Chapter 1: Samantha - The Chase Begins

1

The Chase Begins

Samantha

 I been following Julian's trail in Peoria since she had arrived from the across the pond. Like everyone that came before her, they all wanted the same. damn. thing.

They were

trying to, and so far, unsuccessfully, find the bloodline of mystical warriors that you normally read in fairytales and myths, and legends and all that fun stuff.

Yeah, those kinda stories.

How did I end up here you ask?

Simple, when you get asked to go undercover on a job and lay low, but before that you and your girlfriend draw straws to see who gets which job, but you end up short and she took the job that was cooler? Yeah, that was me.

I was the girl who had lost a simple game of straws to her partner. But, in all honesty, I would have taken this angle anyway.

This was all because my partner and her friends had been slowly hearing whispers of our old Circle quietly reforming. We didn't know exactly why, but we knew that from our prolonged, and often painful history, that whatever they were planning—it was never a good thing.

The objects of obsession that their leader chased, as the warlord he was—was always coveted. Valkyries.

Sneakily, I followed her steps as it wound around a beautiful entrance of a two-story adobe style house, until she disappeared entirely into the darkness before me. And, instead of following her, like I should have, I took it upon myself to see what else that the Danish Circle was seemingly hiding here out in the open.

Finding a fence around the corner, I started climbing on it, trying to gather my feet, as I prepared to make a jump across. Landing as quietly as I could, I reached out for the side of a rung, gripping it tightly and then using my weight to hoist myself up, where I was able to dust myself off. I also pulled a hair tie from my wrist and wrapped around and used it to tie my hair back into a ponytail, where I had to hope that it wouldn't be used as a weapon.

"That's enough." I overheard Erik hiss to Julian as I crouched underneath a window, watching carefully to see how this would develop. And while I was, I adjusted my jacket, making sure that it couldn't easily fall off and reveal the rest of my body. Especially, my wings.

Oh gods! Sometimes, I hated the blasted things, they got in the way of trying to do so much, for things that were oh sooo simple.

"Why are you here anyway? I specifically told you, that I wanted nothing to do with you, after..." he paused. "After what you did your first child. Don't you remember?"

"Oh, I remember plainly as day..." Julian replied to him.

I carefully, tiptoed my way around another corner, trying to look for my way in, and then as I did I managed to find another window that was below me, and I jumped down, landing hard, but I managed to use my hands to steady myself on the gravel, and when I looked up, that's when I saw it.

Or rather, that's when I saw them. Hundreds of them, to be precise. Masses of black, just waiting. Waiting for an order—any order.

As stealthily as possible, I managed to get to the window, without startling them, where I had used my magic to kick out the glass watching the shards scatter before me. Once I climbed through to the other side, I found myself in another hallway that was enveloped by more darkness. This this time, giving off an eerie feeling to it. A feeling, that I knew too well, and didn't exactly like, since I knew who else had arrived, trying to steal the show, and my Kaitlyn.

My Kaitlyn.

I swore under my breath as they continuingly tried to get their hands on her, for their nefarious misdeeds, however, I was thoroughly enjoying their constant struggle and vanity. Since every time, their attempts always ended in some sort of failure.

As I stalked up against the wall, I felt the sides of my jeans and felt the daggers that were concealed in the small of my back. I also kept a few that were on the inside of my jacket, where I reached in, and quickly, had it open and ready and my side. Just trying to get the timing of it all right. If I had to, I was more than capable of fighting hand to hand with these bitches.

"I'm sure that she remembers perfectly," I overheard a voice as I continued to make my way through the hall. I knew my mother's cracked old voice from anywhere, try hard enough and you would be hard pressed to miss it.

So, it was true. More of the whispers that we had been hearing, were partly this. Somehow Sophie, had teamed up with Julian and the two were in the know about Kaitlyn's locale. Where they learned this information though—truly bothered me.

We were tightly knit. We didn't share information outside our little circle. So, this was a development that truly got the best of me—and outright made me hot and bothered.

"Mother," I said confidently, walking from the dimly lit hall, showing everything about me off. The light hitting me at certain angles, which lit my bold brown eyes, as well as showing off some of my skin. The pale white, reflecting hard at an angle. I let slip a cocky smile knowing that my mother didn't enjoy having me here.

