“I know what I’m doing, Danny,” she said quietly, pressing a light kiss to his lips before pulling back. She smirked and hummed, “Don’t you have any faith in me?” He smiled softly and pressed his lips to hers one last time.

“I have faith in no one else. I assume it’s urgent?” He asked against her lips, feeling their breaths mixing.

“Unfortunately,” she murmured and pulled back, trying to sustain some sense of self control. She wiped at her mouth and stood up, straightening her clothes. Daniel stood up after her and managed to find his clothes around the room. He pulled them on swiftly with grace.

“Let’s go then.” She nodded, put on a quick alter, and followed him out the door, on their way to the bookstore.

Walking into the bookstore brought back so many memories, but Winnie did not have time for that. She shook her head and followed her lover through to the backroom. When they got there, Daniel opened the secret chamber with his secret code that absolutely no one knew, not even Winnie. He went in, picking out the correct book and walking back to hold it out to the warlock.

“This is what you want?” She nodded and he handed it her carefully. “Be careful, Winnie.” She smiled softly; it always warmed her heart when he made his worry known. Moving on instinct, she took a step forward and wrapped her arms around him, being careful with the book.

“I will, Daniel. Thank you,” she said. He wrapped his own arms around her and ran a hand through her silky hair.

“Go save the world,” he said. Chuckling, she pulled away and took a step back. She steadied the ancient book in her arms.

“Bye, Danny.” Then, she walked out of the bookstore. This was one of the few times their hookups hadn’t left her feeling totally broken. She knew Daniel cared about her, but their relationship wasn’t going to work. Their not being together wasn’t seeming to work, either. Winnie thought maybe they were meant to be in this strange limbo forever.

“Hey, Rylan.” He started, the girl looked up to him. “We are going somewhere to get help, okay? I am going to take care of you guys no matter what.” Zeake held an unconscious Kyle with one hand and the hand of Rylan with the other.

“Can you please turn your coat inside out quickly, honey? Do you trust me?” Many questions flowed out of Zeake’s mouth. He was panicked just as much, or possibly more than, the kids themselves. Rylan didn’t respond, only did as he asked quietly and followed him as he walked towards the only place he could trust with his niece and nephew right now. Zeake called for a cab and huddled the children into the dark car. Zeake nodded and took his wallet out of the pocket of his coat that was currently around Kyle. He pulled out an assorted spread of bills and handed them to the man. “Thank you.”

“That’s too much, sir,” the driver said.

“Keep the change.” Zeake delicately got out of the vehicle and repositioned the teenager in his arms. When Rylan was out of the car safely and following silently behind them, the warrior walked a few buildings down the row of typical apartments. He could hear the waves crashing against the shore in the background. He walked into the building and past the doorman. He headed to the elevator and clicked the number two. The doors slid shut with a ding and the elevator began to rise to the second floor. As soon as the doors opened, he walked down the illuminated hall until he found the apartment labeled “Bronwyn”. Before knocking on the door, Zeake looked down to Rylan.

“Are you okay? Can still walk okay?” She nodded and he inspected her to see if she had any wounds of her own. He thought, if anything, she had some minor scrapes from the broken shards of glass shattering from the windows. Kyle seemed about the same, but considering his unconscious state, Zeake was getting worried. He was still breathing, but that didn’t stop Zeake’s concern. He noticed Rylan looking up at her younger brother with a fierce protective look that overcame her empty expression. He recognized it because he felt the same protectiveness when it came to his sister. His sister. Nicolle. Nicki. Nicki, who was- He shook his head, needing to stay in the moment, to protect these kids, not moping about things that he couldn’t change anymore.

“It is going to be okay. We just have to go in here to get help, alright? We are going to get your brother healed,” he said, trying to be reassuring. She nodded and Zeake knocked on the door. The warrior moved the boy in his arms to relieve pressure.

“Who is it and what do you want?” A familiar female voice rang through from behind the door.

