lucien shrugged like it was no big deal. "sounds important."

magnus chuckled. "oh it is."

wait, what? caia glanced sharply at her uncle. what did he know?

her expression must have mirrored lucien's because magnus laughed harder. "i'll let ryder impart the news. but here's a clue... dimitri isn't happy."

"magnus." ella swatted him. "you'll give it away."

"give what away?"

they remained silent and lucien huffed, "need i remind you i'm your alpha. i have a right to know what's going on in my own pack."

the elders grimaced. "well, you're about to find out." magnus nodded and then shot a look at caia. "now that he's your responsibility maybe you can begin pulling that stick out of his ass."

they wondered aloud as to what magnus and ella could have been talking about, but their worries were so focused on vilhelm and laila they were already at ryder's with still no clue. ryder threw the door open with a huge, relieved grin and clapped lucien hard on the shoulder before dragging caia into a tight hug. she suppressed a laugh at the feel of lucien's hand on her waist, drawing her forcefully out of his friend's grip and tight to his side, his hand cupping her hip possessively. at first ryder stumbled back a little confused and then his expression cleared and he whooped, "all right, about time!" and held out a hand to lucien. caia looked on as they did their manly handshake and hugged quickly, a hug that was more of a battering of hands on each other's back.

"congrats guys, really. very relieved." he grinned and then gestured for them to come in. "actually." he chuckled happily, following them down the hallway to his sitting room. "i have some news of my own."

caia's view of the sitting room was blocked by lucien as he entered first, and she was surprised at the soft sound he made as his pace picked up, striding deeper into the room. her eyes widened as she glimpsed jaeden before she was swallowed in lucien's tight hug. her heart sped up. it had been a long while, and she and the real jaeden hadn't really spoken since her rescue. caia glanced anxiously at ryder who smiled warmly at her, his eyes soon returning to stare at jaeden. a feeling rippled out of him and caia caught it on the air.

"ryder," she breathed, disbelieving at the intensity of it, "jaeden?"

his eyes widened as he realized she comprehended the truth. "how did you know?"

"know what?" lucien asked, as he and jaeden drew back to them.

caia locked gazes with jae, feeling awkward and useless. there was a time when she had thought of this girl as the greatest friend she had ever had. it was difficult to remember now if there had been any truth in that, and what she felt towards her likened to grief.

jaeden appeared to not know what to say either, her body rigid at first. and then she visibly relaxed, surprising caia by hugging her, if a little awkwardly. "cy, good to see you." she nodded, her eyes seeming to ask caia to relax as well.

feeling a little stupid caia grinned nervously. "you too. you look great."

"know what?" lucien growled.

jaeden giggled at that, a sound caia never thought to hear from her again, and then danced into ryder's arms, kissing him affectionately. "ryder and i want to be mates."

lucien's emotions veered from gob smacked, to confusion, and then delight when he realized his friend was serious. he had never seen ryder look at anyone the way he looked at jae, obliterating all his predictions that ryder would be a perpetual bachelor. sitting on ryder's sofa, he and caia watched and listened as ryder and jaeden told the story of their return to the pack. lucien grinned at caia as the two of them bickered like an old mated couple. they didn't even have to ask if he would give them permission to have a ceremony. ryder most probably would have killed him anyway if he didn't. he was not surprised, however, to hear that dimitri was having a difficult time with the idea, considering jaeden had only just been returned to him, and as his gaze fell on his own mate he was glad there was no waiting involved to be with her truly, as there was for his friend. it still amazed him how easily caia had come to him when he told her he loved her, and ever since he had to stop from kicking himself that he hadn't done so sooner. he sighed inwardly. knowing what the hades was going on a female's mind had never been one of his strong suits. as she laughed at something ryder was saying, lucien smiled softly. it had been a long time since he had seen her look this happy.

at that darkness, like a silent snowfall shrouding his world of color and warmth, settled over him, sending chills across his skin.

she had better enjoy it, he thought somewhat bitterly, because this battle she wanted to wage against marita to win the war was going to slowly siphon that happiness back out of her. he was terrified for her. that the majority of midnights could possibly be misunderstood was inconceivable, but caia saw it, felt it, and he believed in caia. a flare of pain radiated from his chest. he believed enough to drag his pack into a coup against the head of the daylight coven.

