This is work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Copyright© Avery Song, 2020

All Rights Reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or used in any manner without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

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Cover Design by Melody Simmons

Editing by

Incantation Ink

Format: Yumoyori Wilson

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Thank you for purchasing THE TRACKER HIVE ACADEMY - SEMESTER TWO.

Thank you for giving Avery Song a chance! This was a spur of the moment decision, and I’m so glad I decided to create/write as Avery Song.

Special thanks to my amazing Mom for blessing me with the gift to write and supporting me in all aspects. I pray to continue making you proud as I strive towards success.

Finally, I thank God for giving me the strength to achieve my goals. Without Him, I would be nothing.

AVERY SONG

CONTENTS

BLURB

Prologue: Pain, Pain, Pain

1.  Charles’s Motive And Switching Personalities

2.  Don’t Judge A Book By Its Cover

3.  More To You Than Meets The Eye

4.  Daring Changes

5.  Protect Our Precious Jewel

6.  Bickering Assumptions

7.  Game Plan

8.  New Rules

9.  Facing Those Fears

10.  Home Alone And Vanquishing Those Fears

11.  Holy Fucking Shit

12.  The Light Side Of Me

13.  Slow Dance With My Shadow

14.  Park Fantasies And Never Changing

15.  Christmas With Us

16.  New Year Promises

17.  New Semester Of Snarkiness

18.  Play The Game And Fight Your Demons

19.  Study Central

20.  Basketball Fun

21.  Thunderous Class Of Enlightening Mayhem

22.  Be The Hunter Or The Hunted

Special Note From Author

COMING SOON

SUPERNATURAL INMATE - SNEAK PEEK

BLURB

CHAPTER ONE: LINGERIE SHOPPING WITH MY SUPERNATURAL BROTHERS

SUPERNATURAL SPY ACADEMY - OUT NOW

WITCHLING ACADEMY - OUT NOW

BLAZING ACADEMY- PREORDER

FAE ROSE ACADEMY- PREORDER

BLURB

With far more questions than answers, it seems like the enemy has us exactly where they want us — back at square one.

The road to recovery is a tough one, at least for me. I survived a murder attempt, but now I’m stuck in the not-so-cozy medical room at Tracker Hive Academy. With a target on my head and the suspect in hiding once again, we’re left with no answers, leads, or ways to fix the damages that linger in my mental space.

The goal is to keep me emotionally stable, calm enough to keep my eight elements under control. Everyone says I need to rest and endure a medication regimen of the nastiest pills in the world, which is making my recovery all the more miserable. And the cherry on top of that horrible sundae? My four sexy Maxwell brothers have been ordered to stay far away from me.

Whoever is playing these games wants me to feel like a lone wolf. But they continue to forget that I was alone for a long time, and I can handle it, especially with my Shadow and seven other elements. As a Hive Queen, I know distance means nothing. What I fear is the voice in my nightmares. The voice that wants me to join him — to be on his side and allow him to give me everything I desire.

Can I recover and get the revenge I so richly deserve? Maybe not, but with Zeke, Zion, Zackery, and Zeus on my side, there’s nothing I want more than to heal and enjoy life with them — and I guess Calvin can tag along.

Game On.

PROLOGUE: PAIN, PAIN, PAIN

“Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday, dear Jade! Happy birthday to you!”

I clapped my hands, giggles escaping my lips as I stared at the candle that illuminated the beautiful baby pink cake. Today was my birthday. The day my mom said was one of many blessings.

“Blow out your candle, Jade,” Mom encouraged, and I looked up slightly to see her loving eyes. Daddy was next to her, looking as proud of me as Mom did.

“Okay!” I replied, and with a deep inhale, I was ready to blow the candle out, but a thought crossed my mind. “Wait. I want Shadow Jade to be here too!”

“Well, you better go get her fast. You don’t want the candle to melt into your cake,” Daddy replied. “You can get your brother and sister as well. They have presents for you.”

“Presents!” I cheered. “Coming.”

I moved three steps toward the stairs before the doorbell rang. Peering over to the door, I knew who stood on the other side.

The people from the safe organization!

My parents shared a look, but Mother gestured for me to continue on. “I’ll answer it. Jade? You need to get Shadow Jade and your siblings.”

“Yes!” I bobbed my head at the reminder and set off up the stairs. I already knew where Shadow Jade was, and I skipped to my bedroom, only to find it was suddenly empty.

“Huh? Shadow Jade?” I put my hands on the hips of my fluffy dress. I knew she was here, or at least she had been a second ago. My eyes landed on the pink suitcase on my bed, which contained all my clothes.

I was going to some safe place for people with powers like mine. We’d packed mostly everything, but from the empty spot next to my doll, I understood why Shadow Jade was missing.

“She must have gone to get her doll from Brother’s room. He always takes our dolls,” I said to myself while shaking my head. “I’ll ask him to give it back.”

My determination to help Shadow Jade was strong, and I turned around to skip toward my brother’s room. There was a weird noise suddenly, followed by a thump.

“Shadow Jade?” I hesitated to walk any farther, suddenly feeling afraid. Clenching my fists, I encouraged myself to move, one step after the other. The wooden plank floors creaked with my slow movement, but my thoughts were focused on what the weird sound was.

It reminded me of when Daddy would use the liquid to wash his mouth in the morning, but it wasn’t coming from the washroom down the hall.

Sister’s room? Why is she using the mouth wash liquid? I should tell her to stop before she gets in trouble.

Opening the door, I spoke before my eyes looked to the bed.

“Sis! Daddy is going to get mad if he catches you…” My words trailed off entirely, my eyes widening in horror. I couldn’t speak, the words losing all meaning while I stared at the dark red puddle that soaked into the bright pink sheets of my sister’s bed — the place where she now lay, eyes open and throat cut three-quarters of the way.

The scream that left me didn’t sound like mine, and I heard my dad’s worried voice from downstairs.

“Jade?!”

“D-daddy!” I screamed and raced out of the room to try and go back downstairs. There was a louder thump than before, and I felt the need to stop and check, my mind now worried about my older brother.

Running to his room, I slammed the door open, only to see a flicker of darkness disappear from sight. The gurgling sound was strong, and on my left, my older brother trembled uncontrollably, his hands desperately trying to stop the flow of blood that was gushing from his neck like a faucet.

“No! Brother!” I was at his side, my trembling hands pressing onto the wound of his neck. His scared eyes met mine, the two of us knowing we wouldn’t get help in time before there was no blood left in his body.

“No. No!” I whimpered, and tears rolled down my flushed cheeks. My brother’s body began to grow still, his eyes on me as he tried to breathe. He gave up on stopping the flow of blood from his neck, and instead put a shaky hand on the top of my head.

Slowly, he stroked my head once. Then twice. He struggled to make a sentence, the sound coming out in a weird mix of muffled gurgles, but I understood.

“It’s okay. Run. Be safe. I love you.”

My brother and I had always had a strong connection. I was closer to him than my sister, and whenever I was afraid of how powerful I was becoming, he was the first to soothe me and Shadow Jade.

He believed in us…even now when he was dying. Dying. Death.

His eyes began to close, their focus fading away as he looked up to the ceiling. His hand stroked my head one last time before it fell to the floor with a thump.

I waited for him to say it was a joke, or to laugh at how I fell for his boyish prank, but he remained there, the pool of blood beneath him growing bigger and bigger as the flow continued its way out of his throat.

Help. I need help!

“Mommy! Daddy!” I screamed and ran out of the room toward the stairs. I screamed and screeched to a halt, covering my mouth with my hands as I stared at Daddy’s body at the top of the stairs.

I trembled uncontrollably, wanting to do something to stop the blood that was leaving his neck, just like it had with my sister and brother.

Movement on the stairs caught my attention, and the familiarity of the drifting black shadow made me grit my teeth and race past Dad and down the stairs.

“Mommy!” I screamed, hoping she’d come to help me. “Shadow Jade! Where are you?!” I was confident I’d seen her go down these very stairs, but as I reached the bottom step, I froze in place at the scene before me.

There was a man, tall and in all black, who stood there in front of the table where the single candle continued to burn, illuminating the dark room. Mommy stood there with tears in her eyes, her fear apparent.

At her neck was a scythe, one sharp and large enough to cut through anything. Holding the fine weapon was Shadow Jade, her eyes looking dull, with zero emotion in their purple glow.

“Mom…my? Shadow Jade! Stop!” I called to my darkness, fighting to stop her from hurting our Mommy.

Can’t she see it’s Mommy?!

The man who stood next to my mom had a grin on his face, his silver hair looking as though it glowed in the dark room. What scared me were his eyes. They shone with a mix of silver and red — the silver glowing dimly while the red overtook his irises like pooling blood.

“I love you, Jade. Run. Don’t be caught,” Mother whispered with a smile. “Be strong. Love yourself. Find the ones connected to you. Find your Hive.”

My hand reached out to try and stop the scythe that rose upward, but with a blink, it slid through Mommy’s throat, her head flying off from her neck and falling to the ground like a basketball bouncing up and down on the plank floors.

Her body dropped like it weighed a ton, and I watched the dark red liquid pool all over the floor.

“Mommy?” I stared at her body, my tears falling to the floor. “Mom?”

Shadow Jade’s voice tugged at my foggy mind, and I looked at her to see her glowing purple eyes were staring at Mommy’s body in confusion. She lowered the scythe in her hand, the object disappearing entirely.

The man took a few steps back, watching with gleaming interest as Shadow Jade took a step forward and knelt down to shake Mommy’s body.

“Mommy?” She blinked, puzzled. “Head. Missing head.”

She looked to the side, noticing Mommy’s head was in the corner in its own pool of blood. “Need head. Then better!”

She rushed over to pick up Mommy’s head and ran back to her body, trying to attach it as if it was a Lego piece. When she tried the third time, she let go, thinking it would stay in place, but it rolled away, hitting the leg of the table that held our cake.

Her sad purple eyes looked up to meet mine, and she rushed over to me.

“Jade. Mommy. Head won’t stay. Why?”

To see her sad eyes and the darkness that formed her body burn in unsettled emotions made me sob.

“She’s…dead,” I whispered.

Shadow Jade began to take on her human form until my copy stood before me. Her eyes were pooling with tears and I could see the distress begin to settle in.

“Dead? Dead. Why?”

“The scythe. It cut her.” I sobbed harder, lifting my hands to rub my eyes. “Daddy is gone. Brother is gone. Sister is gone, too. The scythe…you….you…”

I couldn’t say it. I wouldn’t blame her.

Shadow Jade was me. She wouldn’t hurt our family. What changed? Something had to have changed.

“Scythe. My scythe?” She really couldn’t fathom what had happened and she clung to my arm and shook it. “Didn’t. Mean. To? I…I…hurt Mommy? Daddy? Bro and Sis? Me?”

I stared into her eyes again, watching the tears fall down her cheeks. I hugged her, sobs escaping my lips.

“No. Not you. You wouldn’t do that, Shadow Jade. We need to get help. Yes. Maybe someone can help us,” I cried.

She hugged me back tightly, and her fear of being the one to blame pulsed through me.

“Didn’t. Mean. To. Not me…Sorry? I’m sorry.”

The sound of laughter caught our attention, and we both looked over to the man, his smile so wide it showed his pure white teeth.

“You killed them.”

“No!” I covered Shadow Jade’s ears and glared at the man. “You! Everything went bad when you came! What did you do?! You’re not from the safe organization!”

He chuckled and raised his hand. We flinched at the sudden burst of flame from the single lit candle, the fire rising up and wrapping around the man, who grinned at us.

“You’re coming with me, Jade Storm. With you, I’ll be able to get everything I desire. Then, when your Hive locates you, I’ll have control of all the elements. Not just yours, but theirs. The council will have no choice but to bow down to my will, and with that, I’ll gain all the wealth and power I need for my scientific work to come to life.”

His laugh was like that of a maniac clown, and the fire caught the tablecloth, spreading as if a wild wind was passing by.

“Stop!” I screamed, trying to will the flames to stop, but the man shot his hand up at me, lifting my body up with ease. I shrieked, feeling something around my throat squeezing tighter with every second.

I struggled for air, my legs kicking in an attempt to get out of whatever hold I was in, all while the fire scorched the living room, taking over the structure and beginning to spread to the upper level.

“Jade!” Shadow Jade looked helpless and her scythe was back in her hands.

“You will stay!” the man growled at Shadow Jade, and her body froze before she could move. The action answered the question in my mind.

He forced her. He controlled her and made her kill our family. How dare he? Shadow Jade…she’s good. She’s kind. She’ll…never forgive herself. I…I can never forgive myself.

“She’s…me!” I seethed, fighting harder to get out, my body growing hotter.

I felt the darkness inside me grow stronger, and instead of my other elements fighting against the darkness like they loved to do, they pushed to strengthen it.

To create a force strong enough to disrupt the power holding us down.

A scream escaped me and my glaring eyes locked onto the man, whose once-delighted expression fell. The invisible hand on my neck vanished, and I yelped when I dropped toward the floor.

Something caught me, and I looked to see that it was Shadow Jade. She still looked hurt, her eyes filled with fear and regret.

“Kill. I killed. Killed them. Sorry, Jade. Sorry.” Her lip trembled, and I looked at the man as he took a step forward.

The element of fire was the next to push forward, the remaining elements aiding the attack. The flames, which were once so desperate to bring down the house I’d grown up in, began to hover around my feet, circling like a growing tornado and protecting us from the man.

Evil. He’s evil. He did this.

“No, Shadow Jade,” I whispered. “He killed them! You didn’t. We won’t help you! We won’t let you control us!”

My declaration was backed up by the flames; their growth and intensity made the man step back as he tsked under his breath.

“Stop!”

“Never!” I screamed. Shadow Jade held me tighter, her body beginning to lose its human appearance as the shadowed darkness took shape. Her glowing eyes looked at the man, narrowing as her tears rolled down her hollow body.

“Kill. Kill. Kill.” She repeated the word. “Kill. Kill. Kill!”

Her words were like a chant. One I knew would stick with us. We had no intention of killing this man, even though we desperately wanted to. He was more powerful, wiser, and must have changed the safe organization’s mind about us.

He was evil and he’d use us to hurt more people. To hurt innocent people who had nothing to do with us. We couldn’t let that happen.

Run. Mommy said to run. Brother said to run. I’m sorry. I’m sorry that I caused you to die. To perish…on my behalf. We have to run. To hide and not let this man win. If he wins, my family’s deaths will be pointless.

I looked into Shadow Jade’s eyes, knowing she could hear my thoughts and feel my intentions.

Placing my hands onto her cheeks, I whispered,“Kill. The word that will remind us of today. We’ll never forget. We’ll get back at this man. We’ll prove that we were used, and we’ll get stronger. Wiser. We will get payback. I promise. I swear it. For Mommy, Daddy, Brother, and Sister.”

She nodded slightly, her dark energy wrapping around me like a bubble.

“No! You can’t run!” the man screamed, but it was too late. He wouldn’t catch us.

Run we shall. We won’t stop. He may have won today, but we’ll be the winners at the end. We will get justice for our family.

Kill. Kill. Kill.

~SHADOW JADE~

“PAIN. PAIN. PAIN.” I repeated the word as my fingers held Jade’s.

My eyes lingered on her right hand, watching as I lifted one finger up and then down, moving on to the next one. A cycle of movement to distract the spinning thoughts and fears.

Pausing the repetitive motion, I stared at Jade’s sleeping body, noticing the mask that covered her nose and mouth and the way her black strands with white highlights were moved away from her face.

The rich softness of her skin remained, although her complexion was still paler than its normal snow-white shade, emphasized by the simple black gown on her body.

What mattered most was that she was warm, though, and my hand continued moving her fingers to keep the blood flowing through them.

Flowing inside and not out onto the sheets of the bed and tiled white floor.

My Jade. The main me in this universe. I wasn’t a person or twin, as others suggested or played along with. I was her — one among the eight that resided inside her.

The others were as strong as me, but taking form was not their thing. They would rather sit and wait for their presence to be summoned. They liked that I could take physical form, to be the friend and protector Jade needed.

Jade was alone. We were alone. All because of what I did. What I was forced to do.

The only way to help Jade was to be happy. To cheer her up whenever I could. She had cried a lot in the beginning, the tears seemingly never-ending when the police said there was nothing they could do.

No fixing Mommy. Or healing Daddy. Sister was gone and our brother was too. Our family. The people that sang in joy after another celebration about our existence in this world.

Gone.

The man did this. He ruined our lives and expected us to fall. He didn’t think we’d live to be a Tracker. To fit into society with our peculiar traits. With no guidance on how we should act, we’d picked up bad habits when we were homeless.

Stealing was bad. I knew that from when Mommy was alive. Yet, the action got attention. Validation that though I was merely an element, my main being was alive somewhere waging the war on our homelessness.

My mischief was only to help Jade. I aimed to get warmer clothes. Sometimes I misbehaved to get medicine for pain. When Jade was in pain, it hurt me the most. It hurt to feel the agony pulsing through her again and again, bringing forth bad memories and sad emotions.

I never wanted Jade to be sad. When she was sad we all were, and we wanted to burst out and help her. She deserved happiness. To feel loved and accepted.

She accepted me, the darkness that everyone else looked down upon in disgust.

I was different. Weird to all who saw me. If I didn’t copy Jade’s appearance, people screamed and ran from the mere sight of me. I’d never be accepted by most people, but Jade loved me.

She didn’t mind my hollow body or my glowing purple eyes. She’d laugh and sing to me to cheer me up. Even dance and play with my dolls to turn my frown upside down.

Jade was kind, loyal, and one I’d protect for the rest of our existence in this world.

A soft whimper brought my attention back to Jade, and I could see the distress and hurt in her face. She was still in a deep sleep, but that was the perfect place for the nightmares to follow her.

The bad dreams started a few days after the funerals; the voices and hallucinations followed soon after. Even after Father took us in, the nightmares continued. In the end, Jade had to take pills to chase the dreams and hallucinations away.

But they didn’t always work, and those nights were the hardest. That was when Alaric, Tanner, or Bianca would step in. One of them was always around when we needed them the most, and whether it meant holding us until we fell back to sleep or keeping us company while we did other activities to distract ourselves, they wouldn’t leave our side until they knew we were okay.

They were our new family.

The door opened and I looked up to see Alaric. He closed the door gently, not worrying about the darkness that cloaked the room. I couldn’t help boxing us in with my element.

The others were talking about what happened, and I didn’t want anyone coming and hurting Jade. It was my job to protect her, just like I had from the gunshot.

Jade had told me that she sensed something was off and explained that my job was to act like her to the fullest. This was like a mission, like the Tracker assignments we picked, but it was longer and focused mostly on observation.

Our enrollment at school was the start of the clock, the beginning of a four-year mission to track the person responsible for the string of ‘suicides.’ Jade knew that none of the students would kill themselves out of the blue. Not when they were enrolled at Tracker Hive Academy and close to achieving their dreams.

They were controlled. Forced. Compelled to kill. Just like I had been.

We knew the man who had killed our family was going to come for us eventually, and he would try to stop us from becoming true Trackers.

Why? It was obvious.

The moment we officially entered the Tracker Hive system, the harder it would be to take us away. Kidnapping was easier when there weren’t powerful people ready and willing to rescue the victim.

There would be no selling us in the Black Market once we became official Trackers, rather than junior ones. He knew that. As did anyone with the intention of stopping us. Otherwise, we wouldn’t be attending this school.

The only thing I liked about this place was the uniform. Wearing skirts all day long was fun. Not tights, though. Those were stupid.

Jade only followed Father’s orders because it was him. He asked nicely, and we wanted to make him proud. We’d still be on the streets if it wasn’t for him.

Or dead.

Alaric walked to where I was sitting, a hand landing to gently stroke my head.

“Is Jade having a nightmare?”

“Scary dream,” I spoke, my voice just as low as his. I hoped holding her hand would make the dream go away. Turn it into a happy one and rid her of the fear.

Alaric nodded, and he reached out to press his other hand against Jade’s forehead. She whimpered again, but her hurt expression began to ease and a tiny smile tugged her lips.

“There. I shooed it away.” Alaric looked back at me with a smile. I nodded and looked back at Jade.

“Pain. Pain. Pain.”

“The meds are going to work very shortly. You know it takes Jade’s body a bit more time to react to them,” Alaric reasoned.

“Head will stop hurting?”

“Yes. She’s been prescribed some meds to help with the pain for the next couple of weeks.”

“Voices and visions?”

“Zion is working on making more of the pills that helped with her hallucinations and the voices. It will block any of Charles’s attempts if he tries again.”

“Kill,” I muttered and looked away. “Should have killed.”

“Jade told you not to?”

“Yes. Not ready. Look bad on us.”

“She’s right,” Alaric replied and stroked my head again. “Patience. We now at least have enough evidence from the videos to put him back on the wanted list. It’ll make it harder for him to move around.”

I kept my mouth closed, feeling no need to speak anymore regarding the topic. I wanted Jade to be better. Pain-free. Happy. Around her boyfriends.

They made her happy. They were nice to us. Even me. She was better off around them than any other Tracker team.

“Shadow Jade?”

I looked up at him.

“She’ll be okay, and we’ll catch Charles. He won’t take anyone else you love away. Understand?”

“What if he does?” I asked, keeping my tone neutral. “Take someone we love.”

I expected Alaric to make an excuse like he always did. He was neutral and smart. A calculative man of knowledge and understanding. When he took action, it meant he had the force behind him to follow.

We wanted to be as cunningly smart as him.

“You track him down and kill him.”

That made me smile, as it was an answer I wasn’t prepared for.

“Kill. Kill. Kill,” I whispered, the word reminding me of what we’d gone through and what I’d do to protect Jade the next time Charles tried to get rid of us.

We had sufficient evidence, as well as the support of the Tracker Hive organization to take action. Charles was hiding, but we’d be able to track him down.

Chase him out of his hiding spot and torture him before he faced the punishment he deserved.

“I’ll stay with Jade until the others arrive. They’re making their way here.”

“Sleep?” I asked. The mention of the word made me yawn.

I’d tried to sleep, but the pain made it hard. Not to mention my fellow elements’ anxiety about the enemy’s attack.

No one would get near our Jade. Not unless it was someone we trusted.

“Yes, you can sleep. The pain meds should be kicking in any moment now. It will make it easier for you to rest as well. I’m sure Jade will want to see you when she wakes up,” Alaric explained.

“Okay.” I lifted Jade’s hand to my cheek, wanting to make sure it was still warm. I closed my eyes, just for that moment, hoping Jade would heal faster and smile again.

“You did good, Shadow Jade. Thank you for protecting her,” Alaric praised and patted my head again.

“Pain away. Sleep now.” I could feel the pain ease out of Jade’s senses, a lull of calm and relief settling in and making it hard for me to keep my eyes open.

I gave up on trying to stay awake and simply focused on the warmth of Jade’s hand. Warmth meant she was alive, the blood running through her body and pumping within the walls of her veins.

She was safe. I’d keep her safe, but for me to do that, I needed sleep, like Father said.

“Night, Daddy,” I mumbled, unsure if it came out that way, but I heard a soft chuckle.

“Goodnight, Shadow Jade. Sleep well.”

My body faded until I was nothing but an energy source that flowed around with the other seven burning sources of magic. They greeted me like always. Praising me for my watchful protection.

Our host was safe. It was time to sleep, but I let the new rule settle in my head — the task at hand if anyone dared bring sadness and despair to our Jade.

Track and kill.

CHARLES’S MOTIVE AND SWITCHING PERSONALITIES

~ZEUS~

“TSK. Can someone think of a smarter way to rebalance us? This shit is annoying as fuck,” Zeke grumbled out of sheer anger.

I rolled my eyes and answered, “Maybe you could think of that method, Mr. Fucked Up Our Balance. I’m not even mad. Oh, wait. I can’t be, seeing as you’re the one acting like my usual self. Splendid.”

My patience was a clear blessing thanks to our current balance issues. Without it, I was sure my thunderous energy would flicker the lights on and off and start fires.

“I’d think of a solution, but I’m not in the scientific discovery mood. How does one get shit done when you feel like playing around or better yet, being lazy?” Zion pondered, looking deep in thought.

“Hey.” Zackery frowned as he calmly continued, “I’m not lazy. Also, playing around is an activity that keeps me fit as fuck. If I’m going to sweep Jade off her feet, I’m going to have to stay fit. Though, I do feel like finding the cure to our current problem. Too bad you couldn’t give me your brain, Zion.”

“We share the same thought process. Borrow his or some shit,” Zeke huffed.

“I should be saying that,” I muttered, not even bothering to argue about the obvious problem at hand.

The one regarding our girlfriend, Jade. Or should I refer to her as our Hive Queen?

“Any word on Jade?” I asked.

“Alaric went to see how well she’s adapting to the meds,” Zackery replied. “She apparently has a slow reaction time to them.”

“If I was motivated, I would have made something even better,” Zion commented, his legs on the desk in Tanner’s classroom.

We were currently here because we couldn’t last ten minutes without arguing. It was mostly Zeke shouting about the medical team’s incompetence that got us kicked out, but I didn’t blame him.

I’d think the same thing if I was my usual self. The only difference would have been me keeping my mouth shut.

Tanner and Bianca were talking with the police and Tracker agents on scene, who are now snooping the area for any and every clue. I wasn’t expecting them to find anything. This was Charles, after all.

We’d looked into his file when we were sent here to sit and think about what we did, and sure enough, the list of crimes this man had committed was like a long receipt of groceries.

Like that company…CVS? Can’t believe they hadn’t been banned for their notoriously long waste of paper receipts.

It baffled me how he’d exploited every crack in the system to make himself seem like another victim in the wrong place at the wrong time rather than the true criminal he was.

At least this time he wasn’t going to get away.

“Hey, Calvin!” Zeke barked.

I looked over to the orange-haired, plump dude. His fingers paused from their typing madness on his one keyboard that seemed to connect to the three monitors spread out along the three desks he put together to hold all his equipment.

The dude even brought a long enough extension cord to fit all the plugs for his electronics.

His display didn’t even include the two tablets on the desk on his right side and the actual paper notepads to his left.

He’d literally made a computer fortress in less than five minutes and was conducting an investigation of his own while we waited for Bianca to finish up and watch Jade so Alaric and Tanner could have a talk with us.

“Yes, Zeke,” he replied, sliding his glasses up his nose. “If you’re wondering about the status of Queen Jade, I’d be happy to read off her vital signs by hacking into the machine.”

“Don’t do that,” Zackery interjected. “Then he’ll ask you every five minutes.”

“Yeah, don’t,” I added.

“It would be a pain,” Zion noted. “I’d rather nap.”

“Fuck off,” Zeke muttered to the three of us.

“I’d be happy to if we hadn’t been ordered to stay here and I wasn’t worried sick about our girlfriend,” I commented.

Zeke gave me a look, one I’d normally give him if our roles were reversed.

Or back to normal.

“Queen Jade would find this confrontation amusing. I’ll make sure there’s video evidence for her when she wakes. It will cheer her up,” Calvin concluded.

“No,” the four of us said in unison.

“Too late,” Calvin declared. “What else do you need from me? Or can I return to my ongoing investigation? I’d like to back these videos up one last time.”

“Are you referring to the tape of Charles, aka your father, using his controlling magic shit on Jade…or actually, Shadow Jade, to kill her?” Zackery inquired.

The mere mention of the word ‘kill’ brought a pounding in our head, causing the three of us to groan and look over to Zeke, who looked away.

“Stop looking at me,” he mumbled.

“Stop making our heads pound,” I retorted.

“Jeez, you’re legit madly in love with Jade,” Zackery confirmed.

“I thought that was obvious,” Zion noted. “Even for you.”

“Hey,” Zackery whined. “Play nice.”

“I’d love to play around and not be stuck at a desk when we could be finding that son of an ass and putting him behind bars.” Zion’s voice was low and deadly.

We felt the same desire to catch the piece of shit and give him a good ass-kicking before handing him to the authorities.

Or what was left of him after we finished.

Calvin cleared his throat, and the four of us turning our attention back to him.

“If you’re interested, I’m backing up the prime evidence on all my hard drives as well as a secret base hard drive I have set up in Switzerland to make sure it can’t be discovered or deleted by anyone other than myself.”

“Why?” I casually asked. “You think someone would try and hack the Tracker department?”

“Why not?” Calvin tossed back. When none of us had a valid answer, he smirked and fixed his glasses out of habit.

“My dad is smart. He knows he fucked up and would do anything to get rid of the evidence and continue his games. I, on the other hand, am growing impatient with this stupid chase. He also hurt Queen Jade and her shadow. I won’t tolerate that.”

“You know,” Zion began, “it’s weird seeing you serious.”

“As it is seeing you four all imbalanced,” Calvin countered. “Do you want the emergency elixir I created for cases like this, or are you going to wait for Zeke to stop throwing temper tantrums and do it?”

The four of us stared at him.

Did he just say he had a fucking cure?

“You—” Zeke began, but I interrupted.

“Let it go, Zeke. Jeez. Jade would be beyond turned off by your hot-headedness.”

“Only really fits Zeus,” Zion commented.

“Agreed,” Zackery approved.

Zeke glared at us, but we all ignored him and looked back at Calvin.

“What do we gotta do in return?” I questioned.

“I never said there was an exchange,” Calvin replied, his fingers once again flying across the keyboard until an upload screen popped up.

He pulled his chair back and rose, walking over to Tanner’s desk and pulling open the top drawer.

“It should be here somewhere here…ah, yes.” He spoke while his hand scurried through the interior contents and pulled out a thin, rectangular box.

Closing the drawer and walking over to us, he opened the box to reveal four vials.

I felt my brothers’ confusion, the four of us wearing frowns as we looked at the four labeled vials with our names on them — one designated for each of us and each with a different colored substance inside.

“These are my Recovery Elixirs. The green one is for Zackery. Blue for Zion. Gold for Zeus and red for Zeke. I’m currently working on something that could aid Queen Jade with her hallucinations, in terms of long-term therapy. That’s still in the beta stages, but I’m hoping to complete it during the summer months. For now, this should do the trick.”

“And he’s going to poison us,” Zackery concluded.

“Well, at least we’d know it’s him.” Zion shrugged.

“No use if we’re dead,” Zeke grumbled. “The dead can’t talk.”

“Are you sure this stuff is safe? Matter of fact, has it even been tested?” I questioned, ignoring Zeke’s comment and taking my vial to inspect the contents.

The liquid looked like food coloring.

“It should work,” Calvin replied. The four of us gave him a look and he nervously put his hands up in defense. “Seriously.”

“Fine,” I muttered. I popped the cap open and my brothers did the same, the four of us downing the contents in one smooth, synchronized gulp.

Calvin continued, “I did a trial on a mouse and it died in twenty-four hours, but the Elixir is safe for humans.”

Again, we all looked at him, and I didn’t know what would break first — the vials in our hands or Calvin from the gravitational pressure that seemed to spike up with every second.

Zeke was the clear source of it.

“Don’t kill me! Tanner and Alaric approved it and got it tested at the Tracker lab two days ago. We were going to present it to you guys, but it didn’t seem worth doing when you were perfectly balanced. The mouse died because we gave it too much. The amount we put in the vials is just right and has been approved.” He talked so fast that I wondered if he even took a breath between sentences.

Zion sighed. “We’ll make sure we all write our wills down just in case. At least Jade can have my videogames.”

“And my sports uniforms,” Zackery added.

“A picture of me.” I shrugged.

“My porn magazine collection.”

We all looked at Zeke, who leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms, not caring about his response.

“Really?” the three of us asked while Calvin blushed at the response.

“P-porn magazines. Um. Do people still read those? You can watch it for free online.”

“I know. She already has a link to my entire electronic collection. Having the magazines just gives her a physical reminder of all the times I masturbated with her in mind. Random pictures just speed up the process.”

I pinched my nose and groaned, already trying to fight the images attempting to flood our minds.

“Zeke,” I growled. “Keep your damn fantasies to yourself.”

“Jeez. Why do we have to have such a horny brother? Couldn’t you be good at…I don’t know…basketball? Chess? Tap dancing?” Zackery whined.

“He tried all those, remember? He wasn’t bad in tap, but then he did hip hop and won the championships by accident.”

Zeke grinned. “Admit it. My game was flawless and we got to eat cake that day.”

“You’re a nuisance,” I groaned.

“I win championship games all the time and we never get cake anymore.”

“I win every League of Legends war. Carrying the noob players while reading up on the latest scientific discoveries. Did you know they just found a cure for tackling hangovers?”

“They wasted research on such a common thing,” Zackery noted, looking interested. “What is it?”

“Really?” I groaned, feeling more irritated. “I swear we’re completely off course from what we were talking about.”

“Shh,” Zeke hushed. “I’m interested. Continue.”

“It worked!” Calvin proudly declared, drawing our attention once again.

“What worked?” we replied.

“The Elixir!” he exclaimed, giving us a ‘duh’ look.

“Oh,” we replied, only now understanding what he meant.

“I’m a genius!” Calvin commented with pride. “Hmm. My upload should be done now.” He walked back to his desk and just like that, went back to his multiple backup processes.

We stared at him for a long ten seconds before we returned our attention to ourselves.

“He’s useful,” Zion concluded.

“Hmph,” I huffed. “If you’re thinking he can sit with us during lunch, it’s a no.”

“Aww. Zeus is worried Calvin’s going to steal our girl.”

“She’s our queen. She ain’t getting any other lovers. Four cocks are enough.”

“Never enough cock,” Zeke sang. “I wonder if Jade would try pussy?”

We looked at him as he was clearly thinking about it.

“Horny as fuck,” Zackery sighed. “Can we lock his mind up or something?”

“Make him not sit with us,” Zion suggested.

“We already know distance doesn’t do shit when it comes to Zeke,” I reminded, recalling the time he was away for a dance competition and we still got a perfect visual in our heads of his latest tentacle porn fantasy.

The mere thought had an image of Jade wrapped up with those slimy suckers and her moaning my name for me to fuck her with my cock.

Ugh!

“Calvin!” I looked back at him, noticing him flinch out of his concentration and look our way.

“What?”

“Put thought blockers on your damn list of experiments.”

“You’re just mad that you can’t enjoy my fantasies the way I do,” Zeke literally sang, his legs up on the desk as he leaned back in his chair. “I keep saying you can join in on our fun and you keep acting like a civil bastard.”

“Fuck you,” I huffed.

“I do actually wonder if Jade would make out with a girl?” Zackery pondered.

“Seeing as Jade does the complete opposite of what we think, I’m sure that’s a yes and she’d enjoy it,” Zion replied.

“And I’d videotape it and masturbate every single day,” Zeke concluded.

“You already do that,” the three of us answered back.

“Yes, but then I’d just add an extra session in. Good workout, if you ask me.”

“Of course.” Zackery rolled his eyes. “My ass has to go to the gym and lift weights while this guy strokes his cock twice a day.”

“One session per hand.” Zeke winked.

“You’re crazy.” Zion shook his head. “That’s an addiction.”

“That’s not what Google says,” Zeke noted. “I checked.”

“Can we get back on track?” I mumbled, annoyed with how we’d moved from the important topics to Zeke’s sex-fantasy-masturbation addiction.

“Perfect timing,” Calvin announced, drawing our attention once again.

“What?” the four of us asked.

Calvin turned his head to the door, the four of us looking over to see Alaric and Tanner at the entrance.

“Looks like the Elixir worked,” Tanner announced and entered the room.

“It did, Professor Asshole,” Calvin greeted.

“What did I say about calling me that?” Tanner snarled.

“Queen Jade said I should. Simply following her absolute commands, sir,” Calvin replied. Tanner scowled while Alaric grinned.

“How’s Jade?” I immediately asked, feeling bits of anxiety from the rest of the group.

All jokes aside, we were really worried about her. Somehow in less than a year, she’d managed to fold herself into our group, like a single warrior overtaking an entire kingdom.

No wonder she’s the queen. She conquered each of us, making her mark and leaving us bereft at the thought of losing her. If it weren’t for her swift thinking skills, we would have lost her.

“She’s responding to the pain meds well. Shadow Jade was watching her before I arrived, and now Bianca is there. The doctors say she may have a few migraines but there’s no physical damage. What she did was extremely brilliant, but it’s dangerous for someone who lacks stable mental health. I’m a tad worried about Jade’s history with hallucinations and suicidal thoughts, but Calvin is working on something that could counter it while inhibiting the signals in brain cells that can trigger her hallucinations. Obviously, it’s not a cure, but a prevention plan to give Jade more time to adjust to what happened,” Alaric explained.

“Someone want to explain how that asshole was able to get in here without anyone noticing?” Zackery asked.

“Magic,” Zion replied.

“Sure, magic was involved, but jeez. How are we supposed to avoid this happening again?” I asked.

“Not to forget, this is basically the third time he, or someone working with him, has gone after her. First, it was the wind trap with Zackery. Then in the change room where he almost succeeded in convincing Jade to kill herself. And now this. If Jade wasn’t the quick thinker she is, she would have truly ended up dead. We can’t let her be targeted a fourth time.”

“I doubt he’d target her a fourth time,” Calvin piped up. “I know I wouldn’t be stupid enough to try again.”

“It’s worked each time to get him closer to achieving his goal. I don’t see why he wouldn’t continue,” I voiced.

“You all don’t understand the way my dad thinks,” Calvin commented.

“Anyone wanna elaborate on that information or are we just going to save that for a rainy-day bedtime story?” Zackery inquired.

“I’m intrigued.” Zion looked at Calvin, taking a long up-and-down survey of him. “No offense, but you look nothing like him.”

“None taken.” Calvin smirked. “I’m in disguise.”

“As in, you look unattractive on purpose,” Zeke muttered.

“Not to say that your current looks make you so,” Zion tried to translate to sound better. “I mean, if you kept your uniform nicer, instead of wearing the same one with the stain on it, and combed your hair better, and didn’t carry a ginormous bag with your three computers, monitors, tablets, and whatever else you’ve got in there, and didn’t wobble, you’d be decent.”

“That sounded far worse than Zeke’s comment,” Zackery said.

“Yup. Totally not judging,” I concluded with another eye roll. “You’re saying you don’t keep up with your looks for disguise purposes?”

“No.” Tanner was the one to answer, gaining our full attention as we turned to look at him.

He walked further into the room with Alaric, who closed the door and put up a soundproof magic barrier with a tap of his cane.

The two of them took their stances at the front of the room, making it feel as though we were about to take a class.

“He’s actually in disguise. Calvin has been undercover for a while now, changing his appearance every time his four years are up in order to monitor the school activity. He’s essentially our under-radar Tracker,” Tanner explained, and Alaric nodded with affirmation.

“He’s been cooperating with us for years now and graduated from Tracker Hive Academy before he took on this role. He’s an Elite Tracker and you guys can easily look him up in the database if you ever figure out his true name.”

“You make it sound like a challenge.” Calvin fixed his glasses.

“Maybe I’m making it into one.” Alaric smiled.

“It would be only fun if Queen Jade was joining in.” Calvin frowned.

“She’s ours,” the four of us said in unison.

“Protective much?” Tanner muttered under his breath.

“Can we just admit you four have fallen madly in love with her?” Calvin concluded.

“Shut up, Calvin,” the four of us barked back.

Alaric’s grin turned into a wide smile. “Aside from the obvious facts being presented here, why don’t we get down to business so you all can stay with Jade while we handle the cleanup?”

We all looked back at Alaric and Tanner, nodding in agreement and going into Tracker mode.

“The previous problem we had was not having enough evidence on Charles Sokolov of District A74 to initiate an active search for him. You all read the reports regarding Jade’s family and the fire that ended up destroying any evidence we might have obtained to support Jade’s case. Due to the missing pieces, Charles was able to use it to his advantage and play the victim,” Alaric explained. “That was, of course, before the string of felonies and coincidences he’s been able to sneak himself out of.

“The problem with Charles is that he knows the human police system and the Tracker system like the back of his hand. He’s been able to avoid having the hammer smashed down on his actions for years, and up until this point, he’s been able to slither from our grasp.”

“Why?” I asked. “How is he so knowledgeable about our ways when we’re always upgrading our methods for catching criminals? I could understand standard police policies and their old ways of catching a criminal, but we’re innovative and changing every month, if not every other week. How is he able to keep up?”

“Inside sources,” Tanner replied.

“He also used to be an Elite Tracker,” Alaric revealed

“Oh,” the four of us replied, everything now clicking into place and making sense.

“Well, no shit. Why the hell are we finding out that key piece of info now?” I muttered into our mental communication.

“You’d think they would have shared that already,” Zion added.

“There had to be a reason, right?” Zackery questioned.

“Doubt it. Why would they tell us that when we’re new? Novana District only helps others when they’re returning a favor, which I’m sure Alaric was owed with all the times he’s helped multiple districts with his actions.”

“I’m sure they’re also telling us because they know we wouldn’t hurt Jade,” Zion added.

“True,” the rest of us muttered and tuned back into the conversation.

“Why is he so obsessed with Jade, specifically?” Zeke questioned, his eyes narrowing as he looked more serious. “I get it. Jade is extremely unique and not the typical nineteen-year-old with all eight elements. However, even with her being a Hive Queen, it doesn’t explain why he’s obsessed with her.”

“Jade is powerful, and with the right training she would be a major threat,” Zion noted. “However, it’s not just Charles. She lived a year on the streets, and according to the reports, she was chased down consistently every other day. Why? It can’t just be the Black Market. Money isn’t the only factor here.”

“Money is nothing in the Black Market,” Zackery acknowledged. “Sure, it buys shit, but it doesn’t mean something that’s more expensive has a higher value. Multiple organizations down there want Jade and there’s not enough reasoning for it. There has to be a catch.”

“Is there something else you’re not telling us about Jade? We understand Shadow Jade and the rarity of being able to make a physical form with your elements. If she can do it with her Shadow Jade, maybe she could do it with some of her other elements if she was trained properly?” I voiced. “We’re still missing something.”

“How many of Jade’s elements can take physical form?” Zeke inquired.

“All of them,” Tanner responded flatly.

We were all silent for a moment before Zeke spoke.

“What? Sorry. Say that again, because I think you just told me that all eight of them can take on physical forms. First off, that’s impossible because the mental capacity alone would be far too great, and the elements would literally have to be able to reconcile their differences. And that’s setting aside the fact that those rules apply with the summoning of ONE element in physical form.”

I figured Zeke would be the best candidate to counter this, given that both his dark element and light element had the ability to take physical form like Shadow Jade. It had taken Zeke years of training and meditation to do it, and it was extremely rare that we got to see both elements out in their forms and ready for fighting action.

Even that left Zeke out of it for a few days.

“To have her summon eight elements in physical form would literally be suicidal,” Zeke stressed.

“She can,” Tanner replied. “Not only can she do that and stay conscious long enough to fight, but she can also summon all of them at the same time. There’s no limit to her abilities, Zeke. All eight of them can take on the shapes of their choosing, like Shadow Jade in her normal form, or can replicate Jade’s image and be her ‘twin’ for the day. Would it tire Jade out? Hell yeah, and she’d be a cranky, exhausted mess, but if push came to shove and it meant saving the people she loved, she wouldn’t hesitate. They all are able to use their power freely and have a weapon of choice they enjoy using.”

“Shit…” the four of us cursed, realizing the extent of how lethal that could be if Jade could harness it.

“She’s only nineteen, so imagine when she graduates from Tracker Hive and becomes official,” Zion muttered. “She would be enough to take an entire team down.”

“And that’s with her solely,” Zackery stressed. “Imagine her on a team with other Trackers.”

“Better yet,” I mumbled. “Her on a team with her Hive.”

My brothers looked at me, understanding both my worry and intrigued nature regarding this. The initial thought of it was like finding out the water girl on a cheer team was actually an amazing cheerleader with all the routines memorized at a championship game after the head cheerleader got injured.

Only this was far more significant than that analogy.

“Jade with eight elements that can take physical form or replicate her human image to do their own thing. That’s a nine-hit wonder right there, before factoring in the remaining four individuals on her team,” Tanner elaborated.

Alaric nodded and crossed his arms. “Now think about it. Four remaining members that so happen to be Jade’s Hive, adding another set of eight elements that are strong in their own unique ways.”

“Extremely dangerous power if in the wrong hands,” Zackery replied.

“That’s not the most dangerous part. You guys are skimming the surface of the problem and my dad’s motives,” Calvin spoke up.

“What is more dangerous than a Hive Queen badass like Jade with her eight elemental copies and having us four as her Hive?” Zackery questioned in one breath.

We looked back at Calvin as he pulled his glasses off to clean them, his hands already at work with the cleaning cloth that he pulled out of one of the many pockets he had sewed into his uniform.

“What happens when Queen Jade is close to y’all? Close as in intimate, whether it be a simple touch or better yet, kiss?”

Oh fuck…

“Our elements go out of whack,” Zeke answered casually. “So what?”

“Go out of whack in a good or bad way?” Calvin questioned.

“That depends, doesn’t it?” Zackery questioned. “There are blackouts all the time, but I’d probably blame that on Alaric not paying the school power bill.”

Tanner groaned and Alaric chuckled. “I pay the bill on time every month, Zackery. I’d try and pay more attention to your surroundings.”

Zackery pouted his lips and Zion shook his head. “Again, questioning your level of intelligence.”

“Again, glad it wasn’t me saying it,” Zeke added.

“Our elements go wild, but essentially spike in power,” I answered.

“Exactly. They double, if not triple, in power,” Calvin elaborated. “You guys feel energized and your elements are charged up.”

“That’s…” Zackery trailed off and looked over to the rest of us. “Yeah. It’s like a charge up.”

“You’re trying to say that if we’re intimate with or in close proximity to Jade, our powers will charge up, leaving us even stronger and more of a threat to the enemy?”

“Yes.” Calvin nodded and lifted his glasses up to make sure he hadn’t missed a spot. “But what’s the valuable point you’re missing?”

“I don’t know,” Zackery admitted. “We get all charged and powerful-like. The longevity of the boost is long as well, and that could give us even better stamina?”

“Yes, and…?” Calvin looked at us like we were real idiots right now.

“I’m stumped,” Zion confessed.

“I’ve got no clue,” Zeke sighed.

Everyone looked to me as if waiting for me to admit my struggle, but I was finally connecting the dots.

Shit.

“It’s both ways,” I declared with a soft whisper.

“What?” my brothers asked.

“When we get charged, so does Jade. Our intimacy or simple presence with our connector doesn’t just charge us. It charges her, too. Imagine. She’s not like a charging station. She’s a fucking powerhouse. Each charge she has with each of us will pump up two of her elements. That rejuvenation can go to her prompting them into physical form. Imagine her doing that with all four of us.”

“Fully charged elemental Jades,” Zion whispered.

“Eight of them,” Zackery muttered.

“All with the ability to harness their own weapon and work independently or as a unit,” Zeke added.

“And they would have fully charged us as backup,” I concluded.

“Bingo. We have a winner,” Calvin exaggerated dryly. “That’s why he wanted Jade when she was younger. It would have been the easiest way to manipulate and control her. All he would have needed to do is play the waiting game until her Hive either found her or she found them. Then he’d have control of not only a powerhouse, but one connected with fully charged batteries and another unit with eight elements.”

“Damn,” we replied.

Alaric sighed and nodded. “This is what makes Jade the strongest Tracker candidate, but also the most dangerous.”

“The plan was to get her into Tracker Hive as an agent once she was upgraded from her student status,” Tanner explained. “But then a little bird convinced the magic council that it would be wise for Jade to attend Tracker Hive Academy to build up her skills.”

“All that sounds like is someone stuffing their turkey with the best seasoning and waiting for the right moment to steal it from the oven fully cooked,” Zeke muttered.

“That’s exactly what Charles’s plan is,” Calvin affirmed. “He must have known Jade wasn’t ready strength-wise and still wouldn’t be beneficial to him. Also, if she was promoted to official Tracker status, she would have enough security provided by Tracker Hive themselves to be safe from Charles. Or at least, unreachable.”

“But he delayed it,” I spoke. “He’s now either trying to break down her mental walls to make it easier for him to control her or testing her progress as she goes through Tracker Hive. She’ll gain knowledge and skills, and have the perfect environment to train herself toward her goals. Once she graduates, all he’ll need is one chance to take her before she becomes an official Tracker and we’ll be screwed.”

“Exactly.” Calvin nodded. “Either way, I doubt he’s going to pull a stunt like this again.”

“Why not?” Zion asked.

“Too predictable, and he likes variety. If this made the news, they would merely describe it as ‘multiple kidnapping attempts’ or something along those lines. He wants to be known for the differentiation in his tasks and for them to be something that can be shown off to the public with irony to it. The fire that burned Jade’s family home down? Attention-grabbing headline that gains readers. An article about a dead girl found in the gymnasium before assembly at Tracker Hive would, again, grasp the attention of the public. If it’s not unique enough to let his name grow under whatever reputation he’s aiming to achieve, he won’t do it.”

“All right,” I replied and sighed. “Then what should we be preparing for? We don’t know what his next move will be.”

“We kind of do. He’s still after Jade,” Calvin replied.

“Yes, but again, that doesn’t address how we’d prepare for it,” I argued.

“We can train, obviously, and it would be a good start for Jade to work on prolonging her elements’ staying time in physical forms,” Calvin explained. “Other than that, until I can get some more hints, we’re out of luck.”

“There’s one more question I have,” Zackery spoke up. “I understand how epic Jade is with us included, but are we missing one more thing? Like, is what we just discussed about Jade and her Hive Queen epicness all it is?”

“What are you thinking about?” Zion pondered.

“I’m still wrapping my mind around this whole thing, but I’m sure there are people in our district or Jade’s that have Hives with connectors. Not all of them were on Black Market posters and had people desperate to grab them. Why is Jade the only one who went through that? We’re still missing something,” Zackery concluded.

“Sometimes you’re actually a genius.” Calvin smiled.

“Thanks. At least someone around here can do more than insult my intelligence.” Zackery beamed at Calvin’s praise.

We ignored him but looked to Calvin, waiting for him to elaborate on whatever Zackery was hinting toward.

“You’re right. There’s one more thing you guys are overlooking.”

“What is it?” I asked in frustration. “You might as well spell it out for us.”

“We’re ready for the reveal,” Zackery emphasized.

“We can’t be helpful if we don’t know all the facts,” Zion added.

“Just tell us already,” Zeke emphasized.

Calvin smirked and put his glasses back on, lowering his hands to his sides and glancing around each of us before he nodded.

“You’re not the only Hive for Queen Jade.”

DON’T JUDGE A BOOK BY ITS COVER

~ZEKE~

“WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY?!” Zeus barked in pure astonishment.

“I think we must have heard wrong,” Zackery concluded, feeling just as confused and shocked as the rest of us.

“We must have water in our ears because what you just said makes no sense,” Zion commented.

“Let’s just hear that again, because I think we misheard you saying we’re not the only Hive for Jade.”

Calvin pulled his chair out and turned it so the back was facing us. He sat down, resting his arms on top of it.

“I said what I said,” he simply replied, adding a shrug to it. “I don’t get why you guys are so stunned.”

“Well, I don’t know. Maybe because being a queen of a Hive is rather rare in itself and the chances of a Hive finding their queen was considered slim when explained to us,” I drawled out. “Now you’re trying to tell us that our Jade, who is the queen of our four-member Hive, is suddenly the queen of not just our Hive, but another group?”

“That’s exactly what I’m implying,” Calvin responded, staring at us like we were idiots or something.

We stared back at him, the silence in the room growing longer and longer until Alaric cleared his throat and decided to aid our understanding about all of this.

“What Calvin is saying is that it’s been discovered that the four of you aren’t Jade’s sole Hive. She potentially has a second.”

“Potentially, meaning you guys can’t confirm it,” Zion elaborated.

“Yes,” Tanner replied. “However, it seems very likely given the recent blood work we did.”

“You’re able to get hints of whether an individual is a part of a Hive through blood work?” Zackery questioned, sounding really intrigued.

“Yes,” Alaric replied. “It’s more difficult, but our technology is growing day by day and we used a piece of new machinery to test if it was working. We could easily tell Jade was the Queen of a Hive, but now it’s showing a second. It’s still faint, which tells us that it could either be a fluke or that Jade hasn’t encountered this group yet, but if we do another analysis in a few months and see it again, it may be a firm confirmation that another Hive is waiting for her.”

“Shit,” we muttered.

“No wonder Charles wants her,” I mumbled. “She’d literally be her own Tracker force.”

“And because of controlling magic, he’d be able to use us with ease. The Tracker Organization wouldn’t dare to try to kill us due to our importance, and the general police would think of it as more of a hostage situation. They would have to try and capture us, but couldn’t necessarily kill us,” Zion explained.

“Basically, we’ve learned that Jade is a gold mine of power and Charles wants her. How are we going to stop him from getting to her?” Zackery asked.

“Obviously his plan of forcing students to kill themselves won’t be useful anymore,” Zeus added.

“That’s simple,” Alaric replied. “You watch her 24/7.”

All four of us groaned and rolled our eyes.

“That ain’t happening,” the four of us replied.

“Why not?” Tanner looked unamused.

“Jade isn’t going to let us stalk every moment of her life,” Zeus explained.

“She’s independent. She doesn’t need us babysitting her,” Zion noted.

“I’d be happy to volunteer and—” Calvin began.

“NO!” the four of us snapped back, our combined spike of jealousy very obvious.

“Besides, she despises the idea and would purposely hide from us,” Zackery reminded.

“Hide? Better yet, she can let Shadow Jade act like her. The only reason we’d know the difference is her intense hatred for tights,” I added.

“KILL!”

“Ah!” all of us screamed and flinched at the sudden declaration. Seven pairs of eyes landed on Shadow Jade, who was standing right behind me.

She was wearing pink pajamas with purple unicorns on them and sporting a messy case of bedhead.

“Kill?” she questioned, looking a lot happier than before.

“Jeez, Shadow Jade. You’re going to give us all heart attacks like that,” I groaned, but shuffled over a bit on my chair and patted the space left. “You want to sit?”

“Sit!” She beamed and moved to sit next to me, looking perfectly content with the little space while hugging her dark unicorn plushie.

“Shadow Jade? What are you doing here?” Zeus asked. He looked extra annoyed but was clearly keeping his voice low for Shadow Jade’s sake.

“Not sleepy anymore,” she replied. “Jade awake!”

“She is?” the four of us replied.

Alaric and Tanner looked relieved, and Calvin grinned happily.

“Yes. Need medicine, but yuck!” Shadow Jade shook her head and stuck her tongue out. “Killing better!”

“She’d rather kill than take her medication,” Tanner groaned. “That’s totally your fault,” he directed to Alaric.

“I could try to talk her into it. Why don’t we head over there?” Alaric suggested. “Shadow Jade? Want to walk with papa?”

“Yes!” Shadow Jade shot back up and skipped over to Alaric, hooking her arm around his free one that wasn’t holding his cane.

“I’ll go first,” Alaric announced. “Maybe I can get her to take her medicine.”

“All right,” Tanner replied.

We nodded to Alaric in response and Calvin waved. Once Alaric left, the magic barrier around the room dissipated.

The four of us knew we should be leaving, but we still had some questions for a particular glasses-wearing nerd.

Tanner sighed and snapped his fingers; a new soundproof magic wall took Alaric’s barrier’s place.

“You guys still got questions? If so, hurry up so we can go,” Tanner rushed.

“You just want to see for yourself that Jade is all right,” I confronted with a sly grin. His cheeks blushed in return and he didn’t answer me.

We all smirked at being right and looked back to Calvin as he worked on powering down his equipment.

“What do you want to ask?” he inquired as he worked on multitasking.

“Why are you going up against your dad?” Zackery asked.

“And are you really his son? ‘Cause really, you look nothing like him,” I questioned, Charles’s image engraved in my memory.

“Why are you obsessed with Jade?” Zeus inquired.

“And what benefit do you get from helping our Hive? You’re not a part of it, clearly, and you lack in the elements department. Aside from your good computer skills and apparent potion techniques, you’re don’t bring much to the table that we don’t already have. So what’s in it for you?” Zion demanded.

I personally believed Zion didn’t like the fact that someone else was taking over his usual role and producing results a lot faster than him due to multiple circumstances.

None of us liked to feel like the weakest link, and though it was an assinine move, we’d rather make anyone else feel that way than accept that role for ourselves.

