Lia could gauge a room , if nothing else. Her whole life she had been like that and the edge that was on it now bothered her. However, seeing Mitch give her a reassuring smile and how he began rubbing her back helped her to relax a little. If he felt calm with all of these people around, even despite obvious tensions, then she shouldn’t feel so on edge herself. When the female vampire spoke, and then Logan finished up the explanation, she gave a gentle nod. She’d offer to break it for them later, but for now she couldn’t agree with Mitch more. Atticus’s tension had been quite the elephant, but she knew it wasn’t unwarranted. Billie hadn’t quite gotten back to Logan when Mitch spoke and even she wore a confused look. The blonde, the one she knew as Dahlia, had offered a look back to the man she was sitting beside that spoke confusion as well. Once Mal explained it better, the tension seemed to disappear. It was true, Mitchell wasn’t always clear in his meaning, but when you got used to certain things it did make it harder to explain to others at times. She knew this. The explanation that Logan had given had give her questions, but she noticed how Atticus relaxed a bit. He spoke, “I’m sorry. I don’t mean to get like that, it’s just… the first time it happened to her, I went a little crazy.” He said, gently rubbing Kat’s hand. “I didn’t mean to offend you, if I did.” Lia gave a gentle nod. “Before we made it here, Atticus was Kat’s bodyguard. We used to work for a vampire coven, but since the assignment has been completed we’ve been on our own.” Lia explained. Roland shot a look to Lia, which she ignored and continued. “For about 45 years I worked to break vampire bounds to the sun, it’s why I asked how you got around. I can break it.” She felt a couple of looks on her after that, and she changed the topic to something else that had her wondering. Billie hadn’t hesitated at all in her answer, but Lia still watched her. Dahlia, the half guardian angel, had claimed the girl as her sister, but she was obviously a demon. It hadn’t taken her long to put it together, but she wouldn’t call her on it. A hybrid between an angel and a demon was extremely rare, and also told to be extremely unstable. Which also threw her a little. She also noticed the look that Logan had thrown her, and how Alex had reacted. Lia had caught onto it early, but she could understand the girl not openly admitting it. She had just met them after all. Billie laughed at the reactions to her brother’s age before she looked to Logan. She knew that look, and she also knew that perhaps hiding it wasn’t the smartest idea, but for now she needed a bit more time to feel out these new people. Her initial trust was enough to keep her from being jumpy, and she absent-mindedly reached down to pet Storm, but she remembered he wasn’t there. He’d been in hell, Lucifer having personally asked for him to join him in training the pups. It felt a little weird not having him here, Storm would have helped her make the decision to tell or not quickly because above all she trusted his judgements. Sometimes she knew that her or their group could be biased, but Storm couldn’t. It was in his nature to protect and if he felt threatened she would know. She pulled her hand up and rested it in her lap. She missed Storm a lot more than she thought she would, but he’d always been around, so it was understandable. Suddenly, Sal was moving and Billie jumped a little, seeing Drake go and lead his brother around a few obstacles before Willow and Clary came in. She looked at Logan again once Clary had left with Dahlia and she nodded. “I hope she doesn’t wear herself out too bad with all of this going back and forth.” She said, watching where Clary had been a moment before she even realized it. The conversation had been turned to Garret and she looked to Willow and could only find it in herself to chuckle. Garret did stab himself quite a bit, so that wasn’t exactly news, but the holy water… well, Alex had always told her that it sucked. It had no affect on her whatsoever, so she took his word for it. Lia looked to Mitch when he asked her and she gave a shrug. “I’m almost afraid to ask myself.” She whispered to him and she gave his arm a soft rub at his next comment. “You and I both know that if they got close enough to stab, they got through a lot though, and they’d have hell to pay after.” She placed a kiss to his temple before she saw Cole and Alex walk back in. Willow, the new addition, had asked Cole how Garret was, and Lia watched a minute. Cole lit her joint before answering, “Garret will be just fine. Got him all patched up and mellowing out. Whatever kind of blade they used, man, it retained holy water. There was more there than even I thought.” She answered. Willow the went up to Lia and asked her a question. Lia gave a slightly confused look. “Yes, and we do.” Hearing Mitch and Mal ask her why to her