouth again while continuing to silently pray for my miracle. Simone keeps the blood from flowing out this time, driving it into his body to offer a chance of life.

"Dad wasn't this far gone, Aria. Just remember that," Rex murmurs softly while moving over to console Melania.

I ignore him, continuing to pull my blood into my mouth and then blowing it into his throat. The skin stays open, his own blood still runs out, and hope tries to slip away.

I break the artery in my wrist, taking larger mouthfuls quicker, but nothing happens.

"Please. Please, Jase. Please," I sob out before drawing another mouthful.

Simone's hand goes to my shoulder as she kneels down. Her gift stays in play, dragging my blood down his throat without letting it out the gaping hole in his neck.

"Aria, it's just... he's just too far-"

"No!" I scream out, throwing her hand off me.

Kellan kneels across from me to be on the other side of Jase's body. "Keep going."

Like I would stop.

He puts his hand over the marred place where Jase's still heart is, and when I blow the next mouthful of blood in, I feel a tingle in my lips. I realize Kellan is pushing electric bursts into Jase's heart, trying to help jumpstart it as my blood works to heal.

Each time I pull back to see his body unchanged, my heart sinks lower and my breaths become more painful to take. I bend over again, feeling a stronger electrical current surging from his lips to mine this time as Kellan ups the charge on his bursts.

Something stirs in the pit of my stomach; the familiar desire, the need for intimacy. That shouldn't be happening... not with dead blood. His blood is getting in my mouth because it's covering his mouth, but it shouldn't be affecting me... not if he's dead.

Then I feel something. I feel split on his lip closing up. The wounds on his chests that lie beneath my hand start sealing shut. I dare not look for fear it's only my imagination. I keep my eyes shut tight while pushing more blood in, my reviving attempt become more fervent.

"It's working," Melania breathes out, making my whole body almost go numb.

I draw back, finally finding the courage to view the impossibility for myself. Tears spring to my eyes for new reasons when I see his wounds slowly shutting back up, and the burning desire of erotica bursting free takes hold.

In an excited panic, I drink in another mouthful, and I deliver it to him, blowing it into his mouth. Simone's gift stops dragging the blood down because the wound on his neck is no longer there.

I laugh and cry at the same time when I feel a hand in my hair pulling me into a kiss as Jase's wicked tongue comes alive in my mouth. The need for him is painful now, the call of the blood making it unbearable to refrain.

Melania sobs and throws her arms around him, but she quickly withdraws when he stands, pulling me against him and his fully healed body. My legs wrap around his waist as I jump up, and our kiss resumes with more passion then I knew possible.

"I love you," he murmurs against my lips as the wind finds my back, his long strides carrying us away as the blood begins to rule us.

"I love you."

The stairwell is as far as we make it, though I didn't even know we had made it to the hotel. My lacy underwear rips as he jerks them off me, and before I can ache for him anymore, he's inside me, surging in so forcefully that my back cracks the wall.

He forces a grunt from my mouth when he slams in again, and the stairs crack beneath his feet when he uses them for leverage to drive into me. He stays inside me and starts moving again, carrying me toward the room with brisk, blurring steps.

"Fuck. I forgot how damn good you feel," he murmurs as he draws back enough to sink his teeth into my shoulder.

I gasp out my painful pleasure, and my hands tangle in his hair as he bleeds me. My head falls back as I revel in his bite, and then I feel us passing through a threshold as he breaks through the door, kicking it open.

As quickly as we're in the room, we're against a wall, and this time, he shows no mercy. He starts his vicious thrusts and punishing rhythm, making me exude carnal moans that rattle the ground.

"Take my blood," he pants out, keeping his forceful thrusts just shy of being painful.

"No. I'll tear the place apart right now if I take your blood anymore than I already took by accident."

A girly cry escapes me as he hits a spot just right, and he reaches up to jerk my face to his shoulder.

"Take my fucking blood."

His dominant, commanding tone almost makes me reach my peak too soon. My blood bringers emerge, and they sink into his flesh, releasing more ecstasy throughout my veins.

"Fuck," he breathes, falling deeper into the heady spell.

The taste of sex and candy rushes me, breathing new life into my body with an overwhelming gust of glorious desire. It's too much, and the windows shatter in response when my gift flows free.

