29 - DAMIAN

I stared after my sister, the edge of my anger quickly fading in the silence that followed. It worried me that Kari and I might be in disagreement over something. My anger at Naka was deep and unforgiving. Until now, I'd thought it to be completely justified.

"Uhm," I heard Kari start hesitantly, and I turned to look at her. "I don't mean to pry, but do you mind if I ask who 'Silva' is?"

"Silva was my older sister," I answered. "She died. Kit barely remembers her, or how she died. I do. Her death is not a pleasant memory."

"Oh, I'm sorry." She looked away from me, biting her lip nervously.

"It's alright," I tried to assure her. "It happened a very long time ago."

"And... you think your mom did it? No wonder you don't like her."

"I don't think she did it. I knowshe did," I clarified, my tone hardening unconsciously. "I was there when my sister died. There was a fight between Naka and her, and it ended with Silva in flames."

"That sounds awful. Why were they fighting?"

I hesitated to answer this as I only recently began to understand what had happened. I had been too young at the time to know, but recent conversations with Naka had begun to reveal more about it.

"I think, somehow, Silva had a mate, and that mate died. That would be my best guess as to why Silva went insane and began killing everything in sight. My sister disliked violence, she thought it was a barbaric way to solve problems."

"Her mate? Like her husband or boyfriend?"

I shook my head. "They never got that far. Or, at least, she'd never brought him home to show the family. I think they'd only just met."

"Wait, if they'd just met, then how could they be considered mates? That doesn't sound like it would drive someone insane if they'd only just met," Kari frowned. She was staring up at the ceiling with a scowl while I tried to figure out how to explain it to her.

"It's different for dragons. We can meet some person for the first time and instantly have feelings for them. Usually it takes a bit longer, or so Naka says," I spoke carefully. "It's a very powerful bond. I could see a dragon losing their sanity if they lost a mate."

"That doesn't sound fair," Kari said. "To have no choice but to love someone you just met enough to lose your sanity? That's terrible! What if the other person didn't love you back?"

I shrugged, not really having an answer for her. I was dreading having to find that answer out for myself. "Probably step out of the way and let them find their own happiness. If that's even possible."

"And be miserable the rest of your life? What kind of a choice is that?" She was upset, and I was upset because she was upset.

Logically, her point made sense. It wasn't fair that I was bound to this frail human girl. However, I didn't think of it that way. It didn't feel like the emotions I had for her were baseless. There was a reason I felt so strongly about her, I just didn't know it yet.

"So...," Kari started, "this finding your mate thing, has it happened to you?"

It was an inevitable question that I wasn't looking forward to answering, but I didn't try to avoid it. "Yes."

I heard her sigh, and looked up. She looked sad? Why?

"Do I know them?"

"Yes," I answered, keeping my tone even. She needed to know. "It's you."

Time seemed to slow as I waited patiently for her reaction. She would need a little bit to think, and I was too anxious to sit still, so I got up to get her a pillow and blanket. She was going to be on that couch for a while, and I would do what I could to keep her comfortable.

When I returned, it didn't look like she had moved at all. Her reaction finally came when I went to place the pillow.

"Are you sure?" she asked, looking up at me with a frown.

"Very sure. It's not something I could be mistaken about," I answered as I began unfolding the blanket.

"Is there a way to remove it?"

I paused in the process of placing the blanket over her. I felt dread growing in the pit of my stomach. "I don't know. I could ask Naka, if you want."

"If Iwant?" she asked, frowning. This was bad. She didn't feel the same way about me, and I was afraid I was scaring her.

"I'm sorry. I'm upsetting you. I'll leave," I told her, turning. Maybe giving her some time to think it over might be better. I would have appreciated the same courtesy, given the chance.

"Leave? No, don't-," Kari started to say something but stopped. I turned back to her, worried. She was biting her lip, frowning again. She was unhappy still. Could I do nothing right?

It looked like she had more to say, so I waited. I would probably just make it worse, anyway. After a moment, she sighed and went on. "Are you leaving because you want to, or because it's what you think I want?"

I paused as I struggled to find an answer for that. I was going to reply when there was a knock at the door. That was odd. I should have heard someone approaching. I didn't smell anything either.

"Just a second," Kari called out as she started to get up. On that foot? I wasn't going to stand for that. I put a hand on her shoulder and pushed her back down.

"Please don't hurt yourself. I'll get it," I assured her. I paused just long enough to make sure she was staying down, before heading to the entrance way. There was still no scent as I got closer, very unusual.

I opened the door carefully, prepared for some sort of trouble. I was not prepared for what I found.

"Aha! I knew it!"

"Shut up!"

"I told you he would be here, Kia!"

"Agh! How was I supposed to know our brother turned into a human-loving pansy."

They got about that much conversation in before I grabbed them both and pulled them inside, quickly closing the door behind them.

"What are you two doing here?" I demanded, holding the twins at eye level so I could glare at the both of them. They cringed and seemed reluctant to answer.

"W-well...," Kia started.

"S-staying with mom got boring," Jaden put in.

"So, w-we came back."

"Yeah, you and Kit are way more fun!"

"Except you weren't at home..."

"So we had to come looking for you..."

"And now we're here!"

They fell silent as I continued to glare at them. At least that explained the lack of scent. One of the twins' favored spells was an anti-tracking spell. It masked their scent, their footsteps... anything that might leave a trail. It was probably the only way they could have gotten away from Naka.

"You can't stay here. It's not safe," I spoke after a moment.

"Safe?" Jaden asked, incredulous.

"We're not babies!" Kia protested.

"We can take care of ourselves."

