Laughter bubbled, bursting on Kelsie's lips, bending at the waist, smacking her hand on her thigh. She finally stood, leaning on the back of a chair. Shaking her head.

"That was good," she chuckled, "you had me going. You may be an Assassin, but I'm not."

"Your family appears to be," Zander said, seriously, "and it appears I followed in the family business ... unknowingly but still ..."

"You're serious about all this," Kelsie frowned, "you're not joking."

"Why would I joke about that kind of thing?" Zander asked.

"Oh, come on," Kelsie scoffed, "sure there are Assassins in this world cause people apparently need to be shot, but a royal family is taking it too far."

"Okay, let's put a pin in what the evidence shows us and your disbelief," Zander shook his head. "We're running out of time to find Jezebel's House," Zander moved to a different table, "I was reading in the file there was a place that everyone could hide. We all assumed it was the trailer park, but what if it isn't?"

Kelsie nodded, "You're thinking Jezebel's House is that place?"

Zander nodded, "When I was in training, one of the subjects was White Versus Black," he shrugged as Kelsie looked at him incredulously. "Yeah, subject names were pretty transparent. Anyway, we learned there's the Black faction and the White faction in our world. Apparently, if you work for and stay with the black faction, you work for a company like the one I was."

"Was? They fired you?"

"Since they are trying to kill me, I think my employment is terminated," Zander sighed, "don't you?"

"Guess you're right," Kelsie said, "what about the white faction?"

"It is said the white faction follows the code to the letter," he said. "They do not kill indiscriminately. They need more than an order to pull the trigger. If anything doesn't sit well, they find the truth and sometimes the assignment does not get completed due to that truth."

"Assassins with a conscience," Kelsie muttered, "Aunt Connie used to say that if it doesn't feel right, then it isn't. That is how I ended up in this mess. I found something that didn't sit well with me and couldn't leave it alone as ordered."

"What did you find?" Zander asked.

"Evidence of a coup," she whispered, "I'm not sure of details, but I downloaded the entire data section and left my job immediately."

"You've been off the grid for a while," Zander said, "how did you know what to do?"

"Instinct," she said, "you seem convinced that Jezebel's House can be located in all of this ... then let's find it."

"Jason," the name was hissed across the living area, "are you awake?"

Jason lifted his head to locate the caller, nodding; he rose and moved toward them, waving the person backwards and glancing toward the open door. Following the person into the space, he closed the door.

"I thought you were all alive," he grinned, hugging the three people before him, "you all look older."

"So do you," the woman grinned, "it's good to see you."

"Anne," Jason sighed, "Kelsie is looking more and more like you. No one can dispute she is your daughter. Cal, man, you've filled out since last I saw you."

"Living off the land does that to a man," Cal chuckled, "thanks for placing Zander in that boarding school. What name did you use?"

"Simon Coldheart," Jason grinned as the three chuckled, "yes, the ancestor who started this."

"No wonder they couldn't find him," Cal smiled, "thank you."

"George," Jason hugged the second man, "man have I missed you. You know that everything you built is being twisted?"

"Yes, plus they killed Connie," George said, "it is time to take everything back now we know what they really want from our heritage. Back then, we didn't have the information, strength or ability. The coup was well-timed and caught us when we were most vulnerable."

"It was a cowardly move," Jason ground out. "One that they will pay for, more now than ever, the mountain is being led by a traitor who wants your extinction, not reinstatement."

The three looked at each other before moving as one to a desk lining the one wall. Anne shuffled some papers handing them to Jason.

"It's not a traitor," Anne said, "a child of a divided family who was given refuge and only grew up to follow what runs in the blood."

"He was from the black faction," Jason murmured, "this is Jezebel's nephew."

"Yes," Cal said, "but we are the only ones who know the true location of her house."

"She never told anyone else?" Jason asked.

"No," George shook his head, "it's a race to find it, get to it and reclaim it."

"How do we do that?" Jason asked.

"We don't," Anne murmured, "they do," indicating the room Kelsie and Zander were working, "it has to be family in the generation of the coup holder."

"Another reason we had to wait this long," George sighed, "how are they doing?"

"No idea," Jason said, "Kelsie knows very little of her heritage, and Zander may be piecing things together faster than we would all like. I saw the family book on a desk. If I saw it, I'm sure he did."

"Good," Cal nodded, "he'll get to the bottom of it quickly enough. How do you think he came out? Is he more toward the black or white?"

"Oh, Zander is all white," Jason said, "he may have been employed for a black assassin company, but his heart is held by the white faction."

Cal sighed, "That is good to hear."

"What happens if Kelsie doesn't get to Jezebel's House in time?" Jason whispered.

"Then we lose everything, and millions of people are exterminated without cause," George said, "basically, she is standing against the extinction of the human race."

"He wouldn't! Would he?" Jason frowned.

"He had Connie killed; he slaughtered his Aunt, Uncle and Cousins ..." Anne whispered, "yes, he will, without a thought, reason or conscience."

"They have to succeed," Jason said, "no wonder everyone is tracking Kelsie."

"Where is Jackie?" Anne asked.

"Not with us," Jason cleared his throat, "she started working with ... him ... a few weeks ago. Something about destroying from the inside, I refused to help her get Zander and Kelsie to work with the other side. Besides, the other side includes Kelsie's company ... how could I betray them in that way? I lost ... Jackie ... to the other side."

"Jason," Anne gasped, "I'm so sorry."