Calvin finished packing up his hard drives before he sat back down and got right into answering.

“Let’s go from the easiest to explain to the more complicated ones. Why am I obsessed with Jade? I don’t think of my loyalty to someone like Jade as obsessive. When you compare me to the four of you, I’m merely a puppy going up against four Alpha wolves who are extra thirsty.”

I frowned, feeling the others’ irritation at the comment, but at the same time, he was actually right.

He continued, “Am I really Charles Sokolov’s son? Yes. You can happily go check his file and records and you’ll see my Tracker name and DNA match results. Obviously, my true name wouldn’t be on the file seeing as privacy is a huge thing down at Tracker Hive, even amongst one another, but once this ordeal is over, I’ll happily show my birth certificate to prove my background.”

We were quiet, a cue to Calvin that he could continue on to the next point.

“What benefit do I have helping the Hive? Well, first off, I was assigned to this specific case before any of you, so I really have nothing to do with the Hive, nor do I want to be a part of your crew.” He shrugged while saying it. “It’s obvious based on appearance alone that I’m not cool enough to sit with the Trouble Four, and I’m sure Jade is nice to me only because it’s a character trait of hers to tolerate everyone, even if they aren’t close to her level of class and hierarchy. Yes, I haven’t shown off what I can do in the element department, but it hasn’t really been necessary for me to show all my cards, now has it?”

We all exchanged looks, noticing the slight uplift of the corner of Tanner’s mouth that told me he was enjoying Calvin getting to shine.

I could feel Zeus’s anger boiling, but he was doing his usual ‘analyze before starting a shit show’ move, which I had to admit was really pro of him since I didn’t have that type of patience when the roles were reversed.

Zackery and Zion seemed pretty calm, even if we were being insulted in some weird, underlying way.

We do deserve it for being an ass to him, but ugh. Why did we even ask?

This only made me want to go see Jade.

“Anyhow, this case and my attendance at this school are to aid in protecting Jade while we track down my dad. Obviously, there’s a breach somewhere in the Magic Council and we can’t do anything without catching the culprit. If my dad is caught, there’s a huge probability that he’ll bring as many individuals down with him as possible. Therefore, it’s only a matter of time before the rat is chased out of its hidey-hole and we wrap this shit up. Then I won’t be in your territory and your Queen can keep being your sole priority in life.”

He took a deep breath and took his glasses off again, his orange eyes narrowing and sending shivers through all four of us. Those orbs may have not been the same shade as Charles’s, but in this very second, I could see the vivid resemblance in his eyes.

That, and the vast danger hiding within them.

“Why am I going after my dad? Well, the man is a fucking psychopath and the sole reason for my existence was to be his little real-life dummy for trial and error. I was the lovely mistake he had with my drug addict mother, whom he ended up killing when her usefulness went sour. I’m the son who dealt with his bat shit theories and determination for me to be the best of the best. To be his prodigy and follow his footsteps in his path of world domination. His goal is to bring world leaders down to their knees and watch innocent civilians quiver in fear. He only wants those with gifts and magic that benefit him to thrive and would happily burn off anyone that won’t follow his rules.

“After multiple experiments, including tampering with my DNA, he locked me up in a shipping container with the intention of killing me. Lucky for me, I was a smart bastard child that he tried to mold into his own image, so I got myself out, swam the remaining distance to land, and was able to locate the nearest Tracker Hive base. That was about the same time he found out about Jade and almost destroyed her. My purpose isn’t just your average, ‘Let’s get revenge on Daddy Dearest’ type of story. I want to be the one to beat him at his own games and prove to him that I got here all on my own. That it had nothing to do with his forced methods of teaching, like starving me for weeks or other forms of torture.”

Our mouths hung open, the four of us blown away by what he’d just revealed and the seriousness in his voice that, in fact, sounded just like Charles.

Fuck.

Don’t get me wrong, our life was a shit show and we still dealt with bits of our past losses, but Calvin’s revelation had us stumped as to how we could even reply.

What could we even say? Yeah, sorry for treating you like a snobby, nerd follower because we were simply annoyed by your utmost loyalty to our girlfriend. We didn’t know your father had fucked you over since your birth, killed your mom, locked you up and experimented on you for weeks if not years, and left you to die after making sure you knew how pathetic and useless you were to him. Oh right, and he probably did some crazy sexual shit to fuck you over even more. Fuck…

Calvin grinned and put his glasses back on, returning to usual demeanor as he rose and began to put his monitors away.

“That’s essentially it,” he concluded. “With all the hints we’ve gathered and progress we’ve made this year alone, I can see us catching my dad sooner or later. I’m positive Jade won’t be the target next time because that would be stupid, but I know one thing my dad would do.”

He zipped up his backpack and worked on putting it on his back. Holding the straps, he looked back at us.

“If he can’t get what he wants, he won’t hesitate to get rid of it entirely. If he doesn’t get it, no one does.” His smile fell and there was that cold, haunting expression again. “And I won’t let that happen to Queen Jade.”

He walked to the door but paused in front of it. “As much as Jade hates being watched, I suggest you guys do just that. My dad isn’t going to be an idiot and attack right away. He’s going to wait for the prime moment where we all move on with our lives and think he’s gone back into hiding. The moment that happens is the perfect time for him to strike. Hopefully, we’re not going to be the fools at the other end of the barrel of his cunning plan.”

With a look over his shoulder, he grinned. “I’ll head over to see Jade first. Don’t worry, I’ll make it quick so you guys can have all the time you want with her. I just need a quick blood sample to make the medicine and Elixirs she’ll need. See ya.”

He opened the door and headed out, closing it gently behind him.

His absence only made the silence deepen, until Tanner sighed and stood up, his fingers snapping and breaking the spell.

“One thing you guys will learn at this academy,” he began, making his way to the door, “is that anyone, and I mean anyone, can be stronger than you. They can reach higher ranks, get the perfect scores, be the most intelligent individual in the room or the most talented Tracker undercover. What other districts don’t teach is to stop judging books by their covers and try unlocking what’s beneath the surface.”

He reached for the door and looked back at our stunned faces.

“In school, I was the shy, gay kid who got picked on because of my extremely thin appearance and wacky hairstyle. No one knew that I was thin because I was homeless and couldn’t afford a meal a day. No one knew that I was homeless because my family kicked me out after finding out I was gay. No one knew that my family only found out because the guy I thought liked me recorded our make-out session and plastered it all over the internet to mock me, right before sending it to my pastor parents and ruining my dreams of becoming the medical doctor I wanted to be.”

He actually smiled, though it didn’t reach his eyes, a hollow sadness in them as he continued, “The only people who understood me were Alaric and Bianca. They were well-off individuals, from powerful, dignified families. No way did they need to be around someone like me, a piece of garbage who couldn’t afford a new pair of clothes. Everyone told them to stay away from me. That I was nothing because I smelled, wore ripped clothes, and couldn’t afford to feed myself. What could I contribute to this community? Especially in terms of becoming a Tracker?”

He looked away and faced the door again.

“Yet, they stayed and became my friends. We were just acquaintances in the beginning. A simple greeting here. An offer to go out for lunch there. They offered me clothes at first, but I refused, though when it came to the winter months, I really had no choice unless I wanted to freeze to death. It took me a while to trust them. Not because they didn’t have the purest intentions for me, but because I’d been stabbed in the back multiple times by all those who said they cared for and loved me. All for it to end with me in that shithole predicament. It took a full year before I accepted their assistance and another year of living in Alaric’s mansion before I began to trust and want to help others.”

He took a deep breath and continued, “I trained every day to fix my broken appearance. I gained weight and then muscle and worked twice as hard to achieve one thing. My ultimate goal was to go back to my old neighborhood and let those who mocked me and made my life a living hell see the end result of the wickedness they tried to inflict on me. I eventually did, while wearing my official Tracker Hive Officer uniform and in the company of Alaric and Bianca. Not only did I prove to that small town what I’d been able to accomplish after all they did to me, but I was also able to stand there with pride, with the two people who loved and supported me. They didn’t judge me for the torn clothes on my back or the stench that clung to my skin. They saw the potential in me and the determination to get out of the predicament I was in. They fell in love with me at my lowest and continued loving me at my most successful peak.”

He looked back over his shoulder again, his eyes scanning our expressions.

“As for those who ridiculed me? They regretted it and apologized profusely for their ways. It was interesting to see how things had turned out, really. Some of those individuals who once had the best bodies, looks, charm, and fortune had become the complete opposite of what they once were. It was what I needed to move forward in life, and when we took Jade into our care, we raised her to accept all individuals, no matter where they fall on the scale of success.”

We looked at the floor, feeling a little ashamed by our unconscious behavior. It wasn’t like we didn’t understand what we were doing. It just felt shitty being called out for it.

Our mother had taught us to treat everyone equally. Guess we forgot.

“I’m heading back. Don’t take too long bickering with one another,” he announced.

We sat there quietly for a few minutes, but our thoughts were on similar wavelengths.

“We really should stop thinking of Calvin as a nuisance and consider him as more of a team member with the same goals,” Zackery acknowledged.

Zion sighed. “As much as I hate feeling less valuable in cases like these, he’s already proved he has major skills we never expected. If we’re underestimating him, so is everyone else.”

“Not like he’s going into the field anyway. He can be our eyes and ears in terms of communication and spying on the enemy. He’s good at what he does on those multiple computers and tablets of his,” Zeus admitted.

“As much as I hate his closeness with Jade, he has no intention of harming her. We’re being dicks.”

“Not even long dicks. Small, puny ones,” Zackery emphasized.

“That’s just horrible.” Zion looked annoyed.

“Let’s just redeem ourselves and be nice to him so we can return to our thick-ass cock selves, all right?” Zeus said. “I’m not settling for being a small dick.”

I smiled and shook my head at their commentary, but they did have a point.

We’re all trying to capture the same person. That means working together to achieve that goal. Charles has the advantage because he has connections helping him. We’ve got to start using our resources better, with the intention of protecting Jade while we try and catch this son of an asshole.

“Let’s go check on our Hive Queen,” I encouraged, and my three brothers nodded, all of them feeling the same burst of conviction.

We’ll get this guy and then we’ll have to see if this Hive 2.0 is the real deal.

MORE TO YOU THAN MEETS THE EYE

~JADE~

“QUEEN JADE! I WAS SO WORRIED!”

I was debating whether to feel annoyed or pleased with Calvin’s comment as he continued to cry in my lap.

Literally crying with his arms splayed on my legs. Why is he so emotional, anyway? Am I that important as a friend?

“Sad? Kill?” Shadow Jade suggested happily, clapping her hands from her spot next to me. We were currently sharing a bed after she’d hugged me for a solid ten minutes.

“No, Shadow Jade. He’s good.” I smiled and reached over to pat her head. She beamed at my affection, wrapping an arm around mine and hugging it. Her dark unicorn plushie was balanced on my left thigh and Shadow Jade’s right one.

I’d woken up after having a really pleasant dream. It had Alaric, Bianca, and Tanner in it, and Shadow Jade and I were sitting at the table in front of a large cake. I was about to blow out the candles out when Zackery, Zion, Zeus, and Zeke came by. They carried gifts and wore the sexiest suits. Shadow Jade sang the happy birthday melody, replacing all the words with KILL, and we laughed and blew out the candles, enjoying each other’s company.

What a wonderful dream it was, and it made me hope to enjoy something like it one day. A party with all the people I loved, especially my Trouble Four.

Waking up after what had happened in the gymnasium, I was greeted with Shadow Jade’s happy eyes. I knew inside she was frightened and depressed about me getting hurt. Almost as if she hadn’t done enough.

If it weren’t for her, I wouldn’t even be alive.

She looked so relieved to see me awake and breathing without an oxygen mask. Enough to make her cry and offer her dark unicorn plushie to keep me safe at night when she was sleeping.

That was something Shadow Jade rarely did. One of the few things everyone knew about Shadow Jade was that her dolls and plushies were like trophies. If she was offering it to me, or anyone, for that matter, it was a big deal.

Bianca had greeted me once Shadow Jade had calmed down, and we chit-chatted about girly things, totally dismissing the events that had landed me here in the first place.

It was something I loved about Bianca. She’d wait until I was ready to speak about something before discussing it. I wondered if she knew just how important that was to me. Or how it aided with my thought process as I worked on absorbing what had happened and the way to approach recovering from it.

We’d chatted until Alaric had come back from talking with the doctors and nurses that had taken care of me while I’d been unconscious. They had done a bunch of tests, making sure that I was physically okay.

As for mentally? I hadn’t gotten far in that department just yet.

Sure, I was here trying to keep the tiny smile on my face as I looked at poor Calvin, who was all emotional about me and Shadow Jade almost getting hurt, but my mind was like an overcrowded shopping center, filled with thoughts, worries, and fears.

I was an anxious bundle of nerves, ready to explode at any second.

The pounding that seemed to come and go in my head had a dull numbness to it. I was trying not to make it obvious that it was troublesome, but I wondered if it was an after-effect of what I’d pulled off with Shadow Jade.

I wouldn’t mention it if I could avoid it, because I didn’t want everyone, particularly Alaric, freaking out.

He may have appeared calm, but I knew deep down he was ready to get to the bottom of this, as well as figure out how Charles had so easily infiltrated the school. Not only did this show the risk to the general student body, it also told us that someone was determined to bring Tracker Hive down.

I was sure this incident was already under wraps with how swiftly Tracker Hive investigators worked, but it still worried me. What if someone did find out about what had happened?

My fear wasn’t of what could have happened if I hadn’t come up with a plan, but more along the lines of worrying about what impact it would have on Alaric and the foundation he had built for those students who were considered troubled or too powerful for the standard level of curriculum.

Without Tracker Hive Academy, there would be no place for those of us who didn’t fit society’s standards.

No school. No diploma. No chance at opportunities. No future.

When you analyzed how seriously Tracker Hive Academy impacted many students’ lives, it really proved to be a necessity in a society that never liked those who were different.

“You don’t need to cry, Calvin. I’m okay,” I reassured him and patted his head.

“Cake! Kill!” Shadow Jade cheered.

Calvin lifted his head up to look at the two of us.

“Cake?” he sniffed.

“Shadow Jade and I like to eat cake whenever we’re sad. That or ice cream. Seeing as you’re crying, I’m sure she wants to cheer you up by offering cake,” I explained.

“Ah,” he replied and nodded his head. “Do you want a cake? Would that make you feel a bit better?”

“That would be nice,” I admitted. “I…don’t know if I’d want to eat it here, though.”

“We can get you a nice cake and you can eat it back at the office! Or your home if you want.” He chuckled nervously and removed his glasses in an attempt to wipe his eyes with the sleeve of his blazer. “I don’t need to be there,” he quickly added.

“Why not?” I asked out of interest.

“I’m not really a part of your group.” He smiled, even though his eyes were red and puffy. “You’re supposed to eat cake with those you care about.”

“What makes you think I don’t care about you?”

I was really curious now, and Shadow Jade was just as intrigued as she rested her head on my shoulder, the two of us staring at Calvin, who began to blush.

“W-well, I-I-I’m a nobody! Just a follower. You helped me when no one else did but you didn’t have to. You didn’t receive anything in return, and even though I’m not really anything special, you put up with me. I just assumed you don’t really care about me since I’m not in you guys’ circle.”

I frowned at his words. “Is that the impression you got from us?”

“U-uh…well.” He glanced away and smiled slightly. “In terms of impressions, I think out of your group and basically the rest of the student body, you’re the only one who acknowledges me. Even when I waddle around with all my equipment or take forever to set it up before class. You’re the only one who says hi to me in the mornings, and when you’re leaving with one of the guys every week, you always wave or give me a vocal goodbye. No one else does that. I’m the nerd no one wants to be around unless there’s a group project that requires us to think.”

I couldn’t deny the truth in that. Throughout this year, everyone had avoided Calvin like he was the migrating plague.

If the classroom wasn’t full, people wouldn’t sit close to where he usually sat in the front of the class, but the moment a group project was announced out of the blue, the people who laughed and talked smack about him and his ways of note-taking were the first to invite him into their groups.

He, of course, would refuse and would walk over to ask to join whatever group had me and one of the Maxwells in it.

Funny how I’d never really noticed that, and now that he was mentioning it, I genuinely felt bad.

He was being treated like an outcast in front of my eyes and I didn’t notice.

“I’m sorry, Calvin,” I apologized.

He looked at me in shock, his orange eyes widening like he’d seen a ghost. Shadow Jade lifted her head up to look at me, and then she looked at Calvin.

“Sorry. Kill everyone!” Shadow Jade apologized, easily reading my thoughts and feelings. I smirked and lifted my free hand to pat her head.

“You don’t need to kill everyone.” I quietly giggled, amused by her statement.

“Kill. Kill. Kill,” she chanted. “Dark unicorn attack!”

My smile remained, and I looked down at the plushie that merely fell over to the side from Shadow Jade’s movement.

She followed my gaze and the two of us exchanged a look, bursting into laughter. Who knew why either of us found it funny, but the bits of relief our laughter brought was welcome.

“Queen Jade. Shadow Jade,” Calvin whispered.

We calmed down and looked at him to see the emotion that reflected in his eyes. He was actually moved by our apology.

“Why would you apologize to me? You did nothing wrong.” He really looked stumped at the idea that I’d just apologized.

“Did you know that I lived on the streets for a full year?” I smiled and rested back onto the pillows that supported me. Shadow Jade rested her head on my shoulder, giving me a comforting squeeze on the arm.

“It was after my family’s home was burned down. Pretty depressing when you think about it, but hey, that’s life.” I sighed. “It was a hard year of downers and mean comments. Not ones that made you want to aspire to something bigger. Greater than what you could possibly achieve on the streets of a city that basically never sleeps. People would walk past and either give me a snarky comment here or a glare there. I was essentially a waste of space.”

Lowering my gaze to the plushie, I used my free hand to pick it up, staring at its unique design.

“If I’d put my mind to it, I could have become anything I wanted. A plushie designer. An artist. A writer. Heck, I could have dreamed of being a Tracker.” I looked back up and into his orange eyes, noticing their seriousness.

“The possibilities of what I could have achieved were endless, and yet, I remained on the streets, running for my life because I feared the change of environment. I didn’t want to be taken into a foster family that only wanted to sell me to the Black Market peeps, but that was actually a secondary worry.” I smiled at the thought, closing my eyes and recalling the vivid memories.

“The primary worry I had was giving my trust to people and depending on their words to make myself feel validated. I’m sure it’s a weird worry to have, but that was exactly what held me back. Not the fact that I was being targeted by the shady organizations in the world below.”

Taking a deep breath, I carried on.

“When Alaric took me in, I promised myself that I’d never make someone feel unimportant or like their existence didn’t matter. It’s a serious problem when people target you solely to ridicule you and diminish your worth.”

Fixing the plushie’s position on mine and Shadow Jade’s legs, I whispered, “I never thought that the way that my boyfriends acted — and maybe my own actions, too — could have made you feel like you weren’t a part of our group.”

Peering at him once again, I carried on. “I’m apologizing because that truly wasn’t my intention. I also think the guys never meant to really exclude you. You can tell that they’re a very powerful bunch and I know the one thing they hate is feeling unimportant or lacking. Their personalities are intense and they don’t like getting close to others, but it’s not because they hate people or connecting with others. I think with their past and being Trackers, they live by the principle of keeping their friends close and their enemies closer. If they’re getting close to someone, it’s usually for a reason. With a few exceptions, of course.”

I smiled. “No matter what their excuse might be, I don’t want you feeling like you aren’t important or that you’re not a part of our group. It’s not like we intentionally want to leave you out. I think we simply get caught up in our own world, which isn’t nice. I never wanted to hurt someone that way, and yet, it seems like we’ve done just that.”

“Queen Jade,” he whispered, his eyes watering.

“I apologize for myself and my Trouble Four’s actions. If we hurt your feelings in any way, please accept my apology. You help us in your own unique way, and though we’re an intimidating group, you’re not afraid to be around us or greet us. I appreciate it and I’m sure the others do as well. And the fact that you’re a cool computer whiz makes you extra helpful.” I winked. “Either way, thank you for all you have done. And for showing such emotion for little old me. Never thought I’d have someone in my life who would actually cry because I was better. It’s a nice feeling to know people care.”

The smile that formed on his face showed immense relief.

“To even receive an apology from someone like you makes me really happy. Thank you, Queen Jade and Shadow Jade.”

“Kill!” Shadow Jade replied and yawned, snuggling closer against my side and closing her eyes. “Night night.”

She must have barely gotten any sleep when I was unconscious.

“Night, Shadow Jade,” I whispered and kissed her forehead. I looked back to Calvin and we smiled.

“Are you going to go home now?” I asked.

“No. I’m going to look into making something to help with any headaches or other issues that could arise with what happened to you. You’re really strong, Jade,” he praised.

“Not really.” I gave him a shy smile. “You’re able to make something?”

He nodded and moved along the bed until he was standing by my side. “Your head is bothering you now, isn’t it?”

How did he know?

“A little,” I admitted, giving him a sheepish grin. “There’s a dull, achy feel to it. It doesn’t necessarily hurt, but it makes things a little uncomfortable.”

“You didn’t want to tell Alaric because it would worry him,” he concluded without me mentioning it.

“Yeah…” I trailed off. “Alaric treats me like his own biological daughter and doesn’t take incidents like this well. I’m sure he’s working on cleaning up after what happened, but I also have a hunch he’s working hard to find Charles and anyone else associated with the crime he tried to commit.”

“He did commit a crime in attempting to hurt you,” Calvin corrected.

“True,” I replied.

“I’ll make something for it right away. Shouldn’t take too long. I’ll also work on some capsules that could aid with any signs of PTSD. You know, hallucinations, voices, the works. The moment it’s done, I’ll get Tanner to send it over to testing and then you’ll be good to go.”

“Wow,” I replied. “You’re not just the average student, are you Calvin?” I smiled.

“Ah. You weren’t awake when I revealed the truth,” he noted.

“Truth about?” I asked.

“I’m a Tracker. I’m currently undercover for this very case. Also, Charles is my biological dad. Sucks, right?”

I needed a moment to decipher that. “Did you just say that your dad is actually Charles Sokolov? The one who tried to convince me to kill myself and forced Shadow Jade to kill our family long ago?”

He looked saddened by my comment, but he nodded.

“I know. Don’t resemble him much.”

“Not even close,” I noted. “You’re much, much kinder.”

“Thanks.” He grinned.

“You being a Tracker makes a bit of sense,” I admitted. “Were you the one who told the guys that you’d seen me in the hall with fake Zeke?”

“Yes.” He gave me a firm nod. “I checked the cameras and showed the feed to the others before they believed me. It was a good thing I backed the files up. They had suddenly disappeared off the system.”

“Disappeared?” I arched an eyebrow up in question. “He deleted them.”

“He got someone to cover his tracks,” Calvin corrected.

“That means there’s no evidence about our confrontation in the gym?”

“Oh, there is.” Calvin grinned like a boy who had received a brand-new toy. “I backed it up multiple times. His hacker was able to get rid of a few of them, but I have enough copies stored away. Daddy dearest is getting messy.”

“You’re a lot more dangerous than we’ve given you credit for,” I mumbled.

“All this praise may go to my head and make me cocky.” He smiled and fixed his glasses.

“I doubt it, but if it does, I’ll try to bring you back down to earth.”

We shared a look and began to quietly laugh. I looked to Shadow Jade and her peaceful expression told me she was in a deep sleep. I was sure she’d disappear in a few minutes.

“I’ll do whatever I can to make sure my dad doesn’t win.”

Moving my gaze from Shadow Jade back to Calvin, I stared into his gleaming orange eyes.

“He won’t be able to have you. You’re a queen who deserves to sit on her throne. Whatever his plan is, I hope we can figure it out and stop it. I just want you to know that I’ll fight long and hard to do just that. My loyalty is absolute.”

“Thank you, Calvin.” I smiled, and my eyes softened looking at him, realizing how loyal he had truly been.

“The guys should be here any minute,” Calvin noted, reaching out and pressing his hand on my cheek. He moved closer until he pressed a soft kiss to my forehead.

It was unexpected, my body stilling at the faint touch of his lips that brought a hint of warmth. My light element flickered and for a brief second, I was confused by it. Then the dull pounding began to fade until it was gone entirely.

Calvin pulled back and grinned. “That should help get rid of the headache until I can figure something out. Maybe I’ll ask Zion to help me. As long as he doesn’t get upset by it. I should get going. Don’t want your four knights to plot my early funeral.”

He stroked my head just once and made his way to the door.

“Calvin?” I whispered, trying to recover from the brief, intimate touch.

He looked back at me with a smile on his face. “Yes?”

“There really is more to you than meets the eye.”

When he grinned, it was far different than his usual. It was dark, attractive, and quite frankly, dangerous.

“Maybe. I’m not really sure myself. Hopefully, we’ll find out one day.”

With those last words, he headed out.

I was left wondering how a simple touch could ignite a healing power inside me.

DARING CHANGES

“No.”

“Jade. It’s just a spoonful.”

“Still no.”

“What if I sing the train song?”

My tired eyes glared at Alaric with his poor attempt to try and spoon feed me the most disgusting medicine that ever existed. I’d had it three times in my life, and I’d vowed after the third time that it wasn’t happening again.

I’d literally rather die than take that nasty stuff.

It existed in both liquid and tablet form, and both were equally vile, leaving an aftertaste in your mouth for days!

No way was I going through that agony. If one couldn’t enjoy chocolate, cake, ice cream, or the joy of cookies, then life was meaningless.

Alaric lifted the spoon and began spinning it around. “Choo, choo, choo. Say ah!”

My tired eyes merely glared at him, and the spoon he was attempting to shove in my mouth only poked my tightly sealed lips.

“Hmm. That didn’t work,” Alaric concluded.

I rolled my eyes and noticed the door of my private medical room opening up. My Trouble Four squeezed themselves into the doorway in time to see my unpleasant expression and Alaric still poking my lips with the spoon.

“Well, this is an interesting scene to walk into,” Zackery announced.

“Intriguing indeed,” Zion commented.

“Jade looks like she’s about to murder everyone in the school,” Zeus suggested.

“At least she’d still look cute doing it. Look! Even though she’s pissed as fuck, her expression is so cute,” Zeke complimented.

“You four are blocking the entryway,” Tanner grumbled.

The four of them moved into the room, revealing a grumpy Tanner. One look at Alaric and me had him shaking his head.

“If you think for a second she’s going to take that nasty forbidden liquid, you’re dreaming,” he declared.

The guys looked at Alaric, who sighed. “It’s not that bad.”

“It tastes like the angel of death’s shit,” Tanner countered.

“What is it?” Zackery asked, walking over to where Alaric stood and leaning in to inspect the liquid, which was dark brown with hints of black.

“Is it like that cough syrup our Mom used to give us?” Zion pondered.

“Buckley’s or some shit. Disgusting.” Zeus actually shivered with the mention.

“Especially when we could feel the taste lingering in our mouths for hours.” Zeke frowned, looking rather adorable.

“It’s horrendous. Far worse than the shit you guys are referring to. It stays in your mouth for days, and even eating the sweetest chocolate in the world won’t get rid of its lingering taste. I thought I’d never enjoy Bianca’s cookies again.”

“Why do I have a suspicion Alaric forced you to take it?” Zion wondered.

“He did,” Tanner muttered, glaring at Alaric, who was blinking his eyes innocently.

“It speeds up your recovery, like apple cider vinegar does to humans. You have to admit, you healed up pretty fast after you almost lost your arm,” Alaric reasoned.

“After it took me a good week of being unable to eat because everything tasted bitter! I actually lost weight because of it!” he whined.

Alaric sighed and moved the spoon away from my lips. It wasn’t until he moved away to pour the portion back into the bottle that I relaxed.

“Why don’t you just give her a pill?” Zion asked.

Zackery was looking at the bottle that contained the pill version of the evil stuff. “Yeah. This is the stuff, right?” Zackery gestured, unscrewing the top and taking a look inside. “Oh. They’re the regular tablets. The gel ones are way better.”

“They don’t make this type of medication in gel form. The reason it tastes bad is because of the magic infused in it to make sure it heals the individual physically and magically,” Alaric explained.

Tanner moved to lean against the wall, crossing his arms as he watched Alaric work on cleaning up the medicine area.

“The medicine itself does wonders and it has no side effects. Most of the medications made for people like us cater to two elements. With Jade, she has eight, which means she needs quadruple the dose and at those high levels, it could actually kill her. This stuff can heal anyone with all the elements at a rapid pace. If she takes it, she’s usually up and about within a day or two.”

“If it doesn’t knock me out for a week,” I muttered.

“It knocks you out for a week?” Zeus questioned.

“It has a strong sedative effect to it,” Tanner replied. “When I took it, I was out for a week. Jade’s a lot stronger and has a higher endurance medicine-wise. Though it takes a bit for any medication to really kick in, it dissolves within her system just as quickly, but when it hits her, it really slams right into her. The last time she took it, she was out for four days. I’m sure with how easily she adapts to this stuff, she’d wake up in three this time, if not sooner.”

“When was the last time you took it?” Zeke asked.

“Six months ago,” I replied.

“Why?” Zackery asked, taking two pills out of the bottle to examine them. “They smell weird. Like metal.”

“And death,” Tanner muttered.

The others rolled their eyes, but Zackery was waiting for my reply.

“I fell off a building,” I mumbled, my arms still crossed over my chest.

“What?” the four of them questioned.

“Uh. How tall was this building?” Zion asked.

“Not too crazy,” I mumbled, trying to fight the urge to close my eyes. “Eighty-five stories?”

The room was silent for ten solid seconds.

“WHAT?!” they all exclaimed.

“Baby.” Zeke stared at me in horror. “You should be a pancake.”

“If you add some maple syrup, I’d do it again.” I winked, unable to help teasing him just a bit. He smiled, that twinkle in his eyes telling me he’d love to pour maple syrup all over my body and lick it right off.

Goodness. That would be fun. Sweet before things got sweaty.

“As in, you should be dead,” Zeus groaned.

“How did you survive that?” Zion asked.

I shrugged, moving my gaze to the water bottle on the counter. I was slightly thirsty, but the effort it would take to reach for that bottle outweighed my growing thirst.

“I used a powerful wind spell at the last second to give me, like, a trampoline effect,” I mumbled. “But I ran out of magic completely from the shock and crashed into the cement. Thankfully it was on my back so I didn’t ruin my face, but I had a few broken bones and stuff. The taste of that stuff haunted me in my dreams.”

It really did haunt me in my dreams; the very bottle of medicine gained arms and legs and chased after me with a silver spoon.

The irony.

“And that medicine stuff was able to fix that?” Zion looked impressed.

“It helps rejuvenate your magic while you’re unconscious. That’s why the sedative is strong and fast. It usually helps my light magic first, so while my other elements are being worked on, my light magic goes into overtime with the bonus energy to heal me from the inside out,” I explained.

“So, this is basically a superhero antidote,” Zackery confirmed, noticing how I continued to stare at the bottle of water.

He reached for it, and once it was in his grasp, he unscrewed the cap. I smiled, happy to finally be able to drink something.

“Hey, Jade?” Zeus drew my attention. “How are you holding up?”

“I’m okay.” I shrugged, not hiding that I was in a cranky mood and was debating whether to sleep or drink some water and fight to remain conscious until we got home.

Being here was already making me anxious, and that was never a good thing when trying to recover quickly.

“That sounded horrible,” the four of them replied.

I bit my bottom lip and looked to my lap, kinda wishing Shadow Jade was still sleeping next to me. She’d disappeared a while ago, leaving her dark unicorn plushie to keep me company.

“I’m tired,” I muttered.

“And?” Zeke questioned, moving over to the other side of the bed. His hand began to stroke my head, and though it was comforting, it wasn’t helping my crummy mood.

“I should have killed Charles right there and then.”

My voice was deadly low, and it was enough for six pairs of eyes to land on me in question.

“Jade,” Alaric whispered.

“Why didn’t I just point that gun to his head and kill him? He was right there. Not as a fake hallucination or some invisible magic force. Right there, in the flesh, and I decided to play games and make him suffer slowly rather than ending it all.”

I picked up the unicorn plushie to inspect it, my angry eyes centered on how cute yet sinister it looked.

“To him, I’m nothing but some tool that he wants. Why can’t the tables be turned for once? That man has enjoyed freedom for all these years. It may not be the kind where he can sit on a beach or vacation around the world, but he’s been able to make his mark underground in the Black Market. And I had to be the one always looking over my shoulder. Like I was the criminal.”

My ranting was really random and unnecessary, but I felt the need to say what was flooding my mind. Especially since they had asked me how I was holding up.

“I hate being in rooms like these. Stupid hospital beds that seclude you from the world and remind you of how foolish you acted. I had every opportunity to kill the man that screwed up my entire life. A happy, joyous life with my loving family that supported me in everything. Even when I destroyed shit or Shadow Jade appeared and caused utter chaos, they didn’t mind. They supported me in every avenue of my life until my birthday. The same day that man forced Shadow Jade to slice their throats.”

The reminder made me angrier, and I wished I could go back in time and change it all. Reverse the senseless deaths that had happened because of me.

“Hospitals. Sterile-smelling sheets. Medication that can only mend the problem but not heal the wounds that linger. I’m so fucking sick of it all. All I can think about is how I let the man who fucked over my life get the better of me, just so I could make him squirm. All I had to do was put that barrel to his head and let him see how it felt to experience a bullet going through your head. I’m sure he’s laughing now, while I’m sitting here feeling like shit. I get to keep drowning in regret and my inability to rid the earth of that psycho and get vengeance for my family, while he’s probably off trying to plan the next move to fuck me over.”

I hugged the unicorn and looked to my lap once again, wishing I could just be alone and not talk to anyone.

“So, if you want to know how I’m feeling, that’s a good summary of it. I feel like shit. I feel as though I’ll be back in this damn room after another incident in which Charles gets the upper hand and tries to kill me or hurt the people I love. I feel like I’ll never get strong enough to be the Tracker I want to be, and no matter how hard I try, I’ll never reach a level of satisfaction to please anyone on that stupid council. Now I’m going to drink water, snuggle with my dark unicorn, and go to sleep. You guys can stay or leave if you want,” I bitterly concluded.

I really did sound like a bitch and I didn’t even know if that was my intention. Fuck, I was just tired of this up-and-down bullshit.

Was living a life free of pain and misery so hard to achieve? I just wanted to spend time with those who loved me. To read in Alaric’s office while he worked on reports. Or spend the wee hours of the morning training with Tanner. Enjoy amazing breakfasts with Bianca. And I desperately needed more dates with the Maxwell brothers.

When would I get the freedom and revenge that I deserved? Was this all a pointless game?

“Jade.”

I thought it was Zeke for a split second, but the sound hadn’t come from my left. I looked over to my right to see Zackery taking a good gulp of water from the water bottle I’d been staring at.

That only left me feeling more upset, and it must have shown in my eyes — which were surely red with aggravation — because Zackery grinned and leaned over to me.

I expected him to say something playfully stupid, and I opened my mouth to combat him. “I’m not in the mood for your g—mhmm?”

Eyes widened, I felt Zackery’s lips press against mine before he tilted my head slightly up with his hand under my chin.

I was left completely confused, unable to stop whatever he was up to, water and something else flowing into my mouth. I swallowed automatically, seeing as Zackery’s firm lips weren’t giving me even a chance to rip away from his captivity.

His tongue was next to slip into my mouth, and he kissed me like his tongue had discovered the X that marked the spot on a map. When he finally pulled back, I was gasping for air, just as he was.

I fought to figure out what to say, feeling completely lost for words, which was a rarity in itself. Everyone else was just as speechless as I — the remaining three Maxwell brothers had hanging jaws, Tanner stared with wide eyes, and Alaric pulled off his glasses and began to rub the lenses as if couldn’t believe what he had just witnessed.

Didn’t blame him, but I really couldn’t believe Zackery had just done that.

I could see Zeke or Zeus. Heck, maybe even Zion if he was going to be daring, but Zackery was last on the list of the ‘risky displays of affection’ challenge.

It took me another minute before I recovered from the sudden move.

“Out of the four of you, I’d never expect that type of move from you,” I voiced.

“Did you like it?” He smirked and looked proud of himself.

“I’m not sure…” I admitted, trailing off to think about it. “You should be daring like that more often.”

“Hey!” Zeus piped up. “That’s my job!”

“Or mine,” Zeke added, the two of them looking disappointed.

“Totally not mine.” Zion stroked his chin. “I wonder if the Elixir Calvin made malfunctioned.”

“It must have,” Zeke stressed. “That was a total me move.” He pointed to Zeus. “Or him.”

“Yeah, or me!”

“Jeez. I can be bold like you guys whenever I want,” Zackery huffed. “It’s simply easier to be the cool, funny brother.”

“Right,” the other three declared.

Still pondering it, I hugged the unicorn plushie in my arms, my eyes growing super heavy all of sudden. I fought to keep them open, but it was a battle I was clearly losing.

My sudden drowsiness triggered a thought in my mind, and I finally put two and two together.

That evil mastermind.

I slowly looked over at him once more, and one look told me he knew the consequences he’d receive when I woke up.

“I love you and you can kill me when you wake up.” He winked. “I’ll even let my brothers dig up a spot for me at the place we visited on Christmas Eve.”

I wanted to reply, saddened by his apparent joke, but I couldn’t keep my eyes open any longer. They came to a close and my emotions slowly settled inside me.

“Jade?” It was Zeke who called my name, but his voice was so far away, and anything that followed was like an echo down a long hall.

My body felt like it was falling to the side, but something stopped it from going completely over. I didn’t feel afraid in the slightest.

When the darkness finally took me in, I made a mental note to kick Zackery Maxwell’s ass when I woke up from my medication-induced slumber.

PROTECT OUR PRECIOUS JEWEL

~ZACKERY~

“NOW I’M GOING to drink water, snuggle with my dark unicorn, and go to sleep. You guys can stay or leave if you want,” Jade bitterly declared.

I studied the way she clung to the dark unicorn in her arms. No matter her reasoning, I could tell she was clinging to that unicorn to hide her trembling. She wanted to hide the fear that lingered in the aura around her and the uncertainty she carried regarding the future.

It was obvious to anyone that she was physically, emotionally, and mentally exhausted by all that had occurred. The doctors had told us the risks regarding Jade’s actions weren’t physical, but mental.

The phantom pain of the incident and the emotional agony of surviving what could have been a shot to her head were just two of the many things she needed to recover from.

I didn’t need to look at my brothers to feel their worry and the disheartening effect Jade’s words had. Zeke’s feelings were the strongest right now, pulsing through us like crashing waves against the beach shore.

We’d seen this happen to Zeke before. We’d watched him fight to isolate himself out of fear and frustration over things that could never be changed. It was like watching someone ready to self-destruct.

Either you do something or you watch them fall…I can’t let that happen.

My fist tightened around the pills I was still holding within the palm of my hand, and an idea popped into my head that would either leave me a hero or get my ass kicked.

In fact, I’d probably be killed for it, but if it meant our queen would heal, it was a sacrifice I was willing to make.

Popping the pills into my mouth while everyone was still focusing their sole attention on Jade, I almost spit those damn tablets back out.

Fuck. She wasn’t kidding about the rotten taste of these things.

I had to tamp down on my emotions to not give myself away already, but the sharp taste of metal and dirt made me want to gag and hurl this medication shit out of my sight.

No. Out of my damn life. I never wanna see this shit again. Fuck. Who needs executions when you can just give them a bunch of this shit? Fatality.

Moving it to the side of my mouth, I did my best to stay composed and not give my brothers any hints about my diabolical plan.

“Jade,” I whispered.

I was sure she would recognize my voice, even with how similar it was to my brothers’ with the low tone I’d used.

Her head turned in my direction, just as I lifted the water bottle she’d been eyeing to my lips and took a hefty amount of water into the hollow parts of my mouth.

Removing the bottle from my lips, I noticed the fierce aggravation in Jade’s eyes, her once-black orbs a piercing red and directed at me.

I could feel my brothers’ shock begin to seep through our connection, and I wasn’t sure if they were surprised, curious, or angry about what I was doing.

They would understand soon enough.

Playing along with my sinister plan, my lips perked up and I leaned over to her. From her growing anger, I knew she was about to snap at me, or at least bicker about how mean I was being to her.

“I’m not in the mood for your g—mhmm?” she began, her words thick with anger. My lips sealed hers before I lifted her chin slightly up. It would ease the flow of water and maybe make the taste less horrifying.

I made it so she’d have no choice but to swallow, the two pills leaving the pocket of my left cheek and sliding right into her mouth and down her throat.

I knew she’d try and pull away, but a surging hunger took over, and I shocked myself as I slipped my tongue into her mouth and kissed her long and hard. It had to be my manly instincts kicking in, my mind clearly left behind on this quest to suddenly dominate Jade’s mouth.

Even with the tainted taste of those pills, my need to kiss her was like a splash of vintage wine, savory and fucking addicting.

If it weren’t for the growing arousal coming from my three brothers, I would have been lost in Jade’s sweet lips for minutes.

And I guess it’s disrespectful to make out with your girlfriend in front of her parents.

When I finally pulled back, she was left gasping for air. I tried to conceal the need to catch my breath, but I was working on recuperating from that steamy kiss and trying to ignore the growing erection tucked away in my boxers.

The dumbfounded shock on Jade’s face was a little amusing. The fact that everyone was completely silent added to the intensity of what everyone else was thinking — What the fuck?

My three brothers stood there with open jaws, their shock super apparent in their eyes. I took a peek at Tanner, his eyes wide with amazement, while Alaric was rubbing the lenses of his glasses.

A combination of curiosity, lingering shock, and lust spun its way through our connective bond, and I had to fight to keep a straight face when I really was growing hornier by the second.

“Out of the four of you, I’d never expect that type of move from you,” she voiced, still trying to recover from what I’d just done.

“Did you like it?” I grinned with pride.

“I’m not sure…” She trailed off, and I gave her a moment to think about it. “You should be daring like that more often.”

My brothers immediately began to bicker about which of us should be the daring one.

I rolled my eyes at their comments but noticed how Jade’s eyes struggled to remain open as she hugged the dark unicorn plushie Shadow Jade had given her.

Very slowly, her head moved back to look in my direction, those red eyes staring at me with an intense malevolence.

I’m so fucked.

We waited for her to say something or open her eyes again, but as the seconds passed, I realized she was asleep.

“Jade?” Zeke, who was standing on the opposite side of the bed, quietly called out. Jade didn’t even stir at her name. Her head was slumped, her chin practically on the black gown she was wearing, and her hair draped along her heart-shaped face.

Her angry expression was fading entirely, a peaceful calm taking its place. I loved how her plump, red lips made her look extra adorable when she slept.

She began to lean over to one side, but Zeke was right there to stop her from falling entirely. He lowered her back against the pillows, and using the buttons of the electronic bed, he lowered it to a lying position.

Zion moved to grab the blanket at the end of the bed, bringing it up to cover Jade two-thirds of the way. I made sure her dark unicorn was secure in her arms and analyzed how relaxed she now appeared.

She’d be lost in dreams for a few hours, and hopefully recover from the negative thoughts fighting to overpower her mind.

I moved away from the bed, heading to the door where Tanner and Alaric had already exited. I figured we’d have to talk about what I just did.

That and many other things.

Zeke and Zion were at the door by the time I reached it, but the three of us noticed that Zeus had taken my spot next to the bed. He was staring at Jade’s sleeping figure, and he reached out to lightly stroke her cheek.

She stirred just slightly, like a jolt of electricity had gone through her, but she seemed to still be in deep sleep. Zeus leaned down and pressed his lips tenderly on her forehead.

The move reminded me of a situation similar to this, the flashback hitting me before I could stop it.

“There was nothing we could do. I’m sorry.”

Sorry…

The word repeated over and over in my head. Its usefulness was the equivalent of putting a Band-Aid on an open wound that was bleeding profusely.

I stood among my brothers, the four of us facing the side of the hospital bed. I stood between Zion and Zeke, with Zeus at the front of the line.

Our order didn’t matter. In fact, the world felt like it didn’t matter. There was no more color or vibrancy, just black and white imagery filled with heartbreak and utter despair.

My eyes trailed up from the end of the bed, following the white sheet that covered the person lying there. The white sheet didn’t stop at the neck. It covered the person’s head and laid there like a sheet of snow. A sheet that should have kept one warm and comfortable was draped upon a person we loved and cherished.

The sheet that cloaked the sight of death…

“No.” Zeus spoke first, his voice full of denial. “Do something!”

“I’m sorry, Zeus.” The doctor shook his head, his pity apparent with his knitted eyebrows and sad blue eyes. “We did everything. We…it was just too late.”

“We…we can use magic!” Zion offered, trying to be optimistic as always. “Zeke can use light magic! He can heal her!”

“Yeah. I…I can fix it! I can fix all of this.” Zeke struggled to speak, but he clenched his fists, trying to fight off his burning tears.

“You can only use magic on someone with a beating heart,” the man reminded.

We stood there in silence once more, the heaviness that came with his words like chains holding us down.

I swallowed the lump in my throat, my hands clenching into fists.

This never should have happened. We were so close. The safe men were blocks away. We could have lived happily. Been free from the evil men who were desperate to seize us and use our elements for their greedy desires.

“The investigators will be here soon. I suggest you take a moment and then stand outside so they can assess the body. If they work swiftly enough, they might be able to trace the magic trail linked to the perpetrators. As for those who raided your home, I’ll be the first to let you know that they’re all dead. I’ll be outside if you have any questions, and once you’ve thought about the offer we’re presenting you, we can take you to headquarters and get the entry process into Tracker Hive underway.”

The man shook his cuffs and headed out before any of us could say a word. We couldn’t speak right now, the reality of what had just happened an hour earlier sinking deeper into our minds.

“It’s my fault…”

I looked down to Zeke, seeing his sad eyes solely focused on the bed. Tears rolled down his red cheeks.

“Zeke,” I whispered.

“If…if I didn’t…it’s my fault.” He turned his attention to us, trying his best not to break down entirely. “I didn’t…mean…”

Zion was the first to break and wrap his arms around Zeke. I bit my lip and moved to hug him from behind. Zeus took an extra few seconds, but he, too walked over to us and hugged our little bundle.

The expectation was for us to be torn apart by this. To turn against one another and destroy our strongest asset. What foolishness, really. They didn’t know how strong our bond was. Or how the powerful connection between us had manifested into something impenetrable. They took away the most precious person in our lives, but they wouldn’t break us down. They wouldn’t get the gratification of seeing us fall.

We’d gotten the best teachings from this person, and now, as we huddled together as one unit, I wondered if she had known this would be the end result.

“It’s okay, Zeke. We know,” I whispered, and hoped he could feel our love and affection for him.

I could already feel the imbalance of our emotions and personalities beginning to trickle in, and I knew things would be difficult from the moment we left this room to the day we’d have to stand with our heads high in front of a council to determine if we were good enough to enter the Tracker Hive Novana District.

Whatever happened after we left this room would mold us into strong men. Men who would fight for what we wanted to achieve and protect the next jewel that came into our lives.

No one would hurt us like this again. No one would take what was ours and get away with it.

When we finished our emotional hug, Zion held Zeke’s hand as they went and patted the person beneath the sheet. They each said their goodbyes and words of love before heading out the door.

I was next, staring at the cloaked body and wishing deep down that I could truly change this. Why couldn’t my magic take me back in time? Or just to that moment when it felt like time went still?

“Thank you for everything,” I whispered, lightly stroking her head with my trembling hand. I hadn’t realized I’d been crying, and when I felt a hand on my shoulder, I looked to see Zeus staring at me.

His eyes were pooling with tears, but he fought not to cry. He was always the strongest in situations like this, even when it hurt him deep down to the core.

We shared a look, one of comfort and understanding, and he pulled me into another hug and patted my back. No words needed to be exchanged. He understood how I felt, even if we were usually opposites.

Pulling away, I headed to the door. Turning back to look at the bed one last time, I noticed Zeus at the side of the bed, his eyes staring at the head of the person.

I could see the way he inhaled deeply, and how he let the air slowly come out. He reached for the edge of the sheet, and he pulled it down just slightly, enough to reveal the head of our precious jewel.

He stared for a long time, and I wasn’t sure how much we had left before the investigators arrived. Zeus must have picked up on my slight worry because he finally moved to stroke the bits of hair that weren’t tainted with blood.

“I’ll protect them. I promised I would. We…miss you. I miss when you’d scold me, and I’m sorry for always throwing tantrums and blowing out the lights in the house. We feel lost without you…but we won’t lose. We’ll excel in everything and apply everything you taught us. No matter what, we’ll make you proud. I love you.”

He got on his tiptoes and leaned over, pressing a kiss to her head. With a heavy inhale and exhale, he lifted the sheet over her head once more, and with his head down, he walked over to where I stood.

I let him pass first, wanting to be the last one to leave the dimly lit medical room. With a small nod, I reached for the doorknob and couldn’t help looking at the bed one last time.

Goodbye, Mom. Love you.

ZEUS STROKED Jade’s cheek one last time before he walked toward me. This time around, his head was up, his emotions were guarded, and he wore his usual pissed-off expression.

He gave me a nod, knowing I’d be the last to close the door, as always. I took a final glance at Jade, watching her chest move up and down as she breathed.

She’s alive. She isn’t dead. We have to protect her, so it never ends like that again.

With my hand on the doorknob, I slowly closed the door. I turned and looked to the others, noticing their serious expressions.

Yup. We need to talk.

BICKERING ASSUMPTIONS

~ZION~

“SO.” Zeus was the one to initiate the conversation, his arms crossed as he leaned against the wall with Zeke. “What’s the plan, and please tell me it involves tracking Charles and torturing him until he begs for death.”

Zeus was definitely pissed way beyond your average level of anger.

It wasn’t obvious when we were in Jade’s room, but now that she was in a deep enough sleep that it wouldn’t affect her elements, he was letting it all out.

Which was already starting to bug my senses.

Pulling out my glasses, I put them on and looked around at the others once more.

“And it has to include a way for us to be able to torture him over and over again,” Zeke added.

“There has to at least be one session for each of us,” Zackery suggested. “Guess we may have to add Calvin in there.”

“I guess,” Zeke and Zeus replied.

I could tell that their agreement had a bit of bitterness to it, but it was a sign of progress. They wouldn’t have even agreed to the idea of Calvin getting a say or shot at anything before our earlier confrontation. When you took in the fact that Charles was his dad, he’d most likely get first dibs.

Alaric pulled his glasses off and placed them on his head before he snapped his fingers. A wall of energy wrapped around the private waiting room, ensuring our conversation would remain within those glittering red walls.

“I’d love to be able to fulfill your requests, but we have a problem.”

Oh, no.

“What is it?” I asked straight away; the other three were experiencing a slow reaction time to Alaric’s statement.

“Charles went into hiding again,” Alaric announced.

“Ugh!” we groaned, already knowing Charles wasn’t going to make it easy for us to catch him.

There was a knock on the door that caught our attention.

Alaric and Tanner exchanged looks before Alaric snapped his fingers again and gestured for Tanner to open the door. When he did, Calvin was standing there with all his equipment on his back and a pink unicorn plushie in his hand.

He walked in and Tanner closed the door. It wasn’t until Alaric snapped his fingers to reinforce the barrier walls that Calvin greeted us.

“Hey, everyone. I’m back. Sorry I took so long. I got into my research and I found a cool article about the combination of multiple elements into one solid sorc—”

“Calvin,” Tanner groaned. “Do you mind telling us all about your articles after we’ve discussed the important stuff?”

“Right!” he replied, blushing slightly and using his free hand to fix his glasses. “My bad. Is Queen Jade asleep?”

I could feel the anger the simple question induced on my left, and Zackery must have felt the same because we both looked at Zeus and Zeke, the two of them guarding their expressions at the moment.

They calmed their inner overprotectiveness and Zeus answered, “Yes. She had her meds and they made her sleepy.”

“You mean the nasty pills that taste like a mixture of dirt and metal?” Calvin elaborated.

“Yup,” Zackery replied. “They taste worse than death.”

Clearly, he was exaggerating, but Calvin didn’t seem to pick up on it. “Worse than death? Wow. I never knew you could experience what death was like. Poor Queen Jade. How were you able to get her to take them?” he asked innocently.

“I forced her,” Zackery calmly replied.

“Forced?” Calvin looked shocked. “She allowed that?”

“She didn’t have much of a choice in the matter, hence the word ‘force.’” I decided to step in, fearing a long back-and-forth conversation with the lack of information my brothers were giving.

I understood Calvin the most because his thinking process was similar to mine.

“He tossed the pill into his mouth, drank a bunch of water, and kissed her,” I explained.

“Oh,” Calvin replied, blinking his orange eyes before fixing his glasses that had once again slid down his nose. “Like CPR but sexier.”

“Sure,” I replied, and moved to sit on the couch. Zackery came to sit next to me, leaving Zeke and Zeus, who continued to lean against the wall.

Calvin slowly nodded, looking at Zackery for a long minute before he looked to Zeus and Zeke. “Hmm. Maybe my Elixir had a malfunction.”

“That’s what we said,” Zeus and Zeke mumbled in unison.

“Hey!” Zackery whined. “Have more confidence in me!”

“Having confidence in you usually results in disappointment that hurts our pride. For example, you think your skipping is attractive,” Zeus muttered.

“Jade loves it when I skip. Don’t be a hater,” Zackery shot back.

“Jade likes seeing your cock go up and down in your sweatpants,” Zeke said. “You actually skipping doesn’t concern her in the slightest.”

I smiled and looked at Zackery. “It’s kinda true.”

“Fuck all of you,” Zackery brushed off. “I’ll continue my skipping routine without you haters around. It’s going to be how I seduce her, and she’ll happily lay in bed with me instead of you guys.”

“You’re going to be the last to have sex with Jade. Just accept it,” Zeus concluded.

“I am not! I still have a good chance. We already know who’s the first to hop on whatever chance he gets with his horny fantasy life,” Zackery countered, his eyes locking onto Zeke.

We noticed Zeke’s smirk grew wider, which only led to Zackery groaning in annoyance. “Of course. Why am I not surprised?”

“I don’t skip when opportunities arise. I approach like a panther, ready to pounce on my prey,” Zeke sweetly declared.

“That wasn’t bad,” Zeus complimented.

“I agree,” I added.

“You have to be on my side!” Zackery directed to me.

“Why?”

“You’re supposed to know how I feel!”

“I won’t be last, though,” I confidently replied with an added shrug. “Probably third, but not last.”

Zackery pouted his lips and crossed his arms. “Well, I’ll be second!”

Zeke snickered, and we looked back at him. I noticed Zeus was suddenly interested in his fingernails.

“For fuck’s sake! Don’t tell me you already did it?!” Zackery exclaimed.

“I mean, all the search engines say intimacy is one of the best healing mechanisms,” Zeus replied. “Was just doing our Hive Queen a favor.”

“Bullshit,” Zackery and I said in unison, and Zeke laughed. “Our Queen doesn’t accept favors from anyone. Not even the Trouble Four.”

“Good point,” Zeus replied with a wide grin. “Then yes, I’m second, bro. You’re going to be last. I’d bet on it.”

“I’m willing to—” Zackery began, but Calvin cleared his throat.

“Um, I—”

“If you’re going to volunteer, we’re totally going to be asses about it,” Zeus warned. Calvin rolled his eyes.

“I was going to remind you all that her parents are literally right there.”

The four of us blinked and looked over to where Alaric, Tanner, and now Bianca were standing, looking completely speechless.

Or horrified. Hadn’t figured it out yet.

None of us had even heard Bianca arrive, and we had no idea how she or the other two would react.

We thought about it, our minds mingling together to decide what we’d do. When the answer came, I looked back to Calvin.

“Your point?” I asked.

“What?” His cheeks blushed a light red.

“What’s your point?” Zackery asked innocently.

“What do you mean, what’s my point?” Calvin questioned. “Her parents are right there.”

“So?” Zeus shrugged. “Jade’s nineteen. If her parents aren’t comfortable with their daughter becoming an adult and having four awesome dudes fawning over her, well, there’s nothing we can do about how they feel.”

“But you don’t talk about that stuff in front of them. That’s unethical!”