"It's not youI'm concerned about," I growled. They stared back at me in confusion.

"Damian," I heard Kari call from the other room, "Who is it?" I took a breath and threw a glare at Kia.

"You, behave." She glared back at me but didn't argue as I shifted my attention to Jaden. "And you, absolutely no acid. I want you completely human. Can you handle that?"

I knew when I said it that it would touch a nerve with him. Jaden had always been self-conscience of his acidic nature. He glared at me, but I could sense the heat change from cold to warm blood as he complied. I was caught completely off guard by the lance of pain that shot through my other arm as Kia sank her fangs into my hand.

I snarled, dropping them both and they both dodged quickly around me into the room Kari was in. "Stupid Damian!" Kia shouted back at me, an unusual amount of hurt in her voice. I had no idea what had set her off, but I didn't stop to think about it. I had to follow them to make sure nothing happened to Kari.

The twins stopped short of the couch, looking at Kari with mirrored expressions. They didn't look very impressed. I came to stand behind Kari, shooting them warning looks.

"These are my siblings, Kiandra and Jaden," I told her. "They... are not usually allowed near humans. They can be dangerous."

"Dangerous? They're adorable."

A look flickered between the twins so quickly I wouldn't have noticed if I hadn't already been looking at them. Instantly their sulky faces evaporated and were replaced by wide-eyed innocence. I tensed, barely suppressing a growl.

This was going to go badly... I should have just tossed them out the moment I saw them. However, that would have meant leaving them on their own. I wanted to send them on to Kit for her to deal with, but she was at school. Here was best place for them unless I could somehow locate Naka and ship them off to her.

"Adorable?" Jaden questioned, with a small carefully crafted pout.

"Hear that, Damain?" Kia said, shooting me a significant look before boldly striding over to take a seat on the couch next to Kari. "We're... adorable."

Red flashed across my vision, and I suppressed my fury harshly. The look on my face must have betrayed some of my emotion; Jaden took one glance and promptly decided that sitting on the floor was better than joining Kia. He'd always been the smarter of the two.

"Are there any other brothers or sisters of yours I don't know about?" Kari asked, looking up at me.

I shook my head in reply, not taking my eyes off Kia. "Kiandra and Jaden are the youngest."

"Really? How old are they?"

"I'm almost five and a half," Kia announced, proudly, with Jaden nodding agreement.

"Five? You guys look older than that, I would have guessed seven or eight," Kari commented, looking between the two of them in confusion. The twins both brightened, taking it as a compliment, and I sighed.

"Kia is speaking in decades. She and Jaden are both fifty-three years old," I informed Kari before turning to Kia. "Humans count in years."

"Oh." Kia's face turned down in a scowl of disappointment.

"Fifty-three?" Kari asked, glancing between the twins incredulously. "How old are you, then?" she asked, turning to me.

"One hundred and fifty-seven years," I answered, watching her reaction carefully.

"Oh, wow. Uh... that is... a lot older than I was expecting." Kari sputtered, biting her lip. I wasn't entirely sure if that was a good reaction or bad one.

Kia snorted, "He's not thatold."

"Yeah," Jaden spoke up. "Mom and Dad are a lot older."

"I see," Kari replied, staring down at the blanket thoughtfully. She looked up after only a moment, and smiled at Kia. "You're cute kids, I bet you make cute little dragons too."

"Of course we do," Kia commented, cutting off Jaden who was making a face and looked like he wanted to disagree. I shot a warning glance at Kia.

"Don't even think about it, Kia," I growled.

Kia rolled her eyes. "I wasn't going to do anything! Yeesh, you're always so cranky."

I grimaced. They were getting bored, I could see it. "I should probably get these two home. Before they break something."

Kari sighed. "Okay."

"What?"

"No way!"

"What did we do wrong?"

"We were being good!"

I ignored the series of protests from my siblings. "You going to be okay?" I asked Kari.

She shrugged. "Sure, just get me the remote, a glass of water, and a bag of chips and I should be fine until grandma comes back."

I nodded and went to procure the items in question. "I'll come back after school," I told her as I handed her them. "If... that's okay?" Out of the corner of my eye I noticed the twins exchange a look, but continued to ignore them.

"Uhm... yeah, sure. I mean, if you want to. Don't feel obligated to come because-"

"Ugh!" Kia groaned, hopping down from the couch.

"Take us home already!" Jaden added, rolling his eyes as he stood up from the floor.

"Seriously, you guys are disgusting," Kia muttered.

"If we wanted to see this..."

"We would have stayed with Mom and Dad!" They both marched out the kitchen back door without a backwards glance. I looked down at Kari and grimaced. Her face was bright red.

"I'd better go after them." And kill them, I added in my mind. She nodded, and I followed my siblings. To the forest. Where no one would hear their screams.

Disclaimer - I don't own any of the Twilight characters or world, so please don't sue me, yada yada yada...

Author's Note:

Sorry I took so long to update. I'm a terrible terrible person for making you wait but I hope this humble gift of a new chapter appeases my ever so wonderful and patient fans. XS Even though this chapter sucks, and I deeply apologize for the horridly rushed botch job. :S

It also hasn't been edited yet, because I can't seem to find my editors... one of them moved to Japan. How dare she just up and leave like that? Without taking me with her? ;_; Anyway, thanks for sticking in there, I'll try to get another chapter out soon.

Review Incentive: After I wake up tomorrow, and after all the Easter stuff, I'll write up a little side story thing that I thought of while writing this chapter that had me in fits of giggles. Review, and I'll reply with the bit I write up. :D

Love you all, review or not, Py.