The walls around us crack, start to break, and rattle in pain. The door falls from its hinges and the frame shifts and starts to break.

"Easy, baby," he murmurs against my neck before slamming me into the wall that much harder, forcing my strangled, erotic screams to bubble out.

He grips my hips to jerk me to him harder, the heat between us growing as he loses his full blood chill. It doesn't hurt though. The heat feels as good as he does inside me, and I explode around him, screaming out his name as I unravel in his arms.

He doesn't stop his pounding force. Instead, he throws me to the bed and steps to the edge. He grabs me on the underside of my knees and jerks my center to meet his before driving into me again.

My back arches, and my whole body becomes a pliant tool in his hand - bending to his will. My breaths become erratic and coarse, while his become grunts. I almost lost him. Now he's standing here, owning me, loving me. I'll never lose him again.

His eyes roll back in his head as he barrels into me again, this time stilling himself at the deepest point inside me before exhaling a breath full of relief, ecstasy and agony at once.

"Fucking shit. That was incredible," he murmurs while dropping to me, but time has resumed, fantasy has fled, and reality crashes into me, making my tears return with a vengeance.

"I thought-"

"Shh," he coos in interruption, pulling me closer to him as he kisses my forehead.

My whole body shivers as I curl into him, getting as close as physically possible. He holds me, and we just lie there, neither of us speaking as we bask in a comfortable silence for over thirty minutes.

Finally, he breaks the silence, and all it does is make my tears start falling again. "You saved me."

He kisses my forehead as I weep in his arms. His breaths have cooled, but I don't feel so dependent on his chill right now. I'm not sure if it's the adrenaline, the fear that hasn't fully subsided, or the surreal sex we just had, but the pain that has threatened me for weeks is absent from my mind completely.

"I almost forgot about that," he grumbles, sighing out as he drops to his back, bringing me up onto his chest. "I suppose you'll have to wait seven days and then start the detoxification process again, which means you'll be in pain for a week and then you'll have to drink that disgusting thing again while remaining in pain for another two days after that."

I shrug. Watching my hybrid die or drink a gross drink again... worth it. Totally worth it.

A tear slips free from my eye, and he wipes it away while chuckling a little which confuses me greatly.

"I can't believe I'm lying here holding you right now."

I realize then he wasn't laughing because he found something funny, but because he can't believe he's alive. My hold on him tightens, and his hold on me reacts the same.

"You didn't make a sound while they were attacking you. You did that because you didn't want me to lose focus, didn't you?" I ask, my voice trembling.

His breath catches, and then he slowly exhales. "I knew you'd come after me, and in turn, they'd take you down while you were distracted. I thought I could take them, but someone surprised me with a few shots to my side. They took me down long enough for the mutts to sink their teeth in, and from there..."

His voice trails off, leaving the gory details out of the story. I fight off the brigade of tears trying to breach my lids as I sit up. Without warning or forethought, I slap the fuck out of his chest, making him grab it in reflex.

"Don't you ever do that again," I almost whisper, more tears falling, and his eyes soften as he pulls me down to him.

He was ripped apart, and he refused to even cry out in pain for fear of what would happen to me. I would have died regardless if he hadn't survived.

"Don't think shit like that," he scolds, but it's not as if I give a damn about getting his approval.

"I love you, Jase, more than you apparently realize. Dying to spare my life is pointless. You should know that."

He sighs out, and then he glances out the window. We can't see the ground from this angle, and I really don't want to.

"How long did it take to kill the rest of them?"

"After I saw you? Five seconds."

His eyes pop up in surprise, and he turns to force me back to the bed so his eyes can burn into mine. "You killed all of them? By yourself? Aria, did you see what they were? Do you know the power it would have taken to do such a thing?"

Playing twenty questions?

He stares expectantly, ignoring my inner quip. So I pick a question to answer.

"Yes, I saw what they were. They were definitely not infected hounds. Did they really just find a way to create lykens?"

He huffs out a touch of laughter, shaking his head. "Let's not call them that. At least now we know what was gnawing on those bodies we found at that underground facility."

Shit. That explains a lot, and it's a relief that it wasn't something like me... well, at least not in human form.

