Immortals are all different in some ways but similar in others. The ability to tell someone else's race is something all immortals have in common.

Mainly, immortals can tell someone's race only by sense. Every race's magic is slightly different, and it affects the person's aura. Sensing those differences is an inherent ability. Sensing another person's aura comes as naturally as breathing, and no human, no matter how much magic residue they have in them, can identify someone's race.

So Jesse's question made it abundantly clear he was suspecting I wasn't human.

"I asked Irene," I replied, hoping Irene would cover for me if he asked her, "why? Are you pissed that I called you a kitten?"

"You asked Irene," he said, ignoring my jab at him.

"Yep. why? How do you think I knew?"

He looked at me for a long moment, then glanced away and shrugged, "nevermind. We're here."

A couple of minutes later, the tree cover cleared up, revealing the stunning view of an extensive bright blue lake glimmering under the sunlight.

Upon seeing Jesse, a group of twenty people scattered around instantly organized themselves in four neat rows. The junior soldiers.

"Do you know your way back?" Jesse asked me.

"Yes, thank you." I had a good sense of direction, and the woods always felt like home to me.

He gave me an odd look, then left.

I crouched down, "go play, Wes. I'll be a while."

Wes nudged my hand with his nose, the saddest canine expression I'd ever seen on his fierce face. I petted him, scratching between his ears."I know, big boy. I promise we'll play later. Okay?"

Wes ventured around the lake after a few more pets, and I went to start my first teaching assignment. I had no idea where to start. My only role models when it came to teaching were uncle Robert and Kenji. But Kenji was human, and these were immortals. So I decided to go for uncle Robert. He was a very good teacher , so I was feeling hopeful.

Twenty pairs of eyes stared at me, some curious, some skeptical, and one particular brown gaze was filled with excitement. Corbin was on the front row, his black curls as lively as ever.

I looked at them again. Most of them were shapeshifters and vampires, with only a few witches. The shapeshifters and the witches were all young, barely twenty years old. The vampires were all under two hundred years old. I was excited to see how this would play out.

"Well, then. Let's get this show going."

Arthur was clear about what he wanted me to teach them. He wanted them to be better versions of themselves. To make that happen, the first thing I needed to do was make them see that they were not the best version of themselves, that there was always room for improvement no matter how good they thought they were.

I could already see the cocky glint in some gazes. Serving directly under one of the Five was a privilege in the immortal world, hundreds of immortals apply, only a handful make it through. So these were young immortals who had been trained and cherry picked, maybe they had been told they were the best by their peers and their mentors, maybe they believed they were, and maybe they were. But arrogance was a fighter's greatest weakness, as uncle Robert would often tell me after I beat him.

The first thing I did was have them race. The doubt was written all over their faces, but it was a testament to their discipline that they didn't argue.

"Come on," I said after their thirtieth round around the lake, "Speed could make a difference in a life or death situation, you're slower than Wes right now."

Wes was panting next to me with his tongue out, not unlike the twenty immortals sitting around us. Immortals recovered quickly, compared to humans, but they weren't machines. At some point, the body would start needing more time to catch up with the damage.

And these immortals had reached that point.

"Alright, enough rest. Let's get going. Another round. The last one arriving will give me two hundred push ups. Go!"

Grunting and cursing, they went. Wes slumped on the ground by my feet. I knelt down to pet him. "Good boy, you did great, didn't you?" he raised his head, tail swinging back and forth.

The first wave of runners came in almost thirty seconds later. They were getting slower than the previous round. When the last runner finally made it in, I realized he was a vampire. How ironic.

"What's wrong, big guy? You didn't get your blood today?" I said, walking up to where he crouched with his hands on his knees, breathing loudly.

He looked up, brown eyes furious. "This is bullshit, why do we have to run? We're fighters, not racers."

Everyone quieted down. I nodded and stopped a few feet away from him. "Interesting. What if you're in a situation where you have to run for your life?"

"I'm a soldier," he stood up, drawing himself to his full height which was impressive at six feet four, "I don't run away, I fight."

"Uh-huh," I said, "so if you find yourself in a situation where you're being chased by, let's say, thirty bear shapeshifters. You're going to stick around and fight? I don't know how you made it past your first century if you've lived with this strategy."

His face tightened, but he replied, "that scenario is a bit over the top."

I sighed, "okay, then. Let's say you will never, in your immortal life, be faced with such a situation. What if you're somehow injured, you're bleeding badly, and you need to either fight or run. Let me tell you, you can't run fast enough right now, let alone when you're injured. And your stamina sucks, which means you won't be able to fight for long anyway."

