Paris' weather in early September was beautiful. The remnants of summer warmth and the beginnings of fall made for pleasant climate.

We got into two SUVs from the hangar, our luggage loaded into the trunks. Arthur's house was a good distance outside of Paris, a short drive from the airport.

I had to do a double take when Arthur pulled over near a metal gate. The building I could see inside could only be described as a palace. Stretching behind dazzling greenery, the house was a masterpiece of french baroque architecture. The symmetrical design, the mansard roof, the wide stairway and the numerous windows were beautiful, and intimidating. I wouldn't want to live in a place like this, maybe visit once in a while. It was too beautiful and too big to be a home.

The doors opened automatically, and after passing by stunning gardens and animated fountains, Arthur drove down a sloping entrance that lead to an underground parking lot.

A staircase climb later, we were inside the house. Its interior did nothing to change my mind about it.

High ceilings and low hanging chandeliers. Gilded walls decorated with renaissance art and gold painted sculpture pieces. It was like walking into a museum, not a house.

We were greeted by three vampires, one shapeshifter and two witches. The shapeshifter, dressed in an ankle length black dress that blended perfectly with the setting, was the head housekeeper. The staff were obviously very glad to have Arthur in the house again, and Arthur greeted each and every one of them with the familiarity of an old friend.

We were all then shown to our rooms to rest. Since everyone else knew their way around the place, I had the honor of being escorted to my quarters by no other than the palace lord himself.

"You don't like the house." Arthur said as we walked down a hallway. It wasn't a question but a statement. A reminder that this man saw more than I would've liked him to.

Another gaudy statue of a half dressed man. I tried not to grimace, "It's not that. This is...nice."

He chuckled, stopping in front of a set of double doors, "Now you want to be polite?"

"Hey," I glared at him, "when am I never polite!"

He opened the doors and gestured for me to go in. The room was all burgundy silk drapes and persian carpets. The four poster bed was large enough for four people, the low chandelier big enough to illuminate the spacious room, and the fireplace wide enough for me to stand in.

It was beautiful. It was awful.

"Mhm, you definitely don't like it."

He looked amused, so it probably wasn't rude to tell him that his house wasn't to my taste. I stopped at the edge of the carpet, feeling as if I'd ruin it by stepping on it with my boots.

"I don't like it," I took off my boots and stepped near the bed. Arthur leaned by the door, his arms crossed. "It doesn't feel like a home."

"Mhm," he nodded, "then you will definitely not like your home in Ireland."

"My home isn't in Ireland." I unstrapped my sword with a sigh, noting that my luggage was already set next to a door that I assumed led to a closet. It hadn't escaped my notice how my luggage had grown from a lone backpack when I first arrived at Portland to a full suitcase worth of clothes and weapons. Mostly weapons.

"Where is it, then? Your home?" Arthur asked when I gingerly sat on the lavish bed. I sank.

I swallowed, looked out the wide window to the gardens outside. They were beautiful, but too groomed, too tame. It wasn't wild. Not like the place I grew up in.

I opened my mouth to reply "nowhere", but for some reason, I found myself telling this man, who could be the only thing standing between me and death, another secret of mine.

"Deep in a forest in Oregon."

Though the cabin I grew up in no longer existed, burned to ashes by blue flames on a bloody day. The cave I'd spent two years in after uncle Robert's death was probably still there. I wondered how it would look like now? What happened to the family of black bears that lived nearby? Their cubs would be adults now. Those adorable, playful cubs were the reason I was still alive now. Their mother had died after a grave injury, and left the three small cubs to fend for themselves.

For some reason, the cubs took on to following me around. Maybe because I'd give them food. After about a month or so, they slept snuggled next to me and followed me around all day, playfully bumping into me or hugging my leg while I walked.

I hadn't had the courage to go back since I left when I was sixteen, when the bears were old enough to take care of themselves.

"I would see it someday." He said, drawing back my attention from the memories.

I looked at him, "there's nothing to see, only the forest."

The charred ground had started sprouting new grass and plants by the time I left. Hopefully no scars were left from the blue fire.

I touched the ones that decorated my face. Not as visible as they'd been, but enough to attract other people's attention. Like the house staff.

Or maybe they simply stared because I was the infamous human fae.

"Why do you have this?" I asked, looking around the ostentatious room, "it's not like you."

For some reason, he looked way too pleased with that comment.

"What?" I asked.

"Nothing," he sighed, "it was acquired in my name by someone else."

To be able to acquire something in Arthur's name, that person must be really close to him. Before I could ask more, Arthur straightened, "you should rest, it's been a long flight."