"Someone's playing Dr. Frankenstein again," I mumble, gripping my head immediately after.

"Apparently," he sighs out.

His lips find mine as the need for closeness starts to die down slowly. He runs his fingers through my hair, and my heart thuds against my chest.

"Marry me," he murmurs against my lips, shocking the hell out of me.

Everything in me goes numb as my mind tries to fathom whether or not I really just heard that. Then reality slowly sets. He almost died and we just blood fucked. People propose all the time when they go through both of those things, especially when they go through both at once.

"It has nothing to do with that, Aria," he says so softly while trailing his kisses from my lips to my neck, bringing my hips to meet his as he slides back over to be on top of me.

Then he pulls back, his eyes staring at mine as he prepares to make me his again. I quiver in anticipation, waiting on his violently delicious entry, but he stays hovered over me.

"Marry me," he says again while looking into my eyes.

I'm stunned, unsure of what to say really. I'm still wearing my dirty, bloodstained clothes. The only garment I lost during our rough tousle was the lacy underwear. His blood has dried on me, all over me, and I can only imagine what my hair looks like. This can't be a real proposal.

He laughs, finding this amusing.

"I don't give a damn what you look like right now. This is a very, very real proposal. I've wanted to be with you since the day we met. I almost asked you to marry me several times and then talked myself out of it because it was too soon.

"My favorite part of any day is when I get to wake up beside you. I love listening to your thoughts. I love how you lost you get when concentrating on the details. I love the way you look all the time. It's empowering to feel your eyes regarding me the way they do, and it feels even better to know you keep choosing me. I love you. Marry me."

A small knock rings out from the living area, which we left in such complete disarray that there's not even a door. We both groan when he's forced to lean back, buttoning and zipping the pants he never took off. How the hell did both of our clothes survive that?

"It's Mel and Rex," he grumbles, apparently reading their minds from in here.

"She must know how long it takes you to blood fuck," I whisper teasingly, making him roll his eyes.

"Hey," Melania murmurs as she comes into view.

Rex is just behind her, his eyebrows arching when he sees us still a bloody mess and fully clothed.

"What's going on?" Jase asks, sliding his arms around me, and then he sighs in exasperation. "They can't wait five minutes. I did almost die. I think that should offer me the night off before they pull my rank."

O... kay. Apparently Melania answered with her mind."

"Sorry," she says aloud with dread written in her eyes.

Jase grumbles under his breath, and he stands up. "I'll be back to finish this discussion."

"Actually," Melania interrupts, "they want to see Aria as well."

Shit.

Jase tilts his head, confused by that. "Why do they want to see Aria?"

I answer before Mel or Rex accidentally tell him with their minds. "Probably because I started to kill them." Then I stand to join him.

Jase coughs out his surprise, and then his eyes widen more as either my brother or his sister thinks about the spiraling metal fury I created, the threats I made, and the anger that rushed through me during those heartbreaking moments of complete devastation.

Jase's eyes soften, and he pulls me to him while kissing my forehead. He sighs out heavily as my mind accidentally falls through the events of the night when I became too broken to be pieced back together.

"I love you," he murmurs when a tear falls down my cheek.

I keep my lips sealed and nod, unable to form words as the painful memories all rush back to me. I love you.

His breaths become heavy, and he keeps his arm around my shoulders as he starts guiding me out.

I wish I at least had on some underwear.

He lets a laugh escape, and it lightens the heavy moment for the both of us. We head out, preparing for the worst. I can only imagine what they'll say now that I've gone loco in front of them.

Jase lowers his arm from my shoulders and intertwines our fingers. "I'll handle this. They won't try to touch you. They'd be too afraid to mess with you right now," he murmurs while pulling the back of my hand to meet his soft lips.

"I'm not worried about what they'll do to me. I'm worried what they might do or say to you. I've never been that close to turning savage, and I don't know how I pushed it back. If they do something to provoke me right now, in the state I'm in, I might just lose it completely, and then I'll finish what I started without meaning to."

His eyes drift over to the side once we reach the outside, and they land on Kellan. He cuts his vision off promptly, and then he looks front once again.

"Then you're worried you'll go to him," he almost whispers.