He snapped his mouth shut, hands fisting. I looked around, met everyone's eyes. "You may be present here simply because you were ordered to, but at least try to learn something since you're here anyway. No one is invincible, no one is perfect." I pursed my lips when I realized there were still a few mutinous faces. "Who's the strongest person you guys know? The best fighter?"

"Arthur," some replied as one, while others nodded, their faces all alight with admiration.

"And do you see him sitting on his ass all day being lazy?" I said, "No. He trains, he keeps his physique impeccable even though he practically doesn't need to touch a person to kill them. The moment you get complacent about your abilities, the moment you start telling yourself that you don't need to practice your running or your marksmanship or your swordsmanship, that moment will be the beginning of your downfall."

Corbin, sitting under the shade of a tree along with Vanessa, looked up with a small smile. I winked at him.

"Alright, big guy. Two hundred pushups." I told the vampire, "Come on, me and you, let's see who gets it first."

He looked at me with wide, skeptical eyes, "you and me? Pushups?"

I dropped to the floor in a pushup stance and looked up at him, "you're game or what? If you beat me to it, I'll run thirty circles around the lake. How does that sound?"

He grinned, the others stirring and moving closer, "deal, but you have to straighten your arms all the way."

"Right back at you."

He dropped next to me, and we began. Vanessa sat in front of us, counting. Soon, the mood turned from defeat and frustration to cheerful and good-humored. There was a lot of teasing and cheering, but I reached the two hundred pushup mark before the vamp with a few seconds to spare.

He dropped to the ground, belly down. I sat next to him.

"How can you move so fast?" Vanessa asked. I laid back on my elbows, "I was running even before I could crawl."

Laughter sounded all around me, the vampire turned on his back and chuckled, "that doesn't even make sense."

"Well, I began my training very early on, and I had a good teacher, so I guess that helped."

"Must be really good for a human," Vanessa said.

I looked up at the bright sky, "he was. Alright, let's go. Since you're all so sick of running, let's do some fighting."

The rest of the training went smoothly after that, even the skeptical ones seemed to enjoy it. I had been trained by a strong and old vampire ever since I could walk, a vampire who knew a lot about immortals. Also, my seven years of headhunting work had me in all sorts of situations, hunting all kinds of rogues. So I did have a lot to teach them, and it felt good to know that the knowledge I got from uncle Robert would not stop at me, that it would be shared and hopefully, help save lives.

They also seemed to enjoy hearing my rogue hunting stories and I enjoyed telling them. All in all, it was a very nice afternoon.

After the training ended, I walked with Corbin, Vanessa and a few others until we parted ways where I would head to my cabin. Wes and I ran, stretching our legs. The big dog was such good company, I would truly miss him.

A small distance from the cabin, Wes gave a gleeful bark and sped up. I saw the reason when I caught up with him. Arthur was sitting with his back to a tree next to my tiny cottage. He grinned when Wes ran up to him, and roughly petted the excited dog with obvious affection.

"You little traitor," he told the dog, "a pretty lady comes around and you forget all about me."

A pretty lady, huh. I ran my hand over my head, the strands were getting longer, brushing the back of my neck. I was still indecisive on whether to cut them again or let them grow back. We would see.

Arthur flowed up to his feet, "How was the training?"

"Good, actually. They're good kids."

A lopsided smile, "you do realize some of those vampires are twice your age."

I rolled my eyes, "yes, but age isn't everything, otherwise you would've had them in your senior soldiers ranks."

"Mhm," he nodded, his hand absently petting Wes' head beside him, "Kat is back from the city, she got something."

I perked up, "what? Did they find him?"

"No, but there's a way," he said, "we're having a meeting, and I thought you'd like to be present."

I narrowed my eyes at him, "and you came all the way here in person to escort me to the house?" He could've simply sent word with someone.

His smile was as cold as it was amused, "you're very perceptive. Let's just say I don't feel comfortable when outsiders are on the island."

He was speaking about the witch, Poline. Did he think she might try something with me? As if reading my thoughts, he shook his head.

"No one is stupid enough to try anything on my territory, but curiosity can make people do stupid things."

"You could've made sure I didn't meet her."

"I could have," he said, "but I was curious as to how you would react to an immortal from Europe, and how she would react."

I scowled at him, "well, you said it yourself, curiosity can make people do stupid things."