“Not really,” Zeke replied. “Jade looks like she’s pretty upfront with her parents.”

“We did ask them permission to date her, as well,” I piped up. “I think they figured out the sex part.”

“It’s a natural, healthy activity that relieves stress and anxiety. I think anyone would approve of something that results in those benefits,” Zackery concluded, the rest of us nodding in agreement.

Calvin looked baffled, as if we’d told him we beat Jade every night. I sighed and looked over to the three parents in question.

“Do you guys have a problem with us confidently talking about sex?” I asked.

“As in us being in emotionally bonded relationships with your daughter, which naturally leads to sexual intercourse in a private space,” Zeus elaborated.

“While treating her with respect,” Zackery added.

“And giving her a safe space and the ability to say no whenever she wants to,” Zeke stated.

The three of them blinked a few times and Bianca looked over to the other two.

“See? I keep saying we should get her a nice condo or something, but no.”

Alaric pouted his lips and Tanner rolled his eyes.

“We knew she’d connect with them fast, but we didn’t think we had to rush in getting her a house.”

“Hmm. When she’s back to her joyful self I’ll ask her if she wants an apartment or a house,” Alaric concluded.

“You spoil her,” Tanner whined.

“She does deserve a place of her own,” Alaric countered.

“We should get her both! A nice house on the beach. She loves swimming and it would have a big backyard for her to run and train. As long as it has a big kitchen, so I can make lots of baked goodies! Tanner, do you want some?”

“Sure,” he muttered. “She doesn’t need both.”

“Of course she does!” Bianca replied. “The apartment can be for those cozy nights when all you wanna do is cuddle in front of the fireplace with a good book, cookies, and milk! She may not do a lot of cuddling in winter with four boyfriends, but at least it’ll give her a homey feel! Oh! We need to buy her a lovely, big bed! Also, Shadow Jade needs a room as well. Hmm. A studio condo wouldn’t do.” Bianca tapped her finger against her chin.

“We’d get her a suite, obviously,” Tanner huffed.

“Could get her a penthouse,” Alaric suggested.

“Are there any left in this area? We have to get her something nice that’s close to the school for her and the boys,” Bianca suggested.

“Getting a place shouldn’t be a problem. I own half of the buildings in this area. Could easily find something,” Tanner reasoned.

“That’s true. Tanner can use those connections of his.” Alaric nodded in approval.

“Ah, this is going to be fun! I’m in charge of decorating. We should get Jade a puppy! Can we get Jade a puppy?!” Bianca clapped her hands.

“Why does she need a puppy?” Alaric and Tanner asked in unison.

“I don’t know. It can, like, follow her around and stuff,” Bianca noted.

The three of them looked at Calvin, just as we did, and his cheeks flushed to a vivid red. “I-I don’t follow Queen Jade like a puppy!”

“Well…” the four of us drawled.

“You do kind of follow her everywhere,” I voiced.

“And you’re all happy about it,” Zackery added.

“Not to mention how obedient you are,” Zeus added.

“And when she praises you, you get all excited and thrilled to serve her,” Zeke acknowledged.

“Making you like a human puppy,” I confirmed.

“You four are assholes.” Calvin sighed.

“We know that, but there are variations to the level of asshole we can be. Like Zeus and Zeke are worse than Zion and me, but Zeus is on a higher level than all of us,” Zackery explained and pointed to Zeus, who scowled at him.

“Fuck off,” Zeus snapped.

“See?” Zackery replied. “Highest-level and consistent.”

“Unless you piss Zeke off. Then all bets are off and the level of asshole surpasses its highest peak,” I emphasized.

“Are you two stupid?” Zeke huffed to Zackery and me.

“Nah. We’re just pointing out the obvious,” I replied. “We’re pretty chill with Calvin, but you two react like bulldogs ready to attack the poor chihuahua.”

“Please do not tell me I’m the chihuahua,” Calvin groaned.

“I mean, what other dog is small and can be knocked down by a bit of wind?” Zackery asked.

“I’m not sure,” I admitted.

“And yet we’re the mean ones.” Zeus shook his head.

“Right? They fully insulted him,” Zeke replied. “But we’re assholes because we make our dislike more obvious.”

“Yeah, but we say it a nice way,” I defended.

“Exactly.” Zackery nodded.

“There’s no ‘nice’ way to insult someone!” Zeus complained.

“How did we reach this point?” Zeke asked.

Calvin sighed and looked at all of us. “Can we just move on to talking about the main issues at hand? Also, where do I put this pink unicorn plushie? I got it for Queen Jade.”

“KILL!”

“AH!” we all exclaimed, flinching at Shadow Jade’s sudden appearance.

None of us had seen her enter the room, let alone somehow manage to hide behind Calvin, who was clutching his chest and breathing like he’d run a marathon.

“Shadow Jade?! You’re going to give me a heart attack. I already have asthma to deal with,” Calvin whined.

“Oh,” she innocently replied and blinked her black eyes. She was wearing her pink pajamas and her hair was now up in a ponytail. Her eyes were focused on the pink unicorn plushie in Calvin’s grasp.

“Plushie!” she cheered.

Calvin blinked and looked at the unicorn. With a sigh, he stood up and looked at Shadow Jade as she moved off to the side to get a good view of the rest of us.

“Shadow Jade. This is for Queen Jade. You have a dark unicorn plushie already,” Calvin stated.

Shadow Jade merely smiled, not answering him at all.

All of us looked back at Calvin, and he sighed. “Fine. Here you go.” He offered the plushie to Shadow Jade, who took it and grinned. “I’ll buy Queen Jade another one.”

Shadow Jade skipped over to Alaric and presented the doll like she was lifting it up to a congregation of people.

“Daddy! Look at Jade’s new plushie!”

We frowned in confusion, just like Bianca, Tanner, and Alaric.

“Do you mean your plushie?” Tanner clarified.

Shadow Jade grinned and shook her head. “Nope. Jade pink unicorn plushie. Shadow Jade has dark unicorn plushie. They can be twins like Jade and me!”

I looked over to Calvin, noting his conflicted expression.

He assumed that Shadow Jade didn’t understand his first statement that the plushie was for Jade, figured she’d cause a ruckus, and decided to give it to her and get another.

I hadn’t realized my thought had gone into our connected bond, but now that I lingered on the emotions revolving in our connection, the others were feeling the same way.

“Isn’t that what we kind of do to him?” Zackery whispered. “We assume things that aren’t true, but don’t correct ourselves or apologize for it.”

“He must be feeling bad about what he did,” Zeke reasoned.

He was stressing how we make assumptions about his appearance and actions, but he just assumed Shadow Jade would take the doll and add it to her collection like she normally does.

“Thus, the reason for his internal conflict,” Zeus concluded.

We tuned back into the conversation as Alaric stroked Shadow Jade’s head.

“It’s really pretty and does look like your dark unicorn plushie’s twin. Are you going to put them in your collection?”

Shadow Jade thought about it. “Nope. Unless Jade wants me to keep safe! I’ll guard her. Then when Jade sad, she can hold her!”

“Do you think Jade is sad?” Bianca asked, looking worried at the mention of Jade’s emotions.

“Yes.” Shadow Jade nodded. “Very sad. She needs cookies.”

Tanner and Alaric shared a look, and Tanner whispered, “Do you know why Jade is very sad?”

Shadow Jade looked to the floor, her bare feet seemingly more interesting than the conversation.

Alaric knelt down onto one knee, his head peering up at Shadow Jade as she hugged the unicorn.

“Shadow Jade. No one will get mad if you tell us,” he whispered.

She looked into his eyes for a long moment, and I noticed how loving Alaric’s expression was. He really did love Jade — and Shadow Jade — like his own child, and it amazed me that someone could be willing to share such affection when there was no blood bonding them.

“Jade’s thoughts are all over the place. Dark, dark thoughts. She’s sad and very angry. She hates that she can’t be happy. She wants time with the guys. She likes them a lot. She also likes when Calvin follows her around. He’s like a puppy!”

We looked back at Calvin, his face growing red once again. He looked away and fixed his glasses to try and appear unbothered.

“She didn’t like the idea of going to school, but now she likes it. She hates early mornings like I hate tights, but she’s having fun. Calvin always greets her. Her boyfriends keep her company each week, and on the weekends, we get to relax or go on fun dates. We also get to train with Tanner in the mornings and get awesome cookies from Bianca. We even get to bug Daddy whenever we want because you’re right there!” Shadow Jade explained, trying to be her usual chirpy self, but her smile began to fall and she looked at Jade’s plushie.

“She wants to be happy and be around the people she loves…but now she’s scared she’ll lose everyone,” Shadow Jade concluded. “That man took everything from us. Our brother, sister, daddy, and mommy. When he showed up, we lost our family, our home, and a part of ourselves. She’s scared that now that he’s back, he’ll destroy everything again. He’ll take the guys away. He’ll kill our new family. He’ll take the joy of going to school and it’s scary to think about.”

Shadow Jade looked up to Alaric, giving him a guarded look.

“I don’t want Jade to be unhappy. She deserves happiness. She’s kind and loving and wants everyone to smile. She deserves the best.”

Alaric, Tanner, and Bianca had comforting expressions on their faces, but I knew from the hike in tension in the room that those words from Shadow Jade held power.

Bianca walked over and wrapped her arms around Shadow Jade.

“We’ll work really hard to make sure Jade is happy and can go to school in peace. We want to talk about it, but it’s boring and would put you to sleep. Do you want to sleep next to Jade? That way, when she wakes up, you’ll be right there to comfort her if she’s still sad?”

“Okay.” Shadow Jade nodded slightly. “Cheer Jade up!”

“Yes. We’ll cheer her up. I’ll make cookies so when you two wake up, you can have some.”

“Cookies! Kill!” Shadow Jade exclaimed and hugged Bianca back. “Thank you, Bianca Mommy!”

“You’re welcome, Shadow Jade,” Bianca replied and kissed her cheek. Moving away, Shadow Jade looked at Tanner, who stared at her with a bored expression.

With a huff, he opened his arms and Shadow Jade skipped over and hugged him. “Thank you, asshole!”

“Hey,” Tanner groaned and looked down at Shadow Jade as she lifted her head up and gave him the biggest grin. “Damn you and your cute smiles.”

Shadow Jade giggled and hugged him tightly. He clearly gave up trying to be unaffectionate, returning the hug and patting her head gently.

“Yours and Jade’s happiness is our priority. We’ll do whatever we can to bring it to reality, all right?”

“Okay,” Shadow Jade replied and looked back up to smile at him. To see Tanner smile back was a first, leaving me and my brothers in shock.

He noticed our wide eyes and his smile fell.

“Aww,” the four of us said in unison.

He rolled his eyes. “Mind your own business.”

Shadow Jade giggled and moved out of his hug to give Alaric one. “Night, Daddy! Thank you for loving us.”

“Your welcome, Shadow Jade.” Alaric hugged her back and kissed the top of her head. “Sleep well and keep the nightmares away.”

“Okay!” Shadow Jade replied. She pulled out of the hug and looked at us. “Bye, double twins!”

“We’re quadruplets, Shadow Jade,” I replied.

“Double twins,” she repeated.

“This already feels like a losing battle,” Zeus sighed.

“Sure, Shadow Jade,” Zeke agreed.

“What if there were four Calvins?” Zackery asked Shadow Jade.

She stared at us and answered, “Quadruplets.”

The four of us simply stared back, not sure how she was able to answer that but called us double twins.

“It’s your auras that are confusing her.”

We looked over to Calvin, watching him pull his glasses off.

“What?” Zackery and I asked.

“You guys really haven’t noticed?” Calvin questioned.

“Noticed what?” Zeke and Zeus countered back.

“The four of you are identical in terms of appearance, but your auras are not,” he revealed.

When none of us knew how to answer, he continued while cleaning his glasses.

“Zeke and Zeus. You two have strong-as-fuck auras. If someone who can see them wants to approach, your auras lash out protectively. What that means is you guys have hard exteriors, making it difficult for people to connect to you on initial interaction.”

He looked over to Zackery and me.

“As for Zackery and Zion, you two have way calmer auras. It means it’s easier to connect with you and the two of you are far more approachable. It doesn’t mean you aren’t strong or anything. It’s just more difficult for people to determine whether you’re a pushover or someone not to mess with, which gives you a good advantage in some cases.”

We never were taught about that.

I purposely pushed my thought into our connection, and the others shared similar feelings.

Shadow Jade looked at Calvin and grinned widely.

“Bye, puppy.” She waved her hand. Calvin pinched his nose, but he waved with the other hand that held his glasses.

“Night, Shadow Jade.”

She skipped toward Jade’s door, but Calvin stopped her. “Shadow Jade?”

Her body came to a halt and she looked over her shoulder to blink at Calvin. Instead of asking what he wanted, she skipped over to him.

He smiled and reached out to gently stroke her head.

“Sorry for assuming you were going to take Jade’s doll. I’ll buy you a white unicorn plushie as an apology.”

She blinked and stared at him, and for a second, she looked exactly like Jade in every sense. Then she smiled and a chirpy giggle left her lips.

“Shadow Jade accepts your apology,” she replied. “Thank you, puppy.”

“Calvin,” he corrected with a hopeless expression.

“Calvin puppy.”

“Sure.” Calvin didn’t look like he wanted to bother arguing. She smirked and reached out to pat his head. Calvin looked confused by her actions, just like the rest of us.

“Kind puppy. Strong, too! Kill!” Her beaming smile had all of us silent, and she moved her hand away before a yawn escaped her. “Nighttime!”

She turned around and skipped back to the door. “Bye-bye,” she said and waved at all of us. Then she opened the door and slipped through the space, closing it softly.

We all were quiet until Bianca headed to the door of Jade’s room, the sound of her heels breaking the tense silence.

She opened it just slightly, poking her head to view inside before a small smile formed on her face.

“They’re asleep,” she announced, and closed the door once more. Shifting her stance to peer around us, she crossed her arms and those pink eyes sternly looked back at us.

“Now, for the serious talk.”

GAME PLAN

~CALVIN~

“FIRST UP, what is this about Charles going missing?” Zeke questioned.

I continued to clean my glasses for what seemed like eons, studying the dynamics of the room as we decided to bring up Daddy Dearest.

All this talking was starting to annoy me, but I didn’t blame them for having so many questions. They didn’t know how much I knew about Tracker Hive and my wanted father.

They were also from another district and knew nothing about the way our district worked.

All the required reasons to show pity.

Bianca sat down on the side couch next to Alaric and Tanner. The four brothers were still in their spots: Zeke and Zeus against the wall and Zackery and Zion on the other couch.

I was sitting in a chair, basically facing everyone as I continued to buff the lenses of my glasses with a cleaning cloth.

“We had various Trackers on his tail, but he disappeared in a poof of black smoke and left backup gang members at all five spots where we were informed he might be. We checked the sewers and have spies currently sweeping through the Black Market, but it looks like we’re not going to find him any time soon. We suspect he’s in the hole he dived into last time to hide from us for so long,” Bianca explained.

When it came to my dad, he seemed to be the king of hide and seek. No one, not even the top agents at Tracker Hive, could catch his sneaky tail, and it was frustrating.

I should have an opinion on that. His own son can’t even locate him with all the knowledge and training I’ve obtained over the years.

“What are we going to do about it now?” Zeus questioned. “And how are we going to protect Jade? It’s obvious she’s been a target for years, and until we get this psychopath, she’s going to remain a target.”

Tanner took a deep breath and let it out. “It’s a tricky situation. There isn’t much we can do with him hiding again. Jade is a target for multiple reasons, but the first step we’re going to need to take is to upgrade security at Tracker Hive Academy. As Calvin said, the chances of him going with the same plan again are pretty slim, but it doesn’t mean he won’t use his goons to try and take students out. That puts the student body and Jade at risk.”

“Why can’t Jade just join the Tracker Association? It makes no sense to me,” Zackery commented, looking a bit conflicted.

Like the council would let her.

“Yeah. I get the whole magic council wants her to complete her remaining three years at the Academy, but if her life is constantly at risk due to some psychopathic killer, what difference does it make? Why not upgrade her so she has access to better security?” Zion questioned.

A person on the council wants her vulnerable. For her to either perish or join their side. She’s the queen of this game and whichever side she lands on will be the victorious one.

“We’re working on it.” Bianca sighed. “The magic council is being strict about this, which is obviously not their normal behavior. Typically, if a Tracker’s life is at risk to the point where their attendance at school could lead to their demise, they’re taken in and given special classes within the vicinity.”

“Except for Jade,” Zeus and Zeke said in unison.

Folding my glasses inward, I put them in the side pocket of my dress shirt and decided to enlighten everyone about the research I’d gathered.

“It’s obvious that someone on the magic council is connected to Charles and is making sure Jade is at her most vulnerable,” I explained.

“Why?” the four of them questioned.

I gave them all a look and they were quiet, giving me the opportunity to speak once more.

“I haven’t determined why just yet. My dad would never work with someone unless it benefited him in some way. There has to be something that getting his hands on Jade will achieve. No way would he be trying to take Jade for simply money. It has to be for power. A weapon or multiple weapons or something.”

I took a deep breath and looked over to the room where Jade and Shadow Jade were still sleeping. “Right now, we know that Jade has a Hive of four powerful Trackers. That alone gives him not only power in terms of elements but also information and connections because you guys are from another district. If Jade also has a second Hive, we can only imagine the possibilities.”

Stretching my arms, I carried on, “Being in a Hive means that your elements respond to your Hive Queen. The more powerful your Queen becomes, the quicker the growth and response of the Hive. Imagine the consequences of such power when put in the wrong hands.”

The four of them frowned, and I merely nodded.

“We can talk about this over and over again, but I think our priority should be making sure Jade is getting lots of rest and that her emotions are balanced. Her magic reacts to her emotions and we don’t want those setting her off.”

“Also.” Alaric stepped in and looked at the brothers. “The four of you have to keep a twenty-four-hour watch on her.”

Before any of them could fight back, he carried on, “It’s a non-negotiable. When I get the chance, I’ll talk to her about it, but until then, I need you guys to do this. Think of it as a mission.”

The four of them exchanged looks and sighed. “All right,” they agreed.

“We can’t do much at this stage. We’re literally at a dead end, and until we gather more information, we have to simply try to prepare for what’s to come,” Tanner admitted. “You four will be best at Jade’s side. It’s difficult for her to express her emotions, but I can see the change you four have brought into her life in this short period of time. I also like how you accept her shadow as an individual entity, something many people wouldn’t be able to do. As long as your bonds grow stronger, you’ll be able to do great things as one unit.”

The guys seemed to relax a little more and they all nodded.

“We understand,” they replied.

“Good.” Bianca grinned.

The creak of the door caught our attention, and we all looked to see a sleepy Shadow Jade.

“Shadow Jade?” Bianca asked. “Something wrong?”

“Jade is going to wake up soon,” Shadow Jade mumbled. “Scary dreams.”

We all frowned at the news, and Zeke was the first to move off the wall and head toward the door. “Don’t worry, Shadow Jade. If I hold her for a bit, the scary dreams will disappear,” Zeke reasoned with a tender voice.

It was interesting to observe the change in his voice and how he treated Shadow Jade.

“Okay,” she replied and rubbed her eyes. “Sleepy. Night night.”

“Night,” the rest of us said.

Zeke looked back at us and nodded. “I’ll lie down with her for a bit. My light element can play a good role here.”

“All right,” his brothers replied.

Once the door closed, the others looked back at me.

“What?” I asked.

“We’re curious about something,” Zion spoke.

“Ask away.” I shrugged.

“Helping Jade doesn’t benefit you. Why go the extra mile on this?” Zion inquired.

“You guys already asked that,” I pointed out.

What’s the point of revealing information they haven’t yet earned??

Zion exchanged looks with Zackery and Zeus, the three of them clearly talking via their mental communication.

“We got that,” Zeus carried on. “But what do you get out of helping Jade?”

“She’s a part of the assignment. Helping her is by default,” I voiced. “Should I just ignore her and watch my dad put a bullet through her head?”

They didn’t answer.

That’s what I thought.

“You guys were assigned here just like I was. I was minding my own business when I met Jade. Whether it was luck or mere coincidence, we somehow crossed paths. She didn’t know I was Tracker, just like you guys.” I pulled my glasses out of my pocket and put them back on. “Instead of focusing on what benefits me, I’d advise that your group focuses on your queen and leaves this puppy alone.”

I was sure they didn’t expect that response from me, but I really didn’t owe them anything. Maybe once they’d finished their second semester, I’d enlighten them with a bit of the truth, but for now, I saw it as a pointless waste of oxygen.

The door opened again, and Shadow Jade appeared once more.

“Shadow Jade?” Alaric was the one to question her.

“Jade doesn’t like the plan. Shadow Jade wants cookies!” She looked a little less tired as she made her declaration.

Alaric, Bianca, and Tanner exchanged a look. Bianca smiled and stepped forward. “How about we go make some cookies? It won’t take long, and we can bring some to Jade to cheer her up?”

“KILL!” Shadow Jade exclaimed. “Make Jade happy.”

“I’ll talk with her,” Alaric concluded and looked at the brothers. “Would you guys like to join? It would make it easier for her to have all four of you there for support.”

The brothers looked at one another, and with a single nod, the three of them got off the couch and headed to the door.

Shadow Jade walked over to Alaric. “Hug, kill?”

Alaric smirked and gave her a hug. “You enjoy making some cookies for Jade,” he encouraged.

“Okay,” Shadow Jade replied.

He let go of her and she moved to take Bianca’s hand. With a wave at Tanner and me, the two of them headed out to make cookies.

Alaric gave us each a nod before heading back into Jade’s room. Once the door was closed, I pulled my glasses off once more and sighed.

“You’re not going to tell them?” Tanner questioned me. I looked over to him, noticing his intense stare.

“Do you think it’s necessary?” I countered.

“No.”

“Then? Why should I give them information they haven’t earned?”

“You don’t have to, but it would make them more accepting of you.”

“Out of all the people here, you know fake friendships don’t mean shit,” I commented.

Tanner didn’t say anything, and I smiled.

“If they can get through year two — or if a situation arises that makes it necessary to explain exactly who I am — then I’ll tell them. For now, they’re novices in this game of hide and seek. They need to become stronger and build their bonds as a Hive before they can deal with my dad. We all know this. Until then, I’ll continue being the nerd Calvin who carries loads of equipment and likes to research shit.” I rose up and stretched.

“I’m going to see if Daddy Dearest was stupid enough to trip one of my many virtual virus traps. Until we know more, continue being awesome parents. At least Jade has a great support system. If only all of us could have three loving parents.”

I made my way to the door and I could feel Tanner watching me closely.

“You forgot your equipment,” he mumbled.

I reached for the doorknob with my left hand. Lifting my right hand, I snapped my fingers, magically teleporting my equipment to my little safe hold.

“Show off,” Tanner grumbled. I looked back at him, knowing damn well that my orange eyes were a prominent silver.

“Got to let the magic out once in a while.”

With those last words, I headed out the door with a wide grin on my face.

New game in session. All I can hope is that Jade follows the new rules.

~JADE~

SOMETHING SOFT BRUSHED MY CHEEK, and I snuggled closer to my pillow. It took another stroke to my cheek for me to open my eyes just slightly.

Blinking to clear my vision, I locked onto a pair of gorgeous white eyes. They had spinning magic circles within their irises and even the whiteness itself had a glow.

It took me a moment to figure out that those eyes currently belonged to Zeke, but even as I took in his facial features, I realized he was different. Sure, he still looked like the relaxed, seductive man I’d come to love, but there was a level of calm to him like I’d see in Zion.

Thanks to my intense stare, his lips slowly curled up. That made him look a lot more like the Zeke I knew, but I was going to follow my gut.

“You’re not Zeke, are you?” I questioned.

My voice was weak and my throat was itching for water, but I wanted to solve this mystery, or at least prove that my gut was right.

His smirk widened to a serene smile, one that definitely didn’t match Zeke’s normal grin.

“No, I’m not,” he replied.

“You’re his light element,” I stated.

“You’re correct,” he replied.

“What happened to Zeke?” I asked.

“He’s sleeping,” he answered and lightly shrugged. “He keeps his guard down when he’s around you. Makes him sleepy. I’d call it silly, but if he hadn’t fallen asleep, I wouldn’t have gotten the privilege of meeting you.”

“Hmm.” I pondered him. “You’re calm but dangerous.”

“You’re observant,” he replied.

“It’s one of my many weird qualities.”

“Unique,” he corrected. “You’re in no way weird.”

“Tell that to everyone else,” I mumbled. “They think I’m weird.”

“Since when do you care about everyone else’s opinions?”

“I don’t know,” I replied. “It’s always been in the back of my mind.”

“It shouldn’t be,” he replied. “People’s opinions of you don’t define you.”

“Are you lecturing me?”

“Maybe.” He shrugged again. “Does that upset you?”

“No,” I replied. “It’s just interesting.”

“Your shadow loves you a lot,” he mumbled.

I blinked and looked down to Shadow Jade, who was snuggled next to me. She had a smile on her face and was hugging her dark unicorn plushie.

I’d noticed there was a new pink one in my lap when I woke up, but I had no clue who it was for.

“Yeah, she does,” I replied, and couldn’t help but smile when looking at her sweet expression.

“No matter how tough things get, you can rely on your shadow to get you out of it,” he whispered.

Glancing back at him, I gave him an appraising look. “Is that you giving advice or a warning of the future?”

“Could be both. Who knows,” he replied, grinning again. “You’re cute when you ask questions.”

“Your behavior reminds me of Zion,” I admitted. “Not as an insult. Just fact.”

“I get that a lot,” he replied, seemingly unbothered by my comment.

“It doesn’t bother you?”

“No,” he replied. “There’s more to us than meets the eye.”

“Tempting,” I said.

“You like that I’m full of mysteries.”

“I do. It’s a bit of a turn on, to be honest. However, this isn’t really the place to get horny and all.” It was my turn to shrug. “Wouldn’t mind exploring if we were in the right environment.”

I saw those white eyes twinkle with mischief and a hint of playfulness that reminded me of Zackery. “We’ll have that opportunity soon enough. Until then, you should rest a little more. My brothers will be here shortly.”

“That means you’re leaving?” I was genuinely disappointed.

He grinned and kissed me. It was a soft kiss, cautious and precise, but I enjoyed how it tugged at the bits of light inside me, warming me up and easing away the pain and worry that fought to plague me.

“Yes, but we’ll indeed see each other again. Then we’ll talk about what’s to come,” he confirmed.

“All right,” I said, a yawn escaping me. “I’m a little tired.”

“You can take a quick power nap.”

“Are you sure?” I asked.

“Yup.” He stroked my head soothingly. “Zeke will be back by then.”

“Okay,” I replied, my eyes growing heavier by the second. It must have been those nasty pills that were making it hard for me to stay awake. The taste was still there, but it wasn’t as bad as I expected it to be.

It didn’t make the kiss with this light element Zeke any less delightful.

He continued to stroke my head and I began to doze off, but I wanted to know his name for the next time we met.

“Can…I at least know your name?” I mumbled, unsure if my words were even coherent. I heard a soft chuckle and something soft pressed against my forehead.

“Sleep well, our Hive Queen,” he whispered.

I was on the verge of sleep, the darkness tugging at me, but I caught one last sentence. I wondered if it was my own thoughts or reality.

Zephyr. My name is Zephyr.

NEW RULES

“No,” I bluntly replied with a frown.

“See?” my four boyfriends said to Alaric and Tanner. “Told you.”

Tanner sighed and Alaric pinched his nose.

“Jade,” Alaric began.

I crossed my arms and interrupted. “I’m not being babysat. Nope.”

Shaking my head, I continued, “I survived a year on the streets being chased by thugs and men from the mafia with no problem. I lived for eleven years after that in your Hive’s care and didn’t need to be watched. Why is it now that I’m nineteen, I need to be watched?” I voiced.

Alaric sighed and looked at the others. “Do you mind leaving us alone for a bit?”

I pouted, knowing well that this was going to be one of those non-negotiable chats. My boyfriends nodded and gave me a sympathetic look.

I sighed and mumbled, “I’m not angry with any of you. I’m just annoyed. Don’t give me those sad expressions. Makes me uncomfortable.”

That made them grin. I was sure they felt appreciated now that I’d acknowledged them.

Before they could leave, I mumbled, “Thanks for being here.”

Now they were smiling from ear to ear.

Once they left, Tanner walked over to my bedside. He patted my head gently.

“I know you’re upset with these new rules we’re trying to implement, but it’s for your own safety. Tracker Hive hasn’t given you the best environment to test your skills and grow, but my aim is to train you and work on it so that you can use your other elements like you do Shadow Jade.”

I looked over at him, noticing his seriousness as he continued. “The game we’re playing isn’t something that normally happens. Obviously, you are special in many ways and the council knows that. So does Charles. We’re trying to determine if the council is working with Charles in some way to get to you. Or at least bring you to such a point of vulnerability and mental stress that you’ll be defenseless enough for him to strike.”

Tanner took a deep inhale and let it out slowly. “I don’t think he wants to kill you. Right now, it benefits his plan to keep you alive, but that can change at any moment. We have to take things more seriously and train you harder. Once you’ve recovered, we’ll train in the early mornings and ensure you’re benefiting from the classes you decide to take.”

“What’s the plan with summer, then?”

“Recovery would be the best,” Alaric insisted. “I hate to say this, but I think your boyfriends will have to go back to their district for the summer.”

“Why?”

When he didn’t answer, I groaned and rolled my eyes.

“Let me guess. The glorious magic council has summoned my Trouble Four to work in their district during the summer and not spend their time with little old me. Am I correct?”

Alaric frowned and Tanner sighed.

“This is why we think someone on the council is targeting you. It’s already noted in your file that emotional stress will make your elements react, especially Shadow Jade. She hasn’t had a tantrum or a ‘let’s destroy the world episode’ in a long time.”

“They just want me to have a miserable summer with no cock,” I grumbled.

Tanner’s whole face grew red and Alaric snickered. “We’ve been looking for apartments for you,” he admitted.

“Apartments?” I asked and looked at him.

Alaric nodded. “Figured you’d need a place of your own sooner rather than later. Of course, you’re more than welcome to stay home during school, seeing as its three minutes away from the main buildings, but on the weekends and during summer vacation, you can stay at your new place. It won’t be an average apartment. Tanner has a few connections and will get you a nice suite with a big sturdy bed for your ‘fun’ activities,” he confirmed.

I looked at both of them, head swiveling from one side to the other.

“Seriously?” I was a little speechless. I wasn’t expecting this at all.

“Yes,” Tanner replied. “I talked with some friends. They have a few places in town that are luxurious but near most of the hot spots. We’ll look into it during the summer and get something set up. It may be a six-month wait, seeing as no one ever likes to move out of there, but I’m sure my friends can work something out so we’re at the top of the list when an opening is available. Sound like a good deal?”

“Yes!’ I beamed. “Sounds like an amazing deal.”

I was still sad about the guys not being around during summer, but I could deal with that. Some good books, Netflix, and my vibrator would keep me occupied indoors, and I had a Ferris Wheel to keep me entertained outdoors.

“Thank you,” I whispered to both of them.

Tanner smiled and stroked my head. “We love you. I know this is troublesome and stressful, but we’ll get through it. For now, we just need you to relax until we can figure things out.”

“All right,” I agreed.

I hated this plan, but at the same time, if it got me a nice apartment, I couldn’t say no.

“I love you too,” I replied, and gave him a small smile.

He smirked and leaned in to kiss my temple. “I’m going to go check on your boyfriends. They’re going to be a moping mess when I tell them the lovely news about summer.”

“You sound beyond happy,” I noted.

“I am.” His grin grew wider. “Let them suffer.”

“Evil.” I shook my head. “I should get Alaric to cock block you.”

He blushed and Alaric began to laugh uncontrollably.

“Bianca has been exposing us, hasn’t she?” Alaric asked, while Tanner groaned. “Dammit. Why does she share so much with you?”

“I’m her lovable daughter whom she cherishes,” I sweetly declared. “And we’re both females and know the common language of sex. I don’t see how it’s a problem.”

“It’s too much information,” Tanner argued.

“Sex is sex. I’m mature enough to have a simple conversation about how my dads argue over common men logic and Alaric cock blocks you until you come crawling back to his office all horny and shit.”

Alaric was struggling to keep his laughter down as he covered his mouth. Tanner’s face was nearly purple and he groaned.

“I’m leaving.”

“Bye! Hope you guys have makeup sex later!” I teased. He gave me a look.

“The moment you’re approved for training, I’m kicking your ass.”

I frowned and innocently looked at Alaric. “Dad! Child abuse!”

“You’re nineteen!”

“So? Last time I checked, I was a child of God! Or whatever they say.” I shrugged. “Can you go comfort my men? I don’t want their tears at being away from me to flood the other room.”

Tanner shook his head. “You’re too much.”

“You love me.” I beamed.

“Lucky I do,” he replied and opened the door. “And training starts at two in the morning now.”

“Oh c’mon! That’s playing dirty! What about if I have sex at one?”

“You still gotta be there by two,” he huffed and walked out.

“Meanie! I’m gonna get Bianca to pussy block you too!”

“Stop telling the world about my love life!” he replied as he closed the door.

Alaric was wiping away his tears from all the laughter.

“You make him so uncomfortable.”

“The price of raising a confident female,” I said with pride. “Plus, he was being mean. Like, two in the morning training? How am I going to enjoy sex with multiple partners if I have a training deadline?”

“I’ll talk him into making it start at three.”

“Are you going to bribe him with sex?” I asked.

“Probably,” Alaric replied. “I’ll let Bianca join in. He can’t deny both of us.”

“Diabolical.” I nodded my head in approval. “I like it!”

“You’re something else,” he replied. “Feeling tired still?”

“A little bit,” I replied. “Where’d this pink unicorn plushie come from, anyway?”

“Calvin gave it to you.”

“He did?” I was a little intrigued. “There’s something mysterious about him.”

“You noticed?”

“Yeah,” I replied. “His aura is hard to decipher, which shouldn’t be the case with his low elemental level.”

“Observant,” Alaric replied.

“Everyone tells me that.” I smiled and then yawned. “Man. I think I need another nap.”

“You can take one. I’m sure I can get Zeke to come back and watch you.”

“Is that okay when you guys have to talk about the summer stuff?” I asked.

“It’ll be fine,” he replied. “They can communicate mentally anyway.”

“Okay,” I replied, my eyes already beginning to close.

Why am I so tired?

Alaric walked over to the bed and helped me lie back against the pile of pillows behind me. “Your medication is still doing its thing in your body. Remember it makes you super sleepy.”

“Another reason why I hate it,” I mumbled.

“You have to take more later,” he replied. “Second dose.”

“Blah,” I mumbled. “You can’t make me.”

“I know.” Alaric chuckled. “But I have four options to choose from to make you take it.”

“Child abuse,” I mumbled, already beginning to drift off.

“You’re nineteen.”

“I’m…a child…of…unicorns,” I mumbled, unable to stay awake any longer. I caught the soft chuckle and felt the press of a kiss and stroke of my head.

“Sleep well, Jade. My lovely daughter.”

FACING THOSE FEARS

~ZEKE~

Closing the door, I looked over to see Jade sleeping away in the hospital bed.

Making my way to her, I peered at her face, watching her inhale and exhale slowly. She looked less pale now, but the aura that usually hugged around her with such power was a lot weaker.

No wonder they’re giving her that horrendous medicine.

I noticed her face squeezed in distress, and she started mumbling something.

“Help,” she whispered and stirred.

My lips automatically frowned, hating the fact that she was having nightmares. I knew what it was like to have your demons chase you whenever they could. Whether it was in the depths of your dreams or during the daylight, it made it hard to keep a smile on your face.

Lifting the blanket up slightly, I slipped between the sheets to cuddle next to Jade. Pulling her against me, I began to stroke her head softly and concentrated on my light element.

My dark element was always easier to pull out than my light. I didn’t know if he was just shy or being an ass, but when he did decide to make my life easier, it wasn’t too hard to make him appear.

“Jade,” I whispered soothingly, feeling my light energy begin to trickle from my fingertips. “Be calm, Jade.”

Slowly, I began to seep more of my light magic into her. She was clearly having a nightmare, one where she was but a child running from the demons that still chased her after all this time.

Minutes passed, and her irregular breathing and mumbles calmed until she was fast asleep once more.

With a sigh, I tried to fight the wave of exhaustion that hit me. Another side effect of using light magic was how exhausted it made me.

Go on a darkness stampede and I could kill people all night long. Heal a few people and I’d be out for a full week.

So unfair.

My eyes began to close, and as much as I wanted to fight it, I couldn’t. With Jade in my arms, and that delightful aroma of hers flowing into my nostrils, it was hard not to relax.

Without much thought, I fell into a calm sleep.

“KILL. KILL. KILL!”

“Shadow Jade. You’re going to wake Zeke up.”

“Sleeping, kill?”

“Yes, he’s still asleep.”

“Boo. Boring. Kill?!”

“You can go organize our new addition of plushies in your room?”

“Yours, kill.”

“I know, but I only have a few dolls, remember? I don’t have any plushies. Mine would be lonely and we don’t want that.”

“Lonely, bad, kill!”

“Yes, it is. That’s why you have to put her with the others so she’s not lonely.”

“Okay!”

There was a moment of silence.

“Cookie?”

“I’d love a cookie. I’m hungry.”

“Save one for Zeke! Kill!”

“Sure.”

“Still sleeping.”

“Yes, Shadow Jade.”

“Boo.”

I felt a poke to my cheek. “Wake up. Eat cookie. Kill!”

“Shadow Jade? He’s tired,”

“But…bored? Cookie. Kill!”

I had to grin at that point. As much as I wanted to keep sleeping in the comfortable position I was in, the conversation was entertaining. At least enough to keep me awake.

Giving up on sleep, I opened my eyes just as Shadow Jade poked my cheek.

“Awake!” She beamed at me. Then she put a cookie in my mouth.

“Cookie. Eat. Kill!”

I heard Jade groan, and I moved my gaze to see her hopeless expression. “Shadow Jade.”

“Kill?” Shadow Jade looked innocently at Jade. “Eating cookie!”

“Sure.” Jade looked like she’d given up on this weird conversation. I took a bite of the oatmeal cookie and smiled.

“It’s good.”

The two of them looked down at me at the same time, and it took me a second to remind myself that Shadow Jade was Jade’s dark element and not her actual twin.

“Hey,” Jade greeted.

“Hey,” I replied, my eyes getting lost in hers. They were back to their usual black, and she looked more refreshed now.

“KILL!” Shadow Jade moved between us, clearly wanting my acknowledgement.

“Hey, Shadow Jade.” I chuckled.

Sitting up, I placed the cookie in my lap and then patted Shadow Jade’s head. “Thanks for keeping Jade company.”

Shadow Jade stared at me and then looked to Jade. She picked up the pink unicorn plushie and mumbled, “Bye. Bye. Kill!”

Just like that, she was gone. I looked to Jade and cocked an eyebrow up in confusion.

Jade grinned. “She’s shy when it comes to people acknowledging her. She isn’t used to it yet.”

“Oh,” I replied, our eyes still locked on one another. I moved the cookie off my lap, placing it to the side somewhere. My current appetite wasn’t for food.

It wanted nothing but to enjoy the sweet taste of Jade’s lips.

“The look you’re giving me is saying you want to do something sinful,” she mumbled, but from the way her eyes danced with growing lust and began to shift to that glorious red color, I could tell she was on board with exactly what I wanted to do right now.

“Maybe,” I replied.

“Your brothers and the others are outside,” she reminded.

“I’m aware,” I muttered, already working on loosening the belt of my dress pants. She smiled and lifted her hips, clearly sliding her underwear down.

“We have to be quick,” she whispered seductively.

God. I love this woman.

“Not a problem,” I whispered, and with ease, slipped my erect cock out from my boxers.

Moving to hover over her, I brought the blanket up to my shoulders, shielding us just in case someone ended up walking in.

Sure, it didn’t do much to hide what we were doing, but it gave Jade privacy.

That was all that we needed.

I didn’t need to tease her. Readying my cock at her entrance, I could feel the heat coming from that addictive pussy of hers and I knew it was wet and ready for me.

I slid into her and we both moaned quietly before I slammed my lips against hers.

That bloody taste of the medication was still there, but the lingering flavor of oatmeal overpowered it, making the intimate connection between our mouths a lot easier.

We moaned into each other’s mouths, our hips moving at a slow rhythm. We were drawing this out just a bit, but I knew it would be worth it.

Our needs grew stronger and our hips moved faster, and the two of us broke the kiss to pant while our eyes locked onto one another’s.

The red in her eyes was strikingly beautiful, and it was hard not to get lost in them instead of the pleasure building between us.

Moving faster and faster, we got closer to our climaxes, and I crushed my mouth against hers at the last minute, sinking my cock deeply into her.

Her orgasmic scream was muffled by my mouth and her body arched into mine. I felt my cum shoot into her, filling her with my hot release. When I finally broke the kiss, it was to give us a moment to breathe, the two of us spent from the intimate session.

“I needed that,” She breathed and gave me a loving smile. “Like really needed that.”

“I aim to please.” I winked at her.

“Tease.” She giggled.

“You love it,” I replied.

“I do.” She smiled. “I love you.”

“And I love you, Jade,” I whispered, claiming her lips.

We’d face whatever was planned for us. As long as we were together, we could face our fears. We could face anything.

HOME ALONE AND VANQUISHING THOSE FEARS

~JADE~

“CAN you repeat what you just said?” My hand that held my cellphone shook ever so slightly, but my hearing must have malfunctioned.

“Jade.” Zion’s soothingly calm voice was low, a sign he was only masking his anger. “We’re talking with them. This is sudden and ridiculous. We’ll sort it out.”

“Repeat,” I stressed the single word, and I heard Zeus’s sigh.

“Our department head informed us that we have to quote, keep our distance from you, end quote. He’s been informed that we’re being too friendly and not getting shit done. Fucking bastard.”

“How the hell are we not getting work done when we got all that evidence on Charles? Talk about bullshit,” I overheard Zeke mutter. “Baby, don’t even worry your pretty head. We’ll fix it.”

“What if you can’t?” I wasn’t going to fall for hopeful promises. “I really wanted to see you guys today.”

The four of them were silent, and I let out a long sigh.

“I’m hanging up.”

“Jad—” I knew that was Zackery trying to speak, but I couldn’t stop my finger from hitting the end button. I wasn’t going to prolong the conversation.

“Sad, Kill?”

My head turned to my right, locking onto Shadow’s Jade’s innocently curious form. She was kicking her legs up and down, her dark unicorn plushie tucked against her with one arm as she held my pink one with her left hand.

Her expression was difficult to read, a mixture of sadness and confusion as she continued to stare back at me.

This week had been a pain in the ass. Christmas was around the corner, days away to be precise, and all I’d done so far was sit at home, staring out the window, and go to school to see if there were any more leads on Charles.

The nasty meds were irritating me, the disgusting, lingering taste still in my mouth even now. I had expected to be with at least one of my four sexy, troubled men this week, but instead, they were called to their headquarters by the department head the moment I was discharged.

I hadn’t become too dependent on their company, but the last couple of nights with little to no sleep was getting on my nerves.

The nightmares…

Only Shadow Jade knew of the extent of my nightmares. How they crippled me as I clung to my bedsheets and fought not to scream when the same sinister voice demanded I join him.

The hallucinations were back, visions of Charles staring at me from afar with that smug smile on his face. A stalker in the depths of the shadows, waiting to unleash havoc on my life and take everything I loved dearly.

What was making things worse was I had no one to talk to this week. Alaric, Bianca, and Tanner were all dealing with a difficult case that had come up the night we arrived back home.

Ten of our agents were in critical condition after almost cornering someone who looked to be Charles. Whether it was a trap or not, the issues had escalated to the point where they needed Alaric. Seeing as Tanner and Bianca were his Hive, it only made sense for the three of them to tackle the situation head-on, creating a higher chance of catching Charles — if it was him.

That left me alone, and I couldn’t bear being within those quiet walls any longer. Sunday meant that school wasn’t any livelier, but at least there were a few students on campus that were gathering their last belongs before the winter holidays.

Due to the current circumstances, Alaric had announced that all students should be off the school property by tomorrow for the Christmas holidays. Semester two wouldn’t start until the second week of the new year, so there was no point in anyone staying behind.

Those who lived afar were given free plane rides back to their countries, and those who had no family to return to were allowed to stay at this cozy hotel specifically for students of Tracker Hive.

It was owned by Tanner and usually kept in top condition for emergency situations. This may not have been an emergency, but the idea was to make sure the school was completely on lockdown, so the agents of Tracker Hive could do a complete investigation of the campus and upgrade the security system.

The main concern, aside from Charles putting me back on his “kill” list, was how easy it was for him to infiltrate the campus.

Calvin, being the tech wiz he was, made a forty-five-page essay pointing out every single flaw in the school’s security system and was more than happy to lecture the security department about their lack of knowledge and protective services.

I heard after the fifth hour of what could have been a ten-hour presentation, the head of security begged for Calvin to take charge of the new protection plan and he was now assisting in wiring a brand-new system that would not only track everything in real-time but also create multiple backups of the footage with encryptions, so his father wouldn’t have a chance to get rid of any evidence.

The entire process would take most of the holidays and was the very reason why Calvin was here on campus on a Sunday.

I must have been in need of some human presence, so that I’d subconsciously accept that I wasn’t alone.

The original plan was I’d meet my four sexy Maxwells here at school and we’d go out for dinner and stay at one of those luxurious hotels and have some cuddle fun. I was desperate to be in their arms, to talk, laugh, and listen to them bicker over stupid shit that made me smile.

Instead, I had to be told about the horrible news to end the week. My Trouble Four can’t be around me. They’re not fucking allowed.

My fingers clenched the phone and if it wasn’t for Shadow Jade’s hand that wrapped around mine, I was sure my phone would be broken into pieces.

“Angry. Kill.” Jade’s voice was stern, my growing anger influencing her as well. We continued to share our intense look, my feelings flowing through her and back to me in an endless cycle.

I took a deep breath and closed my eyes for a short moment. Letting the air out slowly, I whispered, “No. Disappointed.”

“Disappointed,” Shadow Jade repeated. My head bobbed, and I shook it out of annoyance. “It’s stupid. I shouldn’t feel disappointed. I’m used to this. Used to being alone. Not a big deal. Whoever thinks taking my men away is going to get to me is not going to have the last laugh. Fuck them!” I vowed.

“Fuck them! Kill!” Shadow Jade cheered with me.

“Who are you fucking?”

We looked to the door to see Calvin, his hands holding his large laptop. “If it’s your boyfriends, I can come back later.”

“Puppy!” Shadow Jade beamed and scooted off the desk. She ran over to him and smiled eerily at him. “Cookies!”

“Ah!” Calvin moved to face Shadow Jade, giving me a view of the two large cookies that laid neatly on the top of his keyboard.

There were black napkins beneath them, of course, so as not to damage his computer, which was surely one of his babies if you wanted to rank it on the level of importance. Even so, for him to put freshly baked cookies on his laptop and bring them here only meant they had to be for us…right?

“Calvin?” My voice was neutral. “Why do you have cookies lying on your keyboard? Your laptop is expensive,” I noted.

“Ah.” He blushed immediately, his feet shuffling in place as he looked everywhere but at Shadow Jade and me. “I figured you’d want something sweet while you wait for the Maxwells. Zeus bakes you cookies every day, but since he’s at their headquarters with the others, I thought…it would be good to try and make you and Shadow Jade some.”

“Zeus doesn’t bake my cookies,” I muttered.

“He does,” Calvin confirmed. “Every single day. He sometimes comes early to school and uses the cooking economics room to make them for you and Shadow Jade. He didn’t tell you that?” He paused to think about it. “Knowing Zeus, he wouldn’t bother saying anything. Hmph. If it was Zackery, he’d tell the entire school he’s baking cookies for you. I should have thought that through before asking.”

The slight smirk that formed on my lips had Shadow Jade jumping up and down. “Mommy Jade happy!” she cheered.

“Happy?” Calvin looked at Shadow Jade before he glanced back to me. “Were you not happy before?”

I didn’t hide my confliction, my eyes lowering to the phone in my hand. I heard skipping sounds before the pink plushie unicorn came into view.

“Pink unicorn! Cheer up, my Jade! Happy! Kill!”

I lifted my head up to see Shadow Jade’s eyes; the desperation in their black hollows made me wish I felt the happiness she wanted me to feel. I hated worrying her. She deserved to be singing Christmas carols and skipping around the school to view the artwork.

Not sitting here, worrying about me because I was secretly missing my men.

“The guys aren’t coming today,” I announced casually. “Someone above is forcing them to stay away from me. I’m apparently a distraction. Figures.” I tried to laugh as I flicked my long black and white locks that I’d purposely curled to look extra cute with my uniform. “Stupid, right?”

“Absolute nonsense,” Calvin huffed, and quickly walked over to where I was sitting on the desk. He lowered his laptop to where Shadow Jade had been sitting before, immediately picking up the black napkin with the large double chocolate cookie and offering it to me.

“Don’t be sad, Queen Jade. I may not be like your boyfriends, but cookies make everyone happy!” Calvin declared.

His offering tugged a small part inside me, my elements flickering in observation as we stared into his orange eyes that were framed with those glasses of his.

Genuine.

Calvin may have been annoying in the beginning, but his loyalty was something that few individuals had shown to me. With my Maxwells, it was different. We weren’t just a team, but lovers, connected by my eight elements.

Calvin didn’t need to be by my side. I knew he was connected to this case for some reason that I’d yet to be informed about, but it didn’t mean he had to follow me around every day during classes.

He called me Queen, respected my shadow, and was now here with cookies to cheer me up. Loyalty always came with a price, and he was giving such services for free, knowing very well the chances of him benefiting from me were slim to none.

“Thank you, Calvin.” My voice was soft, and I let my emotions flood my expression as I stared back at him.

His cheeks grew even redder, and he looked away and stuttered, “Y-you’re very welcome, Queen Jade. Please eat while it’s still warm.”

“Cookies! Happy! Kill!” Shadow Jade beamed. We looked at her as she skipped around. “I want my cookie!”

“Coming, Shadow Jade.” Calvin made sure the cookie was in my hand before he moved to get Shadow Jade’s. I lifted my legs to cross them on the desk, lowering the cookie to rest on my skirt.

Breaking a piece of the gooey chocolate creation, I popped the piece into my mouth and immediately moaned.

“This hits the right spot. So good.” To be fair, I hadn’t been eating the best of late and it was starting to show. Maybe it was a good thing that the guys hadn’t been allowed to see me, or they wouldn’t have liked it.

“Queen Jade?”

I looked at Calvin as he fixed his glasses. “My glasses may not be working well, but did you lose weight?”

“Yes.” No point in lying about it. “Not a big deal.”

“It is when I can notice,” he pointed out. “Have you not been eating?”

I didn’t reply. Shadow Jade paused in eating her cookie and mumbled, “Nightmares.”

The room was silent, and I expected Calvin to say something silly to try and pick up the mood. Instead, he walked over to where I sat until his face was inches from mine.

My body froze from the closeness, our eyes locking for a long minute.

“When did they start?” His voice was stern, and for a second, he looked like a younger version of Charles, but smarter.

And more dangerous. Did that even make sense?

“The night I was discharged,” I casually replied, like it wasn’t a big deal.

My elements were reacting, which was making me confused. We had no connection with Calvin like that, and they never used to react before.

“Why haven’t you said anything?”

“Why should anyone care?” I grumbled.

“I care.” He said it with so much conviction, the intensity between us made it almost hard to breathe. I bit my lip, desperately fighting to not go with my instincts, which were completely bizarre to me.

My motto was ‘go with the flow,’ but whatever was buzzing between us wasn’t just a friendly heart-to-heart. Something had clicked and changed entirely.

“Kiss?!” Our foreheads slammed into one another, and I groaned while Calvin whined, “Ow! Shadow Jade?”

I looked over to my shadow, who had the biggest, most mischievous smile on her face.

Shadow Jade.

“Like Puppy! KISS! Then kill!” she declared in my mind.

I don’t like him like that!

“Oh…really?” She tapped her finger to her pouting lip. “Then…kill and hide the body?”

Please don’t kill him. He brought us cookies.

“COOKIES!” Shadow Jade exclaimed out loud, looking back at her cookie that had somehow managed to stay in her lap. “Mine!”

“Sure.” I sighed and looked at Calvin, who was rubbing his slightly red forehead. “Sorry.”

“It’s okay,” Calvin replied, blinking a few times before he lowered his hand and gave me an odd look. It only lasted a few seconds and then he was back to his nerdy self. “I’ll develop something that will help with that, Queen Jade. Stay here. I’ll go to my office so it’s faster.”

“Calvin…you don’t have—”

He was already picking up his laptop and dashing out of the room. I wasn’t sure if it was him rushing in excitement at what he was about to create or out of embarrassment at what had just happened.

“Dangerous,” I mumbled under my breath.

“Like?”

“No.”

“Hmm. Kill in sleep!”

“Don’t kill him in his sleep, Shadow Jade.” I shook my head. “Too much evidence with that option.”

“Right. Kill later.” Shadow Jade approved, which only made me smile. “Are you going to put the plushies away now?”

“Oh,” Shadow Jade replied after she finished the last bite of her cookie. She took her time cleaning her hands with the napkin, making sure there wasn’t a speck of chocolate or dirt on her hands before she picked up the two plushies.

“Go organize now!” she declared and poof, she was gone.

“That’s going to take hours,” I complained to myself but ended up giggling. “My sweet, knowledgeable shadow.”

Staring at the remaining half of my cookie, I got lost in what just happened.

Who is Calvin, really? Why did I just react like that? I actually wanted to kiss him. Why? He’s weak. Not valuable in combat. A servant. Why…

The sound of my phone ringing caught my attention. One look at the caller ID and I debated ignoring it entirely. I could already see Zeke’s seductive smile, knowing damn well I’d ignore his call because I was still upset. He knew I’d pick up eventually, and if I let him, he’d call me all night long.

Annoying boyfriend.

Reaching for the phone, I finally picked it up and put it on speaker.

“I’m still mad,” I muttered. “You guys owe me.”

“Owe you? Are you sure you don’t owe them an explanation for how fake and manipulative you are?”

My breath caught in my throat, my hand shaking at the cold voice that whispered through the speaker and made goosebumps form along my arms.

“Charles.”

“Don’t worry. Your boys are safe in their stupid meetings. These departments are so easy to infiltrate. It would be bad if a bomb suddenly went off, don’t you think?”

I bit my lip so hard there was blood, my head suddenly pounding with intensity.

“What do you want me to do?” I wasn’t dancing around this one. He had me where he wanted, and I had to go along with his plan once again.

“The roof.”

My head nodded like he could see my every move, and I was walking out of the classroom and toward the stairwell in seconds. That I had reached the roof didn’t register until the cold air hit me like metal slapping my face.

Heart pounding, palms sweating, headache brewing — they were making my world spin. I was letting this jackass get the best of me. I had to figure something out, but how?

“You’re trapped in my net, Hive Queen.” Charles laughed, sounding beyond pleased. “Head to the ledge. Stand there and look down.”

I debated whether to follow his orders, to dare put myself exactly where he wanted me. “Tick tock, Jade. Or boom. Those four boys are gone.”

My legs moved on their own accord, the desire to keep the men I’d come to love safe stronger than thinking rationally. Reaching the ledge, I lifted my leg and placed my left foot on the slim platform, but the way the world spun made me remain exactly where I was.

If I even attempted to stand, I would surely fall.

My elements began to rage inside me, each of them attempting to reach the surface and tug me out of this situation.

“Do what I say, Jade.”

“No,” I muttered through gritted teeth.

“No? You really don’t care about these pathetic souls.”

“You’re not real.”

“I’m talking to you.”

“You’re messing with me. You hacked my cellphone. There’s no way you could have Zeke’s phone.”

“And why is that? You really think I’m playi—”

“When Zeke’s on the job, he carries his phone in his boxers and only lets it vibrate if I text him. Zeus turns his phone off. Zion has an encrypted phone that needs four videogame code names to unlock. Zackery is the only one who carries a regular phone and his ringtone is the duck song. Which means you’re nowhere near the office; you’re in that hidden hell of yours.”