I glance at the hybrid with dirty blond hair as he kneels to the ground, bringing soil up to his nose to sniff it. He's lost in thought the way I am when I've found a trail to track. He's not even aware we're over here right now.

"I'm not worried about going to him and staying with him, but my savage will force me to be with him in ways I never want to be again. I love you and only you. The thought of ever having to belong to him in any way again is almost nauseating."

His eyes almost exemplify the same pain I feel. I shiver slightly, feeling the random wintry air finally trying to stir for the first time in so long.

" You're cold?" he asks, seeming confused.

"Yeah," I murmur, breaking away from his icy chill.

He laughs, and then he heats up, wrapping his arm around me to share his hybrid warmth. "I've got more than one temperature."

I smile, leaning into him more, soaking up the heat he's freely offering. This is a change... a refreshing one.

"You're perfect," I murmur while reveling in his sublime temperature.

I feel his smile against the top of my head as his breath warms me through my hair. It's so different than what I'm used to feeling from him, and I love it.

Rex and Melania stop behind us as we reach a tent that has been set up on the far corner of the city - the place where the city meets the wilderness.

"We'll be right here," Rex says in a whisper, his eyes focused on the tent as his teeth clench tightly together.

Jase nods to them while pulling me with him into the tent. I expected a formal gathering, one where the committee was assembled in an intimidating stature. I was expecting a long table, hooded heads, and a silently dooming air. However, the committee is still as bloodstained as we are. Some of them are missing, more than likely killed by the hounds that swept us.

The twelve that remain aren't hooded or cloaked from sight. They're all standing, discussing the events of the night and how lucky they are to have survived. They didn't even notice our entrance.

Finally, one of the men clears his throat while staring at us, and a silence falls on the rest as they all follow his gaze to me and my hybrid that is holding my hand.

"You wished to speak to us," Jase states, his tone strong and confident as he most likely reads the minds of the men and women.

His eyes are mismatched, making me feel a wobble. The effect he has on me in true form is baffling. They shift to a pale blue when he feels my staggering stance, and he stifles a grin at my reaction.

They all shift uncomfortably at his eye color change, and they look to each other to decide who will be the brave soul to decommission the commander in front of me. I'd be scared too if I was them.

A man steps forward just slightly, though he doesn't make an attempt to get too close. His eyes shift from me to Jase several times before he finally keeps them on the commander before trembling out his words.

"Before when we spoke, you most likely knew a decommission was coming," the man murmurs warily, letting his eyes accidentally find me before darting back to Jase.

"I did," Jase says, still not wavering in his confidence.

"We understand that we've recently amended the law to allow hybrids of all kinds to live, but-"

"Allowed us to live?" I scoff, my eyes burning violet and angry.

Jase's grip tightens on my hand, trying to remind me to bite my tongue, but I've avoided conflict my whole life. I'm sick of it.

"If anything, you should be begging more of us to come about, you arrogant prick," I growl, losing my temper. "Next time, I'll let the mutts shred you. I won't risk my life or the lives of the ones I love for people who think it's okay for us to breathe amongst them."

They all take a step back as my eyes try to dilate. This was a bad, bad, bad idea. I was too close to turning savage, much too close. Pushing me this soon is like issuing a death wish.

"I realize we've offended you greatly, Ms. Banner," the man squeaks out, losing all masculinity in his crackling tone. "That's why we've asked for you to be here today as well."

I calm down just slightly, praying my savage doesn't emerge for the first time ever and destroy this tent and everyone standing in front of us.

"Do you need olophine, Ms. Banner?" a woman asks, her voice just as rattled and shaken as the man's.

"She does," Jase says, walking over to accept the offer I wasn't going to.

He returns with the vial of medicine that has subdued savages for centuries, and I stare at it in complete disbelief. I've never needed this before. I can't believe after so long of begging my savage to come, I dread it surfacing.

"Take it, baby. Your eyes are starting to dilate, and as much as I'd love to see what you can really do, I'd rather not risk losing you to your counter."

Shakily, I reach out and take it from him. You wouldn't lose me. I doubt even my savage would want him more than I want you.