questions just made her smile and Lia got up, listening to the conversation that followed. Drake was trying his hardest not to laugh, but when Willow said his name he couldn’t help but smile. “Will, yeah it’s a nice gesture, but it’s not a rule.” He said, and when Jo said something he couldn’t contain the small laugh. He noticed Sal just smiling and even Alex shook his head a little trying not to laugh. Leave it to Willow to be sweet to complete strangers. “Thank you.” Lia said. “Follow me, I’ll show you the kitchen.” -- Randa was glad that Garret seemed to be calming once Cole finished healing him. That was a plus to her and she took note of the slowly disappearing darkness in his arm. It caused her to look to her own wrist that was glowing a soft orange still, like an ember in the distance, but it was nowhere near as bad as it could be. She had calmed, considerably, herself once she noticed Garret was calming. She smiled a bit at him once Cole and Alex left and she nodded. “Yeah, still got to work on that though, it takes longer than I want it to.” She chuckled, and she looked over to him when he said she should put the picture in her album. “I had planned to, just want to play with the development, get really good contrast on it.” She said, quietly before taking a hit off the joint and passing it back. His hand had found her face, and once he started kissing her, she kissed him back, feeling him take her smoke. Once the kiss broke, she sat back and just smiled a bit before she shook her head. “Babe, you don’t need to make it up to me. I enjoyed it, got a little worried over the holy water. I mean fuck, if I worried every time you got stabbed, I’d live in a constant state of worry.” She gave his hand a gentle squeeze before speaking again, “Besides, I still owe you. You won and got me out of shopping.” Once the joint was finished, she took his hand, and when he helped her up she placed a quick peck to his lips. “Yeah, you know she’s probably going to start talking to herself soon if we don’t.” She chuckled a bit, and once they joined the others in the room she felt a couple of looks. Her eyes fell to the idiot Alex had punched, but they darted away when she noticed where Garret was sitting. Billie had looked over to them as Randa approached her and Logan. “You have got to see this.” Randa said, pulling up the picture on her camera and Billie took hold of it and showed Logan. “I want a copy of that for my wall.” Billie said, and Randa gave a chuckle and a nod. Billie then looked over to Garret, “Seriously, that shit is cool looking.” Randa smiled a bit and nodded to Billie before sitting down with Garret before noticing the other girl with dreads looking over at them a little confused before she looked away. “It’s normal.” Randa said, waving her wrist a little. “It won’t take too terribly long for it to go away.” The girl nodded. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to stare, it’s just interesting to see someone not on fire smoke.” She said. She looked up again when she saw Evelyn made it back and she smiled a bi too. Everyone was back now, aside from Clary, Dahli, and their other friends, but it seemed as soon as Evelyn excused herself, they appeared again. Clary came in and sat on the floor in front of Cole who played with her hair and Aless was glad to see everyone was alright. She still felt a little off and she looked to Roland who was just watching everyone . She was still mad at him, he should have told her he was having issues again… she could help… she shook her head, trying not to get wrapped up in her own head again and introduced Clary to Kat. She was glad to see that they seemed to hit it off, just as she thought they would. Clary even laughed at her little joke. “Well of course.” She smiled a little. “Everyone comes with their own, it’s just nice to see one so pretty with a dark overtone, it says so much. The most beautiful kinds of people are like that.” Clary said, and it got her a look. “Right, Cole.” Cole nodded, “Yeah, sis, means you’ve stayed good despite some not so good circumstances. Means your soul is strong.” She said, and Aless smiled a bit at it too. It was good to hear that some people could see it in Kat without having to be told. It was quite nice. She got up after a moment and went into the kitchen where her mother, Mal, Edgar, and Willow were. Lia had looked to Mal at the news that Eve was back and smiled. “Good, I’m assuming she’s cleaning herself up then? I didn’t quite catch who had went into the bathroom.” She said, and when Aless came in she looked up. “What is it, Aless?” “Clary and Dahlia are back with the others.” Aless said, setting her tea cup in the sink before heading back out and sitting in front of Kat to get her hair played with again. Lia gave a gentle sigh, now would be the best opportunity to discuss what she needed to with this group. She smiled to Willow, after accepting