But I was good at that—crashing parties totally uninvited. I lived for it.

"Fancy seeing you here. Still at your pathetic game of 'seek and kill Kaitlyn'?" I mocked her vanity, knowing that it would make her livid.

"Samantha," Julian said, turning at the sound of my voice. That masochistic smile trying to bait me into lowering my façade. "Now this is a regular party, all that is missing is...well Kaitlyn."

Julian was wearing a light blue infinity scarf around her neck, with black denim vest and a halter top underneath it. She was also wearing matching cargo jeans of the same color, with thigh high boots; her brown hair had been put up messily in a ponytail.

"You can keep dreaming," I shot back, walking confidently to them both as I adjusted my jacket for what felt like the hundredth time. My wings were the super sensitive part of my body and could sense when shit was about to go down—just like now.

"What makes you think that you can take her away from me," I said, playing with the knife that was in my hand. Turning it over and over through my fingers. "Incessant as always," I told them as I was staying on high alert, waiting for one of them to make a move.

"The only one who is incessant," I heard her sinister voice in my ear, as she used her strength to overpower me as well as doing her best to taunt me.  She  wrapped her arms entirely around me, causing me to drop my dagger, as she worked to hold me in place. "Is you. You know that you are way over your head in this little game of cat and mouse." She looked over at Julian whose brown eyes were watching me carefully like a hawk eyeing their prey.

Sophie was dressed in a pitch-black cloak that covered her completely, however, underneath that cloak, I could see that she was in fact wearing jeans and T-shirt, of the same color of her cloak. The cloak also covered her hair, but I could see, little, tiny dead end of her brown hair sticking out. Her green eyes piercing the darkness.

I watched as a dark, thick colored, smokey tendril came out from Julian's palm and slowly started wrapping itself around and crushing my midsection. I struggled with everything I had to break free, yet my mother's hold was strong.

Julian was really trying, since another one came from her other hand and wrapped itself around my neck, doing everything it could to choke the everlasting life from me. They wanted me, a problem, rectified as quickly as possible, so that way I wouldn't be able pose a problem to them, in the coming tide of events.

As they held me trapped, I racked my brain into all the possible ways I could escape. And then, after a moment, with everything I had, I jammed my elbow into my mother's rib cage, causing her to reel backwards, where I crashed hard on the hardwood, as I stammered to catch my breath, holding my neck.

Fuck, I was not expecting that. Not at all.

"Is that..." I wheezed in between breaths. Doing my best to check the damage. "All you got. "After five centuries, is this all you can muster Julian?" I was determined to stop them.

"This is only a taste." My mother said from behind me, clearly recovered from the rib jab.

"You won't live long enough to see what happens after this," Julian spoke mockingly, as she walked up to me, and then hunched down on her knees, and it was in that instance, that it became her mistake.

While I was hunched over, I turned my body and delivered a sweeping kick that took her to the ground. And then using that momentum, I charged towards my mother.

She grabbed me by the collar of my jacket and slammed me into the wall, where I felt my head collide harshly with such force, I almost saw my world go black. My jacket moved slightly down my shoulder, which told me it was about to come off.

As she was easily distracted with her small moral victory, I lashed a few swift kicks at her, causing her to release her hold on me, as I once again landed harshly on my legs; yet I had been able to keep myself on balance.

"The matter of my daughter has finally brought me out of my hiding, and as I recall it, she is mine." Julian mentioned as she sauntered towards me, clearly having recovered from the strike. "And through her, I can finally usher in a new age of Darkness, an age where everyone will bow before me."

Like hell that was happening. I wouldn't allow her to get her hands-on Kaitlyn, nor allow the Darkness to come. It simply wasn't something on the table.

I rushed her as we collided into each other, as we both went for trying to prevent the other from succeeding. I felt her hand grab me by the shirt and throw me into a sofa. I had to quickly recover so I match her strength for strength.

It would take a lot to get rid of me.

I was a girl who wouldn't quit. I had a fire inside me that kept going, fueled by my desire to protect what was mine.

Julian—she would indeed fail by the end of the night. But first, I had to survive this.

"Julian wants this," I overheard Erik say to Mikah. "In fact, that is ultimately why she came here—to lure out Samantha."

Erik. Smh. He was a ruler who used and abused others for his own personal gain and didn't care about the aftershocks of what was left in his wake. It was how he retained power and control all those centuries prior.