He smirks, but his eyes tell me he's not convinced. Groaning inwardly, I bite through the flesh on my wrist to inject the meds. The strange, foreign burn it produces slides through my veins and acquaints itself with my veins. The only problem is... it doesn't do anything.

I still feel the overwhelming desire to release the Kraken , so to speak.

"More?" a woman asks, noticing there's no change.

Jase frowns, realizing as I have that I must be immune to the drug that frees so many others from their savage's curse.

"I've got it under control," I mumble. "I would have gone savage earlier, when all of you stood by and watched the man I love die, if I didn't have it handled."

Jase sighs out, kissing the top of my head before turning his attention back to the council.

"You can proceed," he says, trying to rush them so he can get me out of here before I do some serious damage.

I'm playing with a fire I've never before had to extinguish. I'd hate to see what sort of metaphorical flames I'd create.

"As I was saying earlier," the man says, his voice even more strained, choosing his phrasing a little more carefully, "this is a recent change. We were worried some of the other members of the United wouldn't be so accepting of such news. To be led by the unknown is scary to anyone."

"Not to me," I interject, my eyes taunting the scared committee members. "It's not scary to the men out there right now, the ones still breathing because of what we did. We were the ones who defeated the hounds. Not you. Not the full bloods. Not the ungifted. We did it. Mainly me. I'm an unknown as well, the only one of my kind we know about so far. I've fought for the United, my mother has saved the fucking world, and Jase is the same person he was two days ago. He's the same committed, loyal, powerful, and passionate leader he was. It's just that now he's stronger than you realized."

Jase leans over, smiling as he whispers into my ear. "Let them finish, my little fireball."

I stifle a grin, and he kisses my cheek before leaning back up. The man is almost sweating as my eyes dare him to fuck with me.

"I really think I'm going about this all wrong," he hurries out. "The point is, tonight, we saw a taste of what's to come. Ms. Banner was correct about us being afraid. We were... we are. But we're more afraid of the ones out there than we are of the man who stood out front and gave his life to save our people. We're more afraid of the unknown army willing to change thousands of savage animals into killing machines. That shouldn't be possible.

"We've often wondered if Ms. Banner was holding back, and tonight we saw how very gravely we've underestimated her abilities. We feel stronger with you then we would ever feel without you... either of you. Our deepest apologies for not making that clear from the start of this meeting."

Oh.Oops.

Jase covers his mouth with his hand when my mind provokes a silent laughter he doesn't wish to show the committee.

"Commander Ericson, it would be an honor to continue serving under your rule. You have to trust and faith of the committee, and we'll back you when your secret comes out to the rest of the United. For now, we're keeping it quiet to keep the advantage. The enemy doesn't know our Commander is gifted, at least a level eight."

Jase's eyes widen a little, surprised that he's a level higher than he ranked himself.

"Ms. Banner, we'd also like to keep your true power under wraps. The less the Unaligned or this new threat have on us, the better. If they underestimate us, then we have the best chance of winning these wars."

I hope they aren't putting all their faith in my gifts. I don't know how I did that, and I sure as hell don't know if I can duplicate such a feat.

"Very well. Then if it pleases the committee, I'd like to take Ms. Banner and get cleaned up after I assemble a team to discuss a plan of action."

They all bow their heads in compliance, finally offering him the respect he deserves.

"That's your call, Commander."

He nods, and then we start walking out. Jase is smiling ear to ear as we make our way out into the middle of the messy landscape.

"They were trying so hard to figure out a way not to agitate you, and they were panicking the whole time," Jase snickers out. "It's a little emasculating to have someone far more afraid of your girlfriend than they are of you."

I blush a little, feeling a little overly abrasive now.

"Your fiancée," I say with a grin, correcting his term for me.

He stops abruptly with his hand still holding mine, so I almost fall while stifling a grin at the halted stride.

"Fiancée?" he asks with an expressionless face.

What happened between the hotel and here that made him change his mind?

"Unless you don't want that anymore," I murmur, suddenly feeling very insecure and foolish.

His lips rush mine in a bruising kiss, and I smile when he becomes lost in my touch the way I always get lost in his. Our grins grow too big to continue the kiss, and we both giggle like fools in love.

"Fuck yes, I still want it. You're saying yes?"