a piece of the banana loaf she had brought with. “Thank you, this was a very kind gesture, and I appreciate it.” She said, and she went back into the main room. She noticed there were still a few conversations going on, so she sat back in her seat on the arm of Mitch’s chair. Dahlia looked up to Zach and smiled back at him when spoke again and she gave a soft chuckle. “Don’t tell me that, I might get lazy.” She joked, her eyes looking over towards Rose and Joe again. She knew how protective of Rose he was, and she knew how bad the last year had been for the girl. Between Zach and Joe, she seemed alright, and Dahlia had always told Rose that if she ever needed to talk, she was there too. It worried her from time to time to see her so beside herself, but she was glad to see her relax a little when Joe came. Dahlia looked back to Zach and then sighed a bit. “I’m really glad everyone is alright, it’s been making me feel very unsettled.” It didn’t take long after that for most conversation to die out and Lia looked over them. “Alright, since I’m assuming everyone is back or here, there is something I have to get put out there.” She said. “For those of you who have just come in or missed it, my name is Lia. This is my fiance, Mitch, my two daughters Kat and Aless. Then we have Atticus, Roland, Mal, and Evelyn.” She introduced, pointing to each person respectively. “We’ve been here for a while now, and for a long while most of us have dealt with hunters. This is, however, the first time we have ever come across a group this large. I say this having survived the burnings of New Salem and Sanctuary.” Clary’s voice came. “Wait, New Salem and Sanctuary? That would make you the necromancer then.” She said, sitting up. Aless looked over to her mother who just nodded before Clary sat up straighter. “That’s amazing! I mean, I’ve heard so much about you, but I never thought I would able to meet you. Death and Maddox have spoke so highly of you.” Lia’s look went from almost prepared for a bombardment to confusion for a moment before she shook her head. “Forgive me, I’m used to being called by another name. One that isn’t particularly as highly spoke of. It tends to put a lot of people on edge.” She said, “I’ve been called the Death Witch, quite infamous around hunters.” Aless looked up to her mother again before looking at Kat. Atticus even looked to Lia. This wasn’t something she ever told strangers because they normally reacted harshly. He even looked to Mitch, hoping that no one said anything out of line because even he knew how bad it could get. However, he was surprised at the next statement. “I don’t think any of us have seen this many hunters in such a small area before either. Not even in the recent years.” Alex said, “A few of us have had some close encounters, even dealt with them in wars, but to see more than five or six at once is unheard of.” Billie nodded to that. “It’s true. Hell, even when I almost got caught in Moscow last summer, the team was only a four man squad, and I threw them off pretty quickly on my own, but there was nearly 70, if I’m guessing right.” Lia nodded. “Before we left the mall, 49 were dead, a few more close to it . But there is something different about the hunters now. Hunters, as it is, are the worst kind of human. They will take anything you hold dear to you and use it against you… they’re assholes. But these ones, these ones had well thought through plans, weapons they shouldn’t have, and the most concerning part was how a few of them were trained against more than just one race.” She said. “There were other creatures that didn’t make it out, having been killed, and a few were pretty weathered. Have any of you noticed hunters around since you’ve been here?” Billie and Alex looked to each other a moment before Cole spoke up. “Dude man, there have been people tailing us. None approach, but they’re still watching. Bad vibes off all of them.” Drake sighed, “Cole noticed it a week ago, same creepy ass guy was following around a few of our girls when they went out, at first we thought he was just a creep, but then Clary caught him trying to break into one of our houses. Needless to say, that guy is no longer with is, but it’s possible he was either a hunter or feeding them info.” Dahlia looked over towards Clary who had let herself involuntarily shudder. “I’m just glad she wasn’t alone, he wasn’t run of the mill his aura was… it wasn’t right. It threw me off even, and I’ve seen souls black as night.” She said. “Plus, he wasn’t the only one we’ve caught following any of us, to be honest. I mean sure, initially most of us wrote it off to paranoia, but when it started getting more noticable… it was just…” she shuddered and Joe spoke. “I actually followed one once, something about being recruited got said, but nothing else. It was weird, but I didn’t have much time. One of the known demon hunters was throwing holy water