"I'm not tired, I slept the entire time," I stood up and stretched my arms. What I wanted to do was work out. I'd missed my training session because we were on a plane before dawn. I picked up my sword and looked at Arthur with a grin. He grinned back.

Two hours later, the sun was setting over Paris while I tried in vain to put a scratch on Arthur's body. We clashed swords one last time, I tried channeling my magic covertly through the ground towards him. But he somehow saw it coming, jumped away and was behind me with incredible speed, his sword on my neck.

"Well?" he asked, his lips brushing my ear. I groaned in frustration and lowered my sword, my only reprieve was the fact that his breathing was more laborious than the last time we sparred. I pushed my magic back when it started going crazy. It must be the adrenaline.

In an instant, he was in front of me again. Boy, was he fast. I put my sword on the ground and laid down on my back.

"You're a monster." I heaved the words, my lungs screaming for more air.

He crouched beside me, "you need to work on your endurance."

"You already told me that." I glared at him, the orange sun rays made his eyes appear more golden than brown.

"When you're exhausted, you let your guard down too much. You become easy to read."

I looked at the sky, a beautiful blend of purple and orange. Uncle Robert had trained me since I could move. It was the only way of parenting he knew as a man who'd been a soldier for centuries, and who'd trained countless others. I had good endurance, great endurance compared to most immortals. But anyone's ability would pale in front of one of the Five.

That was no excuse, though. I had to get better.

A tug on my hair. I glared at Arthur. He smiled, "get up, we have a meeting."

I blew out one final breath and sat up. He stood up and held his hand to help me up. Yeah, no.

Eyes meeting his, I jumped to my feet on my own and brushed dust off the back of my pants.

"Thank you for the offer," I said.

With an amused grin, he performed a perfect, gentlemanly bow. My sword floated up to my hand on its own.

"Hmm," I put the flat of my sword on my shoulder, "you're useful sometimes."

His laughter was light but genuine. I pursed my lips to keep from smiling back.

"Who is he?" I asked, finally looking at the vampire standing besides Kat, both watching us over the railing of the stairway. I'd noticed them at one point during the fight, but as Arthur hadn't stopped, I deduced the old vampire was no threat to us.

With hair the color of midnight, olive toned skin and hazel eyes, his good looks alone would ensure the attention of every female in the vicinity. From the smile he shot me, he looked like a man who took advantage of that fact quite often. But was it the truth? or did he use it as camouflage for the dangerous aura that he kept on a tight leash?

As Arthur and I walked up the stairs to the two of them, the vampire's aura felt so fleeting. I could sense him, but the more I focused on him, the less I sensed.

One thing was for sure, he was much more powerful than he let on.

"How does he do that?"

"A trick I taught him," Arthur replied. I glanced at Arthur, his aura was always hidden, all I could sense from him was a hint of vampiric presence and a void of energy.

"He's not as good as you are," I said.

"No," he said it like it was a simple fact of life, with an arrogance that hinted he expected no one to be as good as he was, "but he picked it up the best compared to my other disciples. All my seconds practice it to some extent, but Mariano is the best."

"Will you teach me?" I asked.

He glanced at me, "sure, but you don't need it for now."

Right. I had better than the ability to cloak my aura. The sealing spell made sure that I was a human in the eyes of anyone who didn't know who I was.

"Sire. Long time no see." The vampire bowed, his accent Italian. Arthur let go of his sword, the weapon floated in the air beside him as he pulled the other vampire into an embrace.

"Mariano," Arthur said, "it has been a while."

The two men exchanged more words I couldn't understand in italian before Mariano turned his smiling hazel eyes my way. Wow. His face was a perfectly sculpted lethal weapon, as was his lean body in that crisp white shirt and gray dress pants.

"Lady Elle, I assume."

"Uh, just Elle, please." I was definitely not a lady.

He held out his hand. I assumed he would shake it. But he brought my hand up to his lips, and barely grazed them to my knuckles. A gentleman. How rare.

"Mariano," he released my hand, "a pleasure to finally meet you. News of your presence has taken Europe by storm." I must have made a face because he chuckled, "I assure you, nothing bad. People are simply curious."

"Right." I couldn't stop myself from rolling my eyes. As if immortal curiosity could amount to anything good. Mariano's smile widened.

"Shall we go." Kat said, "the others are waiting."

Arthur's sword kept floating next to him as we walked in front of Kat and Mariano. The sword had a wide blade that curved slightly. Like a scimitar, but not quite. I wondered if it was as heavy as it looked.

The sword moved towards me.

"Go ahead." Arthur said, having noticed my interest. The grip was wrapped with leather, like most swords, and the guards a simple metallic bar. The blade looked smooth and shiny, but when I looked closer, I could see it was smattered with tiny lines. Battle scars.