Even in his old age, he looked like he had a touch of youth left. The sliver grey hair though, they told a different story. He wore very royal like clothing that was from another time, even though he was living in the new world. Standing, he was six feet tall. His eye were a strong, possessive brown. He was the type that took what he wanted and left nothing behind.

He was living in a world that had no place for him. At least, not anymore.

"Should we do something?" Mikah asked.

"No. Nothing can be done." He resigned in defeat, knowing that stopping know it getting involved would be dire. "This is their feud, getting involved now would only damage their blood. We can however," he paused, walked to the wide double French doors. "Prepare for my sister's dark ways, and the reign of terror."

I watched as Mikah followed Erik to the opening he created through the double doors, wearing the thick gray robes that the Circle had made for him; and I tried to make a break for him, however I quickly turned my head around and saw that Julian had swiftly caught my ankle and dragged me down to the ground.

"Give me the location of my daughter!" Julian snarled as I tried to use my other foot to fight her off. "Where is she?!"

"How the fuck am I supposed to know. It's your family. Not that I want to be a part of that." I said tersely as I kicked her in the jaw where she quickly reeled back in pain.

"Kaitlyn...is MINE!

"The hell I'm telling you." I hatefully countered, recovering to my feet now. "Even if I did know—I would never tell the likes of you."

"Is that since even you wouldn't know where she is darling Samantha?" Julian managed to force me against another wall. "Or are you just playing hard to get, as you try to delay and protect her from us?"

"You can't stop us from getting to her. The embodiments of Death, Destruction and War." Sophie came back, watching my struggle with sheer amusement. "Eventually, we will get her. Eventually, she will die; and when she does...."

"It'll be off to the Grand Halls of Valhalla for her. Never to be a problematic bitch to us. Never to be a hope to stall the darkness."

"You're fighting something so hopeless as this." Julian started, jumping back into the fight. "Kaitlyn is fighting to stop what's barreling towards her. For "Your Kaitlyn" doesn't know just what role she will play for us yet, but role she will serve indeed she will."

Sophie and Julian switched hold on me, as I felt my body being slammed into the wall again, which shook the foundation slightly, but it was enough to jar my jacket off me and reveal my wings. My beautiful, electric blue wigs.

Julian had a dagger that she pulled from behind her, and forced my wrist up against the wall, holding It in place as she maneuvered the dagger with her other hand to where she could draw a small line on over my tattoo, and draw some blood.

The beautiful, yet intricately woven lines of the rose petals wrapped into a flower that was wrapped around the endpoint of a sword. The blood smeared over it, but it was all too real. It was suddenly all too much for them to even begin to comprehend.

"Why are you so obsessed with the race of Valkyries'," I gritted my teeth as I struggled furiously against her, finally breaking free of her as I kicked my way out. "And why do you want my Kaitlyn so badly?"

"I never had the chance to introduce her to my life, and all that I was of." She said so confidently. "I wanted to show her everything, and yet what happened? She was ripped away! Taken from me before I even had the chance!"

Julian sneered to Erik. "It was all your fault! You took her from me! You and your servants of the Danish Circle!"

"You can try all you like," Erik said with a wicked grin, that infuriated her even more. "But—you'll never get to Kaitlyn."

"You say that as if, I'm bound to fail." Julian taunted him. "You know brother, that I...do not fail."

Although tonight, she would. Tonight, I would ensure that she met failure head on, and knew what the feeling was like.

I charged her again, this time throwing myself into a lunge as I dove for her legs, trying to slow her down, and as I did, I was instead met with a swift kick to my side where I was sent flying into a sectional that broke apart upon my collision.

And in doing so, I heard a scream of horror emit from Mikah. "Why are you doing this Julian?! This is madness!"

"Madness!" I could angrily Julian retaliated, charging towards her. "You call what I'm doing madness?!" I felt the vibrations of Mikah being slammed up against the wall. "You are no better! You did things that were far worse. Did you not?"

"What I did with her," Mikah snarled hatefully as a counter. "Has nothing—absolutely nothing to do with you. With the Darkness. I was told my job, and I followed it to the letter! Unlike you!"

Finally coming to my feet, I tried to intervene the best I could.

