In the darkness of the bedroom that surrounded him, Haldir tried to drift off to sleep. Teddy said a spell of protection over the bedroom door before he went to sleep, but Haldir didn’t trust the warlock’s skill yet. 

When he finally relaxed enough to let his mind wander in the celestial plane, Haldir saw Tessa in his mind. Not the Tessa that laid beside Teddy in the other bed as weak and helpless as the day she was born, but the one she was meant to be. 

As the angry blaze of her fury swam around her and stole all the air from his lungs with her heat, Tessa raised her hands and her eyes turned as black as the depths of space. Glowing as bright as any sun, he walked through the fields of her enemies and cackled in her witchy way as she laid them all to waste.

She was dreadful and beautiful and even the oldest of warlocks bowed down before her in reverence as they witnessed her carnage. She was the Queen of all Ruin and even the devil himself feared her.

Following her through the war torn bodies, Haldir squinted through the flames and black smoke then saw a familiar form on horseback in the distance and he suddenly understood what it all meant. 

As the king climbed down from his horse, he joined Tessa and Teddy on a hilltop and they all spoke out in the old language as they lifted their hands to the sky. With a deafening shockwave that threw him to the ground, the three fire starters set the whole world on fire and Haldir’s eyes snapped open.

While his heart pounded against his chest, Haldir scanned the dimly lit bedroom then heard the taps to the shower turn on. He sank back onto the mattress until he heard the familiar sound of Tessa cursing like a drunken sailor. 

“Is that as hot as the goddamn water gets? This is a bunch of bullshit! What a fucking dump!”

Looking over to Teddy pulling a pillow over his head to block out his siters loud mouth in the bed on the other side of the room, Haldir smiled a toothy grin through his beard. From the way she looked last night when he tucked her in, Haldir still wasn’t convinced she’d make it until morning, despite Billy’s assurances. 

Chuckling to himself over her unending tirade of insults to the apartment they were staying in, Haldir went to the bathroom door and knocked. “You alright, Tess?”

The plucky teen growled back to him through the dirty, cheap slab of wood, “No I’m not alright you asshole. I’m freezing my ass off. In case you weren’t aware, I bled to death yesterday. Can’t you book a nice hotel or something? This is the shittiest place I’ve ever been to in my life. Is that a fucking cockroach? Goddamn it! I hate bugs.”

As he laughed to himself, Haldir straightened out his messy bed head with his fingers. “We’ll talk about it when you’re all done in there. Hurry up. Yell if you need some help.” Haldir went to the kitchen as Tessa continued to complain loudly about her less than five-star accommodations.

While Haldir grabbed a couple of bowls from the cupboard, Teddy rubbed the hair on top of his head and sat down across from him. Haldir slid a bowl in front of him and put a box of cereal on the table. “When did she wake up?”

Teddy took the box of cereal from the table and checked out the front of it before he opened it then dumped some in his bowl. “She started yapping to me in my dream a few hours ago and she hasn’t shut up since. I think I liked her better when she was out cold.”

“Well, good to see she’s back to her usual loveable self.” Taking a seat across from Teddy, Haldir looked him over. Whereas Tessa always wore her emotions on her sleeve and left no doubt about how she felt about something, Teddy kept everything bottled up. He always seemed calm and charming, but he was still just a kid experiencing a very adult nightmare. “How are you holding up, Teddy?”

He shook his head as he poured milk over the cereal. The only thing keeping Teddy sane was his need to take care of Tessa and keep her safe. Now that she was feeling better, part of him felt useless. No matter how much he complained about his sister’s bad decisions and tendency to lose her temper, Teddy liked being her handler. Now that his parents were gone, it was the only thing that was important. “What’s done is done. Tessa’s better, that’s all that matters.”

As he set the milk down and picked up his spoon, Teddy looked at Haldir. “So where are we off to now?”

Haldir swallowed his mouthful of fruity pebbles and shrugged. “Wherever you two want to go I suppose.”

“Can we go to the Realm?” Teddy looked at Haldir and bit his lip. He knew what the answer would be. He’d already had that conversation with his parents.

Haldir sipped his coffee and shook his head. “Jasper said not unless there was no other option. You’re not travelers. If you go there it will be forever. Tessa’s…your mate could be here Teddy. You should try finding her first before you take such a drastic step.”

When Tessa brought her loud diatribe back to the bedroom, Teddy smiled as he glanced over to her. “Someplace warm and pretty then. Maybe an island somewhere. She’d like that.”

Stretching his arms out to his side then over his head, Haldir yawned. “I’ll see what I can do. Your parents have properties in fake names all over the world. I’m sure at least one of them is somewhere nice.”

“Is there anything else to eat except cereal? I’m starving” Tessa threw herself down into the chair beside Teddy and grabbed her spoon in her hand. Her clean, wet curly hair hung down her back and her skin was back to its darker hue.