He threw his head back and laughed, "I guess I walked right into that one."

Wes walked between Arthur and I, his black coat gleaming under the stubborn sun rays that sneaked through the thick cover of trees.

"What are you going to do when this is all over?" Arthur asked suddenly. I glanced at him, he was staring at me in that enrapt gaze of his.

"Go back to my life."

"What about Martin Malone?" he asked, "I suppose you had a reason for going through all the trouble to find out information about him."

Martin Malone. There wasn't much I could do about it, if I was being honest with myself. The trail was in Europe, if I wanted any chance at all of finding out who exactly hired him eleven years ago, I would have to go there. To Europe, where everything started. And everything ended.

"I don't know."

"I can help you, you know."

I scoffed, "and why would you do that?"

His smile held eons of arrogance and power, "You're very interesting. It had been a very long time since I was last intrigued by someone this much."

And that was very reassuring. Right. "What happens when you lose interest?"

He coked his head to the side, "I don't think that will happen anytime soon."

But it would happen, eventually. Before I could reply, he added, "think about it, Elle. I have the resources and the power to help you find out whatever it is you want to find out."

"You don't even know what it's all about."

"Exactly. The way I see it, you have two options: either you leave after we find the killer, by that time I would be released from my promise not to dig around in your past. So I will do whatever I can in order to figure you out."

Lovely. I gritted my teeth, "and what's option number two?"

"You stay. I'll help you with whatever it is you want. Of course, you will have to answer some of my questions if I were to be of any help."

Of course. "In exchange for what? If I stay and you help, what will I have to do?" because nothing was free.

He waved off his hand, "you can do whatever you want, you can keep training the junior soldiers if you wish. You would be a great asset wherever I place you."

And I amused him, let's not forget that. That was his main motivation for wanting me to stick around.

I shook my head. I couldn't believe I was even considering accepting his offer. The air in this place must have something weird because I was going insane.

Arthur was so approachable at times, very unlike someone who lived eons upon eons, that I kept forgetting he was one of the Five. If he found out what I was, the truth of my blood, there was an extremely low chance he would let me live.

Of course, the alternative would be to leave, and I bet my left arm that Arthur would stop at nothing in uncovering the truth about me. He would dig in the past and he was bound to find something. He would definitely find something.

Either way, I was screwed.

"Thank you for the offer, I'll take my chances away from you."

His sigh was long, "Elle, Elle. you do realize you can't hide forever. Sooner or later the truth will come out. Magic does not like being caged. Eventually, it will break out in a fury you cannot control."

It was already starting to. I could feel it.

In the past, whenever uncle Robert and I talked about what would happen in the future, our plans always included him. That was the thing about immortals. Death was so uncommon that they often forget about it. But no one on this earth was truly immortal.

I kept my silence. There was nothing to add. What Arthur said were simple facts. But I didn't have a way out. I knew I would be killed the moment my blood was uncovered. It would happen sooner or later. But if I had to go down, then I would take down the people responsible for casting me and uncle Robert out, the ones responsible for the massacre that killed a kind man eleven years ago and the execution of a mother twenty-five years ago. I would take them down with me if it was the last thing I did.

Arthur didn't press me for answers or explanations. Soon, we took a well traveled trail, and there were too many people on it that we couldn't talk privately.

Thomas greeted us when we entered the house, his head bowed at Arthur, "Sire, Miss Elle, everyone is waiting upstairs."

"Thank you, Thomas," Arthur clapped a hand on the wizard's shoulder. Wes went with Thomas to the kitchen, no doubt eager for food. I followed Arthur upstairs.

"By the way," he said walking beside me on the second floor hallway, "you should pay more attention to your accent, it kind of reverts to its origins when you're distracted."

I stopped in my tracks, wide eyed. He kept on walking, opened the door to the meeting room and got in.

Did my accent really show up? It had been very difficult to learn an american accent when I started living with humans. Especially since I had spent the first fourteen years of my life with an old irish vampire.

I must really be dropping my guard down around him. Bad. very bad. Figuring out I was irish would just get him a step closer to figuring me out.

Charles, Jesse and Kat were sitting across the table from Harvey, Amanda and Irene. Arthur stood at the head of the table, staring at the map spread on top of it. I took the seat next to Irene.

Arthur nodded at Kat.

"For those of you who don't know yet," Kat said looking straight at me, "we found the anchor's location."