"lucien?" caia had reached over and was gripping his hand.

he blinked away his contemplation and found the three of them staring at him in concern.

"you ok, man?"

"fine." he shook off gruffly.

ryder shrugged. "you looked a little put out that's all."

lucien frowned at him. "i said i'm fine."

caia squeezed his hand and then released it, turning to jaeden with a curious smile. "so this reuben character?"

ryder growled and spun away from jaeden, his body bristling. obviously the vampyre was a problem for his friend, lucien concluded. he could relate with the whole possessiveness thing - a genetic downfall of their species, if you asked him.

jae hid a grin at ryder's attitude. "yeah, there's not much else to tell except that he's here, offering his help-"

"sticking his nose in," ryder interrupted.

"no. being a friend. he and ryder don't exactly get on. especially since my attempted kidnapping the other day."

lucien flinched like he had been hit. "what?" he blasted at ryder, angry that this was just now being brought up.

his friend's face had gone red with anger as he glared back at lucien. "yeah, someone tried to snatch her off your grounds. i got there with reuben just in time. the vamp chased the person into your woods but lost them."

"did you see what they looked like?" caia asked softly, her face drained of all color.

jaeden shook her head, her lips pinched. "they were dressed in black apparently. another kidnapping attempt. i'm beginning to think someone doesn't like me."

"the midnights?" lucien automatically asked caia, and regretted the accusatory tone of the question immediately.

she snapped up off the couch with a disdainful look. "i would have felt it if it were the midnights."

jae crossed her arms over her chest defensively, her eyes which had just moments ago been sparkling happily, were narrowed, determinedly trying to mask vulnerability. "well, maybe you missed something. can't you double check?"

caia bit down on her lip as all three of them gazed at her in expectation, and lucien detected the shudder that ran through her body. "caia, no pressure," he assured her, throwing a couple of annoyed glances at ryder and jae.

"i'll check. i'll be back in a second."

when she was gone lucien skewered the two of them to the wall with a look. "ease up on my mate."

"you just like saying that, don't you?" ryder grinned. "my mate."

"yeah, but that's beside the point. there's a lot going on that you aren't aware of."

"oh, like the midnight ryder's keeping in his guest bedroom for caia?" jae asked dryly.

lucien groaned. he had no idea how the two of them had found out that laila was a midnight, and no idea how to explain the situation to them. more than that, however, he was curious as to why ryder would keep laila under his roof if he was aware of her heritage.

"how did you find out?"

"reuben." ryder curled his lips up in distaste at the mention of the vamp. "the guy is weird, lucien. knew little laila was a midnight right off. i think you should interrogate him."

"oh there will be no interrogating of anybody," jaeden snapped, "except perhaps caia. we've been waiting, for what seems like weeks, for an answer to why she sent a midnight to us and how she knew that laila was a good guy."

his ears perked at that. "so you believe caia?"

jaeden snorted. "have you met laila and vil? there isn't a bad bone in that girl's body and i don't have to be a tracer, or whatever, to know that. plus, she told me what the midnights did to her. if anyone has a reason to go a.w.o.l and join the other side, it's that girl."

"what happened to her?"

she shook her head, her face taut with restrained emotion. "that's her private business."

lucien scratched his cheek feeling bemused. "i'm shocked. i thought when we told you i'd have a battle on my hands convincing you caia is right."

ryder shook his head, sitting back down beside jaeden. "nah. little laila is a sweetheart, anyone can see that."

hmm, he wasn't just talking about little laila.

"what about other midnights?" he ventured tentatively.

"what do you mean?"

their expressions changed often as he told them about caia's certainty that the war as it stood made no sense, considering there were midnights out there who did not believe in the destruction of other supernatural races. there were too many voices in her trace telling her they weren't bad guys, that they just as much as she would like to see an end to the war. and then he broke the news of what caia had found in the basement of the center. they both sat listening attentively, their eyes round with a mixture of disbelief and fear.