down, and if it had hit where I was things would not have went well.” He said, still rubbing Roses shoulders. He shook his head a little, “It wasn’t anything we could figure out when we discussed it either.” Billie nodded. Almost all of them had been there for that discussion, all aside from Sal, Willow, Cole, and Clary. It had been bothersome. “What has been bothering me about tonight though… those explosions, even the hunters seemed thrown. At first I thought it was part of their ruse, but after that it made me wonder more. It was obviously more than just one group in there, and it makes the whole thing of recruiting a little more confusing.” Lia offered a nod before Roland spoke. “While I was out, there were a few who had said that they were waiting on call backs from others. I didn’t hear names, but once things started getting crazy, they knew exactly what I was it seemed and attacked. I got lucky and it was a small group.” Randa looked over to Garret before she sighed, “Hell, we were followed almost all day. I mean, won’t have to worry about them again, but at first I thought I was paranoid, but they kept cropping up.” Lia sighed, “That’s even more concerning.” She ran her fingers through her hair. This group was obviously targeted, every last one of them in the room was, but there was one thing that her group had that they didn’t. Hers was safe because even though she may not have been the most dangerous creature in that room, being as close to the cemetery as they were gave them something. A very large first line of defense. She stopped for a moment though. She would offer them to stay the night, but even then that would need to be put to discussion. “What’s also concerning is how good some of them actually were.” Alex said, shaking his head, placing a hand on the small of Jo’s back. “Some of them were thrown off by a couple of us, sure, but then there were the ones that seemed almost too familiar with multiple races, even hybrids.” Alex’s gaze had fallen to Billie who had been abnormally quiet for a while. He could see on her face she was in her own head though. Of everyone in the room, she was the one he knew threw hunters off the most when they confronted her. She , in every way, was a demon. Act, powers, even down to her crazy tendencies, but the angel gave her protection almost none of them had. Everything that could be used against a demon didn’t work against her, just like things that could be used against angels. Demon and angel blades were the only exceptions that he knew of so far, aside from her shifting to true form on earth. Her silence was unnerving him, but it wasn’t for long. [I]I just don’t get it. Even the Death Witch admitted to who she was, why am I still being hidden? [/i] Angel moaned in the back of Billie’s mind. The image of an angel and a demon popped in her head as Demon spoke. [B]Well, perhaps if you weren’t such an overbearingly annoying twat, she wouldn’t be so ashamed. [/B] Demon snorted. Angel was clearly offended. [I]The last time you hid me, I came out in the worst way possible, what if it happens again? [/i] [B]You and I work together, dumbass, it can’t come out in the worst way possible anymore. Plus, she’s hiding you for protection I’m sure. [/B] [I]I’m stronger than you! I don’t know why she’d hide me! [/i] [B]You wanna bet? [/B] “Holy hell, will you shut up, I’ll say something. Shit.” She spoke, not realizing she had said anything out loud until she felt eyes on her. Alex just chuckled, “Want to share something with the group, sister dear?” he asked and she gave him a look. It wasn’t of embarrassment or anything, more or less of annoyance. “Well, I guess I kind of have to now, don’t I?” she quipped. “Yeah, small detail got left out. I am a hybrid. Angel and demon. Such fun, throws hunters for a loop every fucking time too. Doesn’t mean I’m any less worried about them, but I do confuse the fuck out of the lot of them.” A skeptical look got shot her way. “It’s possible to have an angel – demon hybrid?” Atticus asked. Billie sighed and closed her eyes, when she opened them again, one was completely white and the other completely black. “Very possible.” “But she is literally insane.” Alex said, “Hence why she was just talking to herself.” “You don’t have to seem so pleased to tell everyone how nuts I am.” She said, blinking and allowing her eyes to return to normal after hearing Clary whisper something to Cole about it still being freaky. Randa laughed a bit, “Babe, you are kinda fucking crazy though. Just because these people just met you doesn’t mean they wouldn’t have caught on.” Billie just shook her head a little and chuckled. She then heard Atticus speak again, “So, the hunters don’t know you’re a hybrid?” Billie shook her head. “Nah, hell, if things wouldn’t have happened the way they did last year only three people in this room would actually know I was a hybrid. It’s been wise to hide it. Not