“What if I’m right here.”

There was no time to react, my body shoved forward. I gasped and fell for three solid seconds, before a hand grabbed me.

“KILL!”

My body slammed into the wall of the building, but I ignored the pain and looked up, expecting to see Shadow Jade. Instead, it was a silhouette of white energy, one that was almost blinding as it held me for dear life.

My jaw dropped not out of shock or curiosity, but at how warm the energy felt. My eyes noticed how my white strands now glowed vibrantly and had multiplied to the point where my black hair was nearly all white.

My eyes moved back to what held me before I noticed Shadow Jade hop on the ledge with her scythe in her hand.

“Disappear!” she snarled, a second before hundreds of black shards appeared and shot out through the roof. I wasn’t sure where my phone had gone, but the grunting sound was loud enough to reach my ears before a shift of magic flickered through the air.

I was slowly lifted up by the glowing white being until I was on my hands and knees. My breaths were ragged and my body shook. Doing my best to not succumb to the hit of nausea that plagued me, I looked to the white silhouette that had saved me, noticing how much she looked like me.

The hollows of her eyes were purple, and she stared at me in wonder before a tiny smile formed on what was her lips.

“You’re…Light…Jade?” I questioned. All I got was a slow nod, the smile remaining on her face as those glowing purple eyes stared back at me.

“How…” I whispered. “I…didn’t charge you enough to take on physical form.”

My light magic was by far my weakest. It wasn’t like I couldn’t train her, but she was truly my complete opposite. I’d always thrived on the darkness. The dark thoughts and fears that motivated me on a daily basis to get justice for what was done to my family.

I still respected her power, as well as the element itself, but the only way for her to take form would require a charge in energy, similar to what I felt with Zackery, Zion, Zeus, and Zeke.

What’s going on?

Her body began to fade, and she slowly lifted her hand and pressed it against my face. Wiping what I realized was a tear from my cheek, her body faded away, leaving me with Shadow Jade.

“Don’t feel good.”

I quickly looked at Shadow Jade, noticing her slumped shoulders and how her body seemed to fizzle in and out.

“Shadow Jade?” I was up and catching her as she slumped forward. “Shadow Jade?!”

“Imbalance. Kill? Goodnight.” She began to fade until she was gone, her energy returning to me. Even that sense of energy was difficult to feel, my body suddenly feeling hot and then freezing cold.

I hugged myself, shaking uncontrollably. Fear spiked through me, my mind registering what I hadn’t experienced since I was a kid.

Imbalanced. Shit…shit…I have to find Alaric…or someone.

My eyes tried to search for my phone, but black spots were forming in my line of vision. I then remembered I’d put on the watch Zion kept nagging me to wear for research purposes.

I struggled to move, my body feeling like every inch of it was frozen in ice. My numb fingers pressed the dial button of the watch, activating the emergency call function. I had to hope either Zackery or Zeke had their phones at this point, but even my wishful thinking was beginning to sink in fear as something grabbed my throat and lifted me up.

I choked and took as much air as I could, immediately gripping onto whatever held me up. My vision was fading, the dots blocking the sight of the culprit, but the echoing laughter that reached my ears was enough to tell me it was Charles in the flesh.

“I’ve never felt so desperate to get rid of a little ant like yourself. You’ve become more of a nuisance. It’s about time you di—”

A loud gunshot rang through the air, and Charles flinched in agony and released his grip on me. I stumbled to the ground, but rose just as quickly, all my elements pushing in front at once and shooting out like porcupine needles, stabbing Charles.

He screamed, and his devilish eyes locked onto my half-open ones that glowed with intense magic.

“I. Will. Kill. You.” My voice was not my own, but a mix of my elements’ as my own consciousness began to fade. If I wasn’t careful, they would take complete control and that would lead to absolute chaos.

He yelled in frustration and like a passing wind, his body faded before we could react. I placed my hands on my temples; the pounding drum of pain within the walls of my head was far too much for me to take anymore.

Anger. A surging rage that I’d been cornered and threatened, all because of my love for my men. What was the point of love if it could be used against you?

It could kill you. Slaughter the last threads of life and leave you feeling like a pathetic fool.

“Jade!”

No. I won’t be a fool. I’ll destroy everything. Let my elements rain on Charles’s fucking parade and slaughter anyone who got in my way. Who needs a Hive? I’m a one-woman army. No more merc—

Someone grabbed me, their hands pressing against my cheeks and forcing my eyes to focus on only them. Glowing white eyes. Ones of power, framed with silver glasses.

“Jade Storm. Come back to me.”

“Why can’t I be happy?!” I snarled with rage, my voice unrecognizable. “He stole everything! He stole my happiness. My compassion. He made me into a trophy that people fight to claim as their own. If I’m a Queen, why can’t I order for him to be gotten rid of? For his life to end and for justice to be served!”

My fire energy raged. The flowing tides of water cried out in agony. The power of my wind lashed helplessly and the thunderous anger raged in desperation. The chill of ice wanted to pierce through the pain and my darkness to exact revenge for our agony.

The only thing I couldn’t feel was my light, leaving me wondering if it had cowed away in hiding.

“You deserve happiness.” The person’s warmth spread across my cheeks, his eyes glued to mine, searching for the real me. The one who had been stripped of her elements and was curled up in a ball, wishing to disappear for all eternity.

“You, Jade Storm, the Hive Queen with a kind heart. You deserve to smile. To not live in fear every day. You’ve been hurt. Mistreated and abandoned by those who should have lifted you up during your time of homelessness. I feel your pain, fear, and sadness, but it does not mean the world must suffer. You, the Jade who is willing to accept someone like me, knows what is right.”

My lip trembled, my elements lashing out around us, leaving me to wonder what was going on, but my focus remained on the person before me.

“C…Calvin?”

He smiled then, and the light element within him shone like a glimmering diamond.

“Just between us,” he whispered and pulled me into a hug. “You will get justice, Jade. I swear upon it. However, we have to ensure you’re safe. Let me shield you from the pain. Allow me to heal you of your sorrow. Share your fears, and I will chase them away. All you have to do is get stronger and know you deserve to live. To breathe, grow, and enjoy the fruits of your labor with your loyal boyfriends.”

His light reached into me, not caring about the lash outs from my other elements. One by one, he passed by each elemental barrier, until he stood before the me that curled up in the depths of my subconsciousness.

My head lifted up then, and my eyes showed the glowing white essence of my light magic. The powerful light shone brighter and wrapped around me, securing me and empowering the light inside of me until it overtook my senses.

The anger began to fade; the anxiety and fear that had built up after each nightmare crumbled away, and one by one, my elements retreated, until only the light remained.

“Why?” My voice was but a whisper, reflecting how weak I felt as the warmth took over. “You…we…can’t be anything more…”

“That’s fine.” The resolve in his voice made my heart ache slightly. “Time will tell. Until then, I’ll be your faithful knight. Rest, Queen Jade. I’ll vanquish your fears so all you have to do is be happy.”

My light element obeyed, and my subconscious gave in to the inviting darkness.

Thank you, Calvin.

HOLY FUCKING SHIT

~ZEKE~

“I TOLD you not to go near that girl you’ve all been obsessed with and what do you do? Interrupt the meeting to go see her! Do you have any ide—”

My words came out so fast that I wasn’t sure if I was the one speaking or if the depths of darkness were threatening to take complete control.

“You expect me to sit in your useless meeting when our girlfriend was almost killed by Charles himself? The man you’ve all been clearly turning a blind fucking eye to, because he’s still able to walk these streets without your agents catching him?! Yet, you’re wasting time to lecture me? Do you know who the fuck I am?!”

“Zeke Ma—”

“Do. Not. Lecture. Me.” All bets were off as the darkness took over and snarled into the cellular device. “How dare you think you can control us.”

The silence that followed made me chuckle eerily. “You think because our family is in debt to you for taking us in when we were boys that you have authority over us? Let me remind you whose family legacy funds your entire fucking office. Who are the ones who make sure your rent is paid? That put you in the head position in the first place?”

I could hear the struggled gulp and it gave me the confidence to carry on with the point.

“Heed my warning, for I won’t say it again. My brothers and I are not foolish. We see the laziness of this department and if things don’t start being taken seriously, we’ll shut this whole thing down and move our resources elsewhere. You and I both know you won’t last a month without us.”

“Are…you threatening me?” he snarled.

“I am. What are you going to do? Make a bargain with Charles himself?”

“I would never—”

“Find him. Catch him. Lock him up and throw away the fucking key. If you want to keep living that luxurious life of yours, then start working hard instead of ordering me and my brothers around. We may play your little games for the sake of saving face, but this game you’re playing will end today or there will be consequences. You. Hear. Me?”

“Yes.”

“Yes, what?”

“Yes, Mr. Maxwell.”

“Good. My team is off until semester two begins, and we will rediscuss the plans for this case. I’ll make it known now. I want Charles in intense isolation so that he fucks up. As for our girlfriend, no more bullshit. She’s under our protection, and the next time you call us for some unnecessary bullshit and it results in her getting hurt, we won’t have another conversation. We will take everything and leave. I won’t say that a third time. You hear?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Good.”

I hung up before he could say another word, my phone crashing into the wall of the meeting room the next second.

No one said a word at my display of violence, and I couldn’t care less about their opinions. Zeke and Zephyr were kind motherfuckers. I, on the other hand, was a dangerous stick of dynamite that was ready to be lit.

“What the flying fuck happened that Charles was able to infiltrate the school — again — and hack into her phone and use my caller ID to lead her to the fucking roof? And why the hell was there NO ONE on security when we specifically stated there be a full team on campus AND surrounding Jade’s household?”

The head of the current security department quickly rose to his feet, shaking in place as he looked at me, my three brothers who were leaning against the wall with crossed arms, and Calvin, who was sitting in the single chair to my right with his eyes closed.

The smartass plump guy that we loved to tease was the very reason Jade was in the recovery room with minor injuries.

That only pissed me off even more.

We should have been there for her. We were her boyfriends. Her Hive that promised to protect her. What was the point of those very vows if they held no weight?

“Sir, we were doing our job, but we heard gunshots and my men went to investigate.”

“Your entire team of men thought it was smart to ALL waltz over to where these apparent shots were, not thinking that maybe, JUST maybe, they were a fucking distraction?! Are you even listening to yourself?!”

The door slammed opened and we all turned to see a very pissed off Bianca. She didn’t even close the door as she walked right between me and the security head and turned to face the trembling man.

“Outside. Summon your whole damn team. Alaric wants a word.”

“M-ma’am, please. Don’t fire us,” he begged.

She didn’t answer, her attention turning to us. “Stay here. We all need to talk.”

“Yes, Professor Sky,” I replied in an emotionless tone. I figured this was not the time for the first-name usage, especially with this group of idiots around.

With a slight nod from her and a quick glance around the room at my brothers and Calvin, she was out the door. The trembling group of guards hurried after her. Maybe they thought their promptness would save them from losing their jobs. If they had used that same energy tonight, none of this shit would have happened.

“Hey.” Zackery was the one to speak. “You mind waking up Zeke so we don’t get even more unbalanced?” His words were as calm as rushing water, which was already an indication I’d thrown them off again.

I didn’t care, which was a normal trait of my dark self, but I was done staying in control anyway.

You awake?

“Hmm,” Zeke answered within our mind.

Take control. I’m tired.

“Impatient.”

I want to meet Jade.

It seemed right to bring up that concern of mine. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t jealous Zephyr had met her before me, but he was a smooth, light motherfucker. Innocent but deadly. Good thing we actually got along, even though we were complete opposite elements.

“When I get to talk to her, you can. If she’s okay with it. Don’t want her shadow reacting to your presence.”

She’s not interested in me like that.

I sensed Zeke’s curiosity with my comment.

“Meaning?”

Our romance stays with Jade and not her elements.

“Interesting.” He paused. “Does that mean Shadow Jade and the rest of her elements won’t ever fall for our elements?”

Not sure.

This whole Hive thing was new and tricky to understand. We, the elements, reacted to Jade herself and her elemental energies, but in terms of the physical attraction, it appeared to stick to Jade herself.

Zephyr and I were obviously influenced by Zeke’s intense passion for Jade. He loved Jade strongly. I’d never seen him love anyone to that extent.

Motherly love was different, and we loved our mom and missed her, but Zeke had always feared opening his heart again to anyone aside from our brothers. Jade changed all of that, and it was one of the reasons why we were so anxious about the close calls she’d been experiencing.

“What if someone comes along and Shadow Jade and her other elements like their elements?”

Not possible, seeing as we’re the only ones in her Hive. They need a Hive connection. At least, that’s what my brain tells me. I could be wrong.

“We have to do more research on this Hive business.”

Why don’t you ask the very ones who are in a Hive?

My suggestion was full of sarcasm. I couldn’t help it when it was rather obvious that Alaric, Tanner, and Bianca were a Hive and could easily give us the information we desired if we asked.

“You can go back to sleep, smartass.”

I actually smirked, and we switched spots.

Before I fell asleep, I muttered,”If you don’t let me see Jade, I’m letting the nightmares bother you tonight.”

Whatever.

I knew that was a yes.

“YOU BACK, ZEKE?” It was Zion.

“Give me a minute,” I muttered, still trying to work on balancing out my emotions.

Zahir, my dark shadow element, was a pain in my rear when he took over. He always left me riled up and ready to enter some unknown war.

Zephyr, my light element, always snuck in and took over. I always knew he’d taken a breath of air because I’d feel giddy and happy, like the world was declared a peaceful sanctuary and the bill for public masturbation was approved.

Wishful thinking.

I was also agitated that we’d fallen into yet another trap. This was all a plan to isolate Jade and to make her lose control. From Calvin’s initial report, she almost did.

Not like the completely destroyed top floor of the school wasn’t proof of that.

We hadn’t gotten all the facts yet, but we didn’t need it to see the immense damage Jade’s loss of control had created. No one blamed her. She was cornered and her life was threatened. Considering the fact that she was still recovering from the gym incident, the sudden news we were banned from being around her had only added gasoline to the intense fire.

This is getting out of hand.

Opening my eyes, I turned around to face my brothers, my eyes drifting to Calvin. His arms were still crossed over his chest, but he looked to be in deep sleep.

To be honest, I was a little worried about his pale complexion. It was hard to sense his aura when he hid it, but now that his guard was completely down, it was easy to acknowledge with just a hint of focus.

What bothered me was that very aura was weak as fuck. Not in teasing way; it was seriously low and that was never a good sign. We knew very little about Calvin.

We underestimated him, but now that we knew he worked with Tracker Hive and was on the same case, he had significant magical ability.

The son of Charles Sokolov himself…abandoned because he was “too weak.”

“Zion.” My voice was low as our eyes connected. I didn’t have to say another word before he nodded and walked over to Calvin. He knelt down and pressed a hand to his forehead, his own eyes closing as he went into deep concentration.

Took him a solid two minutes before he spoke.

“He’s really low on energy,” he announced. “Whatever he did to protect Jade took a toll on him. I think he can sleep it off, but…I’m not really sure.”

Zion actually sounded worried.

“The nerd is actually useful in protecting her,” Zeus grumbled. “I feel bad.”

“Me too,” Zackery admitted. “And it’s rare for me to actually feel sorry for teasing him.”

“That ain’t going to change much,” I muttered, but ruffled my hair. “We should take him to get checked.”

“Someone has to stay with Jade,” Zeus declared. “I don’t care if she’s on 24/7 observation with those medical peeps. They won’t be able to protect her if Charles strikes again.”

“Alaric put a barrier around her room. No one can get in or out at the moment unless Jade literally stops breathing, which is unlikely,” Zion explained.

“Bianca said we should stay here, though,” Zackery reminded. “And did we re-balance?”

The four of us remained silent for a minute. I felt like my normal self now, but our joined anger still lingered within our connected bond.

“Guess so.” Zeus shrugged. “I honestly don’t give a fuck at this point. I’m really fed up with this bullshit.”

“I can see why Jade’s frustrated…”

We looked to Zion as he fixed the glasses that were settled on his face. “Last semester went smoothly. We had ups and downs, but it was manageable. Then we finished the semester with almost losing Jade, and we haven’t even reached Christmas before a second attempt has been executed.”

“Our own department is trying to set us up; we decided to give them a damn shot and Charles struck again.”

“Calvin becomes the hero, which pisses me off, and the hired security couldn’t do shit. How many connections can Charles have that he’s somehow able to infiltrate and control our department to set us up before hacking into Jade’s phone, which is encrypted by the Tracker department?” Zeus said.

“What are we going to do to make sure this doesn’t happen again?” I whispered.

The three of them looked my way and I met their gazes with my vulnerable eyes. “How are we going to prevent this? We let Jade down. She relied on herself for years. Sure, her family has been there for her, but as a Junior Agent, she did everything by herself unless ordered not to. She never let anyone in until we came along. We’re her boyfriends. Her Hive that promised to be there for her. And we fucked up. Will she ever forgive us?”

That was exactly what I feared the most. To not be forgiven after letting our Queen down. She could have died today. Gone from our grasps. No more of her uniqueness, her burning flame blown out of this hauntingly dark world.

I never expected to have a shining, warm light in my life again after our mother was killed. I’d accepted that my heart would be as cold as that night, when my body trembled in fear and sadness while my eyes stared at the pool of blood that gathered around our mother’s lifeless body.

Jade — a fascinating person with unique quirks and a beautiful outlook on life — changed all that. Regardless of the pain she endured, she aimed to be true to herself. It was inspiring to see, and the kindness she showed Shadow Jade only made me adore her even more.

How can we even make up for our error of judgment?

“It’s not your fault that you fell into that trap.”

We all turned back to see Tanner, Bianca, and Alaric at the doorway. We hadn’t even heard them open the door, let alone enter the small room.

“When?” Zackery questioned, feeling just as flabbergasted as the rest of us.

“Beginning of your conversation after you checked on Calvin,” Bianca answered and walked over to where Zion was still crouched next to Calvin. She patted Calvin’s head, her eyes closed for five seconds.

“He’ll be okay. He needs a long nap,” she announced. “As for your worry regarding Jade, she won’t use this slip-up against any of you.”

“You don’t know that,” Zeus grumbled, his hands clenching into fists and igniting tiny electric shocks. “We were supposed to be on 24/7 observation with her and instead, we assumed she’d be safe here at school or at home with those stupid security jerks.”

“We thought even a week to sort shit out would be enough before something else happened. A stupid assumption,” Zion sighed.

“You say Jade will forgive and not use this against us, but let’s think about what she’s just endured.” Zackery’s stern voice grabbed all of our attention. “Charles masked his appearance and acted like Zeke. Jade watched Zeke, the one she has the deepest connection with, pull the trigger of a gun and kill her. It may have been Shadow Jade who took the bullet, but the effects and perspective are all the same. She may have known it was Charles, but it doesn’t get rid of that image, and we’re identical quads. That image represents all four of us. She lets it go, just starts her process of recovery, and we’re whisked away to do stupid shit in our department, not knowing that it was all a setup. You three have shit to deal with, and where does that leave Jade? Alone with her thoughts.

“We promised to take her out for dinner and enjoy a nice Sunday night together after being away from her for a week. We don’t know what those nasty meds have done in terms of her mental state, but we all know there’s a high risk of hallucinations and nightmares. Knowing this, we still all aimed to finish what had to be done, all while Jade was masking whatever she’s been dealing with this week. Today was our day to be with her and figure out what’s been happening in our absence, and we fucked up. We thought it was smart to tell her that we’ve been banned from seeing her and she hung up before we could apologize.”

We were all silent as his explanation of everything that had built up to this moment played out like a movie in our minds.

“There is Jade, having suffered a week being all alone with her elements and dealing with whatever she’s been struggling with, and now has to wait until who knows when to express what’s eating her up. Charles takes advantage, masks himself as Zeke again to somehow lure Jade to where he wants her, which I can guarantee was a ‘threatening to kill us’ tactic, and there is Jade, about to face death again. Can you see the main problem at hand?”

“We’re the reason why she’s been vulnerable twice. She never would have put her guard down otherwise,” I whispered. “Charles is indirectly using us and manipulating Jade into abandoning her Hive.”

“Exactly,” Zackery agreed. “Why do you think that?”

I wasn’t sure how to answer, but Zion suddenly rose up and bit his lip. “Hold up…he…doesn’t simply want her for her powers.”

We all looked at him.

“What do you mean?” Tanner questioned with an arched eyebrow. “He’s desperate for Jade because she has all eight elements.”

“Alaric has all eight elements. Where’s the desperation in wanting him?” Zion countered.

“There is none,” Bianca replied. “He knows he can’t manipulate Alaric.”

“Yes, but you’re missing the point.” Zion shook his head and grew serious. “We’re Jade’s Hive, correct?”

“Yes,” Tanner and Bianca replied together. “The signs are all there and she reacts to you four.”

“Yes, but we haven’t established it,” Zion announced.

“Established…” I trailed off as it clicked in.

“How…wait. We have to establish it?!” Zackery gasped.

“Isn’t it an automatic thing?” Zeus questioned.

We all looked to the only people we knew who had answers and they frowned.

“Zion is right. You haven’t established the Hive,” Alaric announced.

“Why?” we asked in unison.

Bianca and Tanner looked to Alaric, who sighed. “Each of you has to be fully connected with Jade. Meaning, your elements and her elements have to connect. Think of it like an exchange of energy.”

We continued to remain silent, and Tanner elaborated. “Think about it like sex. When two people enjoy pleasure, it’s an exchange of energy. In this case, you need to exchange elemental energy with Jade, but it’s more than just a physical action like sex or even a kiss. It means you opening up to her at a level that leaves you completely vulnerable. She’ll feel your pain, anxieties, sadness, and joy, and you’ll feel hers. This is something that doesn’t happen overnight. It can take months or years, and because there’s four of you, she has to make that exchange with each of you for your Hive to be established.”

Bianca nodded. “There’s a second way, but it’s completely power-based. Think of it like having the common goal of revenge, the desire to destroy a place or organization. If the elemental power is fueled with intense emotion such as sadness or hatred, it’s enough to establish a Hive connection. It may not be as long-term as an emotionally connected Hive, but it would get the job done.”

“Which leads to the main problem and worry,” Zackery whispered.

“What?” I asked, feeling his growing anxiety.

Zackery took a deep breath and let it out. “What if all of this is to make Jade despise us?”

He lifted his head to look around at us, the question simmering in the air and displaying the real problem at hand.

“Again and again, we let her down. The people and family she cares dearly for are nowhere to be found when she needs them the most. What does that create? Hate. Anger. Inner turmoil. All emotions that can fuel her elements. She lost control not because she almost died. She lost control of her elements because she felt abandoned.”

I swallowed the lump in my throat, fear beginning to sweep through me that we’d really fucked up.

“His goal is to connect her to another Hive.”

We all looked into Calvin’s direction. His eyes were half open and lacked energy as he pulled off his glasses and blinked a few times.

“Emotions fuel power. He wants to make it so Jade joins him. Why? It’s not to sell her to the Black Market. He wouldn’t risk his “innocent” cover and all his connections for that. He must have a group of individuals he knows that if connected to Jade, could create a revolution of chaos.”

He pinched his nose and closed his eyes.

“He’s been controlling students to kill themselves not to draw attention, but to see if he could draw out the depth of their elements through their insecurities and dark pasts. In return, it either made them cynical or was too much for them to handle and resulted in them killing themselves out of choice…or Charles ordering them to so there would be no evidence of his involvement.”

“Does that mean we have to find those individuals he’s so desperately trying to connect Jade with?” Zeus questioned.

“Even if we do, they could already be in his possession,” Zackery noted.

“Trapped and being tortured so they’re angry and their determination for revenge is strong enough,” Zion mumbled.

“No.” Calvin shook his head. “I don’t think it’s a group.”

We looked back at Calvin, but his eyes were locked onto Alaric’s. We moved our gaze to our headmaster in unison, and the pressure only made him cross his arms and let out a heavy sigh.

“We think we know the potentials of Jade’s Hive.”

“Potentials,” we repeated. “As in?”

“The four of you are one of her potential Hives. The results that we got back from Jade’s analysis ten minutes ago prove…she officially has two more.”

“Two more…which means two other groups.”

“No,” Tanner shot down the idea. “Two other individuals.”

“Do you mean those two other individuals will carry four out of the eight elements?” Zackery questioned.

“And they combined would have all eight that connect with Jade,” Zion added.

“You’re on the right track,” Bianca answered. “But…that’s not it.”

“Then?” I was getting impatient.

“Both potential Hive members already have all eight elements,” Alaric announced.

“What?!” We all gawked. “I thought having all eight elements was a rare, documented occurrence,” Zeus pointed out.

“It is a rare occurrence,” Alaric muttered. “Only these two potentials aren’t the typical individuals you’d expect carry such power and are able to hide under the radar flawlessly.”

“All right.” I rolled my eyes, my patience running out like the rest of my brothers’. “Who are they? Let’s finally get one step ahead in this stupid game Charles is playing.”

“That’s where things get complicated,” Alaric admitted.

“Of course,” Zeus groaned. “Do we even have a lead?”

“Yes,” Bianca noted. “Thankfully, both of them are a part of the Tracker Hive organization.”

“Then what are we waiting for?” Zion pressed. “Can’t we call them over?”

“Not that easy,” Tanner interjected. “One potential was only recently released from Charles’s captivity.”

“Huh?” we all spoke at once.

“It was a classified case. We’ll dive into it when Jade is present.” Alaric’s tone told us we weren’t getting any bit of information other than that.

We exchanged looks amongst ourselves but finally nodded. No point in poking that thorn.

“All right, and the other one?”

“They’re willing to work with us,” Alaric replied.

“Then let’s meet this person so we can figure it out!” Zeus emphasized.

“Might as well make acquaintances if they’re going to eventually be Jade’s second Hive,” Zion concluded.

“If they carry all eight elements, they’re probably powerful as fuck. High in the ranks and all,” Zackery suggested.

“As long as they’re not better-looking than us. That will just piss me off,” I mumbled. “I have to remain the sexy one.”

The others rolled their eyes and I smirked.

Bianca and Tanner looked at Alaric, who shrugged.

“He’s right there.”

We looked around the room, trying to find this person he was speaking of.

“Where?” we asked and looked back at Alaric.

Bianca snickered, the first time she’d cracked a smile in a while, and Tanner slapped his forehead like we’d said something completely stupid.

“Are you guys that oblivious?” he asked, clearly pitying us.

“Aww. It’s okay. Remember when you and Alaric completely ignored me when the lab advisor said the final puzzle piece was in the room? Ah, that brings back good memories,” Bianca said.

“You made fun of us for ten years,” Tanner muttered.

“Worth it,” she sang sweetly.

Alaric decided to end our misery. “Calvin. Want to get rid of the get-up for a second?”

“Get-up?” Zeus and I questioned, looking at Zion and Zackery, whose eyes went wide.

“Holy fuck! Is it Calvin?!” they exclaimed.

We all looked at our plump, nerdy “teammate,” watching as he finished cleaning his glasses and yawned.

“I thought I’d get to show Queen Jade first,” he muttered with dissatisfaction.

“You can inform her when she wakes up. We need to get that out of the way sooner rather than later,” Alaric said.

Calvin shrugged and stood up. He took a few steps back, and his eyes shifted from orange to burning silver. His image shifted like he was a magician.

We all gawked in shock, watching the results unfold as the man that stood before us gave us a sinister grin.

“Calvin Sokolov. Top Secret Agent of The Tracker Hive Association and Head of the Special Forces Technology Department. I’m one of Jade’s potential Hive mates and carry all eight elements, light being my strongest. A pleasure to finally make my debut.”

Holy. Fucking. Shit.

THE LIGHT SIDE OF ME

~JADE~

THE SOUND of the door closing piqued my interest, but my eyes were focused on the mini bouquet of black roses. I was intrigued by their natural color compared to the dyed ones I’d see in the displays of flower shops.

When I used to live on the streets, I would wander by the flower shops to see what type of display they had for the day. It was one of those ‘pass the time’ things I did during those days, and every time I saw a shop, I’d spare a moment to look over the display.

Regardless, the sight of flowers still warmed my heart, and these sets of rare beauties were soothing the roaring tornado of emotions I was currently dealing with.

All I knew was that I was in some type of medical room. It was a lot different than the one I’d previously been in, and the weird cameras and the hooked-up machines were freaking me out.

I was immediately concerned about two things: either destroying the world with my magic or that I did something bad enough to be on a 24/7 watch.

Although the idea of my Maxwells watching me 24/7 sounded a lot better now that I thought about it.

Thinking about my four sexy men made me miss them like hell.

I knew the person who entered the room wasn’t them, or else my elements would have reacted. It was an assumption of mine, but with how tired I felt, my elements could have been taking a backseat in the reaction department.

The screeching sound of a stool settling into place pulled me out of my thoughts, but I still couldn’t tug my eyes away from the neatly wrapped bundle. Eight black roses, bundled in clear wrap, with a mini card saying, “We’re Sorry, Hive Queen.”

Without a doubt, it was from the Trouble Four.

My Trouble Four…

I was happy with the bundle, but it was difficult to assess this predicament. Deep within, I knew what happened wasn’t their fault. We’d agreed that I did need constant observation after the shooting, but I’d asked for a few days to recover before we initiated it.

None of us thought that the guys would be called back to their department for an “emergency” the day I was discharged, or that Alaric, Bianca, and Tanner would have to deal with a shitstorm of problems.

Even Calvin was busy, which should have been a warning sign for me, but I was too caught up with my own nightmares, hallucinations, and built-up anxieties to pick up on it.

All of us had essentially gotten so distracted with what was in front of us and overlooked what was leading right into Charles’s trap. He may have been growing desperate to get rid of me now that he’d blown his cover and we had evidence on him, but there had to be more.

He wouldn’t come out like that simply out of desperation. He has to have a plan.

“They would have been here to greet you, but Alaric suggested I have a word with you first.”

The deep voice was so familiar, and yet it sounded oddly different. What really caught my interest was the way my light magic flickered slightly. I wouldn’t have noticed if my other elements were doing their normal thing, but with how quiet my body was in my current, weak state, it was easily detectable.

My attention finally pulled away from the bouquet to the person sitting to the left side of my bed and my eyes grew wide in shock.

I blinked once, then twice, and my brain still couldn’t fathom the person casually sitting on the stool, his hands currently on a mission to clean every speck of dust on the lenses of his black spectacles.

Shoulder-length ginger hair, perfect skin with freckles that made you wish to click a button and have your own. Slim, athletically built, but enough muscle to know that he trained at least three times a week, and regardless whether he wore glasses or not, he was fucking hot.

My jaw dropped then, my eyes locking onto the normal orange ones I remembered.

“C-Calvin?” I actually stuttered before I did another take. “Hold on.”

I looked around the room and noticed the thermometer on the nightstand to my right. I reached for it, turned it on, and immediately worked on taking my temperature.

“What are you doing?” he asked as he put his glasses back on, placing them slightly lower than usual, which could have been because his nose was longer now than when he was plump.

“Making sure I don’t have a fever. No fever means no hallucinations unless I’m delirious, but that could be a normal occurrence and wouldn’t count,” I voiced my thoughts while I listened for the beep from the thermometer and checked the temperature.

With a pout, I muttered, “No fever. Option number two.”

“Jade.” The way my name rolled off his tongue had me tingling, and my light magic was making it obvious that she was intrigued.

“Nope,” I announced, and threw the thermometer, not caring where it went. “I’m clearly hallucinating. Calvin turning into a hot beast. My light magic reacting to his damn sexy voice. What’s next? A sixsome? Hmm…actually, that wouldn’t be too bad. I wonder if the others would go for that? Wait…no. That would mean sexy Calvin would have to join and he’s an illusion so that wouldn’t work. I can still dream though,” I muttered to myself.

“Queen Jade.” The nerdy voice caught my attention, but it was still sexy Calvin.

“Did that actually come from you?” I raised an eyebrow at him. I should have been more cautious, but I was extremely amused by this now.

Please, if there is a God, I think I need this illusion to come true, so we can actually attempt a sixsome. Please? Pretty please?

“Yes, Queen Jade,” his nerdy voice continued. “But my real voice is this,” He followed up with that deep, sexy voice that had goosebumps forming up my arms.

Oh, holy matrimony.

“Before you jump me, shouldn’t I explain what’s going on?” Calvin inquired, a quirky smirk on his smooth lips.

“Who said I was going to jump you?” I tried to play it off, but then I laughed. “Who the fuck am I kidding? Yeah, I want to jump you and kiss the shit out of you, but that’s totally because you went from plump cute to model sexy and my light element thinks you’re a hot chocolate brownie with her name on it.”

He laughed then and quickly used his hand to ruffle those ginger locks.

“I was plump cute, huh?”

“Would never say it to your face.”

“Why not?”

“It would stick in your head and you’d never let it go for the remaining three-and-a-half years stuck in this place.”

“Admit you’re enjoying it.” He smiled devilishly.

“I was,” I voiced. “Quad boyfriends to make things interesting and a loyal nerd, who makes sure to remind us when to eat, drink, and what the latest updates are on his amazing computer software.”

He snickered and fixed his glass out of a clear habit.

“This is the most casual conversation we’ve had.”

“And deep down I’m sad that it took you having to change your appearance for us to have such a conversation.” My words were sincere as I glanced away in shame. “Sorry, Calvin.”

“You never looked down on me, Jade.” His remark had me looking back at him.

“What do you mean? We always teased you or made silly remarks.”

“You didn’t mean it though.” He shrugged. “Even the Maxwells. They may say stuff because of my presence and the way it distracts you from them gets on their nerves at times, but it’s not actually out of hate.”

“Doesn’t make it less hurtful,” I mumbled.

“I was never hurt by those remarks.” He shrugged and leaned back to stretch. “For a whole semester, I got to chill with the cool kids of Tracker Hive Academy. The known “Hive” of the school that everyone wanted to be a part of.”

“That’s so not what other students say,” I noted.

“You’d be surprised.” He was giving that sexy smile again. “Lots of gossip in the halls, but our Queen was too focused on living her best life by minding her own business.”

“More fun that way.” I winked playfully.

We grinned before I gave him a sad smile. “If you’re revealing this side of yourself, that means there’s something you have to tell me, huh?”

It was obvious, but I couldn’t think of a smarter way of addressing it. Might as well tackle the elephant in the room. He slowly nodded and rested his hands on his lap just so his fingers could fidget, a common habit of his.

“Maybe you can guess.”

“You’re a part of the Hive?” I let out the one option I thought was the most sensible.

“Close,” he replied.

“Why does my light react to yours when it also reacts to Zeke’s?” I inquired.

“Because he’s within your Hive,” he replied.

“And so are you?”

“Not quite,” he replied.

That’s when it clicked, and I tilted my head while giving him an odd look.

“You’re…” I trailed off when I began to sense the trickle of energy coursing around him. Whether he’d turned on a switch of some sort or was finally letting me feel his magic potential, eight elements surged to life, their magic essence immediately connecting with mine.

He shut it off just as quickly, and his cheeks turned red as we both looked away. I wasn’t going to deny that my cheeks were burning hot, immediately realizing that whatever connection was now coursing between us was far more dangerous than my quads’.

Oh, this is dangerous. I like it very much.

“KILL!”

“AH!” Calvin and I both flinched, looking to see Shadow Jade, but lowering our gaze closer to the floor.

“Huh?” Calvin was the one to speak first. “Kid Shadow Jade?”

“Uh…” I trailed off, having not seen this version of Shadow Jade in a good while. That was how we looked like when I was four or five. I barely had memories of that time, but I did have a general idea in the depths of my mind.

Shadow Jade liked to use the appearance to get free candy when we used to be homeless, but once I got older, it was best for her to replicate my appearance.

Unless she wanted to scare the living hell out of people. That was different…and delightful.

“I think it’s because I’m still low on energy,” I admitted.

“KILL!” Shadow Jade faced the bed and put her hands up. “Jade!”

“Hi, Shadow Jade.” I gave her the best smile I could manage, suddenly feeling even more exhausted than before. “I don’t think you can stay out for too long.”

“Tired! Kill!” She climbed the bed, crawled onto my lap, and hugged her little arms around my neck. “Hug. Kill later,” she sang eerily. “Love Mommy. We love you.”

Her words were so random, and yet my eyes filled with tears like she’d told me the saddest story in the world.

“Thanks, Shadow Jade,” I choked, trying to push the sadness away, but all it did was make the tears fall. She hugged me tighter and I lifted my arms and hugged her back.

We’d get through this. We always did, even in those moments when it felt like we wouldn’t last the freezing nights of winter.

The gentle stroking on top of my head had me opening my eyes; both Shadow Jade and I looked to see Calvin, who was standing and stroking both our heads soothingly.

Even his height had changed, so that he was now standing at 6′5″. I licked my bottom lip, taking in his appearance again, and Shadow Jade suddenly giggled.

“Like Puppy!”

I blinked and looked at her. “No!”

“Puppy! Jade! KILL!” She put her hands up and giggled. “KILL. KILL. KILL.”

It was like she was rejoicing as she ran around. I didn’t get the chance tell her to stop before she paused, smiled at the two of us, and poof, disappeared.

“What…just happened?” Calvin asked.

“I’m honestly not sure,” I admitted and glanced over to him. “At least she knew it was you.”

“Shadow Jade always saw the real me,” Calvin noted.

“Huh?” I commented but was distracted when his hands cradled my cheeks. He wiped the set of tears that left my eyes and sighed.

“You’re really hard to predict,” he mumbled. “One minute you’re happy and the next you’re crying.”

“Hey,” I pouted at him. “I can be an emotionally unstable mess and you’d still follow me to the depths of the earth.”

“True.” He winked. “I’m a good puppy.”

“Servant.”

“Future boyfriend.” Before I could comment, he pressed his lips to my forehead. I froze, completely taken aback by the move. He pulled back and gave me the cockiest look I’d ever seen on his fascinating face.

“The timer on the camera is gonna run out soon. So, I better make this quick,” he voiced. “My real name is Calvin Sokolov, and I’m Charles’s biological son.”

I nodded. “Yeah.”

He frowned. “I…didn’t tell you that.”

“Ya you did,” I voiced, but he must have thought I’d forgotten. “Even though you’re plump and are missing the Russian accent at times, the two of you have identical auras. You’re just the good version, versus Charles, who is downright evil.”

His grimace was still strong and he mumbled, “You truly do the most unexpected things.”

“I’m amazing, I know.” I smiled. “Anything else?”

“I’m the Top Secret Agent of The Tracker Hive Association and Head of the Special Forces Technology Department,” he revealed.

“Oh, so you’re actually cool.” I gasped like this was truly shocking news. He rolled his eyes, which made me laugh.

“Aww. You wanted me to be all impressed and praise you, huh?” I cooed. “Come here, puppy. Do you want a kiss?” I playfully teased.

He moved so fast, I didn’t even finish laughing as his lips smashed into mine and he kissed me with such intensity, I almost lost control of my light element. Quickly pushing her back in her little corner, Calvin broke the kiss and grinned at my blushing face.

“Don’t provoke me, Queen,” he warned, his voice low and dangerous. “I’m not afraid to do exactly what you ask for.”

He then raised an eyebrow as he looked at the wheeled table that held the bouquet of flowers. “Someone’s excited.”

I followed his gaze and was shocked to see black roses were now everywhere on the bed and falling right to the floor.

“Uh…” I didn’t even have words for why that had just happened. “That’s…new. Yeah. New.”

“I’m your second Hive.” The way he said it was like it was already confirmed.

“I’m confused,” I immediately replied.

“Zackery, Zion, Zeus, and Zeke are one of your Hives,” he emphasized. “You have two others. It was confirmed with your magic scan today. I’m the second one. It’s why your light magic reacts strongly to mine.” He looked back at all the roses on the bed and floor. “Powerful.”

“But…” I trailed off. “Hmm.”

“My light magic is my strongest element.”

“What about fire?” I questioned, referring back to when we first officially met and he said his fire was his main element.

“Weakest.” He smirked as if he was recalling the same memory. “Would you have saved me that day from that bully?”

“Nah.” I shrugged. “Would have given you my number, though.”

“You’d have chased after me?” he questioned with amusement.

“Chase? Oh, no.” I copied the smile that was on his lips with my own. “I’d give you my number in hopes you’d make the move to call me and I’d just play phone tag until you chased me down.”

“Tease,” he muttered. “I’m going.”

“No fun.”

“If I was any bit of fun, you wouldn’t be wearing clothes, Queen Jade,” he boldly declared.

That had me gawking and he wore the biggest smile on his lips as he fixed his glasses. “Don’t be too harsh on your lovers. The four of them are sulking, thinking you’ll break up with them. It’s odd.” He turned around. “I should make them an Elixir for their obvious heartache. I wonder how long it would take? Priorities…” He headed for the door.

“Calvin,” I whispered.

He paused and looked over his shoulder to meet my gaze. “Yes, Queen Jade? If it’s a thank you you’re about to deliver, I don’t want it,” he soothingly declared. “I meant what I said. I’ll protect you so you can be happy. My father is after your Hive power, and he knows that if you’re happy, he’ll never create the world he envisions. I won’t let him win, even with all the odds in his favor. The one thing he forgot when he abandoned me was that I carry his blood and — and I’m more intelligent.”

He looked away and chuckled.

“Most importantly, we have you, the most unpredictable threat this city has to offer. Let him continue his desperate tactics. We’ll beat him at his own game. Light always brightens the way to victory.”

“Hey, Calvin?”

“Yes, Queen Jade?”

“The light side of you is truly beautiful.” My words were soft and full of emotion, enough to make Calvin look back at me, our eyes locking.

He smiled, the action making his eyes twinkle with love and hope.

“Just as yours is, Queen Jade. All aspects of you are mesmerizing. Never change.”

I won’t. Not for Charles…not for anyone.

SLOW DANCE WITH MY SHADOW

“Do I even want to ask what happened here?” Zeke questioned as he stared at the flood of black roses in the room.

“Nah.” I smirked. “You wouldn’t like it.”

He walked into the room and closed the door, which made me arch an eyebrow at him. “The others want me to assess the situation and see if we have to beg for forgiveness or go on a killing spree.”

“Ah.” I bobbed my head with a small smile. He walked over to the bed and inspected the roses once again.

“Did you like them?”

“I did,” I replied. “They’re actually black. Not the dyed ones.”

“They’re imported from a rose garden in Italy. Hard to come by since they take a year before they bloom.”

“A year.” I pondered it. “Eight roses could be like eight years.”

“Or one,” he teased. “But you have a point. Once they’ve bloomed, it’s hard for them to die. They can last a long time without water or sunlight. They actually absorb dark energy and grow in the moonlight.”

“Excellent.” I grinned mischievously, and he smiled.

“You’re planning something weird.”

“I’m gonna fill Tanner’s bed with roses and hope they blossom and take root there so he’ll never be able to sleep. It’ll be the perfect excuse to get out of morning training.”

“You think of the weirdest plans to get out of training.”

“They never work,” I grumbled. “But one day they will.”

“Persistent.” He brushed a few roses away from the blanket and laid his hands down on the soft material. He leaned in until our faces were inches apart, our eyes locking onto one another.

At first, it was hard to read past those beautiful irises, but the longer we stared, the easier it was to grasp his emotions. The vulnerability, pain, and fear lingered deep in those depths.

“I won’t break up with you four.” My voice was hard as stone, and I was sure my eyes were burning red with conviction. “But I won’t lie…I…don’t like that you four are a weakness for me. I hate that Charles can use you against me and I cave like a little child who’s afraid of the bogyman.”

He swallowed, his Adam’s apple moving up and down.

“I know,” he whispered.

“I should break up with you guys,” I whispered. “It’s the most logical thing to do if I want to survive the next seven semesters at a school I never asked to attend. I’m here because it’s the only way I can become an official Tracker and not stay in this silly Junior position. Charles has created a web of lies and traps, and so far, we keep falling right into the center of them. That pisses me off. We’re Trackers. We’ve been trained by some of the best agents and yet, one man who doesn’t even have the same elemental power as us is in the lead.”

My eyes drifted away to look at the black roses.

“On the rooftop, I was pushed off the edge. You know what I thought about?”

He waited for my answer, and I lifted my eyes to meet his once more.

“You four. I thought about how I never got to do a fun game of basketball with Zackery or enjoy some alone time with Zion. I’ve yet to get my threesome with you and Zeus, and we really haven’t gotten to do anything fun after classes. Christmas is, what? Three days away and I didn’t have a single gift laid out for you four when I had every intention to. I…couldn’t wait to see you guys today…because my mind has been a fucking mess.”

My eyes filled with tears and I tried not to break down entirely.

“The voices are back. The hallucinations haunt me when I stay quiet for too long. The nightmares are so intense, I have to spell my room with a soundproof wall so no one hears me. My elements are agitated and Shadow Jade is angry…and the stronger it gets, the harder it is for me to stay in control. I’m trying to be me again, Zeke…but it’s so fucking hard, and all I wanted was to be around the people who make me happy. The people who accept my weirdness and empower me.”

His eyes were filled with tears, and he reached out to press his hand on my cheek before our foreheads pressed together.

“You were lonely, my Queen.” He said it as a fact and not a question.

“Very lonely,” I confessed wholeheartedly, my tears running down my cheeks. “That’s what I fear the most. The loneliness I’ve felt this week is something I haven’t felt since I lost my family. All the people I love are alive and around, doing their best so we can catch the very man that took it all from me. I…shouldn’t feel lonely…and yet I do.” My lip trembled and I sniffed quietly. “I miss you and your porn magazines.”

A sob left him and he wrapped me in his arms.

“Fuck, Jade. I’m sorry. We’re sorry.” He hugged me tightly and I knew the apology wasn’t solely from him but from all of them. My arms returned the hug and I inhaled his rich cologne and quietly sobbed into his shoulder.

“Miss you so fucking much,” I cried.

“I know, baby. We’re sorry. We missed you, too. You have no idea,” he mumbled into my neck.

“He’ll come after me again.”

“And we’ll be ready.”

“You don’t—”

“We’ll be ready, Jade Storm,” Zeke vowed, and pulled back to stare directly in my eyes. “We’re not playing around anymore. The next time he strikes, we’ll be the ones a step ahead of him. Do you understand?”

“You can’t guarantee that.” I wasn’t going to fall for false hope.

“This time, I can. We know what he wants. Exactly why he’s desperate to throw you off or get rid of you entirely. We will get through the holiday as a unit, and when semester two comes, all you have to do is be you.”

“But…”

“Happiness,” he whispered. “You want to be happy, right?”

I slowly nodded and blushed slightly. “I want to have fun with you again.”

His low chuckle was followed by him pressing his hands against my cheeks and kissing me deeply. I moaned into his mouth, having missed the warmth and tingling his body always induced in mine.

We had to break the kiss before it led to lovely sex time.

“We have to do something to distract me from wanting to strip you out of that gown and fuck you senseless,” he muttered against my lips. I ended up kissing him again, not having gotten enough of his addicting taste.

He groaned and kissed me like we weren’t on camera surveillance.

“Fuck, Jade,” he growled. “Distraction.”

I giggled. “Calvin kissed me.”

That was the perfect distraction, like dumping cold water down his back, because he pulled right back to give me a questioning look.

“You’re not even lying.”

“Do I need to lie to you?” I playfully replied. “For a nerd, he’s a good kisser.”

“I wonder if I can kill him in his sleep,” Zeke muttered. I burst into laughter.

“Do you think you can get through his security system to his room?”

Zeke looked flustered and his pout made me laugh harder.

“Defeat looks glorious on you! I have to tell this to Zeus and see how he looks!”

“Please don’t,” he groaned. “I don’t want any thunderstorms or blackouts today. No, there would be a forest fire or some combined crazy shit. Just no,” he concluded. “That sly motherfucker. I’m gonna kick his ass when school starts.”

“Is he going to keep his disguise?” I inquired.

“Not sure,” he replied. “How much did he tell you?”

“Relation to Charles. Badass Top Agent. Blah blah blah.” I’d already forgotten half the details, but they weren’t important. “He’s sexy as fuck and not as plump. Though, he did look cute chubby.”

“That’s the first time I’m hearing that from you,” Zeke noted.

“You never asked.” I shrugged.

“Was he the reason for the multiple roses?”

“Yup.” No point in hiding the truth. “It was interesting. A simple kiss…well, it was a really good kiss, but aside from that, it felt like my light magic wanted to jolt out and bless the world with peace. It was short, but when he pulled back that was the result,” I explained and pointed to the roses.

“Hmm.” Zeke looked deep in thought. “We need to talk to your parents about this Hive thing.”

“After the holidays,” I concluded. “I don’t want to deal with anything important right now.”

I’d had enough of all this planning shit. I wanted to curl up in a cozy blanket, stuff my face with ice cream and chocolate, and binge-watch holiday shows.

“Okay.” Zeke smiled. “I need another distraction though.”

“That wasn’t enough?” I gleefully questioned. He smiled, but his eyes were looking down my neck and pausing at my chest, my cleavage clearly on the display thanks to this hospital gown’s failed attempted at covering anything.

“You might as well be naked,” he seductively noted.

“I was just thinking about how these gowns fail at coverage,” I admitted.

“Maybe that’s a good thing,” he drew out.

“I wanna dance,” I whispered.

“Dance?” he questioned. “Where’s the music?”

“In your boxers.” I winked.

He frowned. “Baby, my cock isn’t a flute for you to create music with, but I guess we could test that theory.”

Now I was laughing hysterically.

“Not your cock! Your phone!”

“Oh.” He rose and put his hands into his black jeans and boxers. He easily retrieved his phone, but I couldn’t help but observe the bulge in his pants.

“Aww. If only I had my phone. I could call so you could feel those nice vibrations. Slow and torturous.”

“Wouldn’t that turn you on?” He rolled his eyes and put on a random slow track on his phone. The melody was soothing, and he placed the phone on the bed.

“It would. I deserve some payback. You and your brothers made me sad.”

He gave me a sad smile in return, and without hesitation, he scooped me right out of bed and onto my feet. We faced each other as he hooked his arms around my waist, just as I hooked my arms around his neck.

“I can’t promise that we won’t make you sad again,” he admitted. “But we’ll make sure there are more happy times than sad ones. We’ll love you the best we can and remind you that there is more good in this world than bad.”

He brushed his lips against mine as he took a step to the side. I followed his movement, our bodies melding together as we began to slow dance.

“You know what scares me the most?” he whispered.

“What?”

“Losing you,” he revealed. “I’ve tried to ignore it. Did my best to make excuses and not accept that I’ve fallen so madly in love with you, it’s borderline crazy.”

He kissed me lightly on the lips and continued, “When I lost my mom…I hoped to never care for someone again. My brothers were different. We’re connected by blood and magic, but to let a person into my heart again, I’d vowed to never let it happen. Then you came along and crumbled every wall I thought I’d put up.”

He moved us back and twirled me around, his arm hooking around my waist and practically lifting me off the ground before putting me down and pulling me against him again.

“My brothers told me over and over again that I’d fall for you before they did, and I didn’t believe them, yet you came into my life like a tornado and tore me right open.” His smile warmed my heart as I hooked my arms around his neck and pulled him down for a kiss.

This connection ignited my darkness, pulling it from the hidden depths and making it stronger. Zeke stilled us, his hands moving to my hips and gripping them tightly, to the point his fingernails dug into my flesh.

The pain was nothing compared to the pleasure coursing through me, the intense connection vibrating between us making it almost impossible for us to remain still. I gave up on fighting the force brewing inside, letting it rise to the surface but flow in a slow release.

Zeke moaned and deepened the kiss, and I struggled not to be lost in the beautiful sensations of love and desire.

A minute passed, and Zeke broke the kiss but kept us close. A low chuckle left him, and it was odd enough to make me open my eyes just slightly.

“A dangerous addiction, sweetheart.” The low voice and pure black eyes that met mine told me this was the dark side of Zeke.

“You are?”

“Zahir.” He licked his bottom lip slowly, black eyes peering around me. I followed his gaze, only to be amazed at the floating roses that were wrapped in dark energy.

It should have freaked me out, and yet, I was fascinated by how beautiful the floating scenery was.

“Did…we do this?” I asked.

“Yup,” he replied with pride, and I looked back to see his pleased smile. “Your destructive magic can turn into something as captivating as this. An element ridiculed for its dark nature can lift these roses and cradle them in a blanket of security, all while the room remains intact.”

His grin widened and those eyes of his softened in compassion.

“This is what can come with being loved the right way. What can transpire when you are at the peak of happiness. This is what Charles so desperately wants to destroy, and this is what we must work hard to protect.”

He let his hands run through my long hair, and he closed his eyes.

“To be in awe in a host is intriguing,” he breathed. “Yet so thrilling, it leaves me wanting more.” He opened his eyes and a charming grin lit up his face. “I was going to be nice and let Zeke have this one, but I caved halfway and figured it would be extra sexy for you to dance with me.”

“Slow dancing with Zeke’s shadow,” I practically sang. “Delightful.”

“I’m an amazing shadow,” he praised himself.

“I never said you weren’t.” I tightened my hold around his neck and brushed my lips along his. “Does that mean the others can do what Zeke can with you and Zephyr?”

“Nah,” he replied. “They don’t yearn for a physical body. Light and dark magic are different. They’re the two elements that can most easily take shape. With you though, any of your elements can take human shape, but only in combat. Your light and dark element can progress into their own identities, but again, that’s your choice.”

“Like how I have Shadow Jade…and I guess Light Jade.”

“Light Jade.” His intrigue made me grin slightly.

“You sound interested.”

“Intrigued, but not interested romantically. Plus, your elements don’t seem interested in any of us in that way. They react, but out of your lust for us.”

“You’re knowledgeable,” I mumbled.

“When I feel like it. Too much knowledge and we’re taking Zion’s role.”

“Is Zeke…a combination of Zeus, Zion, and Zackery?” My voice was but a whisper, like I was asking something forbidden.

Zahir smiled and gave me a quick kiss.

Pulling me into a hug, he whispered in my ear, “Our mother was only supposed to have Zeke. Things changed because others interfered. We weren’t always the Trouble Four. Once upon a time, we were created to be the Trouble One.”

He pulled back to see my conflicted expression, but the smug look on his face told me that was all I was getting.

“Tease,” I pouted.

He laughed and gave me one last kiss. “Zeke’s nagging me so I shall return to my slumber, Hive Queen.” He winked. “Next time, I will continue our dark fairy tale.”

With a blink, those pure black eyes were now a glowing red, their intensity beginning to fade as the seconds passed.

“Zahir’s a pain in my ass.”

“You know what can also be a pain in the ass?” I bit my bottom lip, and Zeke groaned. “You’re going to make another sex joke.”

“You’ll love it,” I declared.

“Not if I can’t do it,” he huffed in frustration. I giggled and hugged him tightly.

“Then I’ll save it for when you can. For now, we can finish our dance. A certain shadow interrupted us.”

“Dancing with my shadow. You loved it.”

“You’re not wrong,” I mumbled against his neck as I kissed it lightly. “I love you.”

“I love you more,” he whispered. “You forgive us?”

“I forgive you, Zeus, Zion, and Zackery,” I vowed. “But you owe me.”

“What?”

“A sixs—”

“No.”

“No fun.”

“Hmph,” Zeke grumbled, followed by something incoherent. Then he sighed. “Fine.”

I leaned back to give him the widest grin of anticipation that had ever crossed my lips.

“Sixsome?!”

“I’ve never seen you so happy in our entire relationship,” he whined. “That annoys me. I’m gonna kick his ass when he’s not looking.”

“Eep! Thank you!” I beamed and hugged him.

“I can’t believe we’re agreeing to this,” he mumbled.

“Are you talking to your brothers?”

“I am.”

“Where are they?”

“Outside the door, waiting for us to finish dancing,” Zeke explained, but the door opened and Zackery skipped toward us.

“Jade! Forgive this poor soul.”

I immediately giggled and looked at his sweatpants. “Did you wear grey sweatpants for me?”

“Yes.” He nodded as he stopped before us. “Just for you.”

“Meaning he just wanted to distract you with his cock,” Zeus grumbled. “Didn’t even wear underwear.”

“Don’t reveal my secrets!” Zackery complained.