The pommel of the sword had a small crest on it. A dragon coiled on itself in a circle, a sword and an olive branch cut through the circle. The first time I'd seen this symbol was when uncle Robert showed it to me in a book during our lessons about the Five.

Arthur's crest.

I let go of my sword, trusting Arthur to keep it from falling. It flew to his side. Then I gripped the hilt of his sword. I almost dropped it as Arthur released his telekinetic hold. It was as heavy as it looked.

"How in the world can you hold this for hours?" I asked, genuinely amazed by his physical strength. I hefted the sword a little, the muscles of my arm straining with the effort to keep it up.

He glanced at my arm, "with those puny muscles, I'm surprised you can hold yours."

He ducked my swing at him with laughable ease and a smug smile. Asshole.

"You have considerable fighting skills for someone so young," Mariano said from behind us. "Along with the blue flames I heard about, you are a force to be reckoned with."

"Thank you," I smiled at him over my shoulder. The news had indeed travelled fast and far.

Arthur led us to a conference room once we reached the house. Unlike the rest of this place, the room was simple in its decor, with plain beige walls and a dark wood flooring, a long table in the middle and a large screen hung on one wall. The floor to ceiling windows looking over the gardens below reminded me so much of Arthur's house on the island.

Charles, Amanda and Harvey were waiting for us in the meeting room. As soon as they spotted Mariano, their faces broke into pleasant smiles. Even Charles.

"Mariano! I missed you!"

The Italian vampire chuckled while returning Amanda's tight hug. Harvey and Charles greeted him next in a more reserved fashion. We all sat down around the table, I ended up between Arthur and Mariano.

"How's Diana?" Amanda, who sat on Mariano's other side, asked, "I haven't heard from her in a while."

Mariano's smile was small and sad, "she went to Japan a few years ago. Things didn't work out so well."

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that." Amanda patted his hand.

"Don't be. We had a great time. Unfortunately, we didn't bond."

Bonding between immortal partners usually took time. Harvey and Amanda were bonded, it was easy to see. The way they spoke, the way they looked at each other, even the energy they radiated when they were together.

Uncle Robert didn't have a mate. He never really spoke to me about mates and bonds for immortals. So all I knew was from researching and asking around, which wasn't much considering the resources available to humans about such private matters were close to nonexistent.

Amanda would certainly know more about the subject.

"How is the general feel in the area?" Harvey asked, "have the other members of the council arrived yet?"

"The Five are all here," Mariano said, "I have eyes on their locations. The last representative of the witches arrived this afternoon, and you know most shapeshifters don't come until the last minute."

"What of the fae?" Arthur asked.

"Not a word yet." Mariano said, "they haven't made clear who exactly will attend from the royal family. I know some high ranking officials will be present, but beyond that, nothing is confirmed."

"So a member of the royal family will be attending." Harvey leaned forward, his eyes flickering to mine. I wondered if Arthur had told him about the truth of the blood running in my veins.

"Yes," Mariano smiled at me, "and we all know why. They must be awfully curious about you."

"Are there any news about the demon sightings?" Kat asked.

"Nothing besides what we already know, but," Mariano looked at Arthur, "Venus is extending you an invitation to her residence in Versailles tomorrow evening. She said she wants everyone to mingle a little before the actual meeting at the end of the week. All the members of the council are invited."

"You think she will address the issue?" Charles asked.

"I don't know." Mariano looked at Arthur who kept quiet, his expression thoughtful.

"We'll see," he finally said. A party with all the members of the council. Terrific, I certainly hoped I would not meet members of my own family.

Mariano then gave Arthur more insight about the atmosphere in Europe over the last decade. From what I gathered, the Five didn't allow each other's people to stay more than a few months in a row in their territory. That was why Mariano only stayed in Europe for a limited period of time before he had to leave somewhere else. The Italian vampire was as close to an inside man as Arthur could have in Europe.

"Alright, that will be all." Arthur said, "Mariano, stay."

Mariano nodded. I stood up, ready to leave with the others when a warm hand held mine, stopping me.

"Wait, it concerns you." Arthur said. My magic rushed to the spot where his skin touched mine, involuntarily. I quickly sucked it in. I hadn't lost control over it ever since I burned Jesse.

I sat back down, my magic stirring in an odd way inside, almost as if it were dancing. Arthur gave me a long look before he let go and stood up. Only then did my magic calm down.

I let out a breath. Odd.

Arthur paced back and forth along the glass wall. His steps slow and gaze inward. Mariano and I watched him in silence as he brewed on something. After a few minutes, he took a seat across the table from us and fixed the Italian with a serious look.