"Get back Sam!" Mikah screamed at me. I had this feeling that she was about to break emotionally, if I didn't defuse the situation "This isn't your fight now."

"She crashed uninvited now, so she's just a much a part of it; just like you." Julian hatefully retorted.

Before I could react, Mikah struck at Julian which caused her to fall to the ground, and Julian was sent back, as she tried to get to her feet, getting ready to force a fight.

"Fight me you coward!" Julian enraged Mikah now. "Or have you lost your spine? Have you lost your touch with what you once were?!"

She kept layering on the taunts, and I was honestly sick of it. I was ending this charade tonight. To save more than one life.

I felt paralyzed in place. My mind couldn't decipher what was going, and my body was stuck in neutral. I was helpless as I was made to watch in horror as Julian was fighting Mikah. And I was here powerless to stop her.

To stop the fight. Why?

I was better than this. I should have acted on instinct and gotten in the way, yet... here I was.

Everything was a blur to me. The two of them moved like blurs even though it was a small space, and when I tried to blink the tears from my eyes, I felt a hand on my shoulder, stopping me once again.

"Get your hand off me!" I snarled at Sophie. It was her. Always her trying to kill me.

"And if I don't?" She played with her words, trying to bait me into a fight.

Without thinking, or even reacting, I reached for her hand and threw her into another piece of the furniture in this house, as I tried to make my way towards Mikah so I could prevent more damage.

Sophie was quick to react as she charged back and took me to the ground, applying pressure on my spinal column, and adding stress on my wings. With my arms pinned behind me, I was truly hopeless as I could only watch as Julian got away with a victory over Mikah, as Mikah was nearly unconscious on the floor.

Now I was made to watch as Julian was able to complete what she came to do. And it scared the hell out of me.

"Rise to your feet Samantha!" she looked at me, snarling all the same. I could feel her anger, lust, and adrenaline all at once. And it all morphed into a completely confident, talented, yet dangerous woman before me. "I want you to have a front row seat to all this. I want you to see what I am about to set in motion."

"You'll never get away with this!" I replied with a rage, my blood boiling. I could feel myself getting ready to break free, however before I could, I was shoved forward by Sophie. "You'll never finish this insane goal of yours. You already died once for it."

She let out a masochist laugh. "on the contrary, I led you all to believe that I had died, and now...alas, here we are." She stalked towards me, with the dagger in her hand, and when we were on the same eye level, she put the dagger under my chin and forced my eyes to stare into hers. "Just embrace it Sammi. You can't stop me, or the Darkness."

I blew a stray piece of my hair out of my face, as I shot her a look of extreme hate.

How the fuck did she know that? My nickname that only was among our Circle. Where in Gods name did, she learn it?

"You wanna bet that?" I countered her words. "You and me, right now. Lets go a round, see what happens."

She mockingly laughed. "Such a fiery personality you have." She forced my head up a little more with the blade. "It matters not. You cannot stop what's happening." She laughed again. "Why a young lady like yourself would never fully begin to understand what is truly at work, and what you have part yourself in the middle of. If you think that you can forever stall me from reaching Your Kaitlyn, your precious lover—precious soulmate—yes, I know about that, and your anima alterum, then you fancied wrong."

"Like I said," I fought my mother's hold some more as I become even more heated. "You won't have her. I won't allow it."

"And whys that darling?" She moved the blade from under my neck to my face where she moved along my cheek, stroking it. "You genuinely think you got a shot at stopping me? Us? The darkness? My gods!" Another taunting laugh. "You are a brave young soul." She inched closer and sensed my fear. "Is that fear I see in your eyes? Fear you won't admit you have?" She smiled, turning her focus away from me.

She got me there as I gulped down a dose of her words. On the surface, they rang true. I—I was just one person. Alone I couldn't even stop her here.

Then she turned her focus on Erik, who had managed to stay away from most of the damage, but was down by the wide, double French doors.

"Don't blame yourself, brother," Julian laughed at him. "I knew, you knew, that it was only a matter of time before I would come calling for my child, and now, that I am back," she looked over the balcony of the double doors. "I can finally finish what I started so long ago."

I watched as I was forced through the double doors, by Sophie with Julian on balcony.

She was looking down at the mass of black shadows that had gathered in the yard, and that's when she swept her eyes back at her brother one last time.