Zion walked over to us and moved right in to give me a peck on the lips. “Good to see you smiling, Jade. We’re sorry.”

“Thank you, Zion,” I replied.

“You snake!” Zackery huffed and playfully punched Zion. “You took my smooth move from me!”

“What move?” Zion questioned and fixed his glasses. “You were just standing there, beaming over not wearing underwear.”

“Sometimes I wonder if you were adopted,” Zeus hopelessly declared as he waltzed around us to be on my left side. Zeke let go of me, only for Zeus to pull me into his arms.

“Hey, sexy,” he growled before kissing me. “Sorry for hurting you.”

“You’re extra hot when you’re considerate,” I purred.

“How is everyone getting ahead of me when I was standing here first?!” Zackery exclaimed.

“You think too much,” Zion noted.

“Or not at all.” Zeke shrugged.

“Shut up for five minutes. I want to test if the generators can handle me today,” Zeus mumbled between kisses.

“Don’t go making out without me getting a damn hug,” Zackery huffed. My body was yanked from Zeus, and in seconds, we were floating in the air. I began to laugh uncontrollably at the three disappointed faces below.

“Aww, look. You’re making them sad, Zackery.” I laughed.

“Good,” he huffed and turned my body just slightly, so I could look over my shoulder and be inches from his face. “I missed you and we’re sorry. We weren’t thinking properly and didn’t consider your feelings. We’re not playing by anyone’s rules but our own now. No one will stop us from seeing you anymore. Understand?”

He didn’t let me answer, smothering my lips with his and gripping my ass with his free hand. “You’re ours. No one will fuck this up for us anymore.”

“Except Calvin.” I giggled.

Zackery groaned and so did the others down below.

“Let’s lock him in a locker and throw away the key,” Zackery suggested.

“Don’t even bother with such stupidity,” Zion sighed. “He’s a top agent. That’s high school shit.”

“Destroy his computer?” Zackery suggested.

“And die,” Zeus and Zeke said in unison.

“Or you can all get along,” I sang.

“No,” the four of them replied.

“Aww. You guys will be fun in bed,” I teased, and wiggled in Zackery’s arms.

“Ah! Stop wiggling like that, Jade. You’re brushing my cock.”

“That’s why you wear underwear, you fool,” Zeus concluded.

Zion laughed. “Good to be together again.”

“Agreed,” Zeke replied. “Let the fantasies begin.”

“No!” Zeus, Zion, and Zackery exclaimed.

I smiled as they got into another round of bickering, and I sensed Shadow Jade’s presence.

“Happy again? Kill!”

Yes, Shadow Jade. Happy again. We have to grow stronger. I want this. Happiness.

“Strong. Together. Kill.”

With a mental nod, I stared at my Trouble Four and made a vow to work on protecting the happiness I knew I deserved.

PARK FANTASIES AND NEVER CHANGING

~ZION~

“MY MOUTH WILL FOREVER BE TAINTED, blah,” Jade complained.

“Nasty. Kill!” Shadow Jade huffed.

It was hard not to smile at Jade and Shadow Jade, the two of them squirming at the taste of their current medication regimen.

Lifting my arm just slightly from her shoulder, I let my fingers gently stroke her curled black and white locks before I kissed her lightly on the side of her neck.

“Want me to get you and Shadow Jade ice cream?”

“It won’t get rid of the taste,” Jade muttered, looking displeased with life itself. She always wore the most adorable sulking pout after her meds, and today was no different.

“It will if I get it for you,” I mumbled into her hair, inhaling slightly to enjoy the strawberry-cherry shampoo scent that lingered in her hair.

“Hmm. Broken promises,” she mumbled but snuggled closer to me. “In a few minutes.”

“Sleepy! Kill!” Shadow Jade exclaimed and was gone in a flash.

I had to look around and make sure there was no one looking our way, but with how busy the park was while the snow fell down on us gently, I concluded that no one was focusing on us.

The three of us had decided to enjoy a nice evening walk to the park. It was actually my idea as the majority of today had been spent with Jade getting multiple medical tests done. Physicals, mental testing, emotional analysis, and an overall exam of her elemental balance.

The idea of an entire day of testing had put Jade in a sour mood, particularly since it was Christmas Eve. On Monday she’d spent the entire day sleeping without realizing it and Tuesday was a calm day at home with me and my brothers.

We were still multitasking with work and trying to gather leads through our own methods, but it was with Jade in our presence. She’d been extremely tired from the new set of meds prescribed by the special team associated with her “case.”

After the attack from Charles, both our department and Jade’s had to open cases and go all out in the protective services.

New security, new rules, and what Jade despised the most, 24/7 watch. She didn’t mind it too much with the four us around, but Alaric had also announced that there would be a new addition to the crew who would have to be a female.

Jade was not pleased with that bit of news, and neither were we. Personally, having a girl in the midst of our dynamic would be a pain in the ass, especially if they were like some of the female agents in our department, who were more focused on flirting than solving cases and catching criminals.

With how unique Jade was from the get-go, it would make it a little harder to openly communicate. We didn’t need anyone else knowing too much about Jade and just how unique she was.

That was something we all agreed on. It looked as though she wouldn’t be joining until they finished up her assignments, which could easily take two to six months if we wanted to be realistic.

For Alaric to select the person, she had to be someone powerful, or at least reliable. If Calvin was chosen for this case, this other person would have to benefit the team and balance it all out.

So no second tech wiz.

We’d tackle it when the predicament happened, but for now Jade was attempting to recover from almost dying a second time.

The thought made me bite my lip in annoyance as my hand gripped Jade’s shoulder a little tighter. It didn’t seem to bother her, and from the slowing of her breathing, she must have been drifting off for a quick nap.

One of the many side effects of the silly meds she was being forced to take.

I was in the process of making a new set of meds with Calvin’s assistance. He had a lot more free time apparently, which in this case was beneficial because we could move right onto the final testing of the prototype set of meds we’d been working on before the semester ended.

The intention was to make a set of meds that were specific to Jade and wouldn’t interfere with her mental health or magic levels. The bonus was that they would taste like Cocoa Pebbles rather than the cringe-worthy taste of those disgusting tablets.

I’d tried them out once out of curiosity and I’d never spat something out so fast in my life.

It was another reminder that Jade had gone through some crazy shit over the years. We’d dealt with some craziness and our past wasn’t anywhere close to happiness after our mother passed, but when you compared it to homelessness and being chased by cynical adults at the age of eight, I couldn’t imagine the fear that still lingered in the back of her mind when those memories from the past taunted her.

Jade was beyond fascinating, a weird description if you thought about it in a scientific sense. She’d easily made us all fond of her, and we were finally getting the alone time we deserved.

I’d suggested we go to the park because my brothers were up to a few things. One annoying problem was our department. Zeke and Zeus had been fed up with our department for months, if not years. Zackery and I were more lenient, but we, too, were reaching our hard limits.

We’d dedicated our lives to this department after they had taken us in. Originally, we were grateful for their generosity, the loss of our mother leaving us in a hollow mess of sadness and confusion.

With the introduction of imbalance and realizing we had to remain in certain emotional states, to have their support was something we desperately needed. However, it wasn’t until we were older that we found out the truth about their kindness.

We knew our mother was wealthy, having invested in certain stocks and businesses that tripled in value, but we truly didn’t grasp just how rich. We weren’t worth just a few million dollars. We had billions in savings with ongoing revenue that could be passed down for generations to come.

We’d never know if our mom planned this in our benefit, but it was when we reached eighteen that we discovered the truth of our background and the money involved.

Money that was also being used to run the entire department that had “graciously” taken us in.

How they were able to use some of the funds was beyond our interest. What mattered was the fact they had agreed to raise us solely to gain access to the money. That really pissed Zeke off and everyone was surprised he didn’t go ballistic.

Instead, we decided to play a game with a new set of rules, ones we could control, and the department had no choice but to follow — or it would be bye-bye department and everyone in it.

We overtook the company, with Zeke becoming the CEO. Zeus, Zackery, and I all had shares in the company and had made a few backup plans just in case we ended up getting bored with playing saving grace and decided to fire everyone and close the department entirely.

Needless to say, the department still stood, but I knew the department head was really pushing Zeke’s buttons. With Jade in the picture, things were only more complicated. We’d stop time if we could to protect and love her, and no one was going to interfere in our goals to do just that.

My eyes lowered to a sleeping Jade, noticing the tiny snowflakes that floated down from the sky and covered a chunk of her hair. My fingers began to play with her black strands while my eyes scanned the park that was finally beginning to calm after an afternoon of children and last-minute shoppers.

I was excited but anxious about what was coming.

“Jade.” I whispered her name, but she didn’t budge. “Jade,” I said again and lightly gripped her shoulder. She mumbled something about cookies and snuggled even closer to me, while her body relaxed.

Goodness, she’s so fucking adorable.

It still baffled me at times that my brothers and I were dating her. A miracle in disguise.

My heart was racing. I wasn’t sure if I was truly nervous, but I’d been desperately wanting to be alone with her. Sure, I’d had moments throughout the semester, but I had always struggled to make a move or simply ask her out.

It was silly, especially when my brothers were pretty upfront with what they wanted. I was normally no different, but that hint of shyness was holding me back.

She knew we were quadruplets, but she didn’t know the fine details as to why. If she followed the standards rules of society, I was sure she would have been Zeke’s, hands down. He didn’t need to try to get the girl. It was like he attracted whatever he wanted because he knew he deserved the good things.

A mixture of absolute faith in the universe and his own seductive confidence.

We knew that and weren’t jealous, but there were moments when I wished I was the same.

Deep down, I knew I didn’t need to be. Jade accepted our unique differences, and that was what somehow brought us together. But in quiet moments like this, I wondered if things would be the same if I was different.

With a sigh, I looked up at the sky, the falling snow and sparkling stars a beautiful combination. Neither of us was cold, and though it was completely odd, there was a man selling ice cream at this time of year.

He also was selling hot chocolate, but the delicious vanilla swirl was something I knew Jade would like.

“We’re ready.”

I flinched slightly at the mental communication from my brothers, their unison slightly eerie when you least expected their intrusion.

Could you guys warn me before you announce the completion of anything?

“Too complicated,” Zeus brushed off. “Where’s Jade?”

“I bet they were making out and he got startled by it,” Zeke teased.

“Don’t you dare make out with her or do any sex stuff!” Zackery whined.

“One step ahead of you,” Zeke sang.

“A step? Knowing Zion, he’s probably heading towards the finish line with this race,” Zeus commented.

“Shut up! Don’t jinx my chance! I won’t be last. It was my wish at the shrine.”

“You’re such a loser,” Zeke and Zeus replied.

“No!” Zackery huffed.

The side of my lip quirked upward as I shook my head.

Give us half an hour. Jade is taking a power nap.

“Ah,” the three of them replied, followed by Zackery saying, “Those meds really make her exhausted.”

“Are you almost done with the prototypes, Zion?” Zeke inquired.

Almost. Calvin has to do some more things before we go into final testing and stuff. Should be done and ready for the upcoming semester. The taste isn’t as dreadful, and she won’t feel so exhausted.

“Cool,” he replied. “We’ll leave you alone then. Hurry back. Make sure the spell is on the moment you enter the car, or she’ll catch on.”

Yup. I remember.

My brothers’ presence vanished, leaving me alone with Jade once again. Looking back down at her, I let my body have its way, pressing my lips to her forehead.

The calm of my water element spiked just slightly, while the ground beneath my feet trembled. Jade’s head lifted, her dreamy eyes meeting mine. Her black eyes were now a bright red, a sign her magic was activated. I didn’t move, hoping we didn’t catch too much attention.

Not everyone had magic in this world, and in a public place like a park, we had to tread carefully so as to not reveal our magic.

Jade blinked a few times before she looked away and around.

“Boo. Not home,” she muttered, disappointed.

“Do you want to go home?”

“I want to kiss, but I also want ice cream, and I’d love to cuddle, but that’s too many wants, and I have no clue what I can have,” she mumbled before a yawn escaped her. “Dumb meds make me tired.”

“Sorry, babe,” I whispered. “I’ll fix that problem soon, I promise.”

“Hmm. You’re acting slightly different.”

“Am I?” I asked. She sat up and rubbed at her eyes. I waited for her to reveal what was on her mind, but I had a feeling she was going to play the quiet game with me.

Sure enough, she sat there, her questioning eyes locking onto mine and unmoving.

“In what way am I acting differently?” I decided to question her, or I’d be stuck on this park bench with her accusingly staring at me until Christmas Day.

Or until Shadow Jade popped out of nowhere.

“You’re acting off. Not like my usual Zion,” she whispered.

“What’s my usual self like?” I asked.

“Unpredictable. Smart. Quirky, yet cute. Slightly hesitant.”

I hadn’t expected her response, and it must have showed, because she smiled then. “Bingo. You’re questioning yourself, am I right?”

“How are you able to get all of that from only a short set of words?” I was highly intrigued by her philosophy on this because she still had the ability to surprise me each time we were with one another.

“Just a feeling.” She shrugged and looked at the people walking back and forth in a rush. “You know, we all deal with self-doubt in relationships. You question your looks, personality, the way you inhale and exhale. You want to make sure you’re always at your best for the person you care about, but why is that?”

She met my pondering gaze and continued, “Why, when we meet someone we care about, do we suddenly want to change into something we aren’t? I see it again and again, and it doesn’t have to be a romantic relationship. We see it in interactions with friends, family, coworkers. We get wrapped up in our heads and start to compare ourselves to others we think are better. Maybe it’s someone we respect or look up to and we wish to be them. We wish to project their confidence, beauty, and expertise. We really just set ourselves up for failure or depression because we can’t accomplish all of that. We can’t snap our fingers and become someone we’re not.”

She paused and reached for my hand. Wrapping hers around mine, she smiled. “You look up to Zeke, but you don’t need to be him. His voice is slightly lower and you were imitating it. You may have done it by accident, but I figured I’d point out the slight difference so you are aware.”

“Does that mean you want us to stay our individual selves?” I asked. “What if we were always meant to be like Zeke…and things went south…and suddenly, everything returned to how it should have been?”

My thoughts were uncalculated and were a bit surprising for even me, but I wanted to get into her head and understand her thinking process.

“If you were meant to be the same, you would have remained that way. If you suddenly changed due to circumstances out of your control and eventually have to return back to how you once were…that’s something you have to tackle when that time comes,” she replied. “However, if you’re asking whether I’ll ditch if this ‘return to what we once were’ statement becomes true, then you’re forgetting how unpredictable I am. I like my Trouble Four the way they are, but if life shakes things up, so be it. That’s only if life does, not you actively trying to change you into something you’re not.”

“So insightful,” I muttered.

“I’m good at giving others advice.” She grinned as her eyes softened. “If only I could take my own.”

“Don’t we all wish that,” I whispered. “Wanna go somewhere quiet for a few minutes?”

I was being bold in what I suddenly wanted to do, but if I was going to follow her words of advice and simply be me, that required a bit of privacy.

“Sure.” Her low tone told me she knew exactly what I was implying, and the acknowledgment made my cock harden by the second. “But if my butt is going to get frostbite, it’s a no.”

That had me smiling from ear to ear. Leaning in until our lips were barely touching, I whispered, “It’ll be a good balance for what we’re going to be doing. It may get a little steamy. Don’t want to overheat.”

“In negative-degree winter weather?” she taunted, but was still wearing that teasing smile of hers. “Challenge accepted.”

“I knew you would,” I replied, giving her another light kiss. We got up and brushed away the snow that was still gathered on our pants. I took Jade’s hand, and we walked the path to the deeper parts of the park, the buzz of children, groups of teenagers, and Christmas jingles fading into the distance.

By the time we got to the secluded parts of the park, my heart was racing and my cock was making it hard to even walk straight without straining my jeans. It was by far the worst choice of clothing to wear, but I’d taken them since Zackery had randomly decided today would be “laundry” day — an excuse to torture me.

My eyes scanned the place, a smirk reaching my lips as I stopped at the tightly knit vine wall that was covered in snow and bits of ice.

“What’s this?” Jade questioned. I couldn’t help looking over to my right, watching just how intrigued Jade was as she inspected the wall.

“It’s a magical wall that leads to another world,” I replied.

“Bullshit,” Jade replied.

“You do realize there are universes other than ours, right?”

“That’s a human philosophy,” she countered.

“You believe the world has magic, but won’t believe that there’s another universe out there?”

“Essentially,” she replied. “But I’ll keep that viewpoint open for discussion.”

“Seriously,” I whispered as my arm wrapped around her waist and pulled her against my side. “There’s something magical.”

“Mhm,” she replied. “You sure it isn’t in your pants?”

“I swear.” I winked, desperately fighting the urge to claim those lips of hers and give up on this prime chance of romantic fuckery. “That’s Zeke’s thing. I plan shit out.”

She giggled and went on her tiptoes to kiss me. My body reacted like a rushing wave, and it really took every bit of restraint to stop me from pinning her against this wall and fucking her senseless.

I’d never experienced such heightened lust, and it was both nerve-wracking and arousing in all areas. I broke the kiss and growled against her lips.

“Jade,” I warned, and was rewarded with a purr.

“Stop being all romantic and show me where we’re going to fuck.”

We exchanged a look and I grinned mischievously. “I fucking love you.”

“I know,” she replied, and gave me a light peck on my lips. “I love you too. Now, show and tell time.”

My earth element reacted, the vines tugging away and the wall crackling in various lines and circles until it separated and slowly opened. It stopped soon after, providing enough space for two people to walk side by side — exactly the way I’d always wanted it to.

I looked back down at Jade, seeing fascination flood those beautiful eyes of hers and watching her tongue glide along her bottom lip. She was definitely excited.

“See? A path into the unknown universe.”

“Uh-huh.” She playfully grinned and didn’t even wait for me to lead the way as she took a step forward and dragged me along.

“You know, I’m supposed to be the leader here,” I voiced.

“Says who? Romantic Korean dramas? If so, you’re wrong, and I’m not your average main character.” She squeezed my hand as her words echoed against the hollow walls of the path.

All I could do was smile, feeling a whole new level of excitement with this unplanned part of the true diabolical plan. It was truly the perfect distraction, even if it didn’t fall into the thirty-minute time frame I’d given my brothers.

We’re so going to be late, but does that really matter? I can go against the rules sometimes, right?

We reached the end of the tunnel, the light on the other side growing so bright, it felt like an adventure was about to happen. I knew exactly what was on the other side because I’d planned to bring Jade here at some point, but timing was always my enemy in the romance department.

When we stepped into the place, Jade gasped in awe, and the mere sound ignited a wave of relief that hit me in a cool influx.

“A LAGOON?! Is this a lagoon? Maybe a mini lagoon? Baby…hmmm. This isn’t a lagoon, is it?” The fluctuation from excitement to pure confusion was adorable, and I felt compelled to answer.

“It’s a Jade-only lagoon,” I replied. “Created by yours truly.”

“You created this?” She had to do a double-take. “I honestly shouldn’t be surprised because you made us an apple tree, which, by the way, Shadow Jade actually waters daily.”

“Does she? Guess that means you cherish it a lot for her to be so invested,” I replied.

Jade’s smile was priceless, and her joy was beginning to influence our surroundings, the water changing from dark blue to a glowing teal. The earth around us was blooming at a fast rate, roots from the hidden seeds I’d planted weeks ago sprouting from the depths of the soil and blossoming into flowers within seconds.

It was like the world was now running in fast forward, and even I was speechless about what was happening until Jade hugged me.

“Oops,” she whispered when I looked down at her. “That was my fault.”

“When you’re happy, beautiful things happen,” I voiced.

“It seems that way, but I have to be really overjoyed about something. I guess it’s not common for me to be truly happy. It doesn’t mean I’m depressed most of the time or anything, it’s just that there’s a level of joy I have to reach before things like this happen.”

She used one of her arms to direct my attention to the fresh flowers that were all around our feet and reached the shallow depths of the lagoon.

“You deserve to be happy,” I mumbled, drawing her attention. “It’s hard…this world. The way it revolves around selfishness and power instead of striving to achieve happiness and satisfaction.”

I looked to the water, watching as it continued to sparkle.

“People wouldn’t die prematurely if it wasn’t for our greed. This desperation for power and money is so wrong. Those who have more never want the next person to obtain as much, thinking their wealth will be stolen by those who have different goals and dreams.” I didn’t know why I was bringing this up, but it felt good to let it out.

“Our mother was smart and powerful. She was the sunshine in many people’s lives because she didn’t hold back on giving. She knew how cruel the world was, and even when she had us, her kind heart never froze over. Selfishness and manipulation are what lead to her demise. It’s frustrating to think we can’t change this world when we have all the tools to do so.”

“I agree,” Jade whispered. She let go of my hand and I watched as she stripped, piece by piece. It wasn’t teasing, like she was aiming to seduce me.

It was slow but in almost a respectable manner. Like peeling off the layers of armor after returning from a day of active war.

When she was completely naked, she looked over her shoulder to meet my eyes, her black orbs now a marvelous mix of blue and grey.

“Whenever I thought about the bad times…the things that happened to me that made me fear death itself, nature would always find a way to remind me that I had a purpose. Whether it was a blooming flower in the middle of a dirty alleyway or a sudden rainstorm in the hottest days of summer, the earth would find a way to aid me on my torturous journey. It wasn’t like it made tackling each obstacle any easier, but it gave me that break I needed to keep going.”

She looked back at the calm waters.

“I wanted to become a Tracker for a lot of reasons, but one of them was to make some type positive of impact in this world full of hate and criminals. This world is so fucked up, and yet, there’s nothing we can do to fast forward and reach the end of our destined path.”

She began to walk to the water, and I didn’t let a single thought pass in my mind as my hands worked on taking off my own clothes until I wore nothing and was following her footsteps.

We both walked into the water, step by step, deeper and deeper, until we were swimming toward the middle of the small body of water.

Jade turned around to face me, and my arms wrapped around her waist underwater. We didn’t need to kick our legs to keep afloat, our water elements helping us with ease as we focused on the matter at hand.

“We were born with nothing but our body, mind, and soul. There were no clothes or worries about what the world had to offer us. We were innocent, and it’s this world that destroys that innocence until we have nothing left.”

She wrapped her arms around my neck and pulled me close. My eyes got lost in hers, the swirls of purple, teal, and red showing the influence of her elements.

“That’s why I aim to be myself. Even though it’s scary. Even if I’m shunned, bullied, and ridiculed. I wasn’t created to be changed by these earthly beings. I was created to be the unique individual I’m destined to be, and though it’s tough when hardships hit me and the world feels like it’s caving in, I know that if my time comes and my heartbeat stops, I won’t have any regrets. I’d completed my purpose the best I could, and that’s all that matters.”

“Are you scared of the future?” I asked.

“All the time,” she replied. “But…there are days like today where I’m grateful to be a part of your lives and be able to date the four of you.”

“Does that include Calvin, or is he on hold?”

The smirk that dawned on those lips of hers made me roll my eyes. “Why did I ask?”

“Asking means consideration, which is a total plus in my book.” She beamed before she brought us even closer.

“So…I just have to keep taking it a day at a time and enjoying these moments when I’m with the people I love. All while I try to conquer the demons that fight me in the night and the enemies that are trying their best to steal my power during the day.”

“You don’t realize how inspiring you are, do you?”

“I try,” she sarcastically replied. “Now can we fuck?”

My laugh was silenced by her lips, and I moved my hand to squeeze her ass. She moaned and broke the kiss to give me a lustful stare.

“I’ve never had sex underwater before.”

“You can breathe underwater with your magic, right?”

“Yes,” she replied. “I’ve never tested how long though.”

“Wanna try?”

“I’m up for more challenges if it means I get fucked longer.”

“We’re on a timer,” I warned, realizing we really only had a good ten minutes at most of playful fucking before we’d have to leave.

“Why?”

Shit. I said too much.

“Zackery’s worried I’ll get the advantage of fucking you before him,” I defended, hoping the excuse would work.

“He knew he’d be last from day one.” Jade giggled. “Don’t worry, I’ll think of an excuse when we get back to my place.”

“Less talk, more underwater loving.” My voice was low and that set the mood we both were yearning for as we let our magic pause and allowed our bodies to sink right into the water.

When our feet softly landed on the sandy ground of the lagoon, we both tested our ability to breathe underwater. It was a weird, risky experience, but the thrill it delivered was inexplicable. That was what it was like dating Jade.

Once we knew breathing wouldn’t be an issue, we stopped thinking and wrapped our bodies around one another, our lips mashing together.

My tongue darted into her mouth, and I let my two elements push to the surface. In this space, we were in full control, and I was all for enjoying this pleasurable experience with no restraints.

Jade’s moan was a high-pitched, muffled sound, but that only heightened my desire to please her. The ground shifted at some point, but before I could grasp what was being made, we were lying on a stone bed with flowers and shells wrapped around the structure. Pink, purple, and teal sheets of seaweed draped across the bed as we hovered just inches above it.

I was the only one noticing all of this as Jade had broken the kiss and was enjoying her moment of control by covering my neck with kisses. I moved my head back slightly before pressing my forehead against hers to get her attention, and she gave me an impatient look that had me grinning joyously.

I nudged my head to hers to get her attention when she tried to kiss my collarbone, and she finally followed my gaze to see the decorative underwater bed that was awaiting us.

Her initial shock was replaced with gleeful anticipation as she tugged my arm. Her eyes told me she was done waiting. I pressed her onto her back, shocked at how soft the seaweed sheets were. I floated up just slightly, just to give me a view of Jade’s body. Her curves, breasts, and how her hair floated in the water like she was a fucking goddess.

No, she is a fucking goddess. Our Queen and the woman I’m about to fuck underwater.

She seemed pleased with my obvious analysis of her, and I didn’t hide how excited I was. My cock was hard and ready, and I could only imagine what would happen in the moments of our unity.

About time we found out.

Lowering to the bed, I hovered over her with my hands pressed to the sides of her head. Our eyes gazed into each other’s before a moment of clarity flickered through my head, like the calm before the storm.

I lowered my lips to hers, only this time, I kissed her with a level of intensity that I hoped proved just how much I cared for her. She was the beacon of light my brothers and I needed, and though this whole process was still new and fresh, it truly felt like something that we could sustain for a lifetime.

A lifetime with Jade Storm…I could accept such a fate.

Before the kiss was finished, I moved my right hand to my cock and readied it at her entrance. Even with the cool water that was easily bearable with our magic, I could feel the heat coming from Jade’s pussy.

I felt her desperation to be filled by me through the vibrations of the water, and I couldn’t wait any longer as I slid right into her, the water mixed with Jade’s already aroused pussy serving as the perfect lubricant.

Our moans were like musical bubbles, and that was all we needed to start the movement of intense pleasure. The new environment that made it a little harder to hear only heightened the rest of our senses, especially the sense of touch.

My hands caressed her body as my hips thrust forward and back, fucking her nice and deep. Jade moaned in my mouth, our tongues dancing as our hips moved faster.

The waters were twirling around us, moving faster and faster like a whirlpool, and as the pleasure began to build towards a wondrous climax, our elements took over.

We broke our kiss to gasp, realizing we lay in the center of the spinning vortex.

All it did was excite us, and I nestled my head between her shoulder and neck, just so I could bite her hard. She moaned and arched her back, and I took advantage to thrust myself even deeper.

I changed my rhythm and began to fuck her deep and fast. Her moans grew louder and more rapid as her legs wrapped around my waist and tightened to make it impossible to pull too far out.

She was enjoying every bit of this and so was I, the two of us fucking and moaning in our little lagoon oasis. The water spun around us, the earth sheltered our naked bodies, and our cries of pleasure resonated against the walls of this place.

“Zion, fuck,” Jade moaned, her breaths uneven and swift as her moans grew even louder. She let her head rest against the seaweed pillows and I only added to the pleasure by nipping the side of her neck and whispering her name over and over again as I fought not to cum.

“Let me hear you scream my name, Jade. Let this lagoon know who brings you every bit of pleasure and desire.”

“Zion! Yes, baby, yes! Fuck, faster,” she begged and cried out my name to keep going, and my body obeyed before my mind could keep up.

I felt my own release building to the point of no return and gave up kissing her neck to slam my mouth against hers.

Her body grew rigid and I knew she was on the brink of coming.

“Cum for me, Jade,” I breathed, giving her three more fast thrusts before she screamed in ecstasy.

“ZION!”

The shot of energy that zapped through me caused my climax to hit me so fast, I was rendered frozen as surges of pleasure hit me like waves.

The water that swirled around us came crashing down like the spell had finally been broken, and my instinct was to cover Jade.

It was an unnecessary move as walls of the earth shot up protectively. Jade’s legs released me from captivity and I slid my cock out. I allowed myself to collapse next to Jade, and we both breathed heavily as our bodies trembled from the sudden drop of magic and energy.

I ended up lifting my hand and creating a bubble around us, the water draining from it until we were breathing air.

“That…was…intense,” Jade breathed, sounding like she’d run five marathons. “We…should…do…that…again.”

“She says that…as she…attempts to catch…her breath,” I narrated as I panted. “Fuck…that was a little…too intense,”

“So fun…” She giggled. “Imagine adding…one of your brothers?”

“Dangerous,” I replied. “We gotta make sure we have our own island.”

“Why?” she asked.

“Just in case we sink it.”

“Good point,” she sighed. I looked over at her. “You’re beautiful inside and out, Jade.”

She met my eyes and I knew my comment moved her because her eyes suddenly pooled with tears.

“Sorry.” She tried to smile, but it was short-lived. “It’s…still sometimes weird to be complimented like that. My emotions are all over the place.”

“It’s okay to feel emotion, Jade,” I whispered and turned to my side so I could pull her into my arms. “We love that you let yourself be vulnerable around us.”

“Not weird?” she whispered.

“No,” I replied. “It means you trust us to pick you up when your walls are down.”

“I like that,” she whispered. “These moments are nice. I love it when we’re together during the fun, happy times, but I love these moments, too. The sensitive, quiet, affectionate times that I get to share with you. It wasn’t like this last semester. It’s really nice.”

“Then we’ll figure out a balance, so you can enjoy both,” I whispered and snuggled against her. “Now we have five minutes before one of my brothers starts hollering at me to hurry up.”

“Zackery probably,” Jade mumbled.

“Hey! Where are you? You better not be masturbating or something. We can feel you jerking off from here.” It was Zackery himself.

“Why do I have a feeling my suggestion came true?” Jade questioned.

“It did.” I chuckled weakly. “I’ll just ignore him.”

“Just five minutes…or ten,” Jade mumbled. “We should go back to the surface.”

“Tired?”

“Sleepy again.”

“Sleep,” I reassured her. “Ten minutes.”

“Okay.” She didn’t even argue, her body pressing against mine like she craved my warmth. I hooked an arm over her, and let my imagination flow with a hint of magic.

I felt the blanket of vines and seaweed drape onto my arm, and when I opened my eyes, I saw the evidence of the creation that now laid over Jade and me.

She was already asleep, which brought a satisfied smile on my face. Pressing my lips to her forehead, I let myself relax.

“Zion! Don’t let me find you!”

That had me smiling, but I didn’t answer as I let myself stay in a half-conscious state.

Ten minutes…

CHRISTMAS WITH US

~JADE~

“HMM.” I scanned the entrance of my home, feeling as though it was off in some way, but had no clue why. “Something’s wrong.”

“With?” Zion gently squeezed my hand, both of us standing in front of my place.

“The place,” I mumbled, but shrugged it off.

We’d thankfully gotten back fifteen minutes before twelve, which was perfect since it meant we’d get to celebrate Christmas together with the others.

I wasn’t sure if Alaric, Bianca, or Tanner would be around because they had gotten called to do a quick case two days ago and had yet to return, but I was certain I’d at least get to spend time with them on New Year’s Day. That was one day that was off-limits when it came to work.

The world could be ending, and Alaric would literally stop anything he was doing and poof back home five minutes before twelve, just so we could do the countdown and celebrate into the new year.

It really had become a family tradition, so Christmas wasn’t a required holiday for us to celebrate together as a family.

This year was extra special because I’d be able to spend it with my boyfriends — and Calvin. Now that I had a grasp of his true identity, it made it easier to approach him with holiday stuff like this.

Before his reveal, the guys probably wouldn’t have wanted him around, but with my approval, they were attempting to be more laid-back when it came to Calvin.

They did promise a sixsome, after all, but I’m sure that isn’t happening for a while.

To be honest, I was enjoying the slightly slower pace of our relationship. It wasn’t like the chemistry or sheer temptation to fuck every chance we got wasn’t present, but it had lessened in its ability to divert us from establishing a stronger relationship that didn’t reflect only our physical and sexual connections.

It was as though our first semester was our chance to let the emotions run around, but with a leash to hold back the chaos we could cause with our connections. Now as we progressed and began to take our group dynamic more seriously, we were shifting into a new stage where we walked cautiously and aimed to discover more about ourselves and one another with a bit of steaminess here and there.

With all the near-death experiences and the lingering fear that all of this would somehow be taken away from me by Charles himself, I needed this supportive change.

All that’s left is to get rid of that silly medication that clearly affects my quality of life. What’s the point of emphasizing the desire to help someone’s quality of life get better with treatment, only for it to deliver a disgusting aftertaste in your mouth that makes kissing almost unbearable — and I do truly mean ‘almost,’ because it really was a gamble as to whether I’d pass up a chance to kiss my men.

“We have the new security team in position tonight. There’s nothing to worry about,” Zion reassured me. He lifted my hand so the back of it pressed against his lips. The tender kiss made me shiver as my water and earth elements tried to push against the wall I’d created to keep them at bay.

Having underwater sex on a makeshift bed had only seemed to power them up, and that wasn’t a good combo when you were trying to focus on not getting horny again and begging for another session of wonderous underwater intercourse.

“Are you sure?” My hesitation was due to the previous downfalls when it came to “hoping” the people my parents were paying did their actual jobs.

“Calvin’s in charge of the team. They won’t fuck up, apparently,” Zion elaborated.

“Apparently?”

“I overheard the security team quaking over having Calvin as the advisor and monitor of their designated mission to protect you from Charles. I say apparently because they were talking about how lethal Calvin was and that they would rather face death by their own choice than face Calvin’s wrath if they fuck up.”

“Intriguing.” I smirked.

“Why do I have a feeling that excites you?”

“It’s pretty sexy when a guy acts like one thing and is truly the other. It has limits and reverses roles in some cases, but generally, a guy pretending he’s a weakling and later revealing just what a badass he is is daring,” I teased.

Zion grinned and tugged my hand so we could start walking to the entrance. “What do you wanna do when we get inside?”

“Snuggle,” I happily replied. “Shadow Jade is still sleeping, so we can do anything, really. It is almost Christmas. Too bad we weren’t able to put up the tree and decorations.” It wasn’t a big deal to me this year with everything that had transpired, but it would have enhanced the holiday with the bright, flickering lights and some Christmas music.

I hadn’t admitted it, but the break at the park was calming. It was nice to see the liveliness of people and acknowledge that the year would soon be coming to an end. It gave an almost nostalgic feeling, especially when I recalled the snowy days when I’d huddled in the streets and used a bit of my fire element whenever I could to try and keep myself warm.

Those times were so hard to forget, especially when I was left to quietly think to myself. Luckily, this year I’d get to enjoy it with my Trouble Four, and the thought had me walking faster as I tugged Zion along.

He chuckled at my sudden excitement, and we were soon inside.

“Hmm. Why are all the lights off?” I frowned.

“Zeus?” Zion called out.

“What?” The sound came from upstairs.

“What did you do to the lights?” Zion squeezed my hand comfortingly.

“Zackery’s fault.” Zeke was the one to answer. “We’re on the roof fixing it.”

“The roof?” I gasped. “How are we able to hear you from here?”

“That’s thanks to me.” Calvin emerged from the darkness and snapped his fingers to offer a single flame that hovered over his index finger. “Welcome home, Queen Jade. Hey, Zion.”

“I thought you said you were working today?” I brought up, remembering that he’d mentioned he may not be able to celebrate.

“Plans changed.” He shrugged slightly. “The security team gets all antsy when I’m around, especially in my real form.” He used his free hand to gesture to himself. “When I was my plump, nerdy self, I was a pushover.”

“Did they say that to you?” Zion inquired.

“Nah. They were saying it behind my back before I walked in.”

“As in, intentionally walked in.” I was catching onto what he was implying, and he smiled. “Essentially. Always amuses me to catch people off guard. I think that’s the life of a secret agent.”

“Scary,” Zion mumbled.

“Hmm. Can’t we just use our elements to fix the lights?” I asked. “I’m not really in the mood to use mine though.”

With the medication, it would be annoying to use any magic at all.

“Nah,” Calvin replied. “Let them work.”

Zion sighed. “Why do I feel as though you made it so only you can use magic and they can’t?”

“Well, if they had stopped quarreling like I’d asked them to, Zeus wouldn’t have blown a fuse and caused the power outage,” Calvin calmly replied.

“As you secretly enjoy their suffering,” I added.

“You are correct,” Calvin replied with a smile.

“You guys wanna come up to help us?” Zackery asked.

“Sure,” Zion replied. “I didn’t know you had an elevator installed, Jade.”

“Hmm?” I pouted my lips for a long moment. “Did we?”

Alaric had given Bianca full control of the decoration and structure of our home, and since it was connected to Tracker Hive, it gave us some leeway in terms of decor and the amount of land we had.

That usually meant us coming home to some new addition — or serious renovations.

“Yeah,” Calvin replied. “Bianca was here earlier and said there had to be something new installed for Christmas.”

“That makes sense. Bianca’s decoration ideas are always spontaneous,” I acknowledged.

“Talk and walk!” Zeus called down.

“He wants to hug Jade,” Zeke translated.

“I deserve to hug her first,” Zackery emphasized.

“Why? This whole fiasco is your fault,” Zeke noted.

“No! It’s Zeus’s damn fault!”

“Everything is your fault. Go blame your aura twin,” Zeus grumbled.

“Aura twin? Is that Zion?” Zackery pondered. “Zion! Come up here and defend me!”

“Who said I was even in this conversation?” Zion used his free hand to fix his glasses.

“Let’s go, Queen Jade. I can make you a nice cup of hot chocolate,” Calvin suggested.

“Go away,” the three upstairs brothers replied, which sounded like a surround system response.

“Jealous.” Calvin rolled his eyes but started walking. Zion took the lead, pulling me behind him, but my eyes were trying to adjust to the darkness.

The scent here is different. What did Bianca do this year? Maybe she’s going to rearrange the entire house and used a different cleaning solution?

I wasn’t normally this observant, but it really did feel like a different house. Giving up on trying to decipher this mystery, I focused on my footsteps while I held Zion’s hand tightly.

We reached the elevator, the doors were already open. The interior had pink velvet walls, the top halves of which were covered with mirrors. The light was a dim golden color, making it look vintage.

“Reminds me of olden movies,” Calvin mumbled. “Bianca has good taste.”

“That’s true,” I replied casually. “She got this installed quickly.”

“I think she mentioned she’d been working on the idea for a while, so it wasn’t hard to snap her fingers and have a whole crew to work on it,” Calvin explained.

“Wait, so she did it while we were out?” I asked.

“Yup,” Calvin replied and pressed the top button that read ROOF.

The doors closed and I relaxed against the wall. Zion was facing me while Calvin rested his back against the wall next to the buttons.

Zion ended up leaning over me, our eyes meeting in longing.

“What?” I whispered.

“Nothing,” he replied but moved even closer. “The aftertaste still bothering you?”

“Not really,” I admitted. “The ice cream on the way home helped. Plus, other things.” I winked flirtatiously. His grin was making me want to stop the elevator so we could get physical.

“And then there’s the third wheel,” Calvin muttered. That caught our attention, both of us looking his way. He crossed his arms and gave us a look.

“You two forgot I was here, huh?”

“No,” Zion replied.

“Yes,” I said at the exact same time.

We both exchanged looks and Zion chuckled. “Of course, I’d be the one to try and not make him feel bad. Jade, on the other hand, would rather say the truth.”

“The truth shall set you free. It’s an adage for a reason,” I noted. “Also…why is the elevator taking so long?”

I swear we’d been in here for a solid twenty floors rather than the basic three, four if you added the roof. Just as I mentioned it, the elevator came to a stop and binged while the doors opened.

“We’re here,” Calvin announced. It was still impossible to see, and I wasn’t even sure if we were on the roof or the third floor.

Deciding to follow the guys, I tagged along as Zion slipped his hand back in mine and the two of us trailed Calvin into the darkness. It got worse when the doors of the elevator closed, leaving us in the dark.

It wouldn’t have bothered me if Shadow Jade was around. My eyesight usually elevated significantly when I needed her element to guide me through dark alleys and environments. But she was still fast asleep, and I didn’t see the need to wake her or my other elements over such a little matter.

“Hmm. They still haven’t fixed shit,” Calvin groaned. “Give me a sec, I’ll just help them myself,” Calvin assured us and vanished further into the dark. I was beginning to wonder what was going on.

I’d lived in this house for the majority of my life. I should have been able to walk through this entire compound with my eyes closed, listening to music, with the whole house smelling like coffee.

“Scared?” Zion’s voice tickled my flesh as he whispered into my ear.

“Not really.” I paused. “Anxious. I should be able to recognize everything, but I don’t. I know Bianca did some renovations over the past couple of months, especially during our first semester…but I feel as though we’re in another place completely. Different scents, the floor doesn’t squeak in certain places where it should, even the energy feels different. I think the only reason why I’m not freaking out is because of you guys being here.”

“So observant.” Zion hugged me and pressed his lips to my neck. “If I hug you, does it make you less anxious?”

“Yeah,” I whispered and let myself calm down. “I bet we missed the clock striking twelve at this point,” I mumbled into his shirt before taking a deep inhale.

“Nah. Two minutes,” he replied and rubbed my back. “Zeke just said they found the problem and should only take a minute.”

“Last minute problems,” I casually stated.

“We fixed it!” Zackery declared. His voice sounded far too close, but I wasn’t given the chance to look over my shoulder as arms wrapped around my waist from behind and pulled me into a tender squeeze. “Jade.”

Zackery’s low voice made my stomach flip in joy, and I couldn’t help but giggle. “Hey, troublemaker.”

“I am not.” His disappointment made me giggle even more as I looked over to try and get a visual of his face.

“It was your fault,” Zeus answered, his voice on my left. I glanced over, just in time to feel his soft lips crash into mine and devour them like I was the latest trending lollipop.

“Hey!” Zackery groaned. “Why can’t—”

“Don’t even bother asking why you’re always late to everything. Stop thinking and start using that smooth brain of yours,” Zeke interrupted. I felt his presence to my right, but I was still in the midst of kissing Zeus, not that it stopped Zeke from kissing the side of my neck.

I moaned and forced the kiss to end early just so I could turn and kiss Zeke real quick. He smiled against my lips and kissed me ever so slightly before he pulled back.

“Better kiss Zackery before he starts crying. Don’t want him all sad on Christmas.”

I giggled and turned around in Zackery’s embrace. With a quick and smooth movement, my arms wrapped around his neck and pulled him down for a swift but deep kiss. He groaned and stopped me from moving back, just as an alarm went off and the lights came on.

“MERRY CHRISTMAS, JADE!”

I flinched at the sudden noise, my eyes taking seconds to adjust to the sudden lights, only for them to grow wide in shock at the completely new atmosphere. My jaw dropped as I scanned the beautifully decorated room, the furniture arrangement the first thing I noticed.

The classy décor was a balanced mix of red, black, and gold. We were standing in the middle of what must have been the living room because the fireplace was lit and hung with decorative red stockings with black fuzzy fur and red glitter sprinkled on top.

Each person’s name was written in red cursive glitter with decorative gold stars around it. The fire was burning strongly, the crackles of the burning wood providing a soft atmosphere.

Everything, from the red velvet sofa to the beautiful black carpet with a red rose design, had me eyeing the floors carefully before moving my gaze to the lovely, reflective gold wallpaper with red rose petals that seemed to fall downward.

Arching lamps sat in the corners of the room, the hanging balls of light having actual flames in the middle of the crystal glass balls.

Gold and red tinsel decorations hung along with the top parts of the walls and furniture, and my eyes finally landed on the large Christmas tree that continued the gold, red, and black theme. The Christmas lights changed color and at the bottom was a flood of gifts wrapped in various decorative wrapping papers.

I was so carried away by the view of this new place that I didn’t notice the guys move away from me to stand in a line.

All of them wore smiles, and I was shocked to see they were wearing suits. I hadn’t even sensed the magic they used to change their attire, but I looked down to realize I, too, was wearing a completely different outfit: a spectacular red dress with black sparkles that twinkled in the well-lit room.

My hair was in curls and even my nails were painted a sparkling red. It was like an invisible fairy godmother had shown up, dosed me up with a bit of magic, and made me into a dark princess for Christmas Day.

I looked back at the five men standing before me, all of them with wide smiles as they observed my reaction.

“How…when…where are we?” I was struggling with words as I fought not to get emotional. My instincts had told me I was in a new environment, but I wasn’t expecting any of this.

Zackery grinned and answered, “This is your Christmas gift.”

My brows knit together and I looked around again. From the layout of the room, I sensed that this had to be a condo of some sort. Something along the lines of a penthouse suite you’d see in Korean dramas, or what celebrities owned when they lived in a busy city.

“Mine? My…Christmas gift?” I was beyond confused, my mind still spinning from the artistry of the place. To have it introduced as mine was only making it harder to accept.

A low chuckle drew my attention as I looked behind me to see Alaric, Bianca, and Tanner. The three of them were all dressed up in fancy attire: Tanner wearing a black on black suit combo, Alaric in a fitted red suit with a gold tie, and Bianca dressed in a mermaid-cut, strapless red dress that clung to all her curves and sparkled just like mine.

“It was about time you got a place of your own, and we figured what better way of doing it than by giving it to you as a Christmas present?” Alaric revealed.

“No way,” I whispered, my eyes blinking away my pooling tears. “This…this is my place? But…how? When we arrived, it looked like home.”

“Your instincts were right on.” Bianca giggled. “The three of us had to use an extremely strong illusion spell and let it run for more than twelve hours or you would have seen right through our plans.”

“We also had to spell the car so when you guys were on the way here, it would appear as though you were going home. Tricky magic,” Tanner explained.

“When we said we wanted to get you a place of your own, we meant it,” Alaric assured me as he walked up to my stunned self. I was still trying to fathom how all of this was real.

An actual place for myself. My own place to call home. My…home.

Alaric’s smile softened as he reached out to stroke my cheek with his thumb, wiping away the tears that were now streaming down my face.

“The moment I took you in, I knew you’d be special. So many people wanted you to use for their own greedy intentions, and yet you didn’t despise the world. You could have been influenced by all that had happened to you and worked toward getting revenge in a messy way like many individuals do when the system fails them. But even when you were hurting, you let that pain motivate you to become stronger and better, hoping to one day prove that Charles was the person who murdered your family. I’ve watched you grow from a child to a woman who respects herself and those around her. You let no one influence you into thinking you’re weird or different, and even with your unique characteristics, you embrace that side of you. The part of you that makes you a star in the sky.”

He looked down at me with immense pride.

“You’ve helped me change in many ways, just as you’ve helped us grow into better individuals. You’re willing to listen to us, even when you disagree with the plans or methods of achieving strength and magic growth.”

Tanner walked forward and nodded his head. “With your growth has come hardships, some of which you conquered far before you started this task of becoming an official Tracker Hive Agent.”

“Even with those obstacles, you’ve embraced yourself and have loved unconditionally. All of this has been observed by us, and it’s about time you enjoyed the fruits of your hard labor,” Bianca explained.

“I know we joked about you having your own place, but we really did want to get you something where you could feel safe and loved.”

My words were stuck in my throat as I looked around the room again in awe. Zeke walked over to where I stood, wrapping his arms around me and pressing a light kiss to my temple.

“Jade. Do you like it?” He was prompting me to try and say something, but I pulled back and let my tears continue to fall, feeling overjoyed and grateful to even deserve any of this.

He smiled and cradled my face. “Can I safely assume that’s a yes?”

I nodded and quietly began to sob, and I felt the others’ presences around me as we ended up in a group hug.

“Thank you,” I finally choked out as my shoulders moved up and down. “Thank…you.”

“No, Jade, thank you,” Zackery whispered.

“Thanks for loving us,” Zion added.

“And somehow bringing us even closer together than before,” Zeus revealed.

I grinned and nodded my head, accepting their loving hugs and warm kisses. I had never expected this type of surprise, and it truly had moved me from the bottom of my heart.

“KILL!”

We all jumped at Shadow Jade’s entrance, and Zackery sighed.

“Will we ever get used to that?”

“Nope,” Zion, Zeus, and Zeke replied.

Shadow Jade hugged me and giggled. “Happy!”

“Yes, Shadow Jade, I’m happy,” I answered with a smile.

“There’s still one more gift to give,” Calvin announced and caught our attention.

Shadow Jade and I gasped, staring at the little creature that rested in his crossed arms. It lifted its head up, black and white eyes locking onto us.

“Mawe!”

The intriguing, tiny sound had me and Shadow Jade tilting our heads to one side in unison.

“Kitty?” we questioned.

“Sort of.” Calvin gave us a sad smile as he stroked the little black kitten. One of its ears had a white fur patch and its right eye was white while its left eye was black.

“We can’t tell her past story unless we know you want her,” Calvin revealed.

“Why? Kill?” Shadow Jade asked and skipped over to Calvin to take a closer look at the kitten. She reached out and petted it, and the small creature began to purr happily.

“Yes,” Calvin replied as I walked over to join Shadow Jade. “If you guys end up not wanting her, she’s going to be put down.”

“Then she’s ours.” I didn’t need to know the details. If it meant saving her from whatever death penalty they had set for her, she’d be given the chance to live with us.

I’d always wanted a pet, so this actually worked out perfectly. Calvin smiled, and I noticed everyone else had small smiles on their lips.

“What?” I questioned. “It’s the right thing to do.”

“You love the cat and you just met her,” Tanner pointed out.

“Hush.” I brushed him off and reached out to pet the kitten. “Hello.”

“Mawe!” The kitten nudged my hand with her head before she wiggled out of Calvin’s hold and jumped to the floor.

And then there were two of them.

Shadow Jade and I froze in place as we blinked in surprise.

“Two?! Black Kitty and White Kitty!” Shadow Jade squealed happily. She immediately dropped to her knees and let her hand stretch out in offering. Both kittens stared at her before the light one walked forward and ended up sitting on Shadow Jade’s knees.

“CHOSEN! KILL!” Shadow Jade rejoiced before she began to pet the white kitten that looked extra comfortable in her lap.

“Uh…did we just break the kitten?” I asked.

All four of my Maxwells snickered, and then immediately looked away when I attempted to glare at them.

“This kitten’s name is Minx. She’s one of two kittens that survived various experiments done on them by a company that was hired by Charles,” Calvin revealed. That got all of our attention as he continued.

“The other one was taken in by a first-year student who attends another school that we’re in good association with. Peculiar something. Either way, no one would accept Minx because…well, she’s a combination of dark and light elements.”

“Like Shadow Jade and me,” I whispered.

We weren’t necessarily exactly the same, but I could see why no one else would take Minx. Darkness was hard to control, but to add Light into the mix would be even trickier. You never knew if the two would end up clashing together down the road, and if you didn’t harness those elements, it would be almost impossible to fix the problem before it got out of hand.

“Exactly.” Calvin smiled and watched the dark kitten walk over to me. Her body was pitch black, almost like when Shadow Jade was in her original form.

Her eyes were purple hollows and glowed in a cute but eerie way. She sat at my feet and looked up.

“Mawe?”

I couldn’t stop the smile that blossomed on my lips as I crouched down to pick her right up. “I guess you’re mine now. Don’t worry. Shadow Jade and I will take good care of you,” I cooed.

Minx purred and rubbed her head against me in reply.

“So…that means she’s mine?” I looked around at everyone to confirm. “She…can live here? What if I’m at school?”

“She can actually come with you,” Bianca encouraged. “She has magic, so I could simply put her down as a familiar. We’re unsure what she can do, but she’s definitely not a full-fledged familiar that can change into a human or take other physical forms. She can, however, use magic in both the light and dark categories.”

“It’s going to take a bit of time to go through the reports,” Calvin admitted. “They’re all written in code, so I’m gonna have to work on deciphering them. All I know is that she’s currently harmless, and we can make her a collar that can split when she switches into her two forms. That way we can still track them if they get lost.”

“What about if someone tries to hurt them?” I asked.

“KILL!” Shadow Jade scooped Light Minx up and had her scythe out the next second.

“Shadow Jade.” Tanner pinched his nose. “No one is here to hurt your new pet.”

“Kill!” Shadow Jade practically growled and narrowed her eyes around the room. I rolled my eyes but was still smiling as I looked back down at Dark Minx.

“Will they be able to protect themselves, I mean? We may have new security in place so that Tracker Hive doesn’t get infiltrated so easily, but that doesn’t protect them from students who don’t respect animals.” I voiced my concern.

Sure, it was early, and school was two weeks away, but I wanted to make sure if we were going to keep her, she was protected and loved.

“The collars I’m thinking of making will connect with our watches. If either side of her feels frightened, she’ll teleport to where you or Shadow Jade are. I’ll make a backup setting, just in case we’re in a battle of some sort. Either way, I’ll handle it, so nothing to worry about,” Calvin assured me.

“Show off,” Zackery mumbled.

“Are you sure we can’t kill him?” Zeus wondered.

“The jealousy is high.” Zion sighed.

“As if you ain’t jealous that you didn’t think of that,” Zeke acknowledged.

“Thank you.”

Everyone looked my way, and Shadow Jade was standing beside me with Light Minx in her arms.

“Thank you for making this the best Christmas ever,” I whispered from the bottom of my heart.

Bianca giggled and clapped her hands. “This is only the beginning. Christmas isn’t Christmas without Bianca’s special cookies!”

Tanner rolled his eyes. “My eggnog is what makes Christmas possible.”

“Who drinks eggnog?!” Bianca gasped in horror. “That stuff is for old people.”

“No, it’s not!” Tanner huffed. “Alaric likes it.”

“Manageable.” Alaric fixed his glasses as he tried to squirm away. “Last year you gave us all stomach aches with that stuff.”

“You said you liked it!” Tanner pointed at Alaric, who shrugged.

“I felt the love, but also running diarrhea that left me up all night long.”

Bianca broke out laughing as Tanner’s whole face went red.

“Diarrhea! KILL!” Shadow Jade giggled and used one of her hands to point at Tanner. “Professor Diarrhea Asshole.”

“Perfect!” Zeus, Zeke, Zackery, and Zion said in unison.

“That’s actually a really good combo, Shadow Jade,” Calvin praised.

“I like it!” I declared. “We shall now appoint Tanner as Professor Diarrhea Asshole!”

“Mawe!” Light and Dark Minx approved.

“No!” Tanner exclaimed.

“Time for some Christmas music and alcohol,” Alaric declared, already looking exhausted.

“Woot! All the sweet booze!” Bianca cheered.

“Change my damn title back! Asshole was better,” Tanner argued.

“Of course, it’s better,” Bianca purred. “You love it up there.”

“Bianca!”

“I’ll wear something sexy later!” she squealed and ran into the kitchen.

“Stop selling our lives out there!” Tanner snapped and raced after her.

“Sometimes I feel like I’m dating children,” Alaric groaned.

“Parenting. Never gets old,” I teased.

The others laughed, and Zeus walked over to my side.

“See? Christmas with us can be hella fun,” he encouraged.

“I never doubted that one,” I smiled and watched the others as they gathered in a semi-circle facing me. “Thank you for caring enough for me to do all of this.”

“Let’s make lots of memories here,” Zeke encouraged.

“We should take a picture!” Zackery emphasized.

“Sure,” Zion agreed.

“Should I take it?” Calvin asked.

“You have to be in it, idiot.” Zeus rolled his eyes.

“Oh.” Calvin gave us a dumbfounded stare.

I leaned over to the others and whispered, “When he looks stumped like that, he almost looks like the plump him.”

“Yeah,” they agreed.

“The plump me and this me are still ME!” Calvin huffed.

“Sure,” we replied.

“Mawe!”

“I’ll take the picture,” Alaric volunteered. “Hurry up before those two destroy your new kitchen.”