Haldir glanced back at the cupboard. “Not too much. Mostly canned and boxed foods. We’ll get something better when we bounce in a little while.”

Tessa nodded and took a deep breath through her nose before she looked at Teddy. “Was all that true?”

Haldir glanced back and forth between them. “Is what true?”

Teddy looked up to Haldir and curled his lips under as he squinted at him and shook his head. It was the same look Jasper gave him when he was trying to convey the need to tread carefully when speaking. “I just told her that Rafik gave her his blood and saved her life.”

Haldir twisted his lips to the side then glanced up to Tessa. “That’s true. We don’t think he knew what his parents were doing.”

Tessa tapped her spoon on the table. “He knew. Maybe he didn’t know what they were going to do to me, but he knew what they were doing to Momma and Daddy.”

Teddy pushed his spoon through his cereal. “You don’t know that. You didn’t see him when he found you like that. He was shocked and scared.”

As she swallowed down her lover’s betrayal, Tessa sniffed back her tears. “I told you something bad was going to happen. I saw it on his face. He knew. Even if he didn’t, it hardly matters. Everyone we love is dead regardless.”

While the children pushed their cereal around the bowl, Haldir tried to think of something to say that might give them a second of peace and hope. “So where are we off to Tessa? We can go anywhere in the world you wish. Just say the world.”

Tessa clenched her jaw and looked up to Haldir with an arched brow. Teddy and Tessa may have got their mothers complexion and charms, but the rest of them belonged to their father. Haldir had been on the receiving end of that particular expression many times. “I want to go home and kill all those bastards.”

Haldir looked back to his coffee and smirked. It was exactly what he expected from Isabelle and Jasper’s offspring. The Mason’s and Abiyoe’s were two of the oldest and rarest bloodlines in the witching world. The thirst for fiery self-righteous, blood thirsty revenge ran deep in that family tree. “Billy has that all covered, Tess.”

Putting down her spoon, Tessa crossed her arms and leaned forward. “I want to kill Rafik myself.”

His shoulders dropped as he blew out a hard breath and looked at Tessa. “No. You don’t, believe me.”

Rolling her teary eyes away from the table, Tessa drew her face up into an ugly scowl. “Oh yes I fucking do. I’ll cut his goddamn heart out. No matter how long it takes, I’ll kill that motherfucker.”

Glancing over to Teddy, Haldir shook his head. “We can’t go back home. Not until Billy gets it all sorted out.”

When the nagging itch returned to her, Tessa wiggled her nose and grabbed a napkin from the table. “Goddamn it with this again.”

A sinking feeling came to Haldir’s chest as he watched Tessa scratch her nose. Supernaturals don’t get sick like humans do and whatever was happening had nothing to do with a cold or allergies. “What do you mean again?”

Tessa balled her fists and cursed her nose. “Would you fucking stop! It started last night before dinner.”

Haldir’s face drained of all color as she said the words. Even with all their learning, the children were still fresh to the supernatural world and didn’t know all the nuances of the ancient folklore. “Go get your fucking bags right now. They’re coming.”

As time slowed down, Haldir stood up and followed the children into the bedroom as he picked his bag off the floor and stuffed his clothes from last night inside. His heart pounded against his chest and in his ears as he brought the children tight against his sides then misted to the top of the building across the street.

The chill of the Autumn air in Massachusetts was a stark contrast to Savannah. As Haldir quickly put on his clothes, Teddy took Tessa in his arms and pulled her close as she shivered against him. “It’s ok. I got you.”

Haldir rummaged through the bag on her back. “Jesus, what a mess!” As he came to the blanket her mother knitted for her, Haldir pulled it from the bag and wrapped it around her. 

As they huddled up and shivered together, Teddy peeked over Tessa’s wet hair and asked, “Why are we still here? Let’s get the fuck out of here.”

“I want to see who shows up.” Haldir looked both ways down the street and saw a line of vehicles barreling towards them. 

While a seemingly endless group of people exited the three vans that pulled up to the building, Teddy said, “Oh, shit. It’s Oliver. They got him.”

A tall young wizard that resembled Omar stepped out of the passenger seat of the van and grabbed Oliver by the back of his neck. Oliver pointed to the window where they’d just been then fell to the ground as Teddy gasped and pulled Tessa closer. “Don’t look Tess. Just hold on to me.” 

The wizard stepped over Oliver’s lifeless body and motioned for his people to follow him inside. Haldir pulled them both close as he saw the hit squad pass by the window of the apartment where they sat together not a few a few minutes ago.  

Within minutes, they returned to the sidewalk and climbed in their vehicles just as the apartment window exploded and flames shot out from it.

Haldir held Tessa and Teddy tightly to his chest as he watched the vans drive away. “We can’t trust anyone anymore, children. We’re on our own. It’s time to drop out for a while.”