"How many have you amassed here today, dear old brother? Hm?"

"Five hundred," he choked, trying to not run over his words in the process. I could tell the defeat was still hitting him hard. He knew what was going down, and still tried his best to stop it. "We were out at range so this was the best I could do with a limited amount of resources."

"Course you did," she rolled her eyes, sounding unimpressed. "That's always your excuse these days." She looked back at the mass of black and raised the dagger. "And I'll greatly assume that you were going to find Kaitlyn with your soldiers?" She scoffed. "How naïve."

She whirled on him. "However, no matter, you made my job that much easier, since without you, I would have to do this all by myself. And still will to some degree." And she refocused her attention on the creatures below.

"I lead you tonight into the one of the biggest battles of our existence." Julian shouted out to them. "As the one who will lead you, we will tear this land apart searching for the one true heir of the Valkyries." There were countless shouts of delight from the crowd below.

"Go!" She yelled, commanding them. "And let no one stop you or get in your way. We must find the Valkyrie, and we must hone her blood, in hopes for the greatest darkness that this world will ever see."

Julian paused, watching them, and they were watching me. "In the name of the God and Goddess, we must not fail; for the sake of finding the one true Valkyrie, you mustn't be stopped. Not even by her girlfriends or allies she loves the most. We must succeed!"

She turned back to look at us once more, and her eyes rested on Sophie's smile knowing that together they had started what we had all feared.

"Catch me if you can honey!" She laughed, they both ran off the rather large and wide balcony and jumped into the nighttime sky taking flight, with the armies of black down there, about ready to tear everything apart, now that they had been given an order; and a strong one at that.

Once they both left, I felt my body collapse from the pain I had forced to endure during the hold. However, I had one last piece of business to deal with.

He put Mikah at risk, which caused me to be at risk. And now.... Kaitlyn.

"You did this!" I screamed at him, letting out all the rage I had pent up, as I slammed him into the wall. "You put Mikah at risk. You put me at risk. Even Kaitlyn!" I paused, trying to simmer myself down. What have you done? Why?! Why would you allow this to happen?! You knew!" I grabbed and slammed him again. This time harder. I wanted the walls to break. Fuck, I wanted his head to bust open. "All this time you knew and not once told anyone! Why?!"

"Of course, I knew." Was all he said in a smile. "And her benefit is my devoted protection."

"You're not protecting her!" I continued to flare my anger at him, and threw my arm back, revealing my mark. "lest tell me the truth, or by the Goddess, I will burn you with my magic. I'm far more in control and experienced than you would like to believe." I threatened him as I pulled out a blade from one of my back pockets and put it up against his throat. "Kaitlyn! Now!"

"Even if I could tell you where, there's not a chance you'll ever reach her in time." He replied, struggling to get to his feet; now intimidated by my glowing mark. "Besides, she has a lover."

"No," I threw my hair back. "She has multiple lovers, and one is returning." I corrected him, cooling down now. "Which means, the bond is strengthening again." I thought back to Julian cutting my wrist, and drawing blood, and then threw a dark glare at him. "Are you really going to help Julian here, or do what you've always done? Sit on the sidelines?"

"I guess you'll have to find her," He said, showing an evil grin while laughing about the dire straits I had just been put into. "To find out."

As quickly as I had dealt with him, I made my move towards Mikah.

She was really shaken up after the fight she had with Julian and it showed. I looked over her and saw the blood marks. The bruises. Even in defending herself, in not wanting to fight—since she knew she was doing her part, she still got fucked over.

I could hear her sobs of agony. I saw the tears stain her skin, it was all too real to take in, and yet, she was here—fighting, just like I had. Tonight, we had both survived something truly horrible.

I dropped to one knee, reaching for her hands, as I tried my best to have her look at me. "Mikah, help me." I soothed her. "I need to know where she is."

She wouldn't respond. The fight did its part. She was shut down. And sadly, time was running out.

Now, they had started the chase.

Finally, after a few moments, she quietly spoke up. "She told me, not to say." Her voice was cold, shallow. "She told me that if I got involved, that she would stop searching for her."

"Who did that?" I asked, brushing a piece of her hair back. "Was it my leader? Was it her?"

She shook her head again. "Please help me Sam. You must help me. You must reach Kaitlyn. You must tell her."