even because of hunters, but with the wars between races. They’d either try and weaponize someone like me, or they’d try and kill me. Alex over there didn’t want that for me, so after things happened when I was young we came to earth.” She explained. Alex nodded a bit. “Well, someone had to be responsible for her and with Lucifer always so busy, I figure slipping away to earth would be better.” He said. “Should see hunters when the holy water doesn’t work on her, they just stand there stunned.” Lia gave a nod. “As useful as that is, you guys are still quite vulnerable. Hunters can pinpoint you at any given moment, they know where you live even. Hell, we’ve managed to keep this place a very well kept secret.” She said, her eyes looking over the group. “You guys have done us a large favor, and you managed to keep my little Aless out of the hands of hunters. I’ll be forever in your debt for that alone. My family means everything to me, and I always worry about my girls. Our door is opened to you, in fact I’d invite you to come stay until the hunter issues get resolved.” Billie felt herself give Lia a look, but everything in her said that this woman wasn’t just saying that. She actually meant it. “A very kind offer, but it would have to get discussed.” Billie said before anyone else could speak. Lia nodded, “Of course, just something to consider. It could be helpful to be around each other more. Plus, something tells me,” her eyes darted between a few of the group members. Aless, Kat, Clary, Cole, Sal, and Willow namely, “We’ll be crossing paths a lot.” Alex nodded. “That appears to be the case.” He said, “And I’m sure I’m not out of line in saying we won’t keep you waiting too terribly long on an answer.” The room fell silent for a moment before a loud yawn was heard. It came from Clary. “Sorry, sorry, I just really am tired.” She apologized, and Cole rubbed her shoulders a bit. “No worries babe, we’ll put on a movie so you fall asleep faster when we get home.” Cole said, and Billie just smiled a bit before looking up to the clock. It was getting late, and they would have a day ahead of them. She, Alex, Logan, Tiff, and Drake would all need to talk about this offer before they talked to everyone else. This would be fun. Billie leaned down and whispered to Logan, “I’m going to stick around a little while, make sure everyone is home before I head in.” She said, “Where are you going to be at tonight? I don’t want to be alone.” He was the only person she ever actually admitted things like that to, and she looked up to see Clary and Cole get up. “I’m going to get her home before she becomes narcoleptic. I’m sure we’ll see you guys again soon.” Cole waved, helping Clary up before she looked back to Garret and Randa. “Come find me if you have any issues, man.” Randa gave her a nod before she watched the two of them head out the door. She saw Billie watching them too before Joe looked to Rose. “If you’re ready to go too, we could head out too.” He said, offering his hand to her with a gentle smile. He’d stay with Rose a little while longer, make sure she was okay, but he was starting to feel claustrophobic, and he knew Cole and Clary weren’t exactly fighters either if something happened. At least this way, he knew he’d be there for them. The two girls had been a huge help since everything blew up at the school and often offered Rose to hang out with them when she was down. He knew he wasn’t the only one who appreciated that. Lia watched as they headed out, waving them out and Atticus watched too. He had to admit that thrm leaving had him concerned a little after everything, but he knew that this group was strong and could hold their own if necessary. He barely knew them, but he knew if the shoe was on the other foot, he’d want there to be some concern there. Plus, he could tell Logan was a little on edge once Clary left. He understood that feeling all too well too. However, he could feel Clary’s energy level was low, she did need some rest. -- Axel rolled his eyes at the red head’s comment. She really was a fucking know it all wasn’t she? He did hear her confirm it was a demon, and even though he had limited knowledge of demons, he couldn’t help but roll his eyes. “Well, doesn’t help when she was off with one of mine.” He hissed back before he ran into Sergio. What the hell, he didn’t know Rhiannon would be there. The two had only grown up together, and when Eli had called him she didn’t get mentioned. All of them had well known names too, so I guess he wasn’t to surprised to know she was around. Taylor then began directing them. So Axel guessed since his brother already patched him up, he’d go looking for survivors, but he was distracted a moment when he heard the click of heels nearby. “Rhiannon!” he called out and he noticed her just roll her eyes a bit before he approached. “The hell you doing here?” “Should ask you the same question, BB