"Hush," Cal said suddenly, "you need to return to the living area, do not tell them you have seen us. Find out what they know and get them to Jezebel's House. We cannot leave here ... yet."

Jason nodded, moving through some tunnels on the side of the room, taking him toward the river. Filled two large buckets and took a different route back to the living area.

"There you are," Kelsie called, "did we wake you?"

"No," Jason said, "got thirsty, so went for some water."

"Good idea," Zander said, "We found something that may get us to Jezebel's House with time to spare."

"Fantastic," Jason said, putting water on to boil, "what's that?"

He pointed to an ancient book on the table near Zander's elbow. Zander glanced at Kelsie before looking at Jason, silently pushing it toward him. Jason glanced between the two before pulling it toward him and opening it.

"Wow, I haven't seen this book for decades," he smiled gently, "a piece of history we cannot lose."

"Then ..." Kelsie frowned, "that is the genealogy of the Royal Family of Assassins? It's not a joke?"

"Of course not," Jason said, "even our world needs order. The Royal Family of Assassins consists of three families that hold the balance between the dark side and what is right. At the moment, the dark side has more and more say. A coup happened almost fifteen years ago, and according to our laws, the same generation of the overthrower is to deal justice. That tied the hands of the older members as the coup was orchestrated by one of the younger generations. The families went into hiding to avoid a complete coup from happening. Now that members of the younger generation can stand against the overthrower, the time has come to bring balance and order back to our world."

"Kelsie," Zander whispered, "are you okay?"

Jason watched Kelsie's pale face staring blankly in his direction, "She didn't believe you, did she?"

Zander shook his head, "She thought it was a joke," he patted her hand, jolting her from the daze, "we did find the location of Jezebels' House. We just need to work out how to get there from here."

"That is good news," Jason said, "let me know if you need any help."

Zander nodded as Jason made to move away.

"Jason," Kelsie called, "if Zander and I are part of this Royal Family, does that mean the younger generation who will make it right are the two of us?"

"Correct," Jason smiled, "still quick as a whip."

Kelsie stood watching Jason move toward the fire and sit. When Zander had brought the information to light, he seemed to take it seriously, but it couldn't be, could it? She had thought it a joke, something he had cooked up, a prank. Now Jason spoke of three families, three Royal Families, a coup and the bringing back of order and balance. They had to bring back order and balance, Zander and herself. The two to them. Which three families held power? Why couldn't another family do it?

Kelsie sat again. She felt confused, gut-punched and disorientated, "Why was I never told?"

"Told what?" Zander asked.

"Do you think Connie knew?"

"Probably did," Zander said, "but if you were in danger, the best way to keep you safe is to keep you ignorant until the right moment. I'm sure she brought you up in a way that prepared you for all of this."

"I don't know," Kelsie whispered, her eyes darting from side to side as she worked through her thoughts and raging feelings. "Aunt Connie did want me to learn some strange things for a young girl, but she always said that being a girl didn't make the task weird. It was only weird if I refused to rise to the challenge."

"Good advise," Zander nodded, "are you going to sit there like that all night or help me figure out how we getting to the House."

Kelsie stared at him, "You knew about your family history, didn't you?"

"I did," Zander said, pulling the map toward him.

"Everything in the room was for show," Kelsie murmured, "you knew exactly what you were doing."

"Not all of it," Zander said, "the emblem thing I didn't know, but the book was simply tying loose ends together."

"You must think I'm such an idiot," Kelsie whispered. "The uneducated member of a family she doesn't know," Kelsie closed her eyes against the turmoil of emotion and rage. "The person who doesn't even know the names of her own parents."

"You don't know your parents' names?" Zander asked, incredulous.

"I never heard them being called by anything else than Mr and Mrs Conrad," Kelsie said. "When together, it was always "babe" or "love". Man, this is ridiculous. An entire mission needs completing, and it all lands on my shoulders, someone who has no clue of anything happening in this world."

"How did you survive this long?" Zander glanced at her pale face.

"Instinct," she whispered, "nothing but instinct."

"Well, you did really well using only instinct," Zander said, "let's use some more to find a route."

"Sure," Kelsie sighed, "what is the information you have from those books we found?"

Zander pushed the first book toward her, and she began reading.

Jason watched the two pour over the books and then work out the map's points. Connie had a lot to answer for keeping Kelsie in the dark about her heritage. The box George and Anne put together for Kelsie had been purposefully left behind, thus not giving a young child any anchor in life or her family. Heartache sat hard in his chest as he remembered her expression. What she must feel when learning of the coup, her family, and her part in a necessary solution to gain balance, order, and save millions of lives.

Connie said she was up to the task. All her training had been completed. She was brilliant, resilient, and resourceful. The only thing that could undermine everything was a total lack of self-confidence. Anger rose hot and fast. Anger at a woman who had been murdered was counterproductive. If anything happened to himself or Cal, it was up to Kelsie to get to the end. For that, she would need every tool at her disposal. Finding the correct cupboard, he pulled out the small wooden box and, careful not to be caught, pushed it into the backpack he prepared for Kelsie. The time disc lay on the counter, mocking them with every passing second for not having the information on hand and moving quickly to resolve this matter. It could be done, but then it would not be valid. They needed to discover their heritage to earn it; handing the information to them would void any kind of effort.

"Let's hope Zander can get her moving again," Jason sighed, "soon and quickly. For all our sakes."