"The fact that you've lived through this, and still here, is what makes you---a lot like her." I reached out and cleared a tear. "However, I cannot. This," I touched her heart, and she looked up at me. "What your carrying, what you know about Kaitlyn, only you can share."

"I can't..." her voice was shallow; cold. "She says I'm not allowed."

I got down on both knees now, still holding her hands. "Only you can decide when it's right for you to step in. However, if you don't how will you feel if they are to ever succeed? How would you feel, knowing that you could have changed the course of this upcoming hunt, and never did?"

"I wouldn't have the ability to live with myself." She spoke a little louder. "The pain would kill me."

I debated my idea, hoping that it wouldn't come back to haunt me. "If you want, you can text me. I can give you updates and that will hopefully decide. Will that help?"

She nodded. "I can do that. I'll even keep it away from everyone else." I helped her stand up. "Hopefully, as you help her, I can grapple with my own demons and fully decide when it's time to get in the ring."

"If you want me to come and get you, when it gets that time, I can do that too."

She shook her head in disagreement. "I'll know where to find you. Where to find her."

I started to walk away, when she spoke again, her hand over her heart as she was trying to calm herself. "Thank you, Samantha. For everything." She quietly said, coming closer to me. "Thank you for being there for her, when I could not." She took my hand. "Thank you for being a partner to her, when I could not even be another woman to her."

"We'll fix this." I swore to her. "From one warrior to another, we will fix this, and find the missing link. I give my life."

"You better go," She hinted, sensing a change in the air. "You'll lose ground if you don't."

Mikah had been right; the only real way to find Kaitlyn, was to chase all the crumbs that would be left behind in the rampage. Maybe then, hopefully, I could find something; anything that would lead me to her.

I looked back at her, and we traded nods, knowing that this was probably the only chance we had. The one shot. Yet, I couldn't force Mikah to come clean. Only she could do that, and when she did, it would create a chain events, so heavy, that who knew where it would take us.

Running right into balcony I jumped into the depths of darkness, praying that I would find her in time, or lest we both would be dead.

∞∞∞

By switching over to my Swan form, I could move through the air faster than, if I had traditionally stayed in my human form. I knew that if I were going to take on both my mother and Julian, by myself, I would be at a severe and constant disadvantage.

They would always be able to not only outnumber and overpower me, but also with our bond being exploited, it had now become a race against the clock of sorts, and time was something that almost no being could out race.

It was nearly impossible to beat the buzzer. However, I had to. I had to reach my Kaitlyn before they had the chance to. Although, if I knew my Kaitlyn like I hoped, I knew that she would make hard for anyone to keep a lock on her.

She would be on a constant move, hoping that, like me, she could avoid being trapped by them both. So, to stay ahead of them, I had to make some calculating decisions. I just hope that what I was hoping to do—it wouldn't come back to haunt me, and ultimately kill either one of us.

Landing at the Military Base, I saw him, and his entire strike team. Brittany had mentioned to me, before I left that these guys also worked for the Order. But something told me, that like everyone else that I had encountered so far, that they seemed to have their own, hidden agenda.

If I were to work quickly, and find her safely, I needed more eyes. I needed more boots on the ground as they said. And this team seem to fit that bill exactly.

As I walked up to the hanger bay where they were moving various cargo crates and metal containers, there was soldier in dress uniform that approached me.

"Halt Miss," The Private called out, putting his hand out to prevent me from going forward. "This is a restricted area. Only authorized personnel who have access— "

"I'm here to talk to your commanding officer," I said confidently and slowly. "I do not have time to waste with you. So, you either you find him, or I will."

"Even if I could," the private started again. "You don't have the proper access."

Jesus, he was going to give me a hard time. He was one of those people. Demanding access. If he only knew that I already did, and in so many ways.

"Where is your commanding officer, Lieutenant Colonel James Kravagin?"

A moment later, I saw a tall, muscular, and exceptionally clean gentleman in about his forties, arriving to grace the presence of both his lower ranking officer and me. His eyes met mine, and he could only assume that it had been dire, otherwise why would he have to be involved?

"You must be Samantha; I presume?" His voice was commanding, yet very firm. "Brittany has already informed me of your arrival, Come, we don't have much time."

I followed him down the road and into a hangar, where we then walked through a metal door, and it was here that I met the other members of his group. It was here, that they must have been put on alert from Brittany's side.