ass.” She spat. He heard Sergio chuckle. “If you wouldn’t mind, go off and do whatever it is you’re supposed to be. I’m trying to help Eli here.” “Wait, wait, wait, you’re the other leader?” he asked, and Rhiannon was visibly annoyed. “Why no call from you?” “Because getting shot in the ass with a BB gun by a 13 year old with a broken arm really helps your chances with me. Besides, it’s obvious you’re clumsy as ever, BB ass.” She said and Sergio just chuckled a bit, watching as Axel backed off. He noticed a rather tall man walk by not long after chuckling too. “Wrong night man,” he said, a bag slung over his shoulder as he headed to catch up with Rhi and the others. Axel shook his head and headed off to look for other survivors with another recruit who seemed almost scared. With a sigh, they headed off down one of the halls that had the rubble mostly cleared away. -- Rhiannon sighed a bit as she finally got over to Eli. He had give her a compliment to which she sighed, “Thanks, really wish I would’ve had a few minutes because these shoes suck.” She then listened to him and gave a no, but once another bomb got brought up, she became instantly more irritated. They had recovered 3 of the 5 that had been stolen, and the 3 they had recovered were the ones she was the most concerned with. After she got done tinkering with the live bomb, she sighed and walked back over to Eli and Sergio before Axel Robertson came up and started talking to her. Just let the hits keep on coming. Let them. She was glad she managed to shut him up and she felt Sergio fall in step beside her before Eli asked a couple of questions. “That was the last one. We recovered the others. Kyp was having more trouble locating these because he didn’t have a chance to chip them before they got taken.” She said, and she gave a look to Eli before she stopped. “Five were taken, three were recovered. The three I was most concerned with. Because those would have been a little harder to deal with even now.” She said, and soon the tall brunette made his way over and began talking to Sergio. “Plus, I didn’t want to have to call you. If you would have managed to locate these before I did and I didn’t have time to get here, it could have been bad.” She saw a bag get thrown at her out of the corner of her eye and she caught it. “Shoes, Rhi. Walking around this in those heels is going to slow you down, and Chester is super fucking antsy waiting on you to come back.” “You’re a life saver, Kyp” she said and she watched as he walked over and held out his arm. She used it to support herself as she changed her shoes. “You always forget something when you’re rushed.” He said, and he looked at her. “I’m going to finish up the body count. Double check it and then when I get back, I’m going to start contacting next of kin.” He said. Rhi nodded. “Take Charlotte and Emmett with you. They don’t seem too banged up.” She said, and Kyp nodded . He turned on his heels and headed the opposite way before Rhiannon looked at the maintenance hall. It was half caved in on itself and her eyes studied it before she pointed down a bit where the rest of the first bomb was. “Told you.” She said. “Sergio will get it once the rubble gets cleared. I need to look at it. Now, this body on the other hand.” She walked with Eli back to where this body was. “You said it was bitten, by what exactly?” she asked, feeling much better walking around in her slip on rather than her heels. When the body came into view she rolled her eyes. “That’s the guy. But I can’t explain the powder, unless that was how the detonation managed to get fucked up.” She said. The body looked dead, but she still felt the urge to shoot it. This dumbass had made her night worse than what it was! Ugh. She carefully bent down, seeing the brunette woman near the body, and she sighed a bit. Definitely a werewolf. Fucking dumbshit. She carefully took hold of its hand and looked at the powder before she rolled her eyes. That was definitely what fucked up the detonation. He used a powder ignition agent instead of the fuse, and she was honestly surprised the body was this far from the bomb. Sure, powder did give a chance to run off sometimes but very rarely. She stood up and took her gun from her hand bag and watched the bullet hole bleed for a minute after she shot the obviously unmoving body before she shrugged. “What? It twitched.” She then looked to her phone before looking to Eli. She really didn’t want to go back just yet, and Kyp had her tasks covered with Sergio, so she really didn’t have much to do. “What else needs done? Kyp is on body count, Serg I’m sure is leading up clearing up the rubble, so I’ve got a set of free hands.” She went to tuck her gun away after thay, but she looked back at the dead body and shot it again. She looked it over again as she actually put her gun away and shook her head. “Dumb motherfucker making my night all sorts of fucked off.”