“It is Zeake,” he said. The door clicked and just like that, they were opening and walking through the door. Zeake led the way up through the stairs and they walked down the hallway to the correct door. He looked down at the kids again and knocked on the door.

The solid door opened, revealing a blue warlock with inky black hair down her shoulders and glitter all over her body and hair. Her makeup was done up how extravagant it normally was. She was wearing a formfitting denim jacket with tight denim pants to match. She was beautiful as ever.

“Zeake, what’s going on?” Winnie asked. Zeake bit his lip and set the boy gently down on the couch.

“I-” Where was he even supposed to begin? “These are my sister’s kids. They are warriors by blood, but-” His gaze shifted from Winnie to Rylan, who looked curious at the aqua warlock in front of her. Zeake knew it was more her entire appearance, rather than only her skin color. Nicki’s kids knew about the Mystic World. They had seen warlocks before, he was sure. “Kyle- he is hurt. Can you heal him first?” He pleaded with her. She nodded quickly and moved the boy gently so she had better access to assess the boy’s wound. She kneeled beside the couch and closed her eyes, moving her blue fingers to elicit the blue sparks.

“He’s fine. Just a minor injury, Zeake. Nothing too bad,” she said, about a half an hour later. The warrior nodded and walked to her.

“Thank you so much, Winnie. Can I talk to you in the kitchen?” he asked quietly, not wanting Rylan to hear them. She nodded and pulled a blanket over Kyle.

“Darling, if you want a drink or something, just ask, okay?” She directed her question at Rylan, who only nodded, looking worriedly at her brother. Zeake repeated Winnie’s words to the young girl.

“He will be fine, Rylan,” he said. Then, the warrior and the warlock walked together to the kitchen.

“Okay, Zeake. I did what you asked. Now, tell me. What happened, honey? You look wrecked.” She gazed at him with kind eyes and snapped up two small glasses of liquor. She took a tiny sip of one and offered the other to Zeake. He took the glass gratefully and gulped once before explaining.

“Nicolle and Shaine- my sister and her husband- just-” he broke off and swallowed hard. He didn’t have time to be weak anymore. He took another swig of the liquid and berated himself to act like the warrior he was supposed to be. “They just died in a car accident.”

“Oh, sweetie, I’m so sorry.” She was concerned for his well being. Wondering why he had brought the kids here for a simple healing spell, rather than bringing them back to Marcus, the warlock added, “Death is a terrible and cruel thing. No one deserves it, certainly not those poor kids.”

“That is not all.” He mumbled, and swallowed. “Kyle is not my sister’s biological son. He was the result of the rape of one of our mutual friends. Nicolle promised to take him in as her own when he was just a baby and I think Shaine was the only other who knew. No one knows Kyle is even alive. I think our friend, Allison, played it off as a miscarriage. The last thing my sister asked was for me to take care of the kids and not let anyone know that Kyle is not hers. Now, I do not know what to do. I only have so many options.” He was quiet a moment, going over different situations and scenarios. “Can you erase their memories of Mystic World? Make them forget anything mystic they have encountered; their excitement for becoming warriors themselves, their knowledge of experiments, any encounter with warlocks and warriors, all of it. They can remember me, so I can take care of them as secretly as possible. They cannot know who they or their family really were, otherwise it would only cause more problems. Also, we need the Court to believe they died with their parents.” The way he spoke, one who didn’t know him would assume he was emotionless. He sounded as a robot with no feeling, only logic. Right now, though, he had to be strong and do his duty to the kids who deserved so much better. He had to do what he promised to his sister. She held up a finger to silence him and looked sadly at him.

“Does Marcus know any of this?” she said.