"Commanders," He addressed them. Two females that were dressed in all black just like he was. "I introduce you to Samantha."

I tilted my head in response and acknowledge their presence.

"Welcome to our base," They replied.

"I'm Cameron," The one with the burgundy hair spoke, approaching to take my hand, and shake it. "That's my partner in crime, and actual love, Sydney." Cameron pointed to the girl with raven-like colored hair. "Sometimes, she's a bit of a loose cannon."

"Ciao," Sydney spoke with an extraordinarily strong Italian accent about her. "Pleasure to meet you, fortunately my fiancée is a bit correct—I tend to be the loose cannon."

"I'll remember that." Knowing that if I ever had to double cross anyone, that I didn't want to be these guys. "You've been informed; I take it?"

"They have, and we've been told to read our 'material' that were delivered to us as well," James spoke. "So, yes, we all know what we're walking into. Tell us anything that we're missing."

I dived into a short summary of how Kaitlyn and I were connected, and became distant from one another for some two to three hundred years, and also told them that through my bond that I shared with her, that if she was in any danger I could feel it; however, I wasn't sure If I was in danger, if she would sense it.

They also clued in about how she was kept from learning her true heritage and so in doing that, she could only discover for herself. That no one else could tell her, even if they knew or had been told. They also came to learn that she was potentially more potent than everyone around her, thought she was.

"It seems like to us, that you put a great deal in Kaitlyn finding out who she really is in time, so she can help in this fight, this war." He replied, sounding a bit torn about how the event had been laid out. "Are you sure it's her that your mother and Julian claim to want?"

"It is." I replied without hesitation, I could feel the bite of my words as I said them. "I know my mother will want to take her in and remake her as Dark Valkyrie. Her magic is that potent."

Just as we were about discuss this further there was an alarm-like sound coming from the computer monitor and that's when Sydney got our attention.

"Sir," She said with a commanding voice. "We got movement in Tucson."

"Can you confirm what they are?" I, along with James asked.

"No," She replied. "it seems like there is something different about these." We gathered around the screen as I was about to get my phone out and call Brittany to know what was about to go down.

"Hold it," Cameron spoke, putting her hand over my phone. "We need to confirm it."

"No can-do ladies and gents." Sydney said after the tracking failed. "These Draugrs aren't bound to anyone, which means..."

Which spelled trouble. They had nearly doubled their intensity over the past few weeks, and no one could figure out where they were coming from, or who let them loose. I dialed Brittany's number and it rang twice before she picked up.

"What's up Sam?" She replied, I could hear wind in the background, which meant she must have noticed it too.

"We've got trouble." I said bluntly. "We detected Draugrs zombies in Tucson. Not sure if they the ones in the city, or at the rave. Can you..."

"Say no more." She swiftly replied. "I'll have my crew check it out, and tell them to stay alert," she paused, and the only sound I heard was that of the wind whipping up again. "You need to move, she moved as well."

"I will." I answered, agreeing with her. "I just got out of an encounter with Julian and Sophie. And it didn't go as planned."

".... And now." Again, another pause, and again I could hear the wind becoming harsher. "The chase begins..."

And she couldn't have been anymore right. The chase had begun, and it took off with such force, such fire, I sensed that it's trail of destruction couldn't be predicted.

As I started to leave to stay ahead of Kait, and hopefully find her before they could, Cameron's voice stopped me.

"You can't leave now." She said, knowing that staying with them was best, when it wasn't. "We can go as a team, and..."

"Kait needs to see me again, and I need to go to her," I said slowly, letting a tear fall, and my emotions loose. "And I can't allow my mother to get her, if she can recover her memories." I paused, still wiping tears away. "Do me a favor, will you?"

"Of course, Sam," James said, knowing that it was hard to purse and protect love. He must have felt its deadly sting before. "Anything."

"Get Kaitlyn and protect her. Get her before they attempt to." I said, warming up my magic. "She'll put up resistance, so don't hold anything back; use force to conquer her—it'll be the only way."

"Understood." They all said. "Take care."

"You too."

I walked out of the base, and glanced back at them, knowing that I could trust them, and then switched to my swan form--And took to the skies, hoping that I could find her in time, and that she wouldn't move too much.

Although somehow, I already knew the answer.