"No, no way," Ben stubbornly shook his head with his arms folded across his chest," How could you keep me away from all these dramas and I get to babysit your brother instead," he argued.

"Ben, this is a war, not a child's play. Moreover, you can't -"

"Contribute anything to it," he filled in.

"I was going to say 'protect' yourself," Lia corrected.

"Who said I can't protect yourself?"

"Unless you have a way to manipulate ghosts to fight your battles, I don't see any other way of protecting yourself," Lia pointed out that fact.

"I'm not a Necromancer," he gave her a dirty look, "But if I …." His eyes brightened with an idea.

"Oh boy, I don't like this," She mumbled under her breath. Each time Ben came up with his unverified hypothesis turned reality, it never turned out well - on lots of occasions.

"What if I made a pact with a ghost who uses my body and I become overpowered," Ben imitated some signature action movie moves.

"Or maybe you'd get tricked and the ghosts get to possess your body for eternity. Behold, what a great plan!" she deadpanned instead.

Lia placed both hands on his shoulder," I love your willingness to help out Ben but I need your help with keeping my brother safe,"

"Is still unfair" He sulked," Even Trevor gets to help out, why me"

Yeah, Ben had forced the truth from her mouth before she even got to plead for Rex to stay over.

"Rex might be young but he's an aspiring Hunter, he's got some juicy information you might need," Lia tried to bribe him.

"Tempting but no," Ben turned her offer down," Although there's something you could help me out with,"

"What's it?" Lia asked but prayed he wasn't about to make one of his outrageous requests.

"You'd help me investigate Alicia's death," he proposed.

"Oh, you're still intent on finding the murderer of your ghost girlfriend?" She taunted him.

"She's not my girlfriend," Ben went red in the face, "Are you helping me out or not?"

"Fine," Lia readily agreed to the deal. If that would guarantee the safety of her brother, so be it.

"Be a good boy," she warned Rex who gave her a lopsided grin," I mean it,"

Somehow, the girl wondered if leaving Rex with the untamed Ben was a good idea. Well, what's the worst that can happen, anyhow? What has she not seen?

"Thank you so much," Lia hugged Ben briefly and pulled away.

"Kick some asses but remember to stay safe," Ben surprisingly advised her. Was that truly Ben or the possessed one?

The moment she left Ben's, she took off to Asher's home. The sun was already going down and soon it would be time for a massacre.

"How's everything going?" She asked as soon as she arrived at Asher's bedroom.

Gideon, her sire, had guarded Electra and Sabrina well, both were still at the place she had left them. But compared to Tristan, she felt little to no bond with him - perhaps, he doesn't know how to use that.

"Have you found out Raphael's location?" The newly nominated clan leader inquired.

"There's a problem," Zukai said.

"What is it?"

"I can't trace Raphael," he disclosed.

"What?" Lia was dissatisfied," Do you need more materials to work with? Because if that's the case, then you should know that Raphael was with me before he touched Electra, you can try me," she offered herself.

"That's not the problem," he said, " I feel something but each time I try to read further, it's muddled. I'm thinking it has to do with the fact that the two souls were switched," Zukai surmised.

"Or the fact that Raphael knows you are going to track him down and has a witch to cloak his activity," Sabrina chimed in.

"What do you mean?" Lia turned towards her.

"Raphael has a witch by his side" she disclosed.

"How do you know that? Don't tell me you were you the one who introduced the witch to him too?" Lia suspected her.

Now Asher was dead, she hated the sight of Sabrina because the witch was a constant reminder of what she had lost as a result of her mistake.

"Of course not," Sabrina went wide-eyed with shock, "I don't know anything about the witch, I just figured out everything from the orb Raphael utilized,"

"What orb?" Lia was intrigued.

"Teleportation orbs, orbiting orbs or globes, call it any but they serve the purpose of teleportation by creating portals. Else, how did you think Raphael escaped us?" She replied.

"So you're trying to say - "

"Those are made by witches and if he has one, he has a witch as a backup," Sabrina completed.

"What witch is willingly to work with that crazy son of a biscuit?" Electra mumbled under her breath but this was a room full of vampires who heard it with ease.