I nod, my smile growing, and he scoops me up, curling me to his chest and making our kiss resume despite the grinning lips' hindrance.

"I love you," he says through a happy, excited laugh when we finally give up the useless effort to kiss.

"I love you."

"Hey!" Simone interrupts, waving us over.

The last thing we want to do is work right now, but lives are at stake... ours included. Jase sighs out before standing me back up, but he can't wipe his smile away. Neither can I.

"What'd you find?" Jase asks, looking peculiar with his salacious grin amongst the massacred area.

"Um... you okay?" she asks, showing her confusion for his glee.

"Never better in all my life. Now what's up?" he says, his grin only growing as he pulls me closer.

"Well... I've got some results on the blood from the hounds killed before Aria went nuclear. They were definitely fused with emergents, but they were fused after they were infected."

"How is that possible?" Jase asks. "If they were infected, they should have been hairless with red eyes. How did they end up like this?"

"I don't know," Simone says while running a hand through her hair. "I've never seen this before. What's the purpose in creating a group of mutant dogs? Just to offer a mass attack? And why attack here? Now? When we had some of our strongest on hand? What could they possibly have expected to achieve?"

Jase's smile finally falls flat as reality interferes with our moment of bliss. It's always something. He drops my hand while walking around two of the mutts Simone has butchered in her quest for answers.

"I don't know. Maybe they underestimated Aria the way everyone else has. It's possible they were expecting to take her out, or they were trying to test their new pets on our fleet."

"It's crazy they're targeting us when the Unaligned are the ones using hybrids as slaves," Simone grumbles.

Jase tenses suddenly, and my eyes follow his to find the dirty blond haired hybrid who is walking toward us. Kellan's eyes stay on the ground, studying his next step as though he's lost in thought.

"You found a trail?" I ask, trying not to act as uncomfortable as I feel right now.

How am I going to tell him I'm getting married? Do I just blurt it out, or do I pull him aside and talk to him one on one?

"Yeah," he says softly, not meeting my eyes. "If it's cool with you, Commander, I'd like to start tracking it before it gets cold. These dogs didn't come out of nowhere, and the sooner we find the source of their creation, the better."

Jase looks to me and then back to Kellan. "Sounds good. You can take Captain Frick's team. He's around here somewhere."

"Actually, if it's alright, I've already called Grayson Morris, and he's going to meet me. I don't trust just anyone, and he's never had a leak out of his unit."

Jase nods again. "Even better. Take what you need and call me if you find anything."

Kellan nods, and then he starts walking away without saying anything more. I look to Jase, and he tightens his lips to a thin line.

I have to be the one to tell him. I'll be right back.

"Oh," Kellan says with his back still turned. "Congratulations on the engagement."

My heart sinks when I hear the genuine pain in his voice, and I start jogging to catch up with him while Simone's jaw tries to slap the ground.

"How did you know? We haven't told anyone."

He keeps walking away, refusing to face me. "I overheard you. I eavesdropped on your meeting with the committee. I thought you might need my help. I was wrong. I was going to talk to you, but then I heard you refer to yourself as his fiancée. I didn't mean to, but I apparently stumbled upon a finished proposal. My apologies."

"Kellan, I'm sorry, but I-"

"Don't," he says in a near whisper while finally stopping and facing me. "You don't have to be sorry, Aria. I have no right to try and force you to feel what I do. One day you'll be mine, but until then, I have to accept the fact you don't want to be. I need to go. Grayson is meeting me ten miles from here. We'll be using my tunnels if this trail crosses the border. I'll see you when I get back."

I sigh out, nodding in response rather than argue. There's really no argument to be had.

He leans forward and his hand wraps around the back of my head as he pulls me to him. His hybrid heat doesn't sting me, but his touch is still no more desirable. At least I don't insult him with my usual grimace when his lips find my cheek.

"Be careful," he says softly, stroking my cheek with his hand. "Figures the cold would come too late for me."

He tries to smile, making it sound like a joke as I hug myself for warmth. Then he offers me a quick wave before turning to go once more, taking a jeep near the gate to aide him on his trip.

Warm arms wrap around my waist as my fiancé comes to rest his head atop mine, staring with me as the man I couldn't force myself to love drives off.

"He took that rather well," Jase murmurs softly.