"Right here," Arthur pointed at a red-marked spot on the map. It was in the heart of the west side of the city. The human dominated side of the city.

"It's located underground," Kat continued, "you all know the city has a tunnel maze built underground during the Witch War. They've been mostly closed off, some were collapsing and they're off limits for the public. But they somehow found a way in."

"Not something difficult considering the bastard can teleport," Jesse said.

Amanda leaned forward, "You said the demon can only move in a limited perimeter around the anchor, right?"

"Yes, from what I've felt around the anchor, it would be around fifteen miles," Kat looked at Arthur, "but it would be a good idea for you to check it out."

Arthur nodded, "I will. Now that the anchor is found, what's next?"

I glanced at Arthur. He really was different from what I expected. A man in his position would be dishing out orders left and right. He never did that. He always asked the others about their thoughts and ideas first, let them speak their mind, then made his decisions.

"The anchor enables him to hold his physical shape in our realm, right? What happens if we destroy the anchor?" Irene asked Kat.

"He will be able to keep his physical shape for a short amount of time, I would say twelve to twenty four hours."

"After that?"

"He will literally start draining out of life. There would be no magical feedback from his realm anymore, and that will slowly suck the life out of him. He'll end up an empty, shriveling husk. Of course, in those twelve hours, he could make another anchor and save himself."

"If he makes another anchor we'll have to start all over again," I cleared my throat, american accent, american accent.

"Better keep it then," Harvey said, "at least that way we know where he can be. Unless... can he make another anchor right now?"

Kat frowned, "I guess he can, but to do that he will have to let go of this one first. And we're watching it, and if there are any changes we'll know. So far he hadn't made any such move. We've been careful not to let him know we're aware of his anchor."

"Alright then, we keep the current anchor intact as long as he's not aware we're onto him." Arthur said, "but sooner or later he will know, and he will react. We need to find him now since we already know the range of his movements."

"How do we find him?" Amanda asked, "the search parties are all trying their best, but all they get are traces of his presence. His ability to teleport is not something we can work around easily."

"Traditional search means will get us nowhere," Charles intervened, "we have to lure him out."

I straightened up in my seat, "we can bait him. He hasn't kidnapped another woman so far, has he?"

"No," Harvey replied, "all human females are being watched closely, he wouldn't be able to get anywhere near one anytime soon."

"Well, I can be the one. He's already tried to get me before."

"We don't know if he'll risk it," Jesse said, "he must know you're with us, and he knows we're looking for him."

"He'll take the bait," Arthur said, plopping down on his chair.

"How can you be so sure?" Jesse asked.

Arthur leaned back, his eyes staring straight ahead, but I had a feeling he was seeing another reality, another time.

"When the gate between the realms was still open, there were many instances of demonic man eaters." he paused for a long moment, and I wondered how he could live with so many memories, so much time in his head.

Unlike humans, immortals were built to bear the weight of time. Our brains were just built differently than humans. But still, being alive for longer than history could remember was beyond anything I could comprehend.

After a couple of minutes, Arthur continued, "I remember one particular demon, after the gate was closed. He managed to stay behind in this realm. He was captured only after they used human bait. The human had died, but the demon was captured and killed.

"The demon knew he was being chased, his intellect was high enough that he knew the human was a bait. Still, he could not resist. They are weak to the temptation of live, human flesh. There's a good chance this one, too, will take the bait."

"He can teleport," Irene said.

"We can make sure he doesn't," Kat said, "if we get him in a location on our terms, I can put in place spells that will make him unable to teleport out."

"Still," Amanda said, "there's still a chance he can get away with Elle."

Kat didn't make any arguments, because with magic that was not from our realm, there were too many unknown factors that came into play.

"It doesn't matter," I said in the silence, "if you get me alone with him, I'll make sure he doesn't stay alive." Even if it cost me my life. I was screwed anyways, might as well go away in a blaze of glory.

They all looked suspicious, Irene glanced at me like I had a death wish. I locked eyes with Arthur. His gaze pensive for the longest moment before he nodded, "alright. We'll take a look at the anchor first. Then we'll think of a dependable plan to get him using Elle as bait."

Arthur stood up, "everyone, get ready to leave for the city. Elle, Stay."

I valiantly resisted the urge to throw a knife at his throat. Everyone filed out of the room, Kat gave me a weird look before she joined them. What was that about?

Arthur came to lean on the table next to me. I rolled my chair a little away from him. He smiled.

"What?" I asked when he simply continued to stare.