“No, and he cannot know a word,” he said with a shake of his head. He felt the words come from his lips feeling like sandpaper in his mouth. He hated the idea of lying to Marcus. He couldn’t stand the idea of not being able to keep their relationship an honest one, of having to go home and lie about what happened to his family, but this was no longer his choice. He had no choice in this. He had to protect Nicolle’s kids more than anything right now. “I came to you because I trust you and have known you to be a great friend in times of need. Winnie, please. You have to understand. I do not have anywhere else to go.”

Thinking on the idea of lying to her best friend was not ideal in any way, but looking at this poor man and all he’d gone through, she could not deny him. All he wanted was to protect his family, after all. The warlock knew he was a good person and loved him for his personality, for his open heart. She remembered first being introduced to the dark haired warrior by her best friend, Marcus, once their relationship had gotten serious. She had had a soft spot for the man ever since.

“You don’t have to ask me twice, and while I don’t like to entertain the idea of lying to my best friend, I trust you. I won’t require payment, though. This spell will take time, Zeake. Maybe a few days. Maybe a week. I can’t be sure. Are you sure about this?” He took a moment before nodding. She quirked an eyebrow at the warrior. “What are you doing with the kids? If you aren’t keeping them at your apartment, where will they stay?” He had thought about it and not come up with a better answer than moving them back into their house after their memories were altered. He looked at Winnie with desperate blue eyes. “Could they stay with you until the spell is over?”

“I must be with them during the spell anyway, so that is fine. She rested a languid hand on his pale cheek and looked into his eyes. “Though it may not seem like it now, it gets better.” She gave him a small smile and walked out the kitchen doorway to make preparations for the spell.

Zeake opened the cupboard and pulled two cups down, filling them with cold water from the silver faucet. Noticing the time was almost midnight, he walked out to the living room, finding Rylan sitting next to Kyle, who was still passed out. He set one water down on the table in front of Kyle and offered the other to Rylan. When she shook her head, Zeake gave her a look and set it in front of her.

“Are you hungry? Do you want anything to eat?” She had to be hungry, right? She shook her head again, still looking at Kyle. “He is going to be fine, Rylan. He has been healed.” Then, he sat down and waited for the warlock to come back. His mind was drawn back to thinking about the accident. How was he supposed to raise these kids in secret? That was not fair to them. He sighed. This was not fair on anyone.

Winnie returned quickly enough with an ancient looking, leather bound book in her hands along with supplies for the spell. She looked over at the absolutely exhausted Zeake.

“Sweetie, you should go home. There’s really nothing for you to do at this point in time. It’s all magic. I can handle it from here and you looked like you’re going to pass out from exhaustion. Go home to Marcus and try to get some sleep. If you want, you can come back here to see them whenever, but this spell might take a while to fully initiate.”

“I do not know how I am to tell Marcus of this and flat out lie to him.” He had been thinking about it, knowing he would need to host a funeral for all four of the Kennedy family members. He needed the Court to be convinced, along with everyone else except him and Winnie. “I do not know that I want to leave them, but I trust you, Winnie. Thank you again.” She smiled slightly and reached her arms out to hug him. He wrapped his arms around her gratefully.

“Be careful, Ezekiel Renick,” she said. Pulling away, she smirked and held a finger to her chin as though deep in thought. “Excuse me, it’s Ezekiel Cruz-Renick now, isn’t it?” She chuckled slightly. “Be safe, Zeake.” He had to smile as she said this.

“Thank you, Winnie. You too.” He walked over to the kids and ran a hand through Kyle’s hair gently. Then, he sat down next to Rylan and ran a hand through her hair. He didn’t know what to expect, but a hug was not what he thought he would get from this broken girl. She leaned forward and tugged him down for a hug.

“I must go for now, sweetie, but I will be back, I swear it. I will take care of you both.” After a minute, before they pulled away, Zeake whispered in her ear, “Happy birthday, Rylan.”

“Thank you, uncle Zeake,” she mumbled and nodded. He smiled softly as he pulled away. Then, he leaned to press gentle kiss to Kyle’s head before walking out of the apartment.