"He's playing it tough. I felt his pain."

"You're ciphering feelings better?" he asks, seeming genuinely interested.

"Not really, but I know I'm not in pain, so it had to be his." I let a breath fall through with a coarse rasp, and then I lean back on him as we stare out into the vast land. "You feel so good."

"Your headache has stopped completely, your temp has returned to normal, and you're not experiencing any pain," he murmurs somewhat randomly.

"I never do when you touch me," I say with a grin. "I guess you have to hold me for a while longer."

I feel his smile, and then he releases me, making me stumble backwards when I lose the prop I was leaning against.

"You don't feel it even when I'm not touching you. I thought the detoxifier would dry up after sex."

"It should have," Rex interjects, joining us from out of nowhere. "It's something I've already noticed though, and I called Uncle Brazen to be sure. He said her detoxifier should have been burned up during the... exchange between the two of you," he says with his ew face in play. "He also said her pain should be unbearable every time she's not under your weird little spell."

"It's not," I say with a shrug. "I feel better than I have in weeks."

"I know," Rex says with a perplexed expression. "Uncle Brazen seems to think Jase's blood must have healing properties. He wants us to keep him updated in case he's wrong, but it looks like you're in the clear."

"He knows?" I gasp. "About what Jase is?"

"He's known," Rex says, looking at Jase who seems completely baffled. "Dad and Brazen were a lot closer than most people realize, so he told him."

"He never once thought about it around me," Jase says quickly, making sure I know that he didn't know that Uncle Brazen did know. What a mouthful.

"He never really cared that you were different, so it wasn't necessarily a thought that crossed his mind," Rex says with a shrug.

Jase almost laughs to himself. His arms slides over my shoulders as he kisses my forehead.

"Wait a second," I murmur while holding my hands up. "You mean I could have just blood fucked Jase when all this started and I wouldn't have had to go through all this? I wouldn't have had to drink that putrid concoction they called a detoxifier?"

Everyone chuckles, except for Rex who looks to be stifling a gag reflex. "That's just a theory, not a proven fact. I think Simone should study your blood," Rex says to Jase.

"I'm fine with that. She should probably check Mel's as well. We've learned how different we already are just because of the parental variable - hybrid father versus hybrid mother."

"I'll get started on it right now," Simone interjects. "Where's the blood I gave you back?"

Jase looks toward the massive RVs we arrived in, but they're destroyed... to the point of being unrecognizable.

"It was in my bag... on one of those. I suppose you'll be needing fresh sample. I doubt very seriously that blood could have survived that."

"That was a large vial of blood, so we should burn the RVs just to be safe... in case it did survive."

"We should burn this whole area," Jase adds, motioning to the mass of bloodstained ground.

And he does just that, launching his flames to set the blood on fire, while Simone lifts the blood he hasn't reached and adds it to the flames. She destroys some of it herself, making it bubble into ash before releasing it. Just like that, there's no trace of blood left.

"Everyone should burn their clothes, per the usual protocol," Jase murmurs softly while walking toward Simone. "Take my blood."

She nods while pulling out her knife, and just as she's done before, she lifts his blood and seals it into a vial. She does the same with Melania's blood, and then she walks away to get started on the mystery beneath the new hybrids.

"What now?" I ask curiously, staring at the mess of bodies around us as they burn to keep from spreading infection.

Jase exhales heavily, looking down at me with his hidden beauties lying beneath his pale blue eyes.

"We need to learn a little more about you, for starters. How did you ash those beasts? Your gifts haven't ever revealed this ability before."

"My father had an explosive gift. It felt like it sort of mingled with the gifts I got from my mother."

"It's strong, making you stronger than even I gave you credit for being. We need to figure out more about you before we face off with these things. I want you to be able to do this any time you want to, because you'll survive this if you do. I refuse to watch you die."

His voice almost crackles under strain, but I'm the one who has had to watch him die. Mom was only able to save a life once with her blood. What if that was the only time I can bring him back? What if-

"Stop thinking like that," he murmurs softly, picking me up so that my legs wrap around his waist. "Let's get showered and changed."

I nod as my lips find his and my tears teeter on edge, and he starts walking, carrying me away from the sunrise.