He scratched his jaw, "can you really end the killer if you're left alone with him?"

"If he somehow manages to teleport me out, I can kill him."

"It's going to be difficult. He's not a lesser demon. And he will take you to a place of his choice, where he will have the upper hand. You're a good fighter, but it might not be enough."

"I'm not counting on my fighting skills," I said, "I can end him in other ways. But .."

I pursed my lips. I would've preferred not to give him this particular piece of information, but catching the killer took precedence over keeping my identity a secret. And if I really had to take on a demon on my own, I wanted to make sure I wouldn't harm anyone else in the process.

"Promise me something," I said to Arthur.

He arched his brow. I took a deep breath and spoke despite the inhibitions I had.

"If he takes me, I need my surroundings to be empty. No living beings, or they might be affected by what I will do."

"That might mean we have to evacuate the entire area since I will not know exactly where he will take you."

"I know, but you have to do it. I don't want anyone to get hurt."

He leaned towards me a bit. Even casually sitting on the table, he was so big and overwhelming, and yet his aura was one of a regular vampire. How would it feel to stand next to him when he dropped his cloak, I wondered?

"You won't tell me what you'll do, will you?"

"Drop the cloak and I'll tell you." and why did I just say that? My mouth must not have gotten the memo, I needed to start getting my shit together around him!

His brows shot up in surprise, he blinked. Then a grin stretched across his face, and it was the most genuine, open expression I'd seen on him.

My chair shot forward on its own, straight toward him. He leaned towards me, putting his hands on the arms of my seat, his face close enough for me to see the way his dark eyes shone from within.

"Don't ask for things you can't handle, Elle."

I frowned, "how do you know I can't handle it."

His smile dimmed a fraction, "because there hasn't been many people who can."

I pinched my lips to the side. His eyes dipped down before coming back up to meet mine, then he stood up to his full height. "You can keep your secrets, for now. As for the promise to evacuate the area, you got it. But I will do my best so that the situation doesn't come to that."

I stood up, "Thank you."

"You're welcome," he walked to the door, before he exited, he looked over his shoulder at me and added with a wink, "I love that irish lilt by the way."

Then he disappeared. I dropped my head back and groaned. I was so screwed.

***

I knocked on Irene's door. She opened quickly and ushered me in. She strapped her sword to her back, it slowly disappeared in front of my eyes.

"That's neat."

"Thanks," she smiled, pulled on her black leather jacket and turned to me with a serious face. "Are you sure you can handle it? I know Arthur will do his best to make sure the demon doesn't take you, but there's always a chance."

"Don't worry about me, I can handle it," I said, "besides, he needs to be found. If we give him any more time, he might change his anchor and we'll never know where he is. This is our shot."

She sighed, "just... don't be reckless. I've seen the anchor. The amount of magic he's employing there is enormous. Even with that, he's capable of teleporting. It makes me wonder just how powerful he is."

"Well, he is a high level demon."

Irene and I walked out of the house. Amanda, Harvey and Kat were waiting outside, along with Poline. Irene and I glanced at each other. What was she doing here?

Amanda smiled at us, "Poline is coming with us. She may be able to figure out something about the anchor that might help."

Poline's attentive gaze didn't leave me, she narrowed her eyes, "what's your name, again?"

"Elle," I replied, "Elle Sanders."

"Hmm," her eyes looked me up and down, "there's something about you..."

My smile was tight. Fortunately, she didn't have more time to ponder me. Two SUVs came through the lone dirt road. Arthur drove one and Charles the other.

Irene, Kat and I ended up in Arthur's car. Poline, Harvey and Amanda with Charles.

In the backseat with Irene, she pulled out her phone and typed something, then showed it to me.

Arthur suspects you're the one who figured out the link between the victims.

I almost laughed out loud. I took the phone and typed in my reply.

He suspects a lot more than that.

She glanced at Arthur, then at me with wide eyes. She took back the phone.

Is that okay? I know you don't want to be involved in this, although I don't know why. But I can help you get away if you want.

Won't that be a conflict of interest? You work for him now, remember?

Irene shrugged.

I can just quit. It's no big deal.

Her words meant more to me than she could possibly imagine. I knew how excited she was to be working for Arthur. The fact that she offered to give that up and help me was beyond anything I could expect from someone I barely knew for a week.

I appreciate it, really. But for now, he hasn't shown any aggressive intention. So I think I'll be fine.

For now. Because he still didn't know my blood was the amalgam that immortals were most afraid of.