We laughed and quickly got in formation: Shadow Jade and I stood in the middle as Zeke and Zeus stood to my left and Zion and Zackery stood to Shadow Jade’s right. Calvin sat in front of us, with both versions of Minx in his lap.

We all prepared for the picture, and Alaric had a loving grin on his face as his eyes softened.

“Say Merry Christmas in 3…2…1…”

“MERRY CHRISTMAS!”

This was by far the best Christmas I’d ever had, and the first time I slept peacefully without the haunting memories of my family.

NEW YEAR PROMISES

“We’re going back first,” Zeus declared as he and Zion looked back at us.

“Okay,” I replied and gave them a small wave. “We shouldn’t be long.”

Zeus nodded and Zion gave a tender smile, the two of them turning around and making their way toward the cemetery exit.

I waited until their figures disappeared around the corner before I returned my gaze to Zackery, who was quietly praying. His hands were together and his head was bowed down in respect as he stood at their mother’s grave, various bouquets of flowers lying nicely on the fluffy snow around the gravestone.

Today was New Year’s Day and we’d spent it together with the entire family. We’d started with a big breakfast made by Bianca, followed by videogames and a cozy afternoon with everyone. There were no talks about Tracker stuff or anything work-related.

It was our time to get to know one another more, and it was nice to be around my parents and even have Calvin tag along. He was getting more comfortable with the guys, and they had actually been more open to letting him join the “cool” crew.

I wasn’t sure if he’d return to class in his original appearance or keep up the disguise just for the hell of it. Regardless of the decision, I still had the intention of dating him at some point.

We hadn’t had a chance to talk about that stuff, but there wasn’t any rush. I needed to learn more about him, just as he had to learn more about me. It could take another semester or two, but I knew that whatever brewed between us wasn’t a temporary thing.

He was one of my Hives, after all. I just had to figure out what all of that meant.

That would be something to venture into once the semester started, but for now, our goal was to rejuvenate ourselves with a much-needed break.

The sunset was vibrant in the colorful sky, and we’d decided to head over to Ms. Maxwell’s grave. I wasn’t yet comfortable calling her Aurelia, even though the guys said I could, but I agreed that they should see her and embrace the new year together.

Zeke was the only one who decided he wasn’t up to coming along, his excuse being he wasn’t feeling well. I wasn’t going to push him into going, but I did tell him he should try to visit because it had been a while from what the others had suggested.

I could still see that lingering hurt in Zeke’s eyes, along with the bits of guilt. He still believed he was the reason his mother had died, even though there had to be some underlying circumstance that contributed to that final showdown.

I knew the guilty feeling, the sense of suffocation and pain at knowing you somehow contributed to your loved one’s demise. Whether intentionally or unintentionally, it didn’t make it any easier to move forward.

Years could pass and it could still haunt you in the quietest moments of your day or night, or in some instances, all the time. It was hard, but avoiding the person’s grave didn’t solve anything. Alaric and I had gone to my family’s grave during Christmas. We hadn’t stayed long; a short prayer, some flowers, and a small recap of my life were enough.

I personally never stayed too long, and I always went with either Alaric, Bianca, or Tanner. The longer I remained near their graves, the harder it was for me to control my emotions, and I couldn’t let my elements get all riled up.

Those graves reminded me of what was lost and the injustice that was still fresh in my mind. I was sure Zeke felt something similar, and it could have been the reason why he avoided seeing his mother, but even once every few months was good enough.

At least until you begin to long for those visits rather than avoid them entirely.

It felt nice to be included on this trip, and I hoped my presence was giving them some type of support.

Zackery opened his eyes and took a deep breath, letting it out slowly as he stared down at the grave.

“Hey, Mom. It’s a new year.” He paused, and I knew he was trying not to get emotional. I moved to stand next to him, my left hand sliding into his right one.

He looked my way and I gave him an encouraging smile. He took another deep inhale and let it out before he returned his gaze to the stone and carried on.

“Last year was interesting. It started off as usual. Repetitive missions, basic days off, championships, and all that. To be honest, it was kinda boring for two-thirds of it. At least, until we met Jade and came down to this district.”

He squeezed my hand slightly, and continued, “We’re officially together. Jade with the rest of us. We’re apparently a Hive. We’re unsure what that means, and the benefits of it, but we’re figuring it out slowly while dealing with this case. It’s been challenging at times…even scary…” He paused and looked my way.

“The scary thing about love is almost losing the person you cherish.”

I lifted my other hand to wrap around his, hoping my warmth reminded him that I was safe.

“But I’m happy to be able to experience it again. When we lost you…we thought we’d never be able to love anyone again. To be willing to open our hearts and care for another. However, Jade changed that belief, and we’re now working things out.”

He looked back at the grave and dramatically sighed. “However, the others are always ahead of me on this dating thing! I’m always last. I hate being last, Mom. It’s really upsetting. This is like the competition of who will whisk Jade away and I’m always losing. You have to help me get the upper hand!”

I snickered before my mind registered it, and I began to giggle as a warm breeze passed by us.

Zackery pouted his lips. “Mom! Don’t laugh with Jade. I know you’re making fun of me. This is serious.”

“Sure, sure.” I patted his shoulder as I tried to stop giggling. “I’m sure your Mom will help you in whisking me off my feet in this love battle.”

“It’s not even a battle anymore,” Zackery declared. “It’s a war! Now that there’s a new competitor, all bets are off. I have to do better next semester. I’ll do everything in my power not to be last. Zion hasn’t made his move yet, so I have a chance.”

“Uh.” I began to whistle, and another warm breeze wrapped around us, causing the piles of fluffy snow to twirl upward before raining down on us in slow motion.

“No way!” Zackery gawked at me. “When?!”

“Christmas Eve.” I gave him a sheepish grin. “Uh…was I supposed to tell you that before or like…later?”

He gave me a blank stare before glancing back at the grave.

“See, Mom! It’s the new year! I need your help on this one!”

“I can’t believe you’re asking your Mom to help you get the advantage in your relationship.” I shook my head, but was on the verge of hysterical laughter.

“Don’t laugh! It means that winning your heart is of vital importance! I could have asked for Zeke’s porn collection to be burned to a crisp, but you don’t see me doing that.”

“Why would you ask your mom that?! That isn’t even something she should know.” I slapped his arm and snickered.

“Ugh,” Zackery groaned. “Your parents know you have sex. What’s the difference when it comes to porn magazines?”

“You’re so weird,” I teased and hugged his arm. “Get back to the point. Your mother is listening.” My voice was soft and loving as I looked up at him.

He met my gaze and smiled.

“I love Jade, Mom. The others love her, too. There are a lot of changes happening, and…we don’t know where we’ll stand with our Tracker Hive department, but whatever happens, give us the strength to conquer it. Help us so we can achieve our goals, grow stronger as we attend this school, and bring justice to those who deserve closure.”

He closed his eyes and whispered, “Sorry Zeke isn’t here. He’s still hurting. He tries to act like he’s forgiven himself, but those wounds are still fresh, even after all these years. He’ll heal eventually. Until then, I’ll just keep saying hi on his behalf.”

There was a moment of silence before Zackery finished, “We love you, Mom. Thanks for protecting us last year. I hope you’re doing well in heaven, and I’ll come back and bring you some beautiful roses on Valentine’s Day. See ya, Mom, and again…happy New Year.”

He remained silent, taking a few inhales and exhales before he put his head up to the sky.

With a slight nod, he looked down at me and grinned.

“Did you want to talk to my mom privately?” he inquired.

That was something new and I pondered about what I’d even say.

“Don’t stress about words. Simply say what comes from your heart like you always do,” he assured me. Giving me a quick hug, he let go and put his hands in his pockets. “I’ll head back to the car. You don’t need to stay long, but seeing as we’re dating long-term, you might as well get comfortable talking to our mom.” He winked when my cheeks began to blush a light red.

Without another word, he turned around and headed down the path. I didn’t move my gaze until I watched him disappear down the corner, and when I stared at the gravestone, I debated what to say.

“Hello, Ms. Maxwell,” I whispered.

A breeze blew by and a wave of goosebumps tingled up my arms.

“Guess that means you’re here.” I swallowed the lump in my throat, wishing I could feel such a presence with my family.

“Zackery, Zion, Zeus, Zeke…they’re really lucky to have had you in their lives. You raised them on your own, shielded them from the harsh moments of life, and protected them, even though it cost you your life. I shouldn’t be jealous…I’m unsure of what I’m really feeling because it’s difficult to describe.”

I lowered my gaze to the ground as I let my thoughts be free.

“My family loved me. They knew I was different and embraced it, even though it was scary and dangerous at times. My sister never thought of me as scary. My older brother always picked out the good things about me rather than worrying about the bad. My parents loved me unconditionally, even if it was stressful to have a child as unique as me. They died because…well…I was forced to kill them. My shadow side. Every day, it haunts me that it’s because of me that my family perished prematurely, and yet the man who did all of it walks freely on these very streets.”

Fighting back my tears, I looked at her gravestone once more and smiled. “I wish when I went to their graves that I could feel this presence. To enjoy the slight breeze that passes or sense the foreign energy that you emit whenever your boys come to see you.”

I smiled and put my hands in my pockets.

“They really love you. Even though many years have passed, they still cherish the memories they have of you and the sacrifices you made. I know Zeke is still struggling. I don’t blame him. I’m sure it brings some closure to know he killed those who caused him and the others to lose such a wonderful mother like you, but I guess it doesn’t heal the eternal wound. Just puts a Band Aid on it. He cares. I’m sure he does. But maybe one day he’ll be able to come more often. I’m sure that would make you even happier.”

With a deep breath, I closed my eyes.

“Just don’t be sad that he’s not here. You deserve to be happy wherever you are, and I hope you can see that all your hard work of raising them has paid off. They’re all unique and wonderful men, and I’m the one who gets to benefit from their love and compassion. They’re the pillars of strength I needed for a long time…and that’s all thanks to you. So…thank you for taking the chance to birth and raise four amazing men. I’ll do my best to protect them, just as they do their best to protect me.”

“Always doing things that surprise people.”

I blinked and turned around to see Zeke holding a bouquet of rainbow roses. He was wearing a black suit like his brothers had, and his hair was neatly combed to one side. He wore a simple black cotton coat that was left open.

“Zeke? I thought…” I trailed off, surprised that he had come.

“I figured if my girlfriend is willing to travel to see my mother, it’s about time I made a visit,” he mumbled. From his eyes, it appeared as though he’d been crying on the way here, but he was trying his best not to show it.

He walked to where I stood, but when I tried to move out of his way to give him space, his hand caught onto mine and brought me right against his side.

I tried to peer into his eyes to and read his emotions, but he avoided my gaze, his black orbs focused on the gravestone before him.

With a shaky breath, he leaned over to lay the bouquet of flowers right on her grave.

“Hey, Mom.” He paused for a good minute, and I wondered what was running through his mind. His hand was squeezing mine tightly, to the point that I wondered if I’d lose all feeling in it, but I didn’t bother telling him.

For him to take the chance to come down here of his own accord was a major improvement. Whatever he was feeling was allowed, and I felt he deserved this moment.

“I’ve been avoiding you. I’m sure that was obvious. It was always impossible to hide anything from you. It’s not like I did it on purpose. I…I’ve struggled with trying to walk through the entrance. Walking into this cemetery means I have to acknowledge your death. That I have to accept that you’re not among the living anymore. Silly because I know that. My mind realizes that you’re not here anymore…and yet…coming here is so fucking hard.”

He choked and had to take a moment to compose himself, his eyes watering once again as a single tear ran down his cheek.

“I came down here because I know you deserve it…and that we’re really lucky for everything you gave us. The life you granted us.”

He then looked at me, our gazes locking as he whispered, “Your magic is still rooted to this earth, and we get to experience things like your soft wind magic. I took it for granted because I assumed it happened to all those who inherited some level of magic. However, that was a stupid assumption, and I only realized it because of Jade.”

“Me?” I was confused as I stared at him in bewilderment.

“You went to see your family on Christmas Day, and you came home and went to your room for a bit.”

“Yes…” I trailed off, remembering that I’d excused myself when I’d arrived back at my new place to cry my eyes out in my bedroom. I thought I’d been quiet enough for no one to hear me, but I guess that was inaccurate.

“I heard you crying and I wanted to come in and cheer you up. I heard Shadow Jade ask you why you were sad, and you stated that you wished just for a second, you could feel your family’s presence.”

I swallowed the lump in my throat but slowly nodded.

“I didn’t mean to eavesdrop. I wanted to console you, but it didn’t feel right because I know those wounds aren’t closed and we haven’t gained the closure you deserve. Your words…the mention of not being able to feel their presence like you did when you visited my mom made me realize what a fool I’d been to brush such an opportunity to the side. Magic doesn’t stay forever on this earth. Eventually, it’ll fade, and I knew that I’d regret losing my chance to feel those last bits of connection with my mom. I’d made excuses so I wouldn’t have to feel the pain that still lingers in my heart, but all that makes me is a coward. That’s not why I became a Tracker. I never want to cower from a fight or challenge, and this whole avoidance was running away from the demons that continue to haunt me. It’s thanks to you that I realized all of this, so…I figured I’d start being a man and come visit my mom,” he explained.

He took a step toward me and wrapped his arms around me.

“Mom. I love this woman with all my heart. It’s scary…but she makes me come out of my shell. She makes me want to do things I’d never think of doing on my own, and she’s given me a reason to work harder. To grow with my elements and become a force to be reckoned with. I want to help bring down all those organizations and evil people who tear children away from their families, all in the name of their selfish desires and greedy viewpoints. I’m sure there are other children and students who deal with the same situations we ended up in, and I want to fight against it. To bring justice in your name as well as help Jade get the justice she, Shadow Jade, and her family deserve. I want her to have closure. In time, we’ll be able to help one another heal.”

He smiled and pressed his lips to my forehead before moving back to give his mother’s grave his full attention.

“This is my first step in becoming a son you’ll continue to be proud of. It’s a new year, and I hope to be able to grow as a person and enjoy the life you’ve granted us. There will be challenges, but I know you’ll help us so we get through them. Thank you for all you’ve done…and for allowing me to come back. I’m sorry for avoiding you…please forgive me.”

A strong gust of wind wrapped around us, lifting our hair and my skirt as the snow danced around us and rained down like white glitter.

“Thanks, Mom,” Zeke quietly said, tears running down his cheeks. “Happy New Year…and I promise to come here more often. Hopefully with Jade so I don’t act like a chicken and run away before I reach the gates.”

Walking to stand behind him, I wrapped my arms around his waist and squeezed him comfortingly.

“I’ll come with you whenever you want to visit,” I assured him.

He didn’t answer, but I knew it meant the world to him because he broke down crying while his hand squeezed mine.

He cried and let his emotions out, and I held him the entire time.

This was the new year that would bring us challenges, but I promised to stay by my men’s sides, just like they had for me when I needed them the most.

They were my Hive, and as Queen, I’d do my part to be their guiding light.

NEW SEMESTER OF SNARKINESS

“Zeus,” I moaned against his lips and he silenced my protest by slipping his tongue into my mouth. His hands untucked my dress shirt, slipping beneath to graze his fingertips against my flesh.

I shivered and had to tame the raging flames inside me. I opened my eyes slightly, noticing how the lights flickered on and off uncontrollably, like a storm was raging outside.

“Zeu—mhm.” I knew there would be no point in trying to stop Zeus when he was in the mood to make out before class, but with the way it was going, there would be no class when the power surged out.

He finally released my lips, the two of us gasping for air as we pressed our heads together.

“Why the hell does Zackery have you this week?” he grumbled.

“As if I made the schedule,” I teased and let my hands rest on his hips. “Are you jealous?”

“We haven’t had time with one another,” he growled and looked into my eyes. His were dancing with golden magic, bits of amber flickering the silver ring of his iris.

“So you miss me,” I concluded.

“Yes,” he muttered. “Also, you and Zeke were far too loud last night.”

I blushed for five seconds before a quirky grin formed on my lips. “Oops.”

“No regrets.” He shook his head and hugged me. “Today starts the new meds, right?”

“Ah.” I’d almost forgotten that I’d taken the new set of pills this morning during breakfast.

We’d decided it would be smart to start them today, that way, during the semester, I’d at least have one of the guys and Calvin around to see if there were any adverse effects.

The best thing about it was it tasted literally like Cocoa Pebbles cereal, and had put me in the best mood ever. We wouldn’t know if it helped with the hallucinations and nightmares for few days, but I was in a good mood to start the new semester.

The guys would continue their four-week rotation, this week starting with Zackery and then moving on to Zion, Zeus, and Zeke. Calvin had the exact same schedule as me, so he’d be following me around like he usually did.

As to whether he’d be in disguise or not was still a mystery, but either way, we’d be prepared for the new semester.

So far, everything seemed normal, and the only reason Zeus was here was that he wanted make out time, which was going to get my ass a late slip if I didn’t make my way to class.

Security was on point this morning, and it looked as though it was the buzz in the hallways. Some emphasized how they felt like they were in prison while others were discussing that they felt safer this way.

Tracker Hive was designated for those who were uniquely different and immensely powerful, but apparently there was a new school for the peculiar, and it was the latest talk of the town.

I recalled it being mentioned, and that Tracker Hive had connections with the new school, but I was curious to see what the hype was all about. Maybe after we figured out this Hive situation and tried to predict Charles’s next move, we’d dive into that.

“You don’t feel weird at all, right?” Zeus asked, tugging me out of my thoughts. I lifted my head to look up at his slightly worried eyes.

“I’m fine,” I reassured him. “No side effects so far. No crazy aftertaste. My elements are all happy and swell, and I didn’t need to get up at three in the morning today to train with Tanner since he slept in.” I beamed at the final part.

“You really hate training.” Zeus chuckled.

“It’s a pain in the ass. Working out is way more fun than dealing with Tanner screaming at you for three hours. Bianca’s cookies are the only things worth training for,” I declared.

“Their dynamic is interesting,” Zeus admitted.

“Hmm, yeah. How Bianca, Alaric, and Tanner are a Hive. It’s difficult to accept when they’re so vastly different. Aren’t we supposed to talk about that?”

“Yup.” Zeus nodded his head. “Maybe we’ll get a chance in the coming weeks. Looks like things are going to be busy.”

“What do you mean?” I asked. “Did I miss an update?”

Zeus pulled away and slipped his hand in mine. “Walk and talk,” he encouraged before he tugged me forward. I nodded and got my legs moving, even though I wanted to do more than kissing.

“So, remember there was mention that you have a potential third Hive?”

“Yes,” I replied.

“Well, Calvin has a strong hunch who it is, and, well…they kinda escaped.”

“Escaped?” Now that was interesting. “Define ‘escaped.’ Where did they break out from?”

“Uh…” He paused. “A mental ward.”

“Enticing.” I grinned. “Carry on.”

“Not in the least afraid.” He shook his head. “Aren’t you in the slightest worried that your potential third Hive is a mental case?”

“Well, many people call me crazy, psycho, bipolar, and all the other names in the book for merely existing to my own standards. Others just insult me simply because it makes them feel better about themselves and hope the talk will ruin my reputation around the agency. Just because someone states an individual is insane, it doesn’t necessarily validate it. Also, mental health institutions are flawed in so many ways. Some of those individuals are extremely intelligent and it’s just the government’s way of stopping them from revealing the flaws in the government to the public.”

Zeus stopped and looked at me.

“Seriously?” He actually looked shocked.

“You didn’t know that?” I blinked innocently. “Some of the most powerful individuals are locked in those walls simply to prevent them from revealing the truth of our government and the flaws in the councils that try and run us. They wanted me in the system because they’d have control over me. If they’d gotten me and I didn’t cooperate, I’m sure they would have called me loony, thrown me in one of those padded white rooms, and injected me with funny serums. That way, no one gets to enjoy my power until they need me for whatever they’re planning behind the scenes”

I began to walk and tugged him along. “It’s life, and until I meet someone face-to-face and experience what they’re like, I can’t judge.”

“What if they had a breakdown or were disruptive in public?”

“So many factors can trigger that,” I argued. “What if you walk into a classroom, sit down and are ready for class, but when the lesson begins, it’s totally different than what you signed up for?”

I paused and Zeus moved front of me, the two of us standing in the quiet hall near my first class.

“What if the people in the room begin to say insulting things? Ridiculing humans, bringing down races and cultures. What if they insult magic users and try to make us feel insignificant? What if they laugh and mock all the morals you live up to, and you end up thinking this is just a test. You want to sit there and be silent, but how can you when everything that is being said is against what you believe in? You’re not allowed to record what’s happening. You have no equipment to try and gain evidence, and everyone around you seems to be the enemy because they join in the mocking. You’re left doing one of two things. Interrupting and defending what you believe is right or sitting there until it’s all over. What do you think I’d do?”

“Speak up for what you know is right,” Zeus stated.

“Exactly. So, you rise up, confident that what you’re doing is right, but you receive backlash. Boos, glares, harsh words that poke at your imperfections and insecurities, and then you’re backed into a corner, made to seem like the evil one, when in reality, you walked into an environment set up to end you. Some fall for it and it leads to violence, but say you don’t fall for the trap. You stand your ground, let those with authority drag you out, and listen as people clap and cheer that you’ve been removed. But deep down, they’re angry.”

“Angry?”

“Yes, because you didn’t truly fail.” I grinned. “You think you failed because you stood up for what you knew was right and were set up from the beginning. You realize this as you walk out of that classroom as a free person and not one in handcuffs, being sent to the mental ward because a group of individuals yearned to capture and lock you up for good. To get rid of the burning flame that resides inside you that makes you unique and powerful. In the end, you’ve won, because you can walk the streets with your rights and all they can do is try and ruin your reputation. All they can do is try to drive you to kill yourself, and that’s where you stand after you look back at all that had happened.”

“Jade.” Zeus’s expression was serious. “Did that happen to you?”

I shrugged. “Maybe.”

The hard line of his lips made me sigh. “When I was sixteen, my mission was to investigate a school seminar that happened once a month for one full week. I went for the majority of the classes, but on the last day, everything was fucked up,” I explained. “They covered different topics, and the last day talked about killers and how the seminar was an exclusive discussion that was only for those in attendance. No videos, recordings, pictures, nothing. Long story short, they tried everything to make me snap. I interrupted the talk because it really was getting out of hand, and all hell broke loose. They called me a bitch, crazy, selfish, a hypocrite…the list goes on and on. The professor walked right up to me and said how weird and delusional I was. That I’d never be allowed at this seminar again and deserved to be locked up. He didn’t know who I was, or that I was an agent there to investigate his manipulative behavior, but he moved right into my face to provoke me. I’m sure he expected me to hit him, the single move that would have been enough to lock me up before Alaric could try and bail me out. I didn’t fall for it, though. I may be powerful and able to protect myself if needed, but I’m not a violent person. It was what saved me in this case, and I simply got escorted out.”

“What happened in the end? Did they get caught?”

“Not at first,” I replied, and I felt the temperature pick up tremendously. “Easy, fire boy.”

“That’s fucking bullshit,” Zeus growled.

“I know, right?” I gave him a wide smile as I let my eyes close. “It was the first mission that really fucked me up in a sense. Maybe because I was in my prime teen years where you question your morals and identity. Who fucking knows. However, it ended well.”

Opening my eyes and remembering that fateful day, I carried on.

“Alaric had thankfully gotten a camera planted in the room and the entire thing was recorded. We couldn’t take them down immediately; it was a long process because the government was desperately trying to protect them. However, when the court date finally arrived, all they did was play the tape and voila. The truth was revealed and the whole thing was shut down and they were all arrested.”

“What were they hiding?” Zeus inquired.

“Kidnapping of students, rape, the whole nine yards. The seminar was only being investigated because far too many students were taken to mental institutions after the last class and each year there was at least one suicide within a month after the seminar. Teen years are the prime age where people’s opinions matter to us. I’m one of the few exceptions, but even that seminar had such a detrimental impact on me that Alaric had to put me on leave for three months. That was one of the lessons I learned about judging people, because you can never know what they’ve experienced unless you experience it through their own eyes.”

I nervously laughed as I looked to the floor.

“I had no relation to these people. They weren’t my friends, just strangers, and they almost had me questioning my own sanity. It just proved how powerful words can be. It’s an experience that is still engraved in my mind, but I use it to move forward and grow as a person.”

Zeus ran his hand through my hair before he steadied my head and kissed me comfortingly. “I’m sorry I wasn’t there to protect you,” he mumbled against my lips.

“You’d cause a thunderstorm and probably burn the building down,” I stated in pure amusement.

“Accurate,” he replied. “But you’d get the justice you deserved.”

“I did,” I replied. “I didn’t kill myself. I didn’t fall for their tricks. I walked out of there and though I had to take a few months off, I never allowed them to break me. I’m aiming to achieve my dream of being a Tracker and they’re miserable behind bars, knowing they didn’t prevail in fucking me up like the rest.”

“Karma,” Zeus mumbled as he hooked his arms around my waist.

“Exactly.” I grinned maliciously. “And karma’s a bitch. They thought they won, but they’re behind bars and I’m living my dream with a group of sexy men who love me, even with my flaws and messed up morals. They got the initial victory, but I got the last laugh.”

“Do you think the third Hive was in a situation like that?” he questioned.

“Do you know anything else about them?” I countered.

“Not really. Calvin simply said they escaped. We don’t even know who they are. It’s apparently classified, even for us.”

“Meaning someone is sticking their fingers where they shouldn’t be,” I voiced.

“Exactly,” he agreed. “We’ll figure it out later, but for now, we’ll be open-minded,” he assured me.

“We, as in you and me, or us and your brothers?” I inquired.

“They were listening in the background,” Zeus revealed. “And Zackery’s coming down the hall.”

“Delightful.” I rolled my eyes. “I’m not mad at their nosy nature.”

“Actually.” Zackery’s voice came from down the hall. “I was being nosy because someone’s been hogging our girlfriend before class and now we’re going to be late.”

“All Zeus’s fault,” I sang happily.

“Hmph.” Zeus looked like he couldn’t give a fuck. “We had more important things to discuss, like how to find where that jail is and accidentally burn it down.”

I gave him a look, and he casually shrugged. “I like my justice toasty with a hint of crisp. Nothing like a lightning strike and an explosion to do the trick.”

“Remind me to never piss you off.” I laughed as Zackery arrived and hugged me.

“Jade, baby.” He kissed my neck, which made me squirm in his hold.

“Hey! You’re making my wind element activate,” I playful alerted.

“Good,” he whispered. My body shivered like the temperature had dropped to freezing levels. “Then it can whisk us out of here so we can have some fun.”

“Oh.” I bit my lip and tried not to show just how tempting his offer was.

Zeus groaned. “Did you drink this morning, or did Zeke give you some tips and tricks on how to be smooth for once in your life?”

“Fuck you. Jade, did that turn you on?”

“Yes.” I giggled and kissed his cheek. “Now are we running to class or are we actually going to skip to fuck?”

“Today’s class is mandatory, actually,” Zackery pouted. “It’s why Zeke and Zion are actually already in class saving us seats.”

“Huh?” Zeus and I said together. “When did that happen?”

“Ten minutes ago,” Zackery voiced, his playful expression dropping as he looked between us. “Something about a new set of students.”

“That doesn’t sound good,” I admitted.

“Especially when no one told us,” Zeus huffed. “Run.”

We didn’t even hesitate to use our elements to race toward our classroom, reaching the door just as the official bell went off.

Tanner was our homeroom professor for this week’s Dangerous Elemental Moves and Crafts, but I frowned when he wasn’t sitting at his desk, but on one of the classroom desks in the front corner.

He looked peeved, and it wasn’t your average pissed off, either. He actually looked like someone had angered him like there was no tomorrow and he wanted revenge. That led to me following the rest of the students’ gazes; a tall man with red hair and blue eyes stood there with five students I’d never seen before.

All five of them were males; four were obviously quadruplets and the fifth one was caramel-complexioned guy with long black hair. The new set of quads was pale white with blond hair, blue eyes, and matching wrist tattoos that poked out from the sleeves of their dress shirts.

They were wearing the school uniform, minus their blazers. The vibe I got from them was leaving me with a mixture of confusion and downright worry.

I don’t like them.

Shadow Jade was silent, but her presence was building up inside me, protectively.

“The bell has rung which means class can start,” the man declared. “My name is Andrew Ross. I’m one of the members of the magic council and am here to introduce these five foreign exchange students. They will be joining you this semester. I expect everyone to be kind and welcoming as they are all from elite families and don’t need to grace us with their presence.”

That already made the room break out in utter annoyance.

“Who the fuck cares where they’re from?” a large guy in the back shouted. He rose up and pointed to the group. “If they’re so much better, why don’t they go to some prestigious school?”

“Exactly,” a girl who was filing her nails declared. “Tracker Hive is for those who are unique and are too powerful to walk the halls of other schools. It’s not some elite school with rich kids who think they deserve any of our respect because their parents are wealthy.” She rolled her eyes. “Can we actually start class? If this wasn’t mandatory, I would be getting a proper manicure.”

“The students here are snarky when they barely have any power to gloat about,” the quad on the far left declared. He had a red aura around him; the heat that followed gave me the impression that his main element was fire.

“Funny. I’m sure no one in this room could last longer than a minute with any of us,” the one beside the far-left quad declared. His aura reminded me of wind.

“A minute?” the quad on the far right gasped. “You’re being far too generous.”

He carried a golden aura to him, one that reminded me of electricity or sparks. He no doubt had the thunder element coursing through him.

“A few seconds. That big, tough-looking guy wouldn’t even last three. One punch and out for the count.” The cocky voice came from the final quad, whose aura was like swirling darkness.

Fire. Wind. Thunder. Darkness. Single elements. Why are they acting like they’re the shit? Hmm.

I personally disliked cocky attitudes. There was a clear difference between being cocky for fun or to tease and being a cocky dick and belittling people, especially those who were going to be your peers.

“Watch it,” the big guy warned. “I can fuck you up so fast.”

“Try it,” the fire quad provoked. “I dare you.”

Mr. Ross rolled his eyes. “You can have your little fights when I’m not present.”

“Maybe if you told your transfer students how to fucking behave, this wouldn’t happen,” the girl filing her nails barked back. “You’re not our professor. Just because you’re on some fancy council that thinks they can dictate to all of us doesn’t mean you can order us around. You must have left your common sense at the gate of the school.”

A few students snickered, while others shuffled farther to the back. That was always a sign that shit was going to go down. The tension in the room was thick like forming mist, and I knew without a doubt someone was about to get beat up.

I’m really not in the mood to fight today.

“KILL!”

Everyone jumped as Shadow Jade declared her entrance. The tension in the room seemed to dissipate a bit as everyone glanced at the door where Shadow Jade and Calvin stood.

I blushed at his look, registering that he’d come as his true self, which left everyone speechless. His ginger hair was brushed to one side and his hands were casually resting in his black pants pockets. His tie was loosely hanging around his neck and his glasses were sitting perfectly on his nose.

His eyes were on the new group of students and they all looked extremely confused.

Wait. Why are they confused?

“Class has already started,” Andrew declared. “Both of you are late.”

“Late?” Shadow Jade blinked before she skipped right into the room. “On time!”

“You are late,” Andrew said again, turning his full attention to Shadow Jade, who crossed her arms over her chest.

“On! Time!” she fought back.

“Uh-oh,” all four of my Maxwells declared, as if foreseeing how this was going to end. I sighed and rose up as Calvin walked into the room and checked his watch.

“We’re exactly on time,” he declared as he reached my side. “Morning, Queen Jade.” He winked before he leaned in and kissed me.

Everyone gasped, but I couldn’t care less as my light magic flickered inside me, tempted to burst out and grace the room with its wonderful energy. I had to reel it in like it had a leash on, but it was pretty tempting to let it out and maybe fix this intense situation.

“I-is that Calvin?!” one of the students shrieked.

“Fat Calvin?” another student asked.

“Bruh, that can’t be Calvin. Impossible.” Another student nervously laughed.

“That is SO Calvin,” yet another student said.

“Did he do a boot camp weight loss program?”

“Maybe it’s magic?”

“That’s not even the main thing here! Did he just kiss Jade?!”

“Oh, shit!” everyone seemed to say together.

“Why is everyone looking our way?” I heard Zackery quietly question.

“Probably wondering if we’re going to kill him now or later,” Zeus answered.

“Killing is fun,” Zeke sounded excited. “However, I kinda want to take on the challenge of beating these cocky shits up.”

“I don’t condone violence,” Zion noted. “But this could be an exception.”

“I’M NOT LATE!” Shadow Jade shouted, catching everyone’s attention once more. She had her hands on her hips and was tapping her feet as she stared daggers at Mr. Ross, who wasn’t having it.

“You’re late! Get out of the—”

I had to move fast before Shadow Jade sliced this man’s head off, rushing between my shadow — who had her scythe in hand and was ready to go on a murder spree — and the council member.

Only Mr. Ross wasn’t facing me, but one of the quads.

What are the chances of me facing off against the darkness quad? 1000%.

He smirked and tilted his head at me.

“You should tell your sister over there to not attack respectable individuals. I’m sure she can understand that—”

I lost my sense of reasoning as my hand shot out, slapping against the bare skin of his cheek and making the loudest sound I’d ever heard. It echoed in the completely silent room, but I didn’t care.

It wasn’t on my own accord at this point, as my fire element surged to the surface protectively.

“Hey, cocky quads,” I declared. “Listen carefully, because I won’t repeat myself. Either you respect the actual students of this school or you can get the fuck out.”

The temperature in the room skyrocketed like we were now in the scorching hot desert in Africa. A dangerous smile formed on my lips as I took my blazer off and tossed it behind me. I rolled my sleeves up and my arms glowed with power, fire igniting out of thin air at my fists.

The quad before me frowned, his eyes narrowing as they began to bleed to black.

“Try me, bitch,” he snarled.

“Oh honey, I don’t drink dark coffee. However, you can certainly take your best shot at me. At least when I tell the headmaster that I killed someone today, I can simply say you started it,” I provoked.

“KILL!” Shadow Jade cheered, her scythe growing bigger as she stood right behind me as backup.

“Tanner. Tell your students to back down,” Mr. Ross snapped.

“Jade Masters can do whatever the fuck she wants,” Tanner muttered, sounding unbothered. “Last time I checked, she has perfect attendance, grades, and is on the honor roll. Also, Spade and Calvin aren’t late. They had a meeting with the headmaster and were given a five-minute grace period to get to class.”

I’d almost forgotten the nickname we’d given Shadow Jade last semester as her usual alibi. Most people just went off calling her Jade or Jade’s twin seeing as they couldn’t tell us apart half the time.

Mr. Ross looked furious and I glanced slightly over my shoulder to see Tanner’s proud grin. “So, maybe you should tell your exchange student over there to back down before he really does get hurt. Jade won’t get in trouble, seeing as Shadow Jade was on time and is being defensive over being falsely accused of being late.”

“KILL! Me right!” Shadow Jade declared.

The quad in front of me cursed under his breath, but he wasn’t going to back down. I knew it from the way his aura was trying to conquer mine. I was trying not to get annoyed by it, but now it was really pushing my buttons.

I took a step forward, getting right in his face as I whispered in a completely different language that I knew only he, Zeke, and anyone else who used dark magic could understand.

“La rushono ra ja mo, ge da ro la monada,” I warned.

Shut off that shit of an aura or you’re dead.

His eyes went wide in question and my grin only widened to show my white teeth. I must have looked cynical, but whether it was my expression or proof of power, it was enough to make him back down.

Mr. Ross cleared his throat, and I took it as the chance to back down as well. My flames vanished and I took a step back. Shadow Jade called off her scythe and then hugged me.

“Jade! The ugly, mean man said I was late!”

“It’s okay, Shadow Jade,” I consoled her like it was such a huge deal. “He’s possessed by the devil. I’m sure he didn’t know what he was saying. We can always tell Papa Masters. I’m sure he’d love to have a talk with Mr. Ross on how to treat the students of Tracker Hive,” I said innocently.

Mr. Ross frowned, but held his tongue as I gave him a look.

“What’s going on?”

It was Bianca, who was now at the door. She didn’t look pleased with the current situation.

“Bianca Mommy!” Shadow Jade whined and ran over to her. Bianca arched an eyebrow at Shadow Jade but accepted her hug. Most of our class was used to Shadow Jade’s child-like behavior, and it was already common knowledge that I was Alaric’s daughter, which meant I was close to Bianca and Tanner.

The quads, however, had displeased looks on their faces, like Shadow Jade had insulted them or something.

“I’ve never received so many text complaints in all my years at Tracker Hive. What is the meaning of this, Mr. Ross? I thought I’d dismissed your students and informed them that introductions would be tomorrow due to their tardiness.”

Oh, shit. They’re in trouble.

Mr. Ross had nothing to say, and instead of the members of the quad trying to defend themselves, the fifth guy who’d been quiet the whole time took a step forward and looked over to Bianca.

“I asked to see where our classroom was and Mr. Ross suggested we at least see how class began. He figured it would simply be best to introduce us, especially when we were already here and on time for class.”

“After trying to deem themselves superior to everyone else,” a student muttered.

“And trying to insult us,” another added.

“Tried to pick multiple fights.”

“Was mean to Shadow Jade!”

“Tried to pick a fight with Jade and her twin!”

“Were simply assholes.”

“Cocky assholes.”

The complaints continued until Bianca raised her hands to silence everyone.

“I understand,” she announced. “Rock, Rick, Ruke, Royce—” she looked at the quads before her attention turned to the fifth guy “—and Leonardo. Back to my office for a quick chat. Mr. Ross, Alaric would like a word.”

The five new students looked pissed, but they didn’t say a word as they headed to the exit. Tanner got up and walked over to where Shadow Jade and I were still standing, as Mr. Ross looked like he was going to lose his shit.

“Pleasure to meet you, Mr. Ross,” I greeted with a kind expression. “Hopefully next time we can all get along.”

He didn’t say a word, but his eyes could kill. Calvin moved to stand in front of me, and everyone froze when a shockwave of energy hit us like falling bricks. It was gone so fast that everyone was left dumbfounded — even the new set of quads and Leonardo.

“I’ll say this once. Next time you falsely accuse Queen Jade, her twin, or me of something as stupid as being late, I’ll make sure you’re stripped of that council position of yours.”

“Are you threatening me?!” Mr. Ross snarled.

“I am,” Calvin replied confidently. “And you of all people should know what I can do.”

No one said a word, and Mr. Ross huffed and stomped his way out of the room like a child throwing a tantrum.

“I’m not in the mood to do class today. Everyone’s dismissed. Whatever needed to be said will be sent via email,” Tanner announced, and headed for the door.

“Thank the fucking heavens.” The girl who was finished with her nails sighed. “No way do I want to sit through anything after that shitstorm. I’m going home.”

“So much for feeling safe.”

“That was fucking stupid.”

“Way to start the semester.”

Multiple students carried on with the complaints, but I wasn’t interested in any of that. I moved to walk out of the room, my head turning left to see the group of five standing at the end of the hall.

They all looked my way and we shared an intense look.

Rivals? No. Something else. Snarky, asshole rivals.

“Kill them in their sleep?” Shadow Jade whispered in my ear. I slowly turned my head to see her standing next to me, her eyes purely black with burning rage.

Uh oh. Shadow Jade doesn’t like them. Bad sign. Who are these guys?

“What do you want me to do, Queen Jade?” Calvin questioned.

“Who the fuck are these guys?”

“On it,” Calvin declared.

“Thanks, Calvin,” I whispered, making sure only he and Shadow Jade could hear me. “Thanks for being defensive, especially with Shadow Jade.”

“They’re giving me weird vibes,” Calvin whispered. “And it looks like my dad is still one step ahead.”

That’s all he said before he walked down the hall. The group was called by Bianca, and with one final glare my way, they headed down the hall and out of my sight.

I felt my four Maxwells behind me, and I turned around to face them.

“This semester is going to be a pain in the ass,” I declared.

“Agreed,” they replied.

Tanner came out of the room and looked our way. “Office. Now.”

We didn’t even question him as we followed him in the opposite direction of where those new kids and Calvin went.

The semester had just started, and it was already filled with snarkiness.

PLAY THE GAME AND FIGHT YOUR DEMONS

“Ihave a headache,” I mumbled, feeling a little exhausted by the confrontation. “That’s not how I pictured our semester starting.”

“Who the hell was that Ross dude?” Zeus looked like he was gonna pop a vein. “I swear to god I was going to knock him out and go to jail.”

“But Zeke kept on sending us ‘do not attack’ vibes.” Zion sighed. “I really was on the verge of punching him first.”

“He was clearly gaslighting.” Zeke leaned back in his chair before he looked my way. He paused in his leaning efforts and let his chair fall back in place. “Jade. You don’t look well.”

The others looked my way and I crossed my arms and avoided their gazes.

“I don’t want to admit this, but they freak me the fuck out.”

Zackery got up from his chair to stand next to me. He put an arm over my shoulder and squeezed me against him.

“Hey, they aren’t going to do shit. Not on school grounds,” Zackery comforted.

“Why weren’t we informed about this?” Zion questioned Tanner, who looked just as annoyed as the rest of us.

“We had no clue. We got the ‘memo’ a minute before Ross waltzed right into my fucking classroom. I had to tell Bianca through our connection and she had to inform Alaric because he hadn’t even been informed about the new students. Bianca had intercepted them before they could simply walk into the school, and purposely told them they would start tomorrow so it would give us enough time to figure out who sent them.”

“They were surprised to see Calvin,” Zeke revealed. “Why is that?”

We were silent, trying to figure that out as well. They had truly looked shocked when he arrived, but I felt as though Calvin didn’t know who they were either.

There was a knock on the door, and it opened to reveal Calvin, Alaric, and Bianca. They walked in and Calvin locked the door.

Alaric and Bianca walked over to Tanner, who gave them a quick nod in acknowledgment. Alaric snapped his fingers, and those magical walls that protected our words from being carried elsewhere reinforced themselves.

Calvin looked around until his eyes landed on mine. He frowned at my appearance.

“Jade looks far too pale.”

“Thanks, Mr. Observant,” Zeus mumbled.

“She isn’t feeling too hot after the confrontation. Those guys creeped her out,” Zackery elaborated.

I could have answered, but I really wasn’t feeling good. That Ross guy was giving me paranoid vibes and those quads were making my elements want to shoot out and attack shit.

Zeke patted his lap. “Jade, come here.”

I didn’t hesitate as Zackery let go of me. I reached Zeke and sat on his lap. He put a comforting arm around my waist and pressed his free hand to my forehead.

“You’re burning up, Jade.”

“Could have been the fire move she did,” Zackery reasoned.

“No,” Zeus replied and walked over to us. He knelt down and put his hand on my thigh. “Baby, what’s wrong? Talk to us.” His voice was so soothing, reminding me of that time in the locker room after I’d almost sliced my wrist.

I tried not to tremble at the memory, or at the fact I felt like I was on a tightrope and frightened to fall down.

“I’m…anxious. I think. I’m not sure. They just…those guys aren’t good. They rile me up. My elements almost never take control unless it’s out of defense, and the strongest one to do that is Shadow Jade. She wasn’t necessarily scared, but she wasn’t confident either. For my other elements to step in, especially my fire element, means they sensed the danger for both Shadow Jade and me, and that’s why I practically picked a fight. Nothing riles me up in an offensive way, but I felt as though I wanted to fuck shit up and just destroy everything when that’s not my type of thing. I was ready to stay quiet and just see how things went, but Shadow Jade was easily angered for being deemed late. That’s not like her.”

As if she was listening, Shadow Jade appeared out of nowhere, but it was her kid version. Everyone looked at her as she wore a kid version of our uniform and looked my way.

“Mommy Jade!” she declared with her kid-like voice. She moved around Zeus and climbed right onto my lap. Then she hugged me. “Me no like evil group. Evil. Kill!”

I looked at the others, noticing their disturbed expressions.

Alaric exchanged a look with Tanner and Bianca before he walked over to where we were. Zeus moved out of the way and Alaric crouched down in his place. He reached out and patted my head gently before using his other hand to stroke Shadow Jade’s head.

“Did they truly make you afraid, Jade?” He was asking both of us like we were one unit, which meant this wasn’t just a playful question but a serious one.

“Their presence makes us afraid,” I announced. “It makes me feel like I’m someone else, even though there’s no connection. Their cockiness was insulting and it riled me up. However, it wasn’t like I wanted to hurt them. I kinda wanted to just burn everything down. It was weird, but it didn’t register until now. That frightens me because what if we’re in the same class with these guys? It’ll make me feel uncomfortable the entire time, and I’m not in the mood to feel out of my depth when I deserve to sit in the same room as anyone else.”

Alaric nodded in understanding, and Shadow Jade pouted her lips. “I want unicorn. Kill!” She didn’t wait for anyone to give her approval before she poofed away.

“Did she actually go to get her unicorn plushie?” Calvin asked.

“Yeah,” I replied, sensing that Shadow Jade was at home. “She needs a break. She only goes into her kid form when I’m almost depleted of energy or she’s frightened,” I explained. I never really told anyone about the frightening part, which only escalated this new dilemma.

Alaric rose up and turned to face the majority of us. Zion, Zeus, and Zackery moved closer to where I was, while Calvin moved to stand opposite and Tanner and Bianca closed the minicircle.

“The magic council was the one to make the executive decision that this group attend Tracker Hive starting this semester. They’re originally from an elite school in Europe. We don’t know if they’re working with an organization of some sort to try and investigate us, but as of now, I can’t merely kick them out.”

“Even though they provoked an entire class and almost started a fight,” Zeus huffed.

“Common occurrence at Tracker Hive,” Bianca reminded. “However, they’ve been given a warning due to them not following my orders and it has been documented. Ross is also not allowed on the school grounds as of tomorrow.”

“Great,” Zackery and Zion replied. “Good riddance.”

“I wasn’t expecting that response from you two,” Calvin noted.

“Well, they were seriously pissing us off,” Zackery huffed. “Who do they think they are, waltzing in here and causing a fucking ruckus?”

“Exactly.” Zion rolled his eyes. “Should have just drowned them in a flood of water.”

“Or frozen them with ice,” Zackery added. As if the rest of us were thinking the same thing, we looked at Zeus and Zeke, who were completely relaxed.

“What?” they asked.

“Uh-oh,” I voiced. “Why are they imbalanced?”

“We’re not imbalanced,” Zeus calmly replied.

“Yeah…wait, what?” Zeke looked at Zeus. “Why are you so calm?”

“I…oh, fuck shit!” Zeus cursed. “How did we unbalance?”

The three of them looked to Zeke and he put his hands up. “I didn’t do shit.”

“He’s actually innocent,” Calvin declared, and we turned our attention to him. “This just confirms it. I think that group was sent by Charles.”

“Why?” we all asked.

“Think about it. That group was in the room for what? Five minutes? And almost started a damn war amongst us. Jade is usually the observant one who doesn’t give a shit if the entire class is fighting. You guys are the type to just go along with whatever Jade decides. In any other situation, you guys would have simply waltzed out. Why is it that Jade is afraid and losing her confidence, Shadow Jade is suddenly in kid form and frightened, and you guys are imbalanced?”

Tanner crossed his arms as he grumbled. “You think they’re one of the groups Charles wants Jade to connect with as a Hive.”

“Bingo,” Calvin replied. “It’s the only logical explanation seeing as they looked so shell shocked at seeing me. I’m sure they’re now trying to investigate who I am since I look so similar to Charles, except for the hair.”

“Your auras are almost identical, so that must have thrown them way off,” Alaric acknowledged.

“If that’s the case, why can’t we get rid of them?” Zackery questioned, and a strong wind crashed against the windows.

We looked at him and he sighed. “Sorry. I’m seriously irritated.”

“Like Zeus,” I mumbled and pinched my nose. “Sorry, can you guys continue this conversation without me? I really don’t feel good.”

The guys looked worried, and Calvin walked over to and knelt down to press his hand to my heart.

“Breathe, Jade,” he coached, his voice suddenly in my head. My body obeyed before my mind could register his words, and I continued to inhale deeply and let it out.

“Don’t be afraid. We’re your Hives. Not them. They want to rile you up. Imbalance your emotions so you cause chaos and get kicked out. It’s a mere distraction. Just let yourself remain calm and remember who your real Hives are.”

I slowly nodded and ended up putting my head on his shoulder. He must have scooped me up at some point, or maybe I dozed off, because I woke up in my bed at my family home.

My confusion was short-lived as I noticed Tanner sitting next to my bed with a tablet in his lap, his fingers breezing across the screen like he was writing a report.

“Did I pass out?” I croaked. He paused in his furious typing to look up and meet my puzzled expression. Relief swamped his eyes, but he tried not to let it show in his expression.

“Calvin forced you to sleep. He said if he didn’t your elements would have started reacting negatively. Your connection with the Maxwells is the reason why they were suddenly thrown out of balance. They’re all napping in the living room.”

“They’re napping,” I repeated. “That’s a first.”

“Calvin forced them, too.” Tanner grinned.

“You seem happy about that.” I shook my head.

“It’s the first time they’ve all been together and actually been quiet. Well, unless they’re trying to get work done.”

“They just like to not get work done when you’re around, that’s all,”’ I defended with a small smile. “Did I worry you?”

“Yes,” he admitted and sighed. “I’m sorry I didn’t interfere. Ross and I aren’t on good terms, and if I’d attempted to get him to back off, he’d have cried wolf at the council and attempted to get me fired or relocated.”

“But Alaric’s the headmaster. They can’t do that when you’ve been selected by him. Plus, you’re a good professor, even if you’re an asshole most of the time.”

He gave me a displeased look, but let it go.

“Ross is on the council. What does the council love to do?”

“Abuse their power when they’re butt hurt,” I answered. “Bonus points if you make them feel incompetent.”

“That’s our daughter,” he praised and I quietly giggled.

“That was a fucked-up first day back. I was actually starting to enjoy class.”

“They won’t be in the same class as you guys,” Tanner reassured me. “They may attend, but we’re still in charge of the schedule. You guys are on the opposite side of campus and shouldn’t cross paths unless there are mandatory classes. Since you’re technically unwell, you don’t need to attend tomorrow’s class. Bianca already wrote your dismissal note and Alaric signed it. Your boyfriends have the option to stay home as well.”

“What about Calvin?” I asked.

Tanner arched an eyebrow at me. “You two are dating?”

“I guess?” I honestly wasn’t sure. “It’s not like he’s asked me out…I’m kinda just assuming we’re something.”

“He likes you,” Tanner confirmed.

“You don’t know that.”

“Don’t need him to tell me that he likes you. It’s obvious by the way he looks at you. Add the puppy following, and you got a man in love.”

“Or a stalker,” I suggested.

Tanner smiled. “Or that, but he’s harmless.”

“Did you not feel that quick wave of ‘I’ll fuck the world up’ in the classroom earlier? That was not what I define as harmless. More like lethal when tested.”

“Pretty cool, honestly. No wonder he’s a secret agent,” Tanner praised.

“Guess that means you approve of him as boyfriend material.”

“Yes, but if he breaks your heart, I’ll kill him.”

“That’s nice.” I laughed.

“How are you feeling?” Tanner questioned.

“A lot more like myself now. That was totally messed up.” I really hadn’t ever experienced something like that. “I was forced into passing out before the conversation was over. What did we determine with this group, and what’s their last name?”

“Andersons. Calvin searched them up and they’re definitely students from an elite school in Europe, but it’s funny how they were picked by Ross to come abroad and Tracker Hive was the school chosen for them.”

“Ross is the one on the council who hates my guts, isn’t he?”

“Still determining that, but your guess is the same as mine, Alaric’s, and Bianca’s. We obviously need evidence for that, but seeing as we’ve pinpointed one potential culprit, we can start a new investigation solely on him. Apparently, he’s pissed off quite a few Trackers in the past. Which is perfect because they’re willing to work together to find every bit of dirt on his council profile.”

“Good,” I sighed. “What now?”

“Rest and act like they’re not on campus. Security is still in full effect and we’ve got a few leads on Charles and are locking down his sources. He’s going to be backed into a corner sooner or later.”

“Which means he’s going to make an irrational decision and that’s when we’ll catch him,” I concluded.

“Yup,” he agreed.

“Tanner?” I looked to my fingers as the question left my lips. “What’s the benefit to this Hive thing? I get that it’s a connection that heightens our magic and all that, but why do I potentially have three, and who’s the third person? Zeus said this potential third is missing in action.”

He was silent long enough for me to lift my head and see his conflicted expression.

“That tells me either you can’t answer, or someone is telling you not to.”

“Alaric said I can’t answer yet. It’s still classified.”

“You can’t tell me why I have three Hives?”

“I have to be careful what I say because I’m not completely sure why you have three. Alaric has more info on it, but it’s being worked on. That’s all I can say,” he confessed. He looked a bit hurt that he couldn’t give me more valuable information, but I decided it wasn’t his fault.

“All right.” I bobbed my head. “I’ll bother Papa Alaric about it.”

“He’s laughing in the background and said he’ll avoid you at all costs,” Tanner voiced.

“That’s funny.” I giggled. “As if he can hide from Shadow Jade. She’s the true definition of stalker when it comes to wanting to find Alaric or me.”

“True,” he replied. “I can tell you this.”

I focused my attention on him as he continued, “You’re the first to have three Hives. That’s why it’s a big deal. It’s also dangerous because your Hives are powerful in both magic and status. I don’t think you realize just how rich your boyfriends are, and Calvin…well, he’s just as lethal in all areas of business, status, and money. Whoever your third potential Hive is, they will only contribute to this growing anxiety revolving around you being alive.”

“The only reason why no one can just “kill” me is because of my association with you, Alaric, Bianca, and being a Junior Tracker still, correct?”

“Yes,” he approved. “And once you graduate and officially gain Tracker status, it’ll be impossible to touch you.”

“Why?”

He paused for a long moment, which told me he had to get permission from Alaric and Bianca.

“You know how Calvin’s a secret agent?” he stated.

“Yes.”

“The same organization wants you and the Maxwells.”

“Oh shit.” I gawked at the news. Of course, it was within the same Tracker organization, but there were obviously levels like any job, and being a part of the secret agent department was far higher up than our current Tracker status.

Or my Junior one.

“Seriously?”

“Yup.” He nodded. “They’re the top of the top, Jade, and anyone who catches their interest is an ace.”

“And a dangerous threat to the bad guys,” I concluded. “The Black Market wouldn’t like that.”

“Can you connect the dots as to why you’re so valuable?”

“Yeah,” I mumbled. “Queen of three Hives, Maxwells combined having all the elements, and Calvin having all the elements on his own. Chances are…the final Hive has all as well.”

“Smart cookie.”

“I want some cookies,” I randomly admitted.

“Bianca’s baking some.” Tanner grinned.

“Tanner?”

“What?”

“Can you tell me a bit more about yours, Bianca’s, and Alaric’s relationship? Like…how did you fight away the demons that tried to break you guys apart? Or defeat others when you know they’re doing everything to provoke you?”

I really needed some insight on this because it was something I’d never encountered before. Also, I really just wanted a distraction so I didn’t worry about the new group.

Tanner looked deep in thought, and after placing the tablet on the nightstand, he crossed his left leg over his right and nodded.

“Did you know Bianca and I originally didn’t get along?” Tanner revealed.

“Really?” I thought about it. “I mean, you two have your arguments, but you work well together.”

“I hated her,” he declared. “I guess I was jealous. In a sense. I was grateful for her and Alaric for changing my circumstances and helping me gain the confidence I needed. However, when I started to take interest in Alaric, I began to hate that I couldn’t be with him. I was frightened that if I told him how I felt, he’d cast me away.” Tanner paused and took a deep breath.

“I buried those feelings of fear and somehow they morphed into anger. I’d snap at Bianca for the silliest things, and it was when I realized the two of them were more than just friends that I really began to be a jerk.”

“You sure you’re not still a jerk?” I interrupted. He gave me a look and I fake coughed. “I’m sick. Don’t punish me with more training.”

He rolled his eyes but carried on, “The built-up anger reached its peak during Thanksgiving the following year, and I snapped at Bianca and Alaric and stormed right out of the mansion. It was childish, but I truly couldn’t help it. I cared so much about Alaric that the reality of not being with him was eating me alive, and secretly, I was not only jealous of Bianca, but I was attracted to her as well.”