"A witch as crazy as him?" Gideon speculated.

"Or a foolish one tricked by him," Lia contributed, eyes glued on Sabrina.

"Or one held against her will?" Zukai added.

"Pfft, that's impossible," Electra doubted mockingly," Why can't she escape with her magic?"

"Not when she has something to lose if she does that," Sabrina responded solemnly.

Lia was touched by her word but pretended otherwise, whatever bad experience the witch had was her business. The only reason she had not killed Sabrina yet was because of Dan; he was her saving grace.

The hybrid was about to brief them on the next course of action when her heart suddenly throbbed for no reason or so she thought until she picked up light footsteps coming in their direction.

"Do you hear that?" She asked no one in particular.

Lia saw a little twitch on Zukai's face and knew he had heard it too. Everyone became alert and adopted a fighting stance, awaiting whatever comes in through that door.

She gulped to confirm her cords were ready to blast any enemy that barges in to attack them.

But no one expected to see Raphael walk in through that door with an unfamiliar girl in his arms.

What the fuck! How was that possible? Lia had watched the real Raphael rip out his own heart and end Asher who had been occupying that body.

They kept on staring at each other while the other vampires awaited Lia's orders hence she was now their leader.

Asher stared at his mate like a moron, he couldn't believe he finally made it home. He tried to take a step towards her but she roared threateningly

"Who are you?!"

Lia asked that stranger with her fists formed, ready for a fight. She felt some inexplicable attraction to this freak with Raphael's face, but how was that possible? She had just watched Aster die right in front of her and she had been fooled so many times this week she wouldn't allow herself to be used again.

It couldn't be Ozark, her siblings had killed him already. Maybe, this was another vampire with that same ability, right? This couldn't be Asher who just died in Raphael's body, right?

Asher didn't answer, instead, he laid the Devon who had fainted from exhaustion on the ground, resting her back against the wall- she had pushed herself to the limit.

He began to take slow steps towards his startled mate. What the hell had happened for her to be this way.

"You haven't answered me. Don't take another step or I'll have no choice than to hurt you," she said empty threats.

Sharp gasps came from the shocked supernatural audience who finally comprehended what was going on. Asher had not died, rather it was his copy - he must have mastered Raphael's duplication ability. How did they not think about that?

Lia swallowed, she refused to believe what her heart was telling her. She had killed Asher, that was all she knew.

Asher found it amusing the way she avoided him, he could smell the pheromones off of her and she reeked of nervousness. What was she guilty about? He followed after her with a predatory glint in his eyes until she was corned against the wall.

"Does this answer you?" Asher murmured before he lowered his head and kissed her the way he normally does when he still had his face back.

Lia's pulse raced, aside from when she was with Daniel, she hadn't felt this kind of excitement before - like she had finally found a piece of her missing soul.

"God," Lia breathed in when he pulled away, "It's really you?" Her eyes were finally opened and the doubt gave way.

This time, she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him, not giving a damn to the fact her beloved was bearing Raphael's face. All that matters is that he was here and safe.

Tears slid down her eyes as their lips met in a rush with her hands digging into his scalp, pressing him further against him as if wanting to swallow him whole.

She pulled up for air, clasping his cheeks with her hands, "Thank God you're okay. Do you know how guilt-ridden I felt when I thought I killed you?"

"If my copy is dead, then you technically did kill me," Asher joked.

Lia punched him on the chest," Does this look funny to you?" she scowled at him.

Asher clasped her cheeks this time, saying seriously, "I'm sorry for failing my promise of keeping you safe but I swear with my life, no one would ever lay a finger on you this time,"

He kissed her and Gideon cheered with applause. His prayer has been answered, their leader is back.

Just when Asher thought things were finally settled between him and his mate, he received a hard slap on the face.

His head whipped to the side from the impact," What was that for?"

"How could you hide the fact you had a child behind my back?!" She spat.

Uh-oh, he forget about that

" I was -" He was about to explain when another slap met his other cheek.

"I'm still in high school, how could you make me a step-mom? What am I going to tell my mother?!"