"How long do you still have in Europe?"

"I can probably stay until the end of next month. Anymore than that and Venus may take it as breaking the unwritten rule between you."

Arthur nodded, "I want you to find something out for me. You've heard of Martin Malone, haven't you?"

The name had my back stiffening. Mariano nodded, "yes, the mercenary. He'd been taking jobs here and there for about a century, never staying in one place for too long."

"How come no one stopped him?" I asked, "I mean, I assume the 'jobs' he was doing were against the rules, right?"

"It's more complicated than that," Mariano sighed, "Immortals have a tendency to take care of themselves, rarely anyone goes to the council with a complaint unless it was something serious. And Martin Malone, at first, was only taking pesky jobs like stealing, roughing up people, things like that. He was wanted in many places, but he wasn't on the council's list.

"But that changed about two decades ago. From what I heard, he gathered a few rogues and formed the Scorpion Squad. That's when his work took a darker route. The council then received many complaints. I was on the committee tasked with finding him. We had a hard time locating him but there was always a trace. Twelve years ago, the entire squad disappeared. Not a whiff left behind. It was as if they were wiped off the face of the planet."

"I assume the search for him is no longer in effect." Arthur said. I frowned at him. How come he didn't know about this?

Arthur shook his head at me, "we don't get involved in every little case the council takes."

People dying hardly seemed like a 'little case' to me. But then again, our views were vastly disparate; Arthur was a powerful being who'd lived more than I could comprehend.

"No, the council put a stop to the search around that time. I always thought it was odd." Mariano glanced between Arthur and I, "what is this about? Should I resume the search? Did he do something?"

Arthur glanced at me, "that won't be necessary. Martin Malone and his people are dead."

Mariano whistled, "all twenty of them?"

"Twenty five," I said, my fingers trailing along the sword on the table in front of me, "ten vampires, eight witches and seven shapeshifters."

I could still remember some of their faces. The ones I'd ended.

Mariano looked at me with bulging eyes. "How do you know that? Did you..." he swallowed, "how old are you again?"

"Twenty five," I told him, "I was fourteen at the time. But I wasn't alone."

He nodded slowly, eyes still regarding me with a surprised, slightly troubled expression.

"Someone enlisted Martin Malone's services to take out Elle and the person she was with," Arthur said, "I want to know who hired him."

Mariano leaned back, "I still have a few leads from when I last worked on the case, but it will be difficult."

Arthur looked at me for permission. I nodded. If he trusted Mariano then there was no reason I shouldn't. For Mariano's search to be effective, he needed to know more about me.

"What I am about to tell you stays between us." Arthur ordered, then told the other vampire who I was, how my mother was murdered, how my father didn't know I was alive, and how Robert Walsh raised me in the states and died in Martin Malone's hands.

However, Arthur didn't mention the fact that my mother was attacked by a vampire during her pregnancy with me; that I was perhaps carrying in my blood the insanity that vampire venom induced in the fae.

When Arthur finished speaking, Mariano was oddly sober. Vertical lines between his brows only deepened as he looked at me. He opened his mouth and closed it a few times, then shook his head and asked, "How did you and Robert Walsh kill a squad of vampires, shapeshifters and witches on your own. Witches can be very handy with their magic if they're well trained."

"Uncle Robert had a gift," like many old vampires, "He can create a null field where magic doesn't work. About a hundred yards around him. So the witches were pretty much useless and the shapeshifters couldn't shift. It was basically a physical fight." No magic involved. Of course, it worked both ways. But since uncle Robert had no offensive magic of his own and I couldn't control mine, and we both relied mainly on our fighting skills, his null field had worked in our favor.

"Impressive." Mariano nodded. He looked at Arthur, "if they know you've been hiding her, they will not be pleased."

"He's not hiding me," I rolled my eyes, "it's my choice to stay away."

"Nevertheless," Mariano insisted, "they might still take it as an offense."

"Let them," Arthur said, his tone so cold it made goosebumps break on my skin, "I do not answer to them. Elle is an adult, she can do what she wants."

Mariano sighed, "very well, then, I will do my best to find out about Martin Malone's last contacts." He turned his head my way with a suddenly playful glint, "can I see them? Your blue flames?"

I smiled, held up my palm and let my magic rush forward until a small, ball sized flame erupted to life, hovering on top of my skin.

I met Arthur's eyes over the blue fire and felt my magic rush forward, as if stretching out towards him. I sucked in a breath and closed my fist, the flame dying abruptly. My magic buzzed in my veins like an excited child high on sugar.

Mariano said something, but all I could think of was the way my magic had been acting the last few days.

Especially when a certain dark eyed vampire was close by.