“Like enemies to lovers?” I suggested.

“Sort of,” he replied. “We weren’t necessarily enemies, but my hidden love for Alaric was blinding my view of the bigger picture.”

“The bigger picture,” I quietly repeated.

Tanner nodded. “Alaric came looking for me and found me at a bar, completely wasted. He had to help me back the majority of the way, but before we reached the mansion, I told him to abandon me because I couldn’t continue living with him. He was completely confused by my statement. I bet he assumed that I was just drunk talking, but I repeated it over and over again and pushed him away. I told him I couldn’t stay at the mansion anymore because I hated Bianca. It was obviously an excuse and when Alaric finally asked why I hated her, I confessed the truth. I hated her because she was allowed to love Alaric romantically and I wasn’t.”

He chuckled like the whole thing was funny, his hand reaching up to run through his hair. “It was the stupidest thing I’d ever said, and I laugh because I hadn’t realized how dumb it was. For months, I’d thought I was inadequate to love Alaric, because of my gender, and I felt it would make me feel better if I directed that anger elsewhere. Bianca was my target and it wasn’t fair, especially after everything she’d done for me. Even though I was drunk, I knew that in the depths of my mind, but I couldn’t face it. I didn’t want to face rejection from the two people who helped me out of the hellhole I’d been in. Yet, all I was doing was pushing them away, and it resulted in me hurting Bianca, which hurt Alaric at the end of the day.”

“Seeing as you guys are together today, that means there was a happy ending to all of this,” I commented.

“Yes.” Tanner nodded. “Our Hive bond activated.”

“What? You mean it wasn’t activated before?”

“It was present and strong between Bianca and Alaric, but it took me getting drunk as fuck and admitting my feelings for Alaric to tug me from the ground and kiss me like it was our last day on Earth.”

“Oh.” I grinned. “That’s cute.”

“Wipe that silly smile off your face,” he huffed. “It wasn’t a big deal. The kiss ignited my magic and the sudden rainstorm was one of the many signs that occurred that evening and proved we were a Hive.”

He looked over to where the tablet was on the nightstand.

“The shock of being connected with them was like I’d struck my sword into my dark nemesis and broken the curse placed upon my heart. It took a simple kiss to make me realize that I was worthy of love, even if we were of the same gender. I was going against the rules the world had laid down upon us, and yet I’d felt the best I’d had in months since I began to trust Alaric and Bianca.”

He returned his gaze to me.

“What I’m trying to teach you is that this world is filled with uncertainty. There will be times when you feel like the world is ending and you’re unsure who to turn to or how to conquer the situation at hand. It’s difficult because when you’re in that moment of time, it feels like you’re drowning and there’s no one there to help you. Isolated, but too afraid to ask for the help of others without being called some degrading term or considered a statistic rather than an actual human being. Only you can determine what path to walk on and how to handle those intense situations. Until then, you have to work on what makes you happy, achieving your goals, and what can be done to be accepted by those you love deeply. Communication is the most valuable thing in your Hive and relationship. If I’d communicated, I wouldn’t have wasted all that time thinking I wasn’t worth being loved by Alaric and Bianca.”

He looked at me and smiled.

“One good thing about you, Jade, is that you normally don’t hesitate to say what’s on your mind. Don’t lose that quality. I know that what happened today was scary because your actions weren’t simply influenced by what you saw. Your magic is sensitive and though it didn’t necessarily react to the new kids’ elements like it does your Hives, their presence has a negative influence on yours. Whatever their aim, it’ll be discovered and dealt with, but for now, I suggest we play along with these games and let them think we’re a few steps behind.”

“What if Charles ends up surprising us again?” I whispered. “The further we continue our progress in cornering him, the more desperate he’ll be, and that may lead to him exacting revenge on me.”

“So far, Charles has always been ahead of us in this game. Like with these new students. We never saw it coming. We have to do something that he doesn’t see coming. Almost like giving him the opportunity to win, but not the satisfaction.”

“Do you think we can survive the semester with those new kids?”

“Yes.” He nodded. “You shouldn’t have too many problems. Afterschool activities will be monitored via surveillance, and anything you’re not comfortable doing, just call us and we’ll help you.”

“Us as in you, Bianca, and Alaric?” I clarified.

“Us as in all those who love you dearly and would do anything to see that lovely smile.”

“Tanner. You’re really smart when you want to be.”

“Seriously?” He groaned and pinched his nose. “Anything else? I’m tired.”

“You’re just saying that because it’s me and you feel all fuzzy inside. Has the icy cold stone that encases your heart finally defrost—”

He got up before I could finish, attracting Minx’s attention.

“Mawe.” She stared at the two of us before she leaped onto the bed and onto my lap.

“I’ve been chosen,” I whispered, as if my regular voice would chase her away.

“Now that you’re somewhat better, I’m leaving.”

“Thanks for the storytelling, Tanner. It helped,” I reassured him, hoping he’d know how much his words meant to me.

“You’re welcome, Jade,” he replied. “Stay out of trouble. I’m sure we’ll figure out what that group’s motivation is and if Charles is behind it, but for now, all you have to do is live your Tracker student lifestyle and make memories with your men. We’ll work together to figure this out, but for now, let’s take things slow and focus on achieving goals within your control,” Tanner explained.

“Yes, Tanner.” I smiled and nodded my head in understanding. “I’ll do my best.”

“Good,” he replied. “Now get some more rest. You have tomorrow off, but after that, I’m expecting two A.M. training sessions.”

“I swear Bianca and Alaric said they would seduce you to make it start at three,” I whined. Tanner blushed and got up. “Three o’clock sharp. If you’re late, I’ll change the time to two.”

“Yes, Professor Diarrhea Asshole!” I declared.

He sighed. “You’re going to call me this for the rest of my life.”

“Probably,” I admitted and tucked myself further under the thick sheets. “I’m going to sleep.”

“Sure,” he replied, placing his hand on my forehead until I began to drift off.

“Thank you, Tanner,” I mumbled. “I’ll get through whatever is coming my way.”

Tanner chuckled quietly, his voice sounding far away as my mind drifted further into the land of slumber.

A soft voice whispered into my ear. I knew it was Tanner by the loving, parental tone.

“Do not fear, because those who love you will fight to the ends of the earth to protect you. Sleep well,” Tanner whispered, and I heard his fading footsteps.

I tried to say one last thing before the lights went off, but all I could do was think it.

Play their games to fight the demons lurking in the shadows. Time to lay low before we strike back.

STUDY CENTRAL

“Finally, a day with my Jade,” Zackery declared with pride.

“I can’t believe you’re rejoicing because Calvin’s sick today.” I shook my head but was highly amused with Zackery’s excited behavior.

The weeks were passing by and so far, we hadn’t dealt with any confrontations with the R Quad squad. Calvin had mentioned their last name at some point, but I’d been dozing off and completely missed it, so they were now the R Quads. As for the Leonardo dude, we’d seen him a few times down the halls, but my Trouble Four would make sure the moment they spotted him that we were moving in the completely opposite direction.

Literally. If our classes were in the same direction for whatever reason, the guys and Calvin would make sure we found a new route to get to the classroom.

My parents were right about the schedule. They had made it so we truly didn’t cross paths. As for afterschool activities, we hadn’t dealt with anything major. Both teams were basically keeping their distance, and that was exactly what I needed.

Shadow Jade was back to her normal wearing-skirts-in-the-freezing-cold-of-winter self and we were actually enjoying school once again.

Having my new place was really awesome, especially during Friday nights and weekends when I woke up to four naked, sexy men. We actually hadn’t had much sex this semester.

In fact, the last time I had sex was with Zeke and it had been about two weeks ago. I knew sex wasn’t the main focus of our relationship, but I had to admit, I was ready to try some dual action.

Though I’d never done anal before.

As for the Tracker life, there were no major updates on Charles. We knew he was cornered and losing connections and resources left and right, which was a good thing, but we were still struggling to be one step ahead of him.

Calvin said he’d think of a plan and let me know near the end of the semester, but my concern was whether Charles struck before then. It was weird for me to feel so afraid of the unknown, especially in regard to Charles.

Yes, I feared him in my nightmares as I relived the night my family died, but the closer I got to my men, the more worried I became that I’d lose them.

It was why I was willing to train at two in the morning with Tanner. I’d asked for the extra hour, and we were focusing on giving my other elements physical forms. That was what I called a pain in the ass.

The amount of concentration it took to keep Shadow Jade and another element in their adult forms was like trying to split your physical brain into two.

Obviously impossible without death, but doing all of that made my head feel like it was chopped in half and left me a dizzy mess.

Tanner had been focusing on taking things slow with me, and I was also encouraged to try meditation and yoga. I was willing give it a shot, but that required yoga gear and alone time because the guys loved me in tights and I thought meditation would simply lead to fantastic sex.

Not complaining, but it would be counterproductive.

With midterms over and finals approaching, it was actually time for us to crack down on the studying, because a written test would be in order and I could confess that I’d been less focused on whatever we were learning and more on the training aspect.

This week was my time with Zackery and we had every intention of studying. It was exactly why we were heading to the library. To be honest, I was curious as to when Zackery was actually going to make a move.

Or to put it simply, when were we going to do it?

I wasn’t sure whether to initiate it or not, but I also wanted him to be comfortable enough to take it to the next level. It was just one of the many things in the back of my mind, and once again, I pushed it aside so I could focus on the present.

“He’s so intimidating!” Zackery groaned. “Not to mention the buzz around the school. Did you see his whole locker was filled with love notes from girls and guys? Literally flooding. Calvin’s been sharing with Zion because he has no space and every time he cleans it, it just fills up again the next day.”

“Didn’t that start before Valentine’s Day?” I inquired.

“Yup, and kept going and going.” Zackery shook his head. “Thank goodness we don’t go over and beyond for Valentine’s day. Don’t need a single day to prove you love someone.”

“That’s true,” I replied as we reached the library entrance. Zackery opened the door for me, and I walked in, only to bump right into someone else.

“Oof!” I muttered, and stepped back by default. Arms stopped me from falling back completely, but the touch had goosebumps crawling up my arms and my eyes immediately on the source of my sudden spike of anxiety.

Caramel skin, long black hair, and gorgeous ruby eyes that were currently dark enough to look like bloody orbs.

His name got stuck in my throat as I stared back at him, my elements immediately fighting to rise up defensively. Before my instincts could take over, an arm hooked around my waist, pulling me against a firm back, and a gentle weight rested on my right shoulder.

“Jade, baby. Are you okay? This exchange student probably forgot the common rule of ‘ladies first.’”

I blinked and looked to the side slightly to see Zackery was resting his chin on my shoulder. His arm was as cold as ice, the chill easily seeping past my uniform dress shirt. Maybe he was trying to snap me out of it, which was working as I slowly regained my composure.

“Yeah. I’m okay,” I finally answered.

I returned my attention to the man as he eyed us carefully before bowing his head slightly.

“My apologies. Didn’t see you,” he muttered. He was 6′5″ in height, but I didn’t think it excused him from not being able to see me. I frowned, feeling a bit unsatisfied with his apology, but Zackery tightened his hold around me, his lips brushing lightly against the side of my neck.

“Leonardo, right?” Zackery said. He then moved closer to my ear. “You accept his apology, right Jade?” Zackery’s voice was suddenly soothing like chocolate, and I couldn’t help but want to please him. Adding a hint of cool breeze that wrapped around me, he had truly calmed my mood.

“Sure,” I replied and looked away. “Let’s go.”

I moved out of Zackery’s hold and right past Leonardo. I could feel his gaze on me, but the temptation to turn around was short-lived as Zackery caught up and slipped his hand in mine.

We moved right along until we were on the second floor in one of the private study rooms. It wasn’t until the door closed and Zackery sighed that I felt the tension dissipate.

“Well…the whole scary feeling thing hasn’t changed with that group,” I muttered.

Zackery put our bags down and moved to stand behind me. Wrapping me in a comforting hug, he kissed my cheek.

“Relax for a second,” he encouraged.

“Hard,” I noted. “How can a simple bump like that make me want to pick a fight with him? Even though he apologized! Why is he even in the library? No, attending our school. This is our property. We attended first. Who the fuck are these dumbshits!”

“Jade,” Zackery warned and I flinched at the sudden bite to my neck, which had me shivering at the wave of pleasure that followed. “Breathe for a second.”

“Trying,” I mumbled, but I was more focused on making my heartbeat slow down and getting my muscles unclenched.

“I honestly think it was just a coincidence,” Zackery finally announced. “At least we know their presence bothers you still. Calvin said he’s almost done with the prototype. Maybe we’ll get to try it.”

“I wish it was done,” I huffed and turned in his hold. “Why haven’t we fucked yet?”

Zackery gave me a stumped look, his cheeks beginning to burn red at my directness.

“Um…” he trailed off and avoided my gaze. “I don’t know.”

“Are you nervous about sex?” I wondered.

“It’s…not that,” he defended, but didn’t sound confident at all.

“Have you done it before?” I questioned, and when he didn’t answer, my jaw actually dropped. “Wait a minute.”

“Jad—”

“How can all of your brother have experience but you? I swear you’ve done it before!” I emphasized.

“How can you swear on something like that?” he questioned in pure confusion.

“Because you act so damn confident about being smooth and making moves! Jeez, if you haven’t done it, why not say so?”

“It’s embarrassing!” he huffed.

“Your brothers know, though?”

“Of course, but that’s different.”

“In what way?” I questioned.

“They won’t judge me.”

“Neither will I.”

“You just did!”

“Okay, yeah, but it’s not in a way where I look down upon you or anything. You simply gave the impression you were an expert,” I honestly explained. “This is going to be thrilling.”

“I can’t believe I’m hearing that from you,” he groaned and rested his head on my shoulder. “You’ve shattered my male pride.”

“I’ll tape it back together.” I wrapped my arms around his waist. “I feel better.”

“Do you?”

“Yeah,” I admitted. “I wonder what their purpose is in attending if we haven’t had any confrontations aside from today?”

“Observation,” Zackery suggested. “Either way, we just gotta keep going to whatever tune they’re playing. So far so good, and once Calvin is better, I think he’ll finalize the prototype for your watch.”

“My watch? What is this new function going to do?”

“Zion explained it, but you know how he gets all hyped up sometimes and starts speaking in a code that only Calvin understands. All I got from it was that it’ll block whatever mojo juju happens when you and those quads are in the same room or close proximity.”

“Hmm. Calvin’s really been pushing himself. Is that why he’s sick?”

“He said he gets sick twice a year when the seasons change. It’s a cold, but he took today off to rest,” Zackery explained.

“You guys have been getting along.”

“He’s not bad,” Zackery admitted. “It’s not like we never got along. It’s just his utmost dedication to you pisses us off. Seeing as he actually has feelings for you and you’re okay with him, we’re laying low on our hate for him.”

“Sixsome, sixsome,” I quietly sang, and Zackery rolled his eyes.

“You really like sex.”

“Yes,” I proudly replied. “It’s not something to be ashamed of. Though, it hasn’t happened much this semester, mostly because of someone who won’t make a move.”

“W-wait, you’re waiting for me to make a move?” he questioned, embarrassed.

My grin widened as I pulled out of his arms and moved to sit down at the long table. I gave him a saucy wink as I took my notebook out and opened it to the page I’d been reviewing.

“Remember, Zackery Maxwell. I don’t chase.”

“So, the ball’s in my court.” He blushed as he scratched his cheek like there was a slight itch.

“Yup,” I declared. “But first, my focus is on studying and I intend to do just that. As for whether you make that slam dunk to victory, that’s your call. Don’t worry though, we’ll hold off on the double stuff.”

With a lick of my bottom lip and a flirty smile to Zackery’s gawking face, I went right into study mode and secretly hoped it would distract me from the clenching heat between my legs.

Sometimes I wish I could go against my morals. Back to study central.

BASKETBALL FUN

“Basketball?” I pouted and looked at the bouncing ball as Zackery put his free hand on his hip.

“I have a game coming up and I’ve been slacking,” Zackery admitted. “Thought it would be fun to have practice.”

“I haven’t played basketball in years, Zackery. I’m probably not even good at it anymore.”

I’d learned how to play simply to blend in on missions that required me to participate in school activities or events. I’d played a few games in the past, but just for work. Never for actual enjoyment.

Shadow Jade, on the other hand, loved it.

She loved chasing the ball and dribbling it around like it was some big ball of candy. The more points she got, the higher the chance of her getting something she liked.

She always won those mini basketball games at festivals because she was THAT competitive. The last time we’d gone was two years ago, and she’d cleared out all three of the festival stands of their prizes.

Literally wiped them clean.

We ended up donating the majority of the ones that Shadow Jade didn’t like to homeless children across the city. It was their early Christmas present since we’d gone during a Christmas festival.

“Come on. Practice with me.” He walked over to me and gave me surprise kiss. The wind picked up and whipped my loose stands around, and we both forced ourselves to pull back.

I noticed his eyes were glowing a light teal, the silver rim of his iris leaning toward an icy blue.

“Your elements are enjoying my company, it seems,” Zackery mused.

“You’re one to talk.” I grinned and worked on taking my blazer off. “Fine. Just a few rounds,” I declared. “But if I kick your ass, don’t cry.”

“I’m a champion, baby,” he bragged. “I don’t lose.”

“Maybe not to me.” I unbuttoned my dress shirt down to my cleavage and rolled up my long sleeves. Snapping my fingers, I summoned my black hair tie and quickly gathered my hair into a high ponytail. “But if you challenge Shadow Jade, you’re dead.”

“I can take both of you on,” Zackery playfully declared. “It’ll be fun.”

“You asked for it.” I giggled, and Shadow Jade appeared in her short shorts and a crop top. “BALL! KILL!”

“Hey, Shadow Jade,” I greeted and looked at her attire. “Were you chilling?”

“Organizing collection! Oh. Baking cookies with Bianca.”

“Wanna go tell her we’re kidnapping you for a bit?” I suggested.

“Kidnapping! Kill!” She happily bounced up and down, and poof, was gone once more. My gaze returned to Zackery and I got an idea.

“We have to make it harder than a simple game of basketball.”

“You mean you want to make it more competitive?” he pondered.

“Yes and no,” I replied, my lips curling up in a sweet smile. “Every time one team scores ten points, the opposite has to take off a piece of clothing.”

Zackery’s eyes lit up as his once-confused expression became a competitive grin. “Be careful, Jade. I don’t want you walking home naked.”

“Oh baby, you’re really overestimating my rusty nature.” I played along, excited by this new challenge. “When you lose, I’ll make sure your brothers know that you tried really hard.”

“You’re that confident, huh? This is going to be exciting.” He dribbled the ball and passed it to me. I caught it with ease and watched as he took off his blazer

Then he unbuttoned his shirt, and I paused to stare at his muscled chest and a lovely six-pack. Biting my bottom lip was really the only thing that could tame the desire to forgo this idea and just pounce on him.

He grinned, clearly catching me in the act of checking him out.

“Like what you see, Jade?”

“I do.” I returned to dribbling the ball. “However, you’re giving me an advantage with the undressing part.”

“I haven’t taken my shirt off yet.” He winked and stretched his arms. “You sure about this? Last chance to back down.”

“KILL!” Shadow Jade appeared behind him, causing Zackery to jump before clenching his heart. “I’m gonna die from a heart attack before this game begins,” he groaned.

“Heart attack? Boom boom!” Shadow Jade sang and skipped around Zackery. “Win! Kill! Win!”

“Shadow Jade would be a good cheerleader,” I noted, wondering if Zackery would change his mind about two against one.

He really is underestimating us.

“Nah.” Zackery grinned. “I’ll be nice. Shadow Jade and Jade versus me, Zackery Maxwell, the Ultimate Basketball League Champion. You remember the rules, right?”

“Oh, we’re following those?” I blinked innocently and he gave me a look. “Fine, fine. Yeah, I think I got it down.”

“Win!” Shadow Jade skipped over to me and I offered the ball to her. She took it and peered at the orange object before bouncing it a few times. Then a cynical smile formed on her face that gave even me chills.

I slowly looked at Zackery, who’d noticed the switch in Shadow Jade.

“Why are my elements telling me I just fucked up?” he wondered out loud.

“Maybe you did.” I winked. “Now, let’s get started.”

“KILL!” Shadow Jade raced down the court in her sports bra and kitty underwear, her focus on getting the last shot we needed to win.

“Go, Shadow Jade!” I cheered, knowing my words would help give her the push she needed to deliver victory.

“Shit! No!” Zackery cursed under his breath as he tried to intercept Shadow Jade, but she was too quick, stepping sharply to the left before spinning and ducking, then jolting forward, all while dribbling the ball like it was attached to her like a yo-yo.

She sped down the court, and with a graceful jump, she sent the basketball soaring in a lovely arch. It sailed right into the hoop, giving us the final points we needed.

“YES!” I cheered and jumped up in down in my blue and green lace bra and matching panties. “We did it, Shadow Jade!”

“WIN! KILL!” She skipped right back to me, the two of crashing together to hug. I lifted her up and spun her around, the two of us giggling in pure celebration. We were both sweaty as hell, but it didn’t matter.

The game ended up going a lot longer than any of us expected, and Zackery had seriously put up a tough fight. I’d never struggled like this, even when I used to play regularly to blend in.

I now knew why Zackery was the ongoing champion. His skills and swift movements were hard to beat, especially if you weren’t physically fit — meaning at a Tracker level and not the average working-out-three-times-a-week kind of fit.

“Reward!” Shadow Jade declared, and we pulled apart and looked at Zackery, who was only in his boxers.

“Strip, baby.” I winked and his whole face grew red.

“I want a rematch,” he whined. I burst out into laughter because his expression was so adorable that I couldn’t stop myself.

“You’re butt hurt because you completely underestimated us and lost. Did you really think I’d challenge you if I was super rusty?” I inquired.

“I…I thought you weren’t being serious!”

“Zackery.” I gave him a sweet smile. “You know me by now. Expect the unexpected.” I walked over to him. “Do you want some help?”

“N-no…” he stuttered, noticing that my eyes were slowly taking in every bit of muscle on him. Adding the lovely droplets of sweat that glistened against his skin, I was trying to not get turned on.

I’m seriously failing in that department.

“Win!” Shadow Jade skipped over to us and put her hands on her hips. “Strip!”

“T-there are cameras on. Calvin or whoever is on duty will see,” he muttered.

“Oh,” Shadow Jade and I replied.

“I can fix that,” I announced and looked at Shadow Jade. “Can you get me my phone, Shadow Jade?”

“Phone! Call puppy! Kill!” She poofed and re-poofed in a matter of five seconds, holding my phone in her hand. I’d only just gotten a new one after losing my old one during the roof incident.

The delay was simply out of forgetfulness since I’d been around the guys most of the time and didn’t require it.

Which reminds me, I never asked Tanner if I can do the whole mental communication thing with my Hive that he does with Alaric and Bianca.

Taking the phone, I thanked Shadow Jade and clicked on Calvin’s name. He picked up on the first ring.

“Hey, Queen Jade. Need me?”

“Hey, Calvin. Yes, I need your skills. Are you on security duty? I know you’re taking the day off, but I wanted to see if you can turn off the camera in the gym. The one with the small court. Zackery’s lost a bet and has to stand here naked but he’s being a wimp.”

“Hey!” Zackery interjected. “I’m not! My cock is just precious to me.”

“Uh-huh,” I said at the same time as Calvin.

“I can do it now. I’ll let the security team know I’m testing the gym cameras. Give me a second.”

“Thank you, Calvin,” I practically purred.

He was quiet for a long moment. “You’re planning something.”

“Not really,” I admitted.

“Can I watch?”

“Hmmm.” I lifted my left hand to tap my finger against my lip. “If I say yes, does that mean you won’t interrupt?”

“I won’t interrupt, and I’ll make sure there’s no footage.”

“Then you have your Queen’s permission,” I concluded.

“What are you giving him permission to do?” Zackery questioned.

“Less talking, more stripping.” I reminded him that he had to keep his end of the bargain. “Calvin wants to watch, but he’ll make sure there’s no footage.”

His face grew red once more and he muttered, “Fine.”

That was easy! Progress.

“Naked! Kill!” Shadow Jade cheered. “Hmm. Cookies ready!”

With that, she was gone, leaving me and Zackery, who had his hands on the waistband of his boxers, alone.

“Perfect timing,” I admitted. “Calvin, I’m going to hang up. Thank you once again, and make sure you get some rest. Can’t have you being sick for too long,” I noted. “It actually worries me.”

“I’ll be fine,” he assured me. “Also, no one can get into the gym now and the cameras aren’t recording. Have fun, Queen Jade. And yes, I’ll get some rest after the show.”

“Tease. You don’t even know if the show is going to start or not.” I giggled.

“It will. My gut tells me so.”

“If you say so,” I replied with a smile. “Bye-bye.” I hung up and looked at Zackery’s displeased face.

“You’re up to no good,”

“I’m protecting your cock’s pride,” I defended. “Now can you get naked already? You’re making it seem like I’m gonna jump you.”

“Your eyes tell me you want to.”

“I wasn’t going to deny that.” I lifted my hands up in an overexaggerated shrug. “You’re like a tempting red velvet cake.”

“I’m unsure whether to take that as a compliment or assume you’re hungry.”

“Hungry for something long, big, and covered in white stuff,” I mumbled.

“You’re worse than a flirting guy,” he huffed.

“Says the guy struggling to be naked when no one is legit here and you agreed to the terms of the game.”

“That’s because I knew I’d win.”

“And lost,” I reminded.

“Jade.” He actually looked hesitant.

“I wouldn’t think you had a shy side to you.” I crossed my arms and gave him a good look. “Why are you insecure about being naked? You walk around shirtless or in just your boxers at home.”

There had to be something he was hiding. He frowned and walked to where I was. Grabbing my hand, he walked me over to the very corner of the gym and pressed me gently against the wall.

He kept our distance close, but his eyes avoided mine.

“I get anxious when I’m in an open place with barely any clothes on. It doesn’t happen when I’m with my brothers. I think I feed off of their auras and presence. However, when I’m by myself, I get uncomfortable.”

He met my gaze with a small smile. “I know I shouldn’t feel insecure around you. It’s simply a habit engraved on me from before our mother was killed. Back then, we all had our own personalities and well…flaws. Mine was my looks. Sure, I was identical to the others, but I seemed to pick up all the imperfections. I got pimples far too early and gained weight easily. It’s why I ended up being super active. I used my fear of becoming unfit and ugly to motivate me to work out and do a bunch of activities.”

“But…there’s nothing wrong with being a little chubbier. It wouldn’t make you ugly. Calvin was chubby, but I didn’t think he was necessarily unattractive. He was cute, but his persona at that time didn’t mesh in a romantic way for me. It doesn’t mean I wouldn’t have given him a chance, and it’s certainly not something I would have judged him for.”

“That’s just you, Jade. You do the opposite of what the average person would do. I gained some weight one year, back when we were still dealing with the loss of our mom and trying to figure out what we wanted. I gained enough weight for people to notice, and that was probably the worse six months of my life.”

He looked to the floor and ruffled his hair. “We had to go to do a swimming test, but we were all scheduled different days. When I went, I was with the fittest bunch of rich jerks I’d ever met. I tried to be nice, since that was generally my new persona after the change with the whole balance thing, and it didn’t help. I stood there in my swimming trunks, being laughed at and mocked. All these years later and I can still hear their exact words and laughter.”

I frowned and moved to face him, my hands slipping into his. He gripped them softly as he closed his eyes.

“Pig. Chubby jerk. Rich fat ass. They mocked how my brothers were all fit and I was the oddball. They wondered how I’d keep up with them seeing as all I spent my time on was eating versus training. It left a scar on my self-esteem and right then I vowed to work my ass off so no one would have the right to say those words to me again. I worked out twice a day, sometimes three times, and I made sure to perfect every single sport I could. The following year we had to do the same swim test, and I proudly got to walk into the room and was rewarded with gasps and curses. Those same people had let themselves go and were now in the exact same shoes I’d been in a year earlier. I don’t know what had caused them to give up on being fit. Maybe they had lost someone they loved or had health issues or something. Who knows what their reasoning was, but I didn’t stoop to their level and insult them. I kept my head up high and continued to keep myself fit until this day. It was like the ultimate revenge, but I’m still super shy about being naked. It’s why…I haven’t done it yet. It’s not like I’m not ready to, but I wanted to do it with someone who understood why I’m a little insecure and try to act like my confident brothers.”

We stood their quietly, giving me enough time to absorb his story.

“Is that why you’d beat up the students who made fun of Calvin?”

Zackery lifted his head and gave me a blank stare.

“Huh?”

“I never mentioned it till now because I assumed you were doing him a favor by protecting him from bullies. Obviously, it was last semester before Calvin’s “speedy weight loss,” but I overheard some of the guys in the halls talking about one of you guys kicking their friend’s ass for picking on Calvin. I think they assumed it was Zeus since he’s always pissed off about something.”

“But you knew it was me.”

“I told you I can tell you guys apart.” I grinned. “Plus, Zeus doesn’t care about anyone getting beat up. Well, minus me and Shadow Jade.”

“What about Zeke or Zion?”

“Zeke wouldn’t care and Zion would give them a warning. You’re the only one who’d take matters into your own hands if you didn’t see someone stop their shenanigans,” I concluded.

“Observant,” he mumbled.

I smiled and squeezed his hand. Glancing around the gym, I noticed the door of the girl’s change room.

“No one else is here, right?”

“No,” Zackery replied. “The only exit is the main gym doors, so we would see if anyone else came in. The new security makes it harder for people to teleport as well.”

“Good.” I tugged on his hand and began to head to the girl’s change room.

“Where are we going?”

I didn’t answer until we were actually in the change room, my free hand switching the lever to lock the door.

“Giving you privacy.” I turned around to face him with a softened expression. “Now you get to feel nice and comfortable while you complete your end of the bargain. Then we can go home and enjoy some cuddle time and cookies.”

Zackery stared at me, looking a little baffled by my actions.

“Jade…why are you so perfect?” He sounded as if he was truly astonished.

“Perfect?” I actually blushed at the compliment, letting myself reminisce on the odd emotions that trickled through me at his words. “I’m nowhere near the definition of that word, but it seems when it comes to you and your brothers, I always get the best compliments that make me feel whole.”

My eyes lowered down my body. “I’m nowhere near perfect. Look, I have a mini scar here and a bit of fat here. Actually, hmm. I really need to start working out, I’m losing my abs.”

I really was trying to find every flaw on my body as I stood there in my lingerie, though it was a bit silly of me to try and prove Zackery wrong. It could very well be a distraction, so I wouldn’t need to worry about how much my heart swelled up with love at his simple comment.

I’m madly in love with these men and I’m only now realizing it. Silly Jade.

I’d been so lost in my thoughts that I hadn’t noticed Zackery move until his cock was in my line of vision. I practically squealed and took a good look up and down at Zackery, who was now butt naked.

“See?” I put my hands on my hips and nodded in approval. “Sexy as fuck and your cock seems friendly now that he’s out in the open.”

Zackery didn’t answer, his lustful eyes going up and down my body.

“What?” I looked at my nice, perky breasts — thanks to my bra — before checking out my legs. “Something I’m missing, or did I truly gain weig—”

I was suddenly pressed against the door behind me and I felt Zackery’s warm body as he used it to hold me down.

“Zacke—”

“Why is it that sometimes you’re confident as fuck and other times you look at yourself like you aren’t a perfectly bright star?” His voice was low, but his words held weight.

“Because I’m like any other person who loves to keep the depth of my insecurities to myself,” I answered earnestly. “I’m considered abnormal in all categories. The girl with eight elements, who can make her dark element into a living form and evaded the system by being homeless for a year. I was a soon-to-be-Tracker who was picked up off the streets, now learning that I gotta accept who I am and working on loving myself every day. Now I’m Jade Storm, future Tracker Hive agent, who is dating four sexy quadruplets and potentially nerdy Calvin, who’s actually sexy. I have a family that loves me unconditionally, even though it’s my very power that killed my old one, and after all of this, I’ve accepted that we’ll all have good days as well as bad ones. None of us are truly perfect or we’d always be happy, rain or shine, because being perfect means nothing can bring you down. Nothing can shatter your pride and goals. No humans or magic users have been able to achieve that.”

I smiled and whispered, “So that’s why there are days when I love the person I am in the mirror and other days where I wonder if I’m really that bright star in the sky that shines brightly to guide those who have lost their way.”

Zackery bit his lip, those black orbs flickering between teal and silver. I could see the admiration in his dark jewels, but I also felt the intense passion vibrating between us.

The power of our elements building within an invisible bowl, waiting for us to ignite the love we so desperately wanted to share with one another.

I wanted to make the first move, but I held myself back. This would be Zackery’s first time and I wanted him to initiate it. He deserved to want this as much as I craved kissing him and bringing him pleasure.

Zackery closed the distance between us, our bodies pressing as his hands landed on my waist.

“Can you…take your bra off?” he whispered, his eyes never leaving mine.

“Sure,” I replied, and reached back to unclip my bra. “Underwear too?”

He grinned seductively, almost reminding me of Zeke.

“Yeah,” he encouraged. I gave him a nod, and after tossing my bra to the side, I slipped off my panties.

This surely wasn’t the first time Zackery was actually seeing me naked, having seen me snuggled up with Zeke or Zeus a few times when we fell asleep after a fun night, but now it was just us, and I was his to do whatever he wanted with.

“So fucking perfect.” His voice was filled with longing, making my heart flutter in need. He gently grabbed my face, looking deep into my eyes as if searching for any signs of rejection.

When he didn’t find any, he pressed his forehead against mine.

“I want you so bad, it’s making it impossible to think logically,” he admitted.

“Then don’t think,” I suggested. “Let your emotions guide you to what you want.”

We shared a look, and he kissed me lightly on my lips. Pulling back, he searched my eyes again, and when I stayed where I was, he went in for a second kiss, only this time it was deeper.

His hands left my cheek to run down my body, feeling me up as they moved up and down the sides of my waist and lowered until they reached my ass, all while his tongue kept my mouth occupied as he slid it along the bottom of my lip before tugging it slightly.

He then sucked it gently, like he wanted to soothe the pain that was brought by his light tugging. I couldn’t help but moan, trying to keep still, even though my hands yearned to feel him.

“Kiss me harder,” I demanded, unable to keep silent.

“I like when you’re demanding,” he confessed quietly before he devoured my mouth with his.

We moaned and kissed, and I gave up on my initial goal to not touch him. My hands roamed around his muscled chest, the beads of sweat still clinging to his feverish skin.

He groaned in my mouth, pressing me right against the wall, his cock pressed against my leg. It was obvious that he was hard, and it made my pussy clench in anticipation.

I really hadn’t realized how badly I wanted this until we were minutes away from actually doing it.

“Zackery,” I moaned out of impatience, unable to stand the intensity between us. My wind and ice elements were so close to the surface, I was unsure what would happen if I let them have their way.

“Patience, my queen,” he whispered against my lips as he gave us a moment to breathe. He then moved his head lower until his tongue was circling my left nipple. His hand moved to fondle my right, massaging it gently while his mouth got busy with gentle kisses and licks. He bit lightly, adding to the spike of pleasure running through me as my body shivered with hunger.

“Do that again,” I encouraged, only to moan when he did exactly that and followed it with a slow suck of my flesh. My hand lifted to his hair, gripping his head so he wouldn’t be able to go far.

A part of me wanted this to rush to the best part, but now I was reconsidering with how my body tingled.

“I have an idea you’ll like,” he whispered as he moved to my other breast. Once he began to massage the left breast, his eyes looked up at my dazed ones.

“What?”

He placed his lips on my nipple again, not answering my curiosity, but I soon realized why: his lips were now freezing cold.

“Tease,” I moaned, but was enjoying myself. “Keep going.”

“Knew you’d like it.” He chuckled and bit down lightly. Back and forth between the pinches of pain from his teeth to the long sucks and kisses that comforted me.

Pain and pleasure mixed like a brewing concoction of emotion. When he finished with my breasts, he moved down to his knees and spread my legs a little wider.

I looked down at him in wonder. “Do you even know how to—holy fuck!”

Zackery shut me right up as his icy cold lips lightly sucked on my clit before his tongue twirled it in a circular motion.

“Shit.” I hadn’t prepared for him to actually go down on me and now my legs were trembling before he’d even slipped his tongue into my hot pussy. When he did, I immediately caved, getting hit with an orgasm that had me using the wall as leverage to keep from falling.

Zackery didn’t stop, slipping his tongue right in and sucking my cum before he got right to work.

“Zackery, yes,” I moaned uncontrollably as I let my head fall back against the wall. My body felt like it was on fire and his cold lips and tongue were working magic on me.

It wasn’t until a second orgasm shattered through me that my legs caved. Zackery caught me with ease, having moved his head at the right moment. I needed a second to catch my breath, but he didn’t let me as his mouth crashed onto mine.

“Zac—mhm—” I gave up on trying to stop him as I got lost in the way our elements seemed to clash. A strong wind wrapped around us, practically lifting us up. Zackery hooked an arm around my waist, keeping me steady as the wind continued.

It wasn’t like I could see what was happening, my eyes closed while we continued to make out.

“Jade.” Zackery finally released me, the two of us panting like we’d finished doing a set of sprints. “I want to fuck you now.”

“You don’t need permission. Fuck me, Zackery.”

“Not here.”

“Where?” I inquired. He scooped me up, once again not answering. He used a bit of wind to turn the lever on the lock, and he carried me out into the gym. I gave him a raised eyebrow as he walked to the blue mats.

“I wanna see you while I fuck you.”

“Isn’t that romantic.” I laughed. “And these blue mats are so not sanitary.”

“As if you’ve ever cared about that.” Zackery chuckled and lowered me to the mats. He spread my legs with ease, moving right between them and teasing my opening with his manhood.

“You have a poin—fuck!” I tried to reply but was cut short yet again as he slid his cock right into me.

“Sorry,” he apologized. “My patience is gone.”

He then began to move, my tight walls closing in on his cock whenever he thrust it in. He was going at a slow pace, letting me feel every bit of emotion, all while our eyes locked onto one another.

He scanned my body, watching as my breasts moved up and down with every thrusting movement he made.

“So fucking perfect. So beautiful and kind. You drive me crazy, Jade Storm. So fucking crazy.” He gripped my hips and reached down to kiss me passionately. My hands raked up his muscular back, my fingernails digging into his flesh when he got faster and bit the side of my neck.

My breath quickened, as did his, those deep thrusts growing faster as he sank in deeply. Our moans were loud and neither of us cared. I lifted my legs to hook around his waist, wanting him as deep as possible.

He grunted my name and muffled my moans with his mouth, his movements so fast that I knew he was just as close to coming as I was.

“Cum with me, Jade,” Zackery ordered, and it was all I needed to come undone. My body froze as the waves of pleasure hit me like a crashing wave. My orgasm took my breath away just as Zackery moaned loudly and sank himself as deeply as he could.

We both remained still, engulfed in pleasure, before Zackery hovered over me as he caught his breath. I let my eyes close, needing time to breathe, but it was short-lived when Zackery pulled out and whispered, “Turn over.”

“Huh?” I asked and peeked an eye open to see his darkened eyes.

Oh. Does he want to go again?

“One more time.”

He must have read my mind, which brought a smile to my face as I rolled right over. “Confident now, huh?”

I knew I wasn’t going to get an answer, which was intriguing because Zackery was the talkative type, but it seemed sex wasn’t the time to exchange words with him. He slapped my ass and I flinched unexpectedly.

“Hey!” I looked over my shoulder, but he kissed me just as he slid his cock right into me. My moan was caught in my throat, my whole body growing cold suddenly as I lost all restraint on my elements.

That’s when I realized why Zackery wasn’t talking.

Holy fucking shit.

My body felt like it was submerged in icy cold water and somehow warm gusts of wind swirled around us. I felt like I was on fire, but in the depths of the ocean.

My eyes rolled back but I didn’t lose consciousness. It was almost like an out-of-body experience, except my body was responding to Zackery’s movements.

Our elements were blending together, and it was so satisfying that I wanted more. I kissed him uncontrollably as he fucked me nice and slow, the intensity of each stroke like I was being fucked by two people.

My mind felt blank, filled with sensations I’d never felt before, and I began to quiver as the coil of pleasure grew stronger, tighter.

“Zackery. Zackery! Fuck.” I moaned whatever came to my mouth, and he grunted my name and fucked me even harder.

This connection was something I’d never experienced, and when we both climaxed, it was like an iceberg rising up from the sea and being surrounded by a tornado.

We both collapsed on the mats, my whole body trembling as aftershocks hit me.

“Oh shit, Jade,” Zackery said, but I could barely hear him, still lost in my two elements that seemed to outweigh the rest of them.

In my blank mind, it was like they were dancing, my ice element in a dazzling dress that spun with every movement as snow and icicles rained around her, all while my wind element seemed to be in a beautiful dress that flowed brilliantly.

She danced around my ice element, seemingly singing a hymn of happiness.

“Calvin? Uh…what’s happening?” I felt something cover my body before I was scooped up.

“I think you two heightened your Hive connection,” Calvin announced.

“Why is your face red?”

“Shut up,” Calvin grumbled. “Just tell Jade to relax and breathe. You have to do it for it to really get through to her elements.”

“Right…” Zackery replied before his voice seemed to flow into my mind. “Jade, my Queen. You have to relax and breathe. Your elements are dancing all over the gym,”

Dancing? They’re actually in physical form? Wait…are we talking in my mind?

“Hey! We are? Wait. How is this possible? I can only do that with my brothers.”

Tanner can do it with Bianca and Alaric.

“So we’re cool now!”

Now you’re talkative.

“Sorry,” he apologized. “I kinda lost control of my elements and I was riding off pure emotion. Was I too rough?”

I loved it. Do that more often.

“I’m not even surprised,” he sighed. “Looks like they’re retreating. Can you open your eyes?”

I decided to give it a shot, feeling stronger now that the pleasure had passed. Opening my eyes, I noticed the raining snowflakes and the wind that still buzzed by, carrying those flakes gracefully through the air.

Zackery was still naked and I rested in his arms, while Calvin knelt down next to me, watching the two figures standing a few steps away from us.

My eyes widened as I took in their beautiful appearances, but they were like colored silhouettes more than actual physical forms. They both seemed to bow like they had completed a wonderous performance.

The wind element faded away while the ice element turned to tiny icicles and fell to the ground. In seconds, only a puddle of water remained in the spot.

The three of us were speechless before Calvin smiled.

“Looks like Zackery ended up being first with something.”

“Me?” Zackery questioned. “What did I do?”

“From what I’ve gathered on the Hive thing, you have to connect with Jade to establish the bond. I think you two just established it.”

“With sex?” I questioned.

“No.” Calvin shook his head as his smile widened. “Zackery told you one of his deepest fears, didn’t he? That’s why you went to the change room, correct?”

I looked to Zackery as his face grew red. He shyly looked away, but he slowly nodded.

“I always felt ashamed at still being a virgin. I wanted to walk the walk, but I wanted to do it with someone I’d actually treasure, or at least with someone I wouldn’t regret doing it with. When Jade was willing to give me privacy and even let me see her with nothing on…it made me feel like we truly had a connection. It was the first time I’ve felt linked with someone other than my family. I think that was what made me let go of any restraint and just let myself feel what was happening,” Zackery explained.

“Exactly.” Calvin seemed proud. “Good job. You linked with your Hive Queen.”

“What does that do then?” I wondered.

“I still haven’t finished figuring all of that out,” Calvin admitted. “I’ll have more by the end of the semester.”

“Okay,” I replied and looked around. “Uh…who’s gonna clean this place up?”

“I’ll say there was a malfunction or something,” Calvin answered and rose up. I noticed he was wearing red sweat pants and a white t-shirt. His hair was ruffled and messy and he actually looked tired.

“You look horrid,” I noted.

“I’ll take that as a compliment,” he replied. “Thanks for the show.”

He turned around before either of us could answer, but I did notice the bulge in his sweatpants.

“Hmm. If he’d just asked, we could have done something rather than letting him go masturbate,” Zackery’s voice drifted to my mind again.

“I heard that,” I pointed out.

“Oh…fuck! How do I turn this shit off?” he exclaimed

“You said that out loud though.” I laughed.

“Calvin! Come back here!” Zackery tried to run after him.

“Zackery, you’re naked!” I laughed even harder as he skidded to a stop and looked at his butt-naked self. “Fuck!”

He turned right around and ran to the change room. “I’ll get your clothes, Jade, hold on,” he announced.

I calmed myself from my giggle fit, my eyes lowering to the red zippered sweater that cloaked my body. Glancing back to the doors, I grinned in satisfaction at Calvin’s thoughtfulness.

Basketball can be really fun. Next time we have to get Calvin to play.

THUNDEROUS CLASS OF ENLIGHTENING MAYHEM

“How the hell did Zackery establish his Hive bond with you while the rest of us are struggling like we have erectile dysfunction?!” Zeus was going to make the entire building have a power outage if he kept up his frustrated rant.

I closed his locker and made sure my combat outfit was on point before turning to face him. He was literally fuming, and I could actually see steam coming out from his nostrils.

“Baby, you’re either going to burn the school down or just make your cold into a fever.”

I hooked my arms around his neck and reached up to give him a kiss.

“Hmph,” he mumbled against my lips, but his body relaxed as I deepened our kiss. He placed his hands on my hips and I really had to tame my fire and thunder elements as they fought to be the first to rise up and clash with Zeus’s.

“It just happened. It wasn’t like he meant for it to occur. Plus, the four of you have been sick all this week. We haven’t been able to do anything but cuddle. Not to forget, Calvin said sex isn’t what triggers it.”

“It should,” he muttered and hugged me. He rested his head on my shoulder. “And it’s all Calvin’s fault. He was sick first and got us all sick.”

“I’m not sick,” I noted.

“You’re an exception,” he responded. “Calvin said the new meds he made you give you an immunity boost.”

“Helpful,” I praised. “You guys better get better because our exams are at the end of this week.”

“Which is also stupid,” he grumbled. “Why did the exams get moved up? We had plans.”

“Ah.” I bobbed my head. “You mean the plans to skip a week and go on an early summer getaway when we’re only now getting some spring weather?”

“It was a good idea until the changed schedule fucked things up. I was about to book tickets.”

“And make sure I sat next to you the entire flight, correct?”

“Smarty pants.”

“You’re more overprotective than Zeke.”

“It could be an imbalance issue,” he muttered.

“Imbalance? You guys have been experiencing issues again?” I hadn’t heard them mention anything about them struggling. Sure, Zeke was the center of their emotions, it seemed, but they had been doing well since the major imbalance at the end of last semester.

“Yeah.” That’s all he said as he held me a little tighter.

“Zeus.” My voice was stern. “What’s going on?”

“Zeke’s struggling with something and he won’t tell us what it is. He’s acting cool and calm, but the rest of us can feel that something is bothering him. Normally if he has problems, he just deals with it on his own and everything resolves itself. It’s been three weeks now and he’s still struggling and it’s beginning to affect us. Us being sick is only making us even more miserable.”

“Is that why you’re annoyed?” I’d noticed Zeus had been a little short-fused during the weekend, but with our exams on Friday, I’d thought he was stressed about finals and the lack of studying they could do when they were unwell.

“Somewhat,” he admitted and pulled back to look at me. “I miss us going out.”

“Sorry,” I apologized. “It’s been busy, hasn’t it?”

“Yeah,” he admitted.

The second half of this semester had moved faster than the first half, and it was a lot busier than any of us had expected. We hadn’t had any more encounters with that new group, but it felt as though our studies and homework had doubled.

Tanner and Bianca were now finishing up a four-week mission and Alaric had been so drowned with paperwork and other important stuff that he barely left his office until super late each evening. I guess it was one of those times in the year when everything felt busy.

I hadn’t minded too much since I was always with one or more of the Maxwells and Calvin had started coming by the condo to visit or study.

Our relationship was still in the beginning stages and we hadn’t done anything but flirt, yet I felt there was a bit of progress, versus my Maxwells, where it almost felt like we were going backward.

Sure, the intimacy was there with kisses and quick sex sessions, but it felt as though I now craved more of that personal connection when we talked. It was weird how things were switching up, and it left me wondering what was going on in the bigger picture.

Whatever Zeke was worrying about was enough to throw the rest of them off balance, so it had to be serious.

If only I could figure out what it is.

“Do you want me to talk to him?” I offered.

“Hmm. After the exams. I already feel like shit. Don’t want to make it worse.” He kissed my forehead. “Let’s go out this weekend.”

“Okay.” I beamed at the idea. “But first, let’s get this class mission over with so we can head home.”

“Cool,” he replied and slipped his hand in mine. We made our way to the south exit and headed to the site. Today’s class was to go to the designated area and do whatever the piece of paper asked us to do.

Simple enough.

This semester hadn’t been hard, just like the last, but all this studying was getting annoying. I wanted more action, training, and ass-kicking moments, instead of just studying material that I’d gone over long ago during my teen years.

I could have just been bored after years of doing various tracker missions.

We’d had no updates on Charles’s whereabouts, and that, too, was surely making all of us a bit anxious, because we didn’t know if we were ahead of the game or two steps behind.

Either way, the medication Calvin had given me was working marvellously. I was back to full strength and with the training I’d been doing with Tanner before he went on his mission, things were looking up.

I was gaining my confidence again. All I had to do was gain enough to face those R quads and Leonardo. We still didn’t know their game plan or why they were attending classes, but as long as they didn’t bother me, I didn’t care.

We entered the clearing of the designated forest. Zeus let go of my hand to retrieve the paper that was floating in the middle of the clearing.

Looking up to the sky, I noticed how dark it was, the grey clouds coming in at a fast speed. I grimaced and tilted my head, feeling as though we were about to get a hit by a rainstorm.

“Zeus?” I questioned.

“Hmm?” He opened the paper to read before he continued. “What?”

“Is it going to thunderstorm?”

He paused in reading the letter to look up to the sky. Like his gaze triggered what I’d been afraid of, a roaring boom of thunder surged through the sky, followed by bolts of lightning that struck down around us.

A bolt aimed for Zeus, and I shrieked as I realized there was no way I’d be able to stop it in time. Zeus mouthed something and the thunder bolt froze an inch from his forehead.

I sighed in relief and went right into combat mode, my body jolting into a sprint toward Zeus. Bolts continued to rain down at us, and I slid to a stop as my wind element arose from its slumber and pushed my body back just as a thunderbolt crashed into the place I would have been.

“What the fuck is going on?” I questioned and clapped my hands. Balls of fire appeared in my hands, one morphing into a sword while the other danced around my body. Someone had to be involved with this. Nature wasn’t this destructive unless it was getting payback for what we humans and mages had done to the earth.

This is too calculative to be Mother Nature.

“Someone’s attacking us,” Zeus grumbled and clapped his hands together. With a loud boom, all the bolts vanished, the sky flashing like a malfunctioning television screen

Zeus walked over to where I was, his body beginning to surge with electric bolts that I knew were his thunder element. His hair glowed between gold and red, and his eyes were a vivid silver.

“Someone on the same level as us,” he declared, which already had my mind locking on a certain group we’d been lucky to avoid the majority of the semester.

“And I thought we wouldn’t deal with them.”

“It’s a part of the test,” he announced and showed me the paper when he reached my side.

Survive the trials ahead, but beware. Strength is not just physical power. Be judged and learn what is to come.

Great…

“Shadow Jade,” I called to my dark element, and gracefully, she appeared from behind me, in her combat gear and with scythe in hand.

“Destroy. Kill. A new enemy.” Her calm but deadly voice made Zeus and I exchange a look.

“New enemy?” I repeated. “What do you mean, Shadow Jade? It’s the Quads and Leonardo, right?”

“No.” She readied her scythe as if something was approaching us, her eyes starting to glow their eerie purple as power surrounded her like a brewing kettle waiting to whistle. “Darkness.”

“Dar…” I trailed off as my whole body seemed to freeze.

“Jade?” Zeus’s worried voice reached me, but my head felt like it was submerged in water. My body trembled, and I felt sick to my stomach as my body suddenly grew cold. It was like I was dying but I knew that wasn’t it.

What’s going on?! What’s wrong with me?

Why do you fear death?

A female voice spoke to me and I opened my eyes to realize I wasn’t in the middle of the clearing anymore. I stood in a room of darkness.

“What? Who are you…and where am I?” I demanded.

You can’t sense who I am? I don’t blame you, but time is ticking.

“What do you mean time is ticking?”

He’s desperate.

There was a long pause.

Desperate to get rid of you before you become complete. Don’t let him win.

“Let who win? Charl—AH!” I couldn’t finish as the pressure around me seemed to double and press against my body like a rope had surrounded me and was tightening its grip.

Do NOT speak his name. He will not have me. If I can’t have what I want, no one will!

I squirmed in the cold, desperately trying to get out as it felt like my bones were on the verge of cracking.

“LET GO!” I screamed, and the darkness was suddenly submerged in bright light.

“JADE!” Calvin and Zeus called out my name, and I gasped for air as my body jolted upright. My awakening made my elements go into overdrive, my wind element surging around me protectively, with enough force to send Zeus and Calvin back a few feet.

It ended up being a good move because a tall, dark figure was in front of me in seconds, but couldn’t pierce me with the sword in his hand as Shadow Jade reappeared in front of me and clashed against his weapon.

“KILL!” she snarled, dark magic swirling around her like burning black and purple flames, all while her hair floated with surging energy.

The figure was a tall black silhouette. It was clear it was a male by his shape and energy, and he wore dark armor with a flowing cape. It reminded me of a Japanese ninja, and it was clear his intention was to kill me.

I think.

I scrambled to my feet, but the world spun incredibly fast. I fell back but was caught just as fast, the heat of the person’s body telling me immediately that it was Zeus. Glancing up, I met his gaze, and it was the first time I’d truly seen fear in his eyes.

“Why are you afraid?” My voice was barely audible like I’d simply mouthed the words, the clashing of weapons overpowering everything else.

“You stopped breathing for a second,” he admitted. “I pressed the emergency button and Calvin showed up in seconds and did some light show thing to get you to breathe.” He looked away as if he was ashamed. “I…I just need a second.”

“I’m fine.” I tried to recover, but he held me so tightly, it was impossible to move.

“You’re staying right in my arms where I have control.” His voice held no emotion, but I knew what had just happened was like a slap in the face for him.

Is he upset that he couldn’t do anything?

“Zeu—”

“Not now.” He cut me off, his eyes focused on the battle before us. I lowered my eyes to see Shadow Jade expertly fighting this shadow dude. They were like two equals, meeting each attack with equivalent force, precision, and magic.

They pushed back off of one another, landing a few feet away as they prepared for a powerful attack. Zeus saw what was coming and picked me up. Calvin had moved out of the way and before any of us could move, Shadow Jade and the new shadow let out raging battle cries as they dashed forward.

We braced ourselves for the backlash, Calvin putting his hand up to trigger a barrier while Zeus held me tightly as mini thunderbolts began to make a checkered wall of electricity.

The clash of weapons was almost deafening, and the wave of power that hit made Calvin and Zeus grunt at the strain on their force fields.

I watched carefully, feeling the sudden drain in energy, but I couldn’t let my other elements out.

No. It’s not like I can’t…Shadow Jade doesn’t want help?

That left me confused, and that was when I truly focused on Shadow Jade’s expression.

“Wait…” I whispered. “Why is Shadow Jade smiling?”

It wasn’t her usual cynical smile. It was a smile you had when you were truly enjoying something with another person that you liked.

Or loved.

“What?” Zeus and Calvin questioned, but I immediately wiggled out of Zeus’s hold and before he could grab onto me, I was racing toward the two.

“Jade!” Zeus called out, but I didn’t care. I needed to know who this shadow guy was. If he made Shadow Jade react in such a way, did it mean they knew each other somehow?

The male shadow noticed my approach, his smile widening enough to show a brilliantly purple glow with bits of turquoise. He pushed back then, furthering his distance from us as I slid to a stop, right in front of Shadow Jade.

“Shadow Jade.” I looked over my shoulder at her. She calmly stood there, the backside of her large scythe now resting on her shoulders like we were casually talking after a training day.

“Who is he?”

