K A N E

I was upstairs in my room typing on my computer when Riley knocked on my partially open door. My head snapped up to see her standing there, hands on her hips.

For once, the heat didn't rise to my face, even when I remembered our last encounter. I had been more open with her than I'd ever been with anyone else, especially on that particular subject. Strangely enough, I hadn't even really wanted to tell her; the words just seemed to flow out of my mouth before my brain was fully aware of what I was doing.

Hoping that she wasn't here to pick up that painful conversation where we'd left off, I closed my computer and got ready for what she was about to say. But it wasn't what I'd been expecting.

"I have a weird feeling," she blurted out, grasping my door with both hands.

My heart was beating faster now. "What...kind of feeling?"

"I don't know, I..." She let out a breath. "I was just downstairs and I noticed that one of the windows leading to the back yard was open. But I'm sure that I shut it earlier."

"Okay," I drew out, wanting to calm her but also keeping in mind that she had a tendency for dramatics. "It could have been Finn."

"I just asked him. He's been in the training room this entire time. I came up here as fast as I could; something deep within me was telling me to get away from that part of the house."

I got to my feet. "I'll go with you to check downstairs. I bet it's just an ordinary thing, like the wind."

She gave me a flat look. "Kane, you know I admire your unflappability, but I think it's something worse than a little breeze."

Grabbing my staff from where it leaned against the wall, I added quietly, "Let's hope it's not."

I crept down the stairs, Riley following closely behind me. The farther down I went, the quieter I became out of some sudden instinct. On the bottom step, I looked around the corner, my staff already in front of my body for protection. It was dark in the lower level. Too dark.

Down the hallway we went, encountering no opposition. My eyes became accustomed to the darkness as they swept across the place before us. Nothing seemed out of place yet.

Wordlessly, Riley pointed to the open window where the hallway and a living room met. From what I could see, the path ahead was clear. But the hallway opened up into the much wider room, meaning that anything could be hidden just beyond the corner.

Holding my staff outwards, ready to ward off anything that jumped out, I flicked on the lights in the entire area. It was clear. I stepped forward.

"See?" I said to Riley. "I don't think there's-"

My sentence was stopped by movement to my right. Riley yelped when we both saw the man as he swung his blade for my throat. The only thing that stopped his blow was my staff. I stumbled back, stunned by the sudden attack.

Riley kicked our enemy's legs, hoping to push him back from where he had us almost pinned against the wall. I swung my staff as hard as I could, aiming for his head. If I could hit him in the right place, he'd be knocked out instantly. But he ducked and swiped his blades out, slicing a few thin cuts along my legs. While he was down near the ground, I brought my knee to his face.

That gave Riley enough time to skirt around him and get into the kitchen. The man and I sparred for our lives while she frantically searched for anything that could be used as a weapon. Though my strength was no match for his, he was faster and more skilled at dodging my blows.

When the attacker's knife got too close to my face, I forced it away from me with a powerful thrust of my staff. The knife flew through the air and skittered across the marble floor, but he wasted no time. Gripping the staff I was holding horizontally, he took me by surprise and shoved me backward. My head hit against the wall painfully.

In the time it took me to regain my footing, he pulled out a gun that had been concealed up until now. "It's nothing personal," he said with upmost seriousness, "But I was told to cause as much damage as I could."

The gun went off and I leapt to the side, refusing to get shot. My ears ringing and nearly deaf, I rolled on the ground and returned to my feet. Seeing Riley stalking up behind him with a frying pan in her hand, I knew I had to distract him long enough for her to hit him.

So I stood still long enough for him to take another shot. As soon as the bullet hit the wall beside me, Riley swung the pan towards the assassin. With some almost-inhuman senses, he realized that she was behind him and struck out behind him. She fell to the ground and he was unhurt.

Finn walked into the room at that moment, wondering what all the ruckus was coming from. Taking in the sight of Riley and I fighting the man Hundsen had sent, he instantly joined the fight, spewing fire out of both hands. The flames caused the man to jump back into me.

His large body collided with mine. I shoved him off as soon as possible and his body flew through the air before hitting the ground with a thud. But he got back up as I did, this time with the knife he'd dropped earlier in his hand again. I ran at him, giving Riley time to stand up and get away from the fight. But as soon as his knife struck the staff I was beating him with, the force was enough to crack the stick in half. The broken ends clattered to the ground.

Finn took the opportunity to slap both hands on the man's face. Steam issued out from his flesh and I knew that he was burning our attacker. Yelling, the man shoved Finn off. Before Riley or I could run in and intervene, he used Finn's momentum against him and flipped him through the window behind them. He landed on the ground outside, motionless. Glass lay everywhere on the floor.

Riley and I then simultaneously attacked the intruder. He kicked my leg aside first, making me stumble. Then, as I pushed myself back up, he wrenched the frying pan out of Riley's hands and hit her so hard in the head with it that I heard a crack. My heart dropped to the floor with her. She didn't get back up.

The man turned to me just in time to see the rage brewing in my eyes. My hands were clenched at my sides after watching what he'd just done. I was angry before, but now...

I looked at Riley, sprawled out on the ground, a trickle of blood running down her face. He was going to suffer for that.

Picking up the broken halves of my staff, I waited for him to come to me. Then, when he was closer than ever, I hurled one end of the spiked stick towards him. It was traveling at such a high velocity that he was actually knocked back as it pierced his abdomen.

I then shoved his injured body against the wall so forcefully that it made a dent. "Who are you, and what do you want?"

After a few wheezing coughs, he answered, "I was sent by Adiago Hundsen. This was just a warning to you, to Jake Evans."

"A warning for what?" I spat, shoving him back into the wall harder.

"That this is only the beginning."

That was it. With the other end of my staff, I stabbed him through the chest, impaling him on the wall. I watched as the light in his eyes went out. They turned glassy and staring.

There was blood on my hands. His blood. I didn't bother to wipe it off.

This was the first time I'd ever killed anyone. But as I looked over to where Riley was bleeding out and unconscious, I knew that it was worth it.