She was silent, which only left me even more confused. I looked back at the shadow man, watching him put his sword back into his sheath as he studied me.

“That is all I needed to see.” His voice was so deep it sent shivers through me.

Shivers that only the Maxwells and Calvin had the power of creating.

“Who are you?!” I screamed.

“You will find out soon, Jade Storm. Until then, keep yourself safe.”

With those words, he faded away.

I immediately turned to Shadow Jade, who blinked innocently at me.

“Shadow Jade! Who the fuck is that?!” I screamed at her.

“I-I…don’t know.” She frowned, and the confidence she wore like a mask was now gone, returning her to her childish self.

“How do you not know?” I screamed. “You were smiling and fighting with him, not like an enemy but like he’s some kind of ally!”

“I…” She trailed off as tears formed in her eyes. “I don’t know.”

“So no one knows who the fuck that was. Or anything about that damn girl’s voice in my head?! What the hell is going on?!” My anger was getting out of control, and booming thunder rang throughout the sky.

Shadow Jade began to tremble and in seconds she burst out crying.

“I want Daddy!” she cried. “Mommy’s angry at me.”

“I’m not angry!” I screamed, but a hand firmly fell onto my shoulder.

“Jade.”

I turned and stared daggers at Zeus, who looked far too calm. “I get that you’re upset.”

“I’m not upset!” I growled, clenching my fists and feeling the rile up of my elements. “And you’re one to talk! You wouldn’t let go of me a minute ago with your possessive shit!”

“That—”

“When we’re in battle, you do NOT control me. Understand?!” I was in his face with my finger poking into his chest. He didn’t say a word, looking a bit annoyed with me, but I was sure we both knew if he dared voice anything I would explode.

Calvin was silently watching us, but he didn’t look pleased with my behavior. That simply annoyed me even more. I turned right around, walked past Shadow Jade, and headed toward the forest.

“I’m going home.”

“Jade,” Calvin was the one to call me out, but I didn’t care as I stomped through the forest.

Who is he? Why was Shadow Jade so friendly with him? Has she been seeing someone without me knowing? No…she would tell me, right? Why am I angry? No, I’m not angry. Yes. I’m just fed up with all this damn riddle bullshit. Why the hell do I have to do this? Why do I have to attend this school? I’ve been a Tracker for ten years. Stupid magic council, stupid useless school. Everything is stupid! If I just burned the whole thing down, I wouldn’t need to deal with this shit anymore.

“Oof!” I crashed into something and that just made me want to punch it. My fist was up and aiming for whatever was in front of me, but it was stopped by a hand.

I moved my gaze from the ground to the person in front of me and locked eyes with a pair of blue ones with hints of gold.

“You,” I huffed. “R quad number three.”

“Ruke.”

“I don’t care. Move!” I shouted.

“Did one of your Hive mates piss you off?” he inquired.

“Fuck off!” I tried to take my fist out of his grip, but he moved the both of us so fast, I blinked and was pressed against the tree behind me.

“You need to stop letting yourself fall into all these damn traps.”

“You know nothing about me to give me shit advice,” I seethed back.

“At least I’m trying to keep you from doing something stupid.”

“Like what?”

“I don’t know, go on an anger spree and destroy the school? That’s what you wanted to do, right?”

“And if it is? Why is it your problem? You’re the one working with Ross to make me feel like shit and give Charles what he wants!”

“Who the fuck said we were working for Ross?” he snapped back. I blinked and narrowed my eyes at him.

“You guys are the bad guys!” I shouted.

“WE are after Charles and are here to find our leader, who was kidnapped by Charles and only recently escaped!” he snapped back.

We were interrupted as a thunderbolt came down from the sky. Ruke twirled us around and pushed me right out of his hold. I went flying back but crashed into a hard chest, the impact enough to take my breath away.

“Ooof!”

“Fuck! Hey! Don’t go throwing my girlfriend around like she’s a fucking doll. She’s precious, you dick!”

“Says the one trying to strike us with fucking thunder!” Ruke snapped back. “Why the fuck am I here? Oh, right. Leonardo was all worried because the sky went to hell and our mission said we had to be knights and save one that will lose himself. Or herself. I swear if we fail this stupid test, I’m beating the shit out of you and your damn brothers!”

“As if you can beat us up,” Zeus grumbled.

The wave of magic that pushed off Ruke’s body had my thunder element pushing right back, my body sparking up like a damn Pikachu.

I don’t even play that game! Why are all of you reacting?!

I knew my elements wouldn’t answer, but this ball of frustration settling in my mind was really getting to its peak.

“Time out!” Calvin announced, following his proclamation with a flashing wave of light. The sudden warmth felt like cold water rushing down my body.

I blinked and my lips formed a pout in disappointment.

“Why are we timing out?”

He looked at me like an angry parent and I slowly moved around Zeus to hide behind him. “I…did something bad, didn’t I?”

“Jade mommy! KILL!”

I flinched at the noise that came from behind me. I looked back at Shadow Jade, who was a crying mess.

Oh, fuck.

Seeing her sobbing uncontrollably made everything that had just happened whirl through my head like a fast-forward film. I’d gone from protective to downright mean. No, dreadfully angry?

Why did that just happen? How come I didn’t notice?

It felt like a bolt of mayhem had struck through me and ignited chaos.

“Shadow Jade. I…didn’t mean to scream at you.” I wasn’t sure what to say, realization sinking in and making my heart clench.

“Mommy Jade mad at me. I don’t know shadow man,” she cried, trying to defend herself yet again.

“I know,” I admitted. “I…it just felt like you liked him…uh. That doesn’t make sense. All of this really doesn’t make sense.”

My own tears fell, and I wrapped my arms around Shadow Jade. “I’m sorry, Shadow Jade. Please don’t cry. I’m not upset with you. Really.”

“Mommy Jade. I don’t want to go to school anymore,” she cried. “No fun anymore. Scary! Kill!”

I hugged her tighter, feeling the restlessness of her words settle in the pit of my stomach.

She was right. We’d have one moment of fun and relaxation and the next, we’d be hit by something else. This, however, was something that could be dangerous, and now we were finding out that these quads weren’t really the enemy.

Then who is negatively influencing me?

“You said you guys aren’t working against us?” Calvin directed the question to Ruke, who had his hands in his pockets.

“Hmph. I said too much,” he muttered and turned right around. “We’re not against you. As to why that girl pisses us the fuck off is beyond me. All I know is there’s a third party here who is pushing all of our buttons and we were sent to figure it out.”

“You work for Ross,” Zeus reminded.

“We work for no one but our leader, and she’s still missing. As for Ross, the only way we could get into the school was by playing to his tune. He’s a fucking douche and once we figure our shit out, we’ll go back to where we actually belong. Stupid school. No wonder that dark self of yours hates it here,” he grumbled and began to walk away. “So easy to infiltrate with magic. Fix your damn security!”

“Hey! I’m working on it!” Calvin shouted at him.

“Work harder!” Ruke called back and disappeared into the bushes.

We were left in silence and Shadow Jade began to fade.

“Wait, Shadow Jade,” I tried to stop her, but she was gone before I could.

Shit…she’s mad at me? Maybe…or sad? Fuck!

I clenched my fists, feeling the uncertainty of my elements as we stood there.

“Jad—”

My legs moved forward, and I began to walk away.

I fucked up. This is all my fault. I screamed at Shadow Jade. I shouted at Zeus and Calvin. Shit! Why am I so easily influenced?! This has never happened before. Am I slacking? Should I be training harder? It’s been a while since I’ve meditated and focused on strengthening my mental walls. Strength is not just physical. Is that what the letter meant?

I crashed right into something again, but my body was way too weak to stop myself from falling back. Pair of hands grabbed the sides of my arms, stabilizing me before I could fall on my ass.

I looked up to see Zeus’s worried expression, and I didn’t hide the defeat in my expression as my tears rolled down my cheeks.

“I fucked up.” My voice trembled. “I…I’m sorry…I really am…I don’t know what to do.” I choked on my words as more tears flooded my eyes.

Zeus nodded and immediately hugged me.

“You’re forgiven. It was just a little argument. No one got hurt.”

“Shadow Jade—”

“Will forgive you. She knows your heart and will realize it wasn’t necessarily you. Don’t think about it. Let’s just go home and we’ll think of something, okay? For now, just know it’s going to be okay.”

“But…I screamed at you. I didn’t…mean…” I trailed off as sobs escaped me. “Don’t dump me.”

“I’ll never dump you,” Zeus whispered into my ear. “Fuck, Jade. We love you. Don’t think otherwise. Couples have arguments. There’s not always happy times. It’s all right. We’ll get through this, find whoever is behind all of this puppet playing, and fuck them in the asshole.”

“That’s not nice,” I mumbled.

“You give the weirdest responses,” he groaned.

“You like that about me,” I quietly mumbled.

“I do,” he whispered, and kissed my shoulder. “I like every part of you, even when you’re downright angry with me…which was super hot by the way, but I’m only admitting that cause you’re crying and I hate when you cry.”

“I love you.” I hugged him tightly.

“As I love you. Sorry for holding you back…I just didn’t know what to do.”

“I know. I’m sorry for screaming at you,” I apologized.

“That guy had the nerve to insult my security system.”

We both looked at Calvin, who was taping his hand to his chin as he paced back and forth. “It’s perfect. Why would he insult it? Hmm. I should do another test on it. Or I can just track Ruke down and beat him up. I don’t think it’s good to use force…but if I threaten him, maybe no one would find out.”

We stared at him for a long minute as he kept debating out loud.

“Um…Calvin,” I finally interrupted. He paused in his pacing to look our way.

“Oh,” he replied and frowned. “Boo. No killing and hiding the body then. Fine.”

“Sometimes I’m actually afraid of you,” Zeus disclosed.

“Sometimes I wish we could enjoy ourselves as students and not Trackers,” he replied and moved his gaze to me. “I’m sorry, Queen Jade. I didn’t think of spreading the security system out this far. I think we need to narrow down the exam locations to make sure everything is set up and safe for us and the rest of the students.”

“Good call,” I replied. “And sorry for yelling at you. Thanks for the wakeup call.”

“No problem,” he replied with a smile, and walked to my side. He gently pressed a kiss to my lips, the light touch making butterflies flutter in my stomach and my light magic dive out of her little hole.

All of sudden, the clouds seemed to drift apart, revealing the sun.

“You really like when Calvin kisses you,” Zeus concluded, his gaze looking up at the sky.

“Yes,” I replied. “He doesn’t do it often though.”

“You actually sound disappointed,” Calvin seemed intrigued.

“I am,” I muttered. “You didn’t even ask me out,” I huffed.

“Um…” Calvin blushed shyly and Zeus actually laughed.

“Don’t worry, buddy. We’ll give you some pointers or you’re going to be left behind.” Zeus scooped me right up.

“Hey!” I looked at him and he shrugged. “You can barely stand and we’re going home. Figured I’d carry you back.”

“But the test.”

“Fuck this stupid test. Don’t care if a professor planned it or if it was this damn third party we have no clue about. We’re going home, cuddling in front of the fireplace, eating chocolate ice cream, and fucking. Simple.”

“Sex addict,” I mumbled. “Plus, you’re sick.”

“You kissed me plenty of times.”

“That’s because I forgot you were sick.”

“You have boosted immunity.”

“I suddenly have an itch in my throat,” I lied.

“Bullshit,” Zeus replied. “We’re fucking.”

“You know it’s kind of hot when you manhandle me.”

The random thought had Calvin shaking his head. “The way you two argue is confusing as hell. I’m going home.” He coughed and turned around. “Ask Alaric to give you tomorrow off. Friday is the exam and I’ll make sure it’s all secure. Tanner should be back this weekend. Queen Jade? You need to train with him and work on your mental barriers. Once that’s done, we’ll figure out where we stand. Cool?”

“Cool,” I replied, and I followed up with, “Calvin, come over.”

“No.”

“Boo.” I knew he’d already caught on to why I asked him. “Masturbating isn’t fun, you know.” I was clearly referring to him and all the times he’d ditched whenever there was a hint of intimacy with the others.

Minus when he watched me and Zackery fuck in the gym.

Calvin looked back at me and I gave him puppy eyes.

“Ugh. I’ll come by but I’m leaving after ice cream.”

“Good enough.” I beamed.

“And then we trap him,” Zeus added.

“Nope. I’m gone.” Calvin waltzed right by and I snickered.

“That made me feel less sad.”

“We’ll get through this,” Zeus whispered. “And I think I want hot chocolate instead. You can have ice cream, though.”

“Hot chocolate sounds good,” I whispered and rested my head on his chest. “Let’s go home.”

A thunderous class of striking mayhem that’s only left us with more questions than answers.

BE THE HUNTER OR THE HUNTED

“Concentrate harder, Jade,” Tanner growled.

I groaned in pure annoyance, wishing he knew just how hard this was. “It’s four in the morning, I’m tired as fuck, AND I’m starving! You can’t possibly think a starving, sleep-deprived child like myself can handle creating fire and ice Jades in these terrible conditions!”

Tanner just looked at me, lowering his dual swords when I broke my concentration. The silhouetted fire and ice Jades vanished just like that, and the acknowledgment left me sighing.

“At least give me a few minutes. I’m seriously tired,” I voiced.

And a bit dizzy, but I wasn’t going to admit that one.

Our exams had gone surprisingly well, especially once Calvin had boosted security. All the designated exam sites had been magically attuned to ensure no foreign magic could enter the area, and all had received an additional set of security guards.

Alaric had said things had run smoother than ever, and a lot of students were sending positive feedback. It was as though we were finally going in the right direction.

There were the usual student confrontations and all that, but it was a normal occurrence at Tracker Hive.

It was Sunday, and after our exams, we’d all met and broken down what had truly happened during the test with me and Zeus. We’d mentioned it briefly before, but decided we wanted to discuss it as a group and I wanted my Trouble Four to feel better.

Calvin was back to perfect health, and he encouraged me to do another scan to make sure my elements were at least balanced. Whoever was playing puppeteer could have been taking another stab at trying to unbalance me.

As for the R Quads, we’d yet to see them since we saw Ruke, but I had a big hunch that we’d be crossing paths more often next semester. Whoever their leader was, she must be powerful to have a loyal group like that on the lookout for her.

As to Charles, there were no leads whatsoever. Frustrating, but again, there was nothing we could do but keep our guards up.

I knew we’d been focused on me resting and making sure I was better, but with how this semester was ending, I spoke up and said fuck it.

I hadn’t yelled at Shadow Jade in years. Even when we were younger, it was really difficult for me to scold her. For me to raise my voice at her by whatever had suddenly influenced me to lose my temper meant that we were dealing with something big.

I’d been apologizing to Shadow Jade whenever I could, to the point where she baked me a cake to tell me she accepted my apology and to stop since I was apparently driving her mad. It was pretty funny since she was my dark element and people always assumed the darkness would lead you to madness.

Tomorrow would be yet another end-of-semester assembly to dismiss us for summer vacation, and I couldn’t fucking wait. There would be no craziness.

We’d already made plans to go on vacation and leave this case on hold. Charles wouldn’t dare follow us to wherever the guys were planning, and with Alaric, Bianca, and Tanner planning to come along, it would be suicide to try and take on our group.

Alaric said he’d still hire a team to come with us to make sure we were fully equipped for any surprises, but overall, I couldn’t wait for the semester to end so we could hop on the private jet Bianca had reserved for us and get the hell out of here.

Don’t get me wrong, I did love Tracker Hive Academy, but with all the shit-shows we’d been dealing with, a break was a must.

Alaric said the curriculum would be changing next semester, and more tests, challenges, and physical training would be added. Tracker Hive was indeed a place for the unique and those who were discarded because of their chaotic nature, but it didn’t mean we only had to learn from the books of magic and not train to defend ourselves.

Ross was still off-limits, which was delightful because I didn’t want to see him again. He was still being investigated, but I hoped we’d get some news about him soon.

As for Zeke, I’d yet to confront him about what was troubling him. Something was definitely pestering him. I sensed that much, even when he tried to distract me whenever I attempted to ask if he was alright.

It seemed like my to-do list was growing and I really needed to start striking some stuff off.

For now, though, I just had to focus on one main thing: not dying from Tanner’s pain-in-the-ass training.

“I seriously think I need a break,” I breathed. Letting my scythe begin to fade, I fought to keep myself standing.

I was upright with one blink, and then seconds from face planting the next.

Tanner caught me, an arm hooking around my waist as he let me rest against him.

“Easy,” he whispered. “Hmm. You haven’t recovered from that thunder madness?”

“I guess not.” I shook my head. “Can’t I make my stamina grow so I don’t feel like a weakling?”

“Time,” Tanner reminded. “You’re already stronger than some of the best agents of your age. You have to remember that you’re only nineteen, Jade.”

“Yeah,” I admitted. “This is dumb.”

“I know,” he replied with a chuckle, knowing well that I was simply annoyed that I couldn’t keep up with him. He rubbed my back, waiting for my energy to pick back up.

This was the comforting, parental side to Tanner.

Was he an asshole most of the time? Yes. However, he did truly care. It was just hard for him to show it.

“I think I can try one more time,” I whispered.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes.” I moved back and gave him a small smile. “I can.”

“All right,” he replied, and let go of me. He moved back to the other side of our training room. “Concentrate this time. Don’t let anything distract—”

The door slid open, and we both looked to see a panting Calvin and Bianca.

“Jade! Tanner! There’s an intru—” Calvin began, but there was a loud explosion, and my body flew right into the wall behind me.

Something cracked in my head, and I cursed and fell to the floor, gripping my skull in agony. I needed a moment to simply breathe as my ears began to ring.

Shit! What the fuck just happened?

Slowly getting into a crawling position, I tried to look around for Tanner, Bianca, or Calvin, but the thick black smoke was making it almost impossible to see anything.

“Tanner? Bianca? Calvin?” I called out and coughed from the smoke.

“JADE! KILL!”

I was confused by Shadow Jade’s sudden outburst, the sound enough to make my head pound even stronger than before.

With a groan, I tried to crawl forward, but something cold pressed against my forehead, freezing me in place from sheer fear.

The smoke began to thin, and my wide eyes looked up to see Charles standing right there in front of me. He wore all black and had a blank expression on his face.

He didn’t need to have any expression, because his eyes reflected his boiling anger. It was like I’d been the one to piss him off and he was here to finish the job.

“I’m tired of you,” he muttered, and clicked off the safety of the black gun that was in his grip, the barrel right against my skin.

“I’m done with these games. You won’t take my lab rat. You’re not important anymore. Not when my plans and prodigy are at risk. Farewell, Jade Storm. Hope to see you in the crispy halls of hell.”

He grinned then, the smile cold and filled with triumph as his finger wrapped around the trigger.

Wha—

He pulled the trigger.

~CALVIN~

“JADE!”

I emerged from the smoke with the four Maxwells behind me; Tanner and Bianca were attempting to clear the thick smoke.

My eyes locked onto Jade and the man I despised, just as he pulled the trigger.

My heart stopped. No, the world stopped, except for that single gold bullet that went through Jade’s head.

She fell back, and it was as if all the air within me had been stolen. I couldn’t move, breathe, or accept what I was seeing. Then Charles looked our way, just as Jade hit the ground like a lump of cement.

My ears began to ring, the pumping of my blood making it sound like pounding drums surrounded the room. His eyes showed his rage, but as he continued to stare at my horrified expression, a wide grin slid onto his dry lips.

“Failure,” he said loud and clear before his body vanished entirely, taking the dark smoke with him. My body trembled, and I bit my bottom lip so hard that I could taste blood, but I couldn’t fall for his gaslighting tricks.

I have to save Jade. There has to be time!

My eyes locked back on Jade’s limp body, and I immediately tried to hear a heartbeat from this distance. My heart sank as I struggled; it was a skill of mine that should have been like child’s play with my sensitive ears.

No. Jade…Queen Jade. No.

My panic began to settle in and I jolted from my frozen position toward her. I only made it three steps before a dark thunderbolt struck down from the ceiling and created a spiraling sphere around the spot where Jade was.

The impact sent me flying back, and I was caught by Tanner, who grunted when he caught me.

“What’s that?!” he shouted over the raging winds, but none of us could answer. All I knew was I could barely comprehend what was going on, and the Maxwells were frozen in complete shock at what had transpired before the black thunderbolt.

We watched in crippling anxiety as the spiraling sphere grew bigger and flickered black, purple, and turquoise.

Five minutes zoomed by and I started to freak out.

“We have to fucking get Jade out of there! I can’t help her if she’s dead for any longer.” The urgency in my voice was a first, as was the intense vulnerability I was showing.

Fuck…I’ve fallen for her.

I’d promised myself that I wouldn’t. That I’d do my job and keep it at that, but Queen Jade just had to have that lovely charm of hers that brought you in like a spider’s web snagging its prey.

“Calvin, relax.” It was Alaric’s voice. I looked over my shoulder to see him approaching us. I couldn’t get why Alaric was stopping me.

“Jade is going to die!” I stressed. “No, she is dead. I can’t restart her heart if a certain amount of time passes. Charles fucking shot her in the head.”

“I know.”

“You know?!” I snapped. “Then why are you so—”

A loud sound like thunderous clapping echoed through the room and silenced me. I darted my gaze back to see a tall man. He wore a fitted black suit with a matching black tie and shoes. His long, sleek black hair reminded me of an Asian samurai, as it was tied back with a black ribbon. His hands were what stood out to me: his left had a glowing turquoise magic circle on the back side, while the right had a dark purple one.

The magic symbols were spinning rapidly, like gears being turned to full capacity. What also drew me in was that he was holding Queen Jade in his strong arms.

That was when my ears picked up on it.

Lub-dub. Lub-dub.

Again and again, the strong beat of Jade’s heart taunted my ears, and I peered at her chest, watching as it move up and down quickly.

Jade was alive, but blood was still dripping from the wound to her head, which I was shocked hadn’t blown her brains out.

“How?”

“Is this where I make my dramatic entrance?!”

The sudden, high-pitched voice had me looking around the room, Bianca and Tanner looking just as confused as I.

“Yes. You can come out now,” Alaric calmly encouraged.

“Woohoo!”

A blazing force of magic entered the room the same way the dark bolt of thunder had, and with a blink, a 6′1″ woman stood next to the figure that held Queen Jade.

What caught my attention right away was her brilliant, neon pink hair that was styled in tightly curled pigtails. Moving my gaze to her attire, I tilted my head in confusion, because she wore the Tracker Hive school uniform. Her blazer had patches pinned to the front pockets, and the drawings looking like something from an anime show.

The only non-standard part of her uniform were her neon pink shoes that lit up at the bottom. She wore pink lipstick, had a dark eyeshadow on her lids, and had the same tattoos on the back of her hands as the man.

She smiled at my observation and looked at the others.

“Jeez. Your Hive Queen would have been dead if it weren’t for me. What kind of Hive Knights are you? No wonder why Ceil was so disappointed and said the Shadow girl was wasting her potential. Shame. Shame.” She shook her head in dismay, but it was almost in a manic movement.

Zeke seemed to be the first to snap out of his shocked daze, and the raging dark magic that followed could clearly kill the average person if they weren’t careful.

“Who the fuck are you? And give back Jade or else.”

“Or else what?” she taunted before her image blurred. By the time I turned my head, Zeke was flying back into the wall, Zion was on one knee coughing up a storm like he’d been punched in the stomach, Zeus was actually on the ground, and Zackery had his hands up as this new arrival’s fist was an inch from his face.

“Oh?” She blinked and tilted her head at Zackery. “Wow. You have fast reflexes.”

Her comment made me realize that a whirling wind was holding back the woman’s punch. It was tiny and yet it packed enough force to make her whole arm tremble.

“I like,” she sang, and the berserk smile on her face sent chills through me.

This woman is crazy.

She was back in her spot with another blink, and she began to skip around the man she’d called Ceil.

“Exciting! Exciting. My Hive Queen has at least one good knight. I can make do with that. She doesn’t need the others.”

“What?” I gasped and repeated what she’d said. “‘My’ Hive Queen?”

“Oh.” The woman paused mid-skip before she moved to stand on Ceil’s other side. She grinned happily at us before she leaned down and pressed her lips lightly on Jade’s forehead.

I was ready to revolt, but Jade’s hair began to levitate as it started switching to various colors, representing each of her elements. When it reached the final color of white, her hair stayed that way, every last bit of black gone — just like the wound in her head.

The sound of something dropping to the floor caught my attention, and I looked down to see the single bullet that had made its mark with Jade minutes before.

“How…?” I couldn’t fathom what had happened.

“Easy!” The woman took a step back and bent down to pick up the bullet. She inspected it with a wide grin before she looked at us and gave us a dramatic curtsy.

“My name is Lisette Cross, and this is my dark shadow, Ceil Cross. I’m the sole survivor of Experiment C.R.A.Z.Y. Mr. Sokolov liked to call me his prodigy. Escaped mental case and the newest addition to the Tracker Hive student body.” She rose up and then showed a smile that made me fear my own life as I held my breath.

“I am also the confirmed third Hive for Jade Storm. My apologies for being a bit late, but never fear, your girl is here!” she cheered.

Charles’s prodigy? Jade’s third Hive? Experiment C.R.A.Z.Y.? Did we go from being the hunter to the hunted?

This was not how I pictured semester two ending.

Or maybe this is just the beginning of pure hell.

TO BE CONTINUED.

Special Note From Author

I wanted to write a special thank you for allowing me to re-write this book.

This series means a lot to my heart because I connect with Jade in so many ways. In this life, many of us feel like we don’t fit in and it makes us question both our purpose and why we couldn’t be something else.

Just know that everyone is unique for a reason, and just like shining stars in the sky, we all have a purpose to fulfill. Sometimes we get lost along the way, but find those who will bring you back to that path. I hope you’ll not only embrace your unique self, but learn to empower yourself with positivity, love, and a group of individuals that will love you for who you are.

I went through some rough months. I was bullied both silently and publicly and was told to quit writing. If I’d followed those words, this book and series would have never continued. I want to say thank you to my readers.

You truly were the reason why I picked myself up again, even though I felt broken and defeated. This revamp is for you, and I hope you will continue on to the next book in this series as Jade continues her journey in becoming a Tracker.

Thank you, and see you in Semester Three.

XOXOXO

Avery S.

February 28TH, 2020

https://books2read.com/TRACKERHIVEACADEMY3

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SUPERNATURAL INMATE!

https://books2read.com/SUPERNATURALINMATE

BLURB:

After pissing off the head of the supernatural lab, failing at befriending my fellow inmates, and having a tiny temper tantrum in the underground cafeteria, it was only a matter of time before I had to do something about this whole captivity thing.

For me, Cassandra Thorn, being born as a human, raised by an elite group of supernaturals, and reaching my twentieth birthday was far more fun than this.

Then again, anything would be.

In this case, “this” refers to being taken against my will— kidnapped —and trapped in an underground lab jail for supernatural shifters. Pretty ridiculous, considering I’m a mere mortal.

Or so I was told.

Turns out there are a lot of things I was told, not all of them true. Now a family secret has been revealed and destiny is just waiting for me to fulfill it…but I’m stuck in Prison Boringville with other not-so-friendly inmates.

Being a supernatural inmate isn’t my style, so with the very new powers bestowed upon me, I’m getting my booty out of this hellhole. Unless Adonis the sexy incubus, Dominick the deadly fae master, Otis the death-seeking vampire, and Tristan the sly shapeshifter bust me out first.

Supernatural Inmate is the first book in the Supernatural Captivity series, a Paranormal Prison Romance.

CHAPTER ONE: LINGERIE SHOPPING WITH MY SUPERNATURAL BROTHERS

“Cassandra? How long does it take you to get your plump ass into a pair of hipster panties? I’m going to die from starvation,”

“Stop complaining, Tristan. I’m trying to concentrate!”

“On what? Your butt?”

“Yes! On my butt, now shush so I can concentrate!”

Men. Never understand the importance of having your eye on the prize.

“What’s taking our Princess of Lingerie so long?”

I smiled at Dominick’s inquiry, knowing damn well he’d join in on the bickering. As long as Otis was still roaming around the five-level clothing store, I was safe to continue my detailed observation.

“Cass is trying to determine if her ass has gone up a centimeter,” Tristen let out a long sigh. “I’m hungry. Save me.”

“You eat too much,” Dominick commented. “And didn’t Cass start her squat challenge like three days ago?”

“And then ate an entire cake yesterday,” Tristian’s comment made me open the door wide open - the two of them turning their attention to my red-blue lace bra and hipster lace panty combo. I put my hands on my hips in defiance as I stared between the two of them.

“Just because I started three days ago, doesn’t mean anything! Progress is progress!” I angrily emphasized before pointing at Tristian, who was sitting in one of those fluffy pink one-seater sofa chairs with his legs up on the armrest while the back of his head hung over the other side.

He had a bored pout on his sexy attractive face.

“Also, yesterday was my birthday! I was allowed to eat cake,”

“Allowed to eat a slice of cake, my dear. Not the whole damn thing. Couldn’t even save a slice for the four of us,”

I flicked my long dark brunette locks and gave them an unapologetic look.

“I regret nothing,”

“Madness, I tell you,” Tristian shook his head. “You gained weight in your thighs, by the way,”

I stood there for a full five seconds and Dominick sighed.

“It’s like you want us to die early,”

“No regrets,” he shrugged with his arms. “I can shift into anything. I have the highest survival rate,”

“Did you forget you can still die?” Dominick reminded.

“Oh…” Tristan frowned and gave me a sheepish smile as I narrowed my eyes at him. “Uh…oh thick beautiful one. Don’t kick my ass…or kill me…or punch my face. I still need to look good to ace that job interview on Monday,”

“Asshole,” I huffed, and turned around to check the mirror. “I only gained half an inch. You’re lucky I’m in a good mood or it would be game over for you,”

Looking at the mirror, I assessed my overall appearance and grinned.

A little bit of thickness didn’t bother me anyway.

Sweets were always the devil when it came to making me gain weight in my thighs and hips. If it wasn’t for the “Thorn Metabolism” blessed to me by my biological parents, I’m sure I wouldn’t still fit into my size six jeans.

Size “wide” six jeans. A girl need room for a rainy day of ice cream and chocolate.

Cassandra Thorn was what was written on my birth certificate and left in my abandoned basket that fateful night when my parents decided I was too much to handle in the middle of the 2035 financial crisis period.

The human government stocks plummeted as the supernatural race soared in comparison, leaving most humans out of work in the heart of winter in New York City.

It was the same time that Supernaturals took over with a snap of their fingers and proved their superiority by fixing the selfish chaos created by the greedy politicians running the place.

The rather simple move on the supernaturals part left us humans either to submit and work along with the supernaturals or cower away and find a way to fix their financial crisis.

It ended up being a fifty-fifty split, and my parents decided that finding their way back to independent financial stability was far better than working alongside with any paranormal race.

Which meant bye-bye baby Cassandra.

The only problem with that “logical” plan was that I, their apparent beloved child, was human, just like them.

Where did that leave me? Luckily, not on the harsh streets of NYC.

Everett A. Johnson with his big heart of gold took me in.

Anyone could have done it for the bonus government paycheques, but as I grew older, I came to realize that he was genuinely a loving man who took in shifters from struggling families or abandoned corners of the dangerous streets.

Everett was a supernatural, just like the majority of the children he took in. As a bear shifter, he kept to his nurturing roots.

He always said that he got the most hate when he took me in but paid no mind to the background talk. It was all rubbish to him when it came to helping someone in need.

An outlook that could potentially get him killed, but his ongoing generosity over the last few decades had earned him immunity and enough money to higher any line of protection.

Being in his care was what brought me into the circle of four supernatural powerhouses, and together, we were raised up under one roof. How did the little human me survive a home with four bratty boys?

Anger tantrums, chocolate, and using the puppy eye tear technic as a final resort.

Let’s be real. No boy nor man could stand when a woman cried. It usually resulted in the female choosing one out of the two options: forgiveness or murder.

Seeing as murder was against the law without logical reasoning - or shiny badge that permitted you to kill with a warrant - I always had to resort to forgiveness.

However, with my slight anger tantrum issues, all bets were off if I reached a certain point of blinding rage.

I had an actual diagnosis for it – Blind-sighted Tantrum Syndrome. BTS for short, and I’m not referring to the greatest KPOP band in history.

It was the perfect excuse for the slight off chance I accidentally killed anyone. Was also the reason why my four supernatural bros were actually frightened of me when I got mad.

Didn’t stop them from picking on me half the time.

“I think her butt actually got firmer though,” Dominick acknowledged. “If you look very closely, you can see a one percent difference,”

“I feel as though you keep forgetting I’m a shapeshifter, Dominick and not a perfect, one-thousand out of twenty vision Fae.” Tristian put his hands behind his head and kicked his legs up and down. “Can we go yet?”

“No,” I announced. “I still have three more sets to try on.

“Ugh,” the two of them said together. “Where’s Otis and Adonis?”

“Oh no, no, no,” I twirled right around on one foot and widened my stance to give them a vile glare. “Don’t you dare summon Mr. Apocalypse and his smooth-talking brother.”

“What’s taking so damn long? At this rate, the moon will come out and remind me of my night shift tonight.”

The three of us glance to our left: Identical pairs of plum eyes staring back at us.

“I might as well summon the moon now so it can rise and make me a glittering ornament,”

“That’s what humans call a disco ball, Otis, and that whole vampire glitter stuff was a myth with the sun. Not the moon. Well…except for that Edward guy. He actually glitters during the full moon. I can’t believe humans got that all mixed up. He’s a celebrity in the vampire world. Otis still has his autograph on his wal-”

“Not the point, Adonis,” Otis snarled and looked my way. “Why is Cass naked?”

“When is Cass not naked,” Adonis smirked seductively at me. “She might as well give up on buying lingerie. She always finds a way to rip them to shreds,”

“I’m not naked!” I fought back as I pointed at them. “Let me correct your statement, Adonis. Why is it that my lingerie gets ripped to shreds? Oh, I don’t know. Someone’s long nails love to rip them so I’m always left naked with no lingerie!”

Adonis lifted his hands to stare at the culprit of my lingerie crisis.

“Hmm. My nails are kinda sharp. I really got to get them done. What color should I go with, guys?”

Tristian shook his head. “You’ve asked us the same question for seven years and you’ve yet to venture out of the purple and black department.”

“Why not try red?” Dominick suggested.

“Or pink. Or any other colors in the rainbow but purple and your all-time favorite. Black,” I offered.

Adonis bobbed his head in thought.

“I’ll go with…purple.”

“Ugh,” the three of us retorted.

“What?” Adonis gave us a teasing grin. “It compliments my skin,”

“Of your hands, not your face,” Otis reminded.

“Yes, but a little splash of color goes a long way,” Adonis concluded. “I still think our parents were fools. Why name me after the god of beauty and desire when I still get pimples and the rest of you look ten percent more attractive than I?”

I smirked and leaned against the door frame of my change room while I crossed my arms to answer, “They knew, like the gods above that you’d have too much seduction in your bones to have perfect looks. If they did that, you’d get cocky instead of having a hint of humbleness somewhere in that brain of yours,”

“My brain is rather talented, thank you very much. I’m the smartest in the group, remember?”

“The brain that loves to signal you to rip my lingerie whenever you get a chance,” I muttered, “and since when were you the smartest?”

“Since last week when he beat Dominick’s perfect score with a bonus star,” Tristian chuckled.

“Bonus star? Aren’t those given for us to save during the year and use to boost our grades at the end?”

“Yup,” Dominick seemed pleased. “Should have seen his proud face. Made all the girls faint in the cafeteria,”

“It’s not my fault that I was blessed with the ability to hoard my stickers and steal Otis’ ones,”

Otis’ side glared at him, but Adonis didn’t care. “Now, are we heading out to eat. Otis is serving an extra glass of crankiness due to his lack of blood. I’m thinking of grabbing him a Bloody Mary from Vampy Dee’s.”

“I will never understand how identical twins could carry completely different supernatural traits,” I voiced as I looked between the two of them.

Otis von Dolorosa and Adonis von Dolorosa. Identical twins and yet one was a vampire and the other was an incubus. The mystery behind it all would never be solved, seeing as their parents offered them up to the nearest dumpster when they knew they hadn’t become hybrids like desired.

Just like my predicament, Everett had been at the right place at the right time and took them in.

“Genetics, Princess,” Adonis remarked while his fruity plum eyes checked me out. I expected him to add another comment to my almost naked display, but he moved his gaze to Tristen and Dominick. “Did Cass gain weight? It was the cake, wasn’t it?”

“Yup,” Tristian and Dominick responded like it was Jeopardy’s latest “Let’s Remind Cassandra Thorn Of Her Flaws” Special Edition.

“Fools,” Otis insulted. “This is the one time I’ll flee Death,” he turned right around and slipped his hands in his pockets.

“Hurry up, Cass. I have shit to do. If I’m late for my night shift, I’m letting Mr. Drack-A-Lot suck your blood like he’s been wanting to since you were four,”

I cringed at the thought and reached out for the closest man of the three which was Adonis. “Hell to the no, no, no! That creep of a stalker isn’t getting near me. He’s a panty stealer!”

Otis looked over his shoulder, his usual emotionless expression remained.

“Says who?”

“Uh, everyone,” I emphasized. “Right, Adonis?”

“The women who flaunt all over me at the club always bring him up,” He put an arm over my shoulder and brought me close to him. “Cass is right on in that department. Drake’s a perv. Plus, I’m surprised he hasn’t gotten arrested for all the times he’s tried to drink a girl’s blood on sight. Why is he still working at the Blood Protection Services when he can’t even purge that crave for the strawberry juice?”

Strawberry juice was the code name for blood among most supernaturals when they were around humans. The guys were now getting used to saying blood around me, something Everett wouldn’t allow them to do until I got my period.

Silly, right? It must have been in one of those “How To Raise A Human Child Correctly” handbooks he carries around all the time. The previous edition was so outdated.

“Anyways, get moving Cass.” Otis got back to the point.

“I still have three more sets to try,”

“It’s the same shit,” Otis was going to pop a blood vessel with his impatience. A typical trait of his.

“No, it’s not,” I argued, clearing my throat.

“Oh no,” Tristian interrupted. “Here comes the lecture on Lingerie Panties 101,”

“I’m glad you’re prepared,” I sweetly replied and gave him a wink.

Dominick walked over to stand next to Otis, his 6′2″ chosen height a little obvious versus Otis and Adonis 6′0″ height.

Fae’s had the ability to grow taller or shorter if they so choose to. Dominick always loved to be tall, especially when he worked as a model at multiple agencies and had been on covers like Time, Vogue, and other A-listing companies. It was a good height for him anyway, unless he had to do a quick role in a movie of badass, 6”6” warriors.

Dominick looks good in gold armor. What was I about to talk about again?

“I’m heading to the men department. I need some boxers,”

“Coming!” Tristian scrambled out of his seat.

“Hmph,” Otis was already walking away, not caring where they went.

“Hey! I didn’t start my lesson,” I called out.

“Hurry up!” The three of them replied and were out of my sight. I looked up at Adonis as he gave me a flirty smirk.

“Looks like I’m your only student Professor Thorn,” he winked and waltz over to the chair Tristian was sitting in. Lowering into the pink fluffiness, he leaned back like he sat on a throne and graciously lifted his right leg to rest on his left, his eyes absorbing every curve and line of my body.

“Proceed on with your lecture as you try on the remaining three sets. I’ll wait,”

“Tease,” I muttered, annoyed with how sexy he could look by using that seducing voice of his.

It was the one thing about Incubus that made them so dangerous. Whether they looked like Gods or a sewer monster, all they had to do was use that low rumble voice of theirs and sold. You’ll automatically find them attractive and whether you kept your panties on or off were now in their hands.

My four “brothers” or bros for short. Obviously, we were all from different family backgrounds, and Everett never officially adopted us. He didn’t think we deserved to be locked down into a family simply because we’d been gathered together in close timelines.

Not adopting us gave us the freedom to carry our family names, something that was still important in the supernatural world, even if our parents discarded us. It also meant if we suddenly didn’t meet eyes with Everett anymore, we could go our separate ways with no hard feelings.

We all knew that wouldn’t happen, simply because Everett was the calmest supernatural I’d ever met.

Unless you stole his jar of honey as a prank. Then you might as well dig your grave, lay in it, and cover yourself up before he finds you.

Tristian Cardinal. Twenty-four, laid back shapeshifter. He was the playful one out of the bunch. Never too serious unless he wanted to commit a murder. The dangerous thing about shapeshifters is they could literally shift into anything they wanted.

A boy, girl, your ex, a damn tree. From what he’d gathered from Everett regarding his family, they were known as the top shapeshifters in their community. As to why they decided Tristian wasn’t a good fit for them is still unknown to this date.

Everett had found him during the worst snowstorms in NYC. I’m surprised he hadn’t froze to death, but what did he decide to magically shift into? A campfire.

It seemed completely odd for a bear to roam through the blizzard streets and see a burning flame in the corner of an alleyway. Shifting into objects was something only a few shapeshifters could do, and it was costly on the body.

Tristian almost died after having a two-week fever once he’d changed back. He was 6′0″ like Otis and Adonis, and always got confused with an angel supernatural due to his last name, blue eyes, and shoulder-length blond hair.

Why he didn’t just change it to any other color was beyond me. I personally think he likes messing with people.

With his caramel complexion, it was hard for people to tell what ethnicity he was, and to be honest, none of us really knew either. He was a shapeshifter after all, and that meant if he wanted to be Caucasian one day and African the next, he literally could.

Another reason why he was dangerous and constantly asked to join any sort of police, navy, or secret ops cooperation.

Dominick Goldenmoon. Twenty-three, smart cookie with the most perfect skin, flawless facial features, and deemed the sexiest fae alive for three years running.

He had a rare hair color which so happened to be emerald green and all the way to his butt in length. Top it all off with tiny strands of gold tinsel that changed color on his every command, you had yourself a walking Christmas God.

Let’s be real. If you hate Christmas, it’s because you couldn’t get an autograph from this hot thing of a fae.

With orange eyes that remind you of sunsets with gold stars to add to the romantic shade, his ability to shift his height simply added to the loving fantasy he gave women - and men - every day with his face up on billboards and wall art.

Why he was given up? He was too cute.

His parents said he caught way too much attention with his cuteness and due to their status and jobs at the time, it would be more of a hindrance to keep him out of the public eye.

Or just everyone’s eye.

Who knows if they were undercover spies, or just didn’t want to carry the burden of raising Dominick, but I always wondered as we all grew older if they regretted it with how famous and successful Dominick had become.

He was the youngest billionaire, and even with his jaw-dropping, panty throwing looks, he could walk around the mall without getting mobbed. A few autographs and human stalkers, of course, but the one thing about supernaturals was they respected one’s space.

Unless they were sent to kill you.

We’d only had one close call with a crazy stalker, but many forgot that Dominick was a Fae and what they called a master. It was a fancy title to say he had the ability to control all the elements connected to nature. So fire, water, earth, the cool stuff.

He’s basically a sexy Aang from Avatar.

Then there were my Von Dolorosa twin bros.

Otis and Adonis, twenty-five identical twins who somehow took the entire genetic pool of one parent. Otis took his vampire trait from his father, while Adonis took his incubus trait from his mother.

Their parents were obviously enjoying a fling, a common activity for among supernaturals to procreate potential badass hybrid children. When they gave birth to the twins, they expected they would be both be hybrids, take over their fortune and coven while having the ability to control with merely their voice, but their baby concoction didn’t go as plan.

That’s why they were ditched and raised by Everett.

The two may look exactly the same with their short black hair that they either spiked up or gelled back depending on their mood, and their daunting plum purple eyes, but they were complete opposites.

Adonis was chilled back and only cared about having a good time. He took things slow unless it meant getting to the bedroom faster, and he could whisk and supernatural off their feet with a little hint of tune.

Adonis was actually a ballad singer, who sang deep, soul-hitting romance songs some making you cry with heartache and others that could get you from zero to one-thousand in the bedroom with the first three words.

Seeing as he only started at the beginning of this year, he was only a millionaire at the moment, but I’m sure he’d end up on the Forbes list with Dominick by the new year.

Though he was chilled most of the time, he actually was a hard worker when he wasn’t reading or writing lyrics.

Or slicing all the lingerie I own for shits and giggles.

He loved to paint his nails either black or purple. No one ever teased or questioned him as to why he liked to do his nails, and it really wasn’t anyone’s business. It made him happy, and none of us cared.

Unless he ever chose another color out of the wheel of shades.

His brother, on the other hand, was the complete opposite.

Otis was a jackass. No, that word wasn’t close to defining his asshole personality. Maybe it was a vampire thing, or he just liked being an angry jerk, but he was the definition of anger management problems.

His expression always altered between a frown or an emotionless glare and if he did crack a smile it was either because he was genuinely happy which happens three times a year among our group, or he’s excited to stab people with his nails and drain every bit of their blood.

To donate…

That was one of the odd things about Otis. Though his outer appearance was like a harsh whip of approaching death, he did a lot for the supernatural community, especially for vampires.

He was the youngest CEO of the biggest blood supplier in the world, his biggest lab right here in NYC. Even though it was a multi-billionaire dollar company, that donated globally to both humans and supernaturals alike, he still went in to sit and make sure everything went smoothly.

Heck, sometimes he even helped take blood from volunteers.

Whether it was because he was an attractive beast with his impeccable pale skin that made his purple eyes pop out or the rare occasions that his eyes turned striking red, ninety-five percent of the volunteer blood donors were women.

Not to forget that Model Companion Collab Otis and Dominick did during Valentine’s day that broke donating blood records across the world.

He may have been an ass, but he had a big heart, and that’s all that mattered.

Therefore, my four bros were impeccable supernaturals in society, and I was well…me.

Cassandra Thorn. Just turned twenty, 5’7”, small waist but one-inched gained on the thighs and hips, unemployed human, with a sassy attitude, a lip that won’t shut up when I need it to, and my sarcasm is top-notch.

Don’t get me wrong, there were some good qualities aside from my BTS diagnosis.

I had a knack at kickboxing or anything athletic. I could eat like no other girl, beating the record at the latest Japanese restaurant competition and earned all of us a free dinner pass for next year. I was good a drawing symbol, but anything more than that was asking too much, and I could sleep through wars.

Did I mention I was incoherent as fuck when I was half asleep? Wait…not a good quality.

With all my amazing positives, that left me with very few job qualifications, and even though I got into the supernatural university the guys got into for fast-paced studies, I still couldn’t find a job I’d like.

With Tristian having a job interview with one of the best secret op agencies in the world, I’d be the only one in the group without employment.

It would only be a matter of time before things got boring. I had a hint of ADHD, so the whole staying home and doing nothing all day long wasn’t going to last me long before I went insane.

No one wants to deal with insane Cassandra. She’s bad. Believe me.

That left me with very few options, but in Princess Cass style, I’d shove them to the side and worry about them tomorrow.

It wasn’t like I desperately need money. Having a rich guardian to look after you meant always getting a weekly allowance that was far too much for the average human.

For a supernatural though, it was probably pennies - or should I say five cents seeing as they got rid of those coins. Were too human for the supernatural government.

It was only a matter of time before a hundred-dollar bills became the new ten dollars.

Most supernaturals were rich, and those who weren’t either lost the chance by doing a crime or sided with the humans during the first wave of changes.

It wasn’t necessarily hard to earn money, but it was easy to lose it all.

Like buying lingerie every week for instance.

“I know I love looking at myself when I’m not having a pimply party on my face, but how long are you gonna stare at the mirror for Cass?”

Slowly turning my head back to look at the seduction god of an incubus, I stuck my tongue out at him. “Did you know if you stare at yourself every day, you can change your perception of oneself. I’m doing that. It’s part of my ritual,”

“If you think that is what’s going to get you a plump ass, go back to the squat challenge,” Adonis concluded. “At least I can watch how low you can go,”

“Pervert,” I grumbled under my breath. “Let me try the other sets,”

“No one’s stopping you,” he practically hummed. I had to shiver off those tingles sensations that ran up my body and reminded me that I was a girl and not immune to his gift of seduction.

“Hold that musical tongue of yours,” I grumbled but went right onto changing.

After trying the other two sets that weren’t my style, I was on the last set when I overheard some girls squealing.

“Ah! Isn’t that Adonis in the VIP waiting section?!”

“Oh goodness, yes! His voice is so amazing. I have every single soundtrack. You can’t believe how epic my sex life has been with it playing in the background,”

“Seriously? Those rumors are legit?”

“Yes! Hands down the best thing you can add to your relationship! You can have pizza delivery and play it in the background and your partner will love you! It sets you in the perfect mood. I and Adam haven’t fought in MONTHS! We used to fight every day,”

“That’s sensational,”

“Damn right,”

“What’s he doing here? He has a girlfriend?”

“Nah. He’s probably with his sister.”

“He doesn’t have a sister,”

“Nah, nah. The girl that’s always around him and the other three epic supernaturals. Adonis, his twin brother Otis, Tristian Cardinal, and Dominick Goldenmoon. They’re like the Supernatural Bros of NYC. Aside from the twins, they’re from different backgrounds and obviously different supernatural traits but together, it’s like looking at a piece of art. They’re all-powerful, talented, and filthy rich!”

“So the girl is just their sister? Well…like not biologically but hangs with them?”

“Think of it like a girl who’s their friend, type deal.”

“They’re not dating or friends with benefits?”

“Nope. Think of it like a crew and she’s the sole female around a ground of testosterone flowing gods.”

“Lucky. I’d die if I was in touching distance of Adonis. My heart is already palpitating like crazy. Imagine being around all four of them?”

“Hashtag dead.”

The continued to bicker while I waited in front of the change room door, my fingers linger on the lock I’d opened but held to keep the door closed.

That was the one problem being in a group of guys. The question of the century is whether or not you’d fall in love with one of them and screw up the dynamic entirely, or the off chance of falling in love with all of them.

My feelings had always been neutral when it came to the romance department among my bros. I never really lingered on the idea. I’d had my share of dating both human and supernatural individuals, and it usually ended with their asses getting kicked by my bros for breaking my heart and me eating a tub of ice cream.

Okay, five tubs of ice cream but who keeps count of those things. Tristian does, but he only tracks it to make fun of me.

The guys had also had their flings, but supernaturals got bored easily, and when you truly were blessed with it all, you wanted more from a relationship than a partner to travel around the world with.

I wanted a guy with character. One who could hold a conversation and was willing to learn new things. If they were attractive, that was a bonus, but generally speaking, it wasn’t a deal-breaker for me.

I guess being around supernaturals all the time lifted my standards just a bit in the human category of dating, but if only I could find a guy who didn’t want a quick fling in the sheets my dating life would be apparent.

They would have to be approved by the bros to stand a chance after all my failed matches, but maybe that meant I had a chance of lasting six months with them.

Regardless of my failed dating life, it left me being the usual talk of the gossip channels on whether I’d date them all or be the one to ruin their group dynamic.

The pressure from it all was the reason I tried to not think of them as romantic interests, but once I reached eighteen, things got a little harder.

That’s the age where your hormones really kick in.

I thought sixteen was a pain when I finally got my period, but nope. I take it all back. Eighteen is when your body doesn’t listen to you and makes you practically psycho in the process.

Did I “like-like” Adonis, Otis, Tristian, and Dominick?

I still didn’t know, but again, yet another thing to push to the corner of my mind until I needed to face it.

The door opened, snapping me out of my thoughts as my body jerked forward and right into a wall of clothed muscle.

“Adonis,” I groaned against his chest, knowing he was the culprit by the scent of his latest Louis Vuitton cologne.

Incubi and Succubi loved to smell good. If they had a hint of stench on them, there would be hell to pay for if they couldn’t bathe or at least drench themselves in aroma fragrances.

“Stop listening to stupid stuff and let me see you,”

“Who said I was eavesdropping?”

“You should apply to be a reporter,” Adonis suggested. “You’d get all the goodies for big companies to gossip about, now turn around so I can see if these panties make your ass look great,”

I giggled and shook my head. “Weird incubus,”

“That you adore,” he added and helped spin me around like we were now on a dance floor. Letting go of my hand, I saw in the reflection of the mirror that Adonis took a step back and crossed his arms over his chest in observation.

“Good. Like this one and the first set,”

“I never let you see the other two,” I noted.

“Don’t have to,” he shrugged. “I knew from when you picked them up that they weren’t good choices for your body type,”

“Why does that make me feel like I’m fat?” I pondered more to myself.

Adonis playful smirk made me want to count my blessings. I really didn’t understand how I hadn’t fallen for him like any other human.

“Because you sometimes forget you’re a sexy woman with a small waist, amazing curves, and the perfect ass,”

“Yet I’m doing that squat challenge because?”

“I don’t know,” he shrugged. “It was your idea to make yourself suffer every day by dropping it like its hot,”

“You could have told me that,” I slapped my forehead in annoyance.

“And miss all the squatting? Why in the devil’s name would I do that? I’m an incubus, not an angel. Keeping doing them,”

“For Adonis’ entertainment,”

“And the rest of the guys. We’re betting to see how long you’ll last until you not-so-secretly eat another entire cake,”

“My birthday is next year September,” I reminded.

“And when has that stopped you from passing by the dessert bakery to grab a cake or two?”

“It’s not my fault,” I argued. “The owner makes good cakes,”

“And is also a succubus who sprinkles addicting magic on top of her stuff so you all go back and make her bank,” he concluded. Slapping my ass, he grinned at my flustered face.

“Go away. I’m going to change,”

“Why is that stopping you? I’ve seen you naked before,”

“Which is silly! I’m twenty now,”

“A number doesn’t change anything,” he validated.

“Stop arguing. I don’t want you here,” I concluded and crossed my arms as I moved my head to one side in pure defiance.

When he didn’t speak, I poked an eye open, to see he was hovering over me with that sexy smile of his.

“You really don’t want me, Cassandra?” That oozing delicacy of hotness had every goosebumps on the edge as I stared at him like he was the next chocolate cake trend the city had ever seen.

“I do…I mean…no! Dammit, Adonis! Take your seducing voodoo out of my change room,” I pushed him slightly and he chuckled.

“Boo,” He leaned in so close that my body froze. “That’s no fun, Cassandra,”

This lethal man knows I liked it when I’m called by my full name…in bed.

I felt my bra loosen then, and I watched it drop to the floor like it had lost its purpose in life. My eyes returned to the culprit, noticing how his index finger returned to his pressed lips, that sharp fingernail shining it had won a bloody reward.

“Oops. I’ll pay for that,” With a wink, he was out of my change room. I was ready to run out and beat his ass up, but I really didn’t want my girls to be on the next cover of Supernatural Daily.

Damn you, Adonis!

With a huff, I locked the door and began to change into my black yoga tights and red crop top combo.

“Did you hear supernaturals are getting kidnapped lately?”

“Huh? No way,”

The sudden gossip made me pause as I readied to unlock the door once more.

“It’s in the hidden news articles. They don’t want to bring it to the public eye yet because they’re not sure if they’re kidnapping innocent supernaturals or criminals working for organizations. It’s an apparent mess. I overheard my boss talking about it.”

“That’s scary, but I guess it’s nothing we got to worry about.”

“Being a human is hard when the rest of the world is better than you, but I guess you got a point,”

“C’mon, let’s go cheer ourselves up with ice cream and some more shopping,”

“Sounds like a plan,”

With a frown, I pondered about what they had just said.

“Why would anyone kidnap supernaturals?” I quietly questioned. With a shrug, I picked my favorite sets and left the change room.

I only last five steps before something kissed me on the cheek. My whole face burned hot as I slowly looked to see Adonis now leaning against the wall of the entrance to the changerooms.

“Your butt looks extra cute in yoga pants, too.” He nodded in agreement. “You also forgot to put underwear on. I rushed back to the change room to see the underwear I remember putting on was on the floor with a clean cut at the waistline.

One thing I always forgot about the twins. The two could exchange powers with little effort.

In this case, Adonis using Otis’ supernatural speed.

“Adonis von Dolorosa! You’re a dead incubus! Those are my favorite!”

I already knew he was gone, running like his life depended on it, but I’d get him back for this. I always got payback.

Shaking my head, I crouched down to pick up the lace panties, had a moment of silence, and threw them in the garbage on the way out.

Not to self. Never bring my supernatural brothers lingerie shopping.

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