When Remi awoke the next morning, she wasn't surprised to find Killure gone. In fact, she hardly gave it a passing thought.

He often disappeared to go on walks. She'd told him early on that he didn't have to ask, so long as he was back by breakfast time.

On her way down the winding staircase, she saw little Kareem crawling up the stairs, his chubby arms and legs trembling with giggles.

"Reem!" Remi half-whispered, laughing lightly. "Are you hiding from your nanny again?"

He put a finger up to his lips and shushed her, a wide grin on his cute, round face.

Remi nodded and smiled to silently let him know that she understood, and that she'd be quiet.

The nanny was nearly sixty years old already, and had looked after both Remi and her older brother, as well as their cousins, at times, when they were much younger.

To their nanny's dismay, nearly every child that she'd been tasked with taking care of had put her through the ringer. Blue was the one good child who didn't give her grief because he rarely did anything other than sleep and eat.

Remi began making dramatic eating gestures with her hands.

Breakfast wouldn't be ready for another half hour, but that didn't mean they couldn't sneak into the kitchen and try snatch up some food. Also, it would probably be one of the last places Kareem's nanny would look.

Kareem bobbed his head up and down excitedly, obviously thinking this was a good idea.

Remi grinned, scooping him up into her arms and tip-toeing down the stairs. She crouched down and glanced around, ducking her head when the nanny scrambled into the lobby area from one room, and frantically disappeared into another.

She didn't even notice them.

Kareem began giggling, before stopping himself short. Even then, his body still trembled with silent laughter.

Together, they darted into one of the many corridors in their maze-like house and crept along, darting into one of the rooms or other corridors branching off from the corridor they were in whenever they heard approaching footsteps.

After a few more minutes, the delicious aroma of buttered toast, freshly-baked waffles and fruit dusted with sugar wafted through the air.

"Almost there," Kareem spoke into her robe to muffle his voice a little. She easily returned the grin he sent up to her.

A few twists and turns later, the two of them were in front of the kitchen doors. They were made of some sort of flexible rubbery material so that the cooks and servers could come in and out with ease, and not have to stop to turn a knob in order to take dishes from the kitchen to the dining area.

There was a translucent plastic near the top of the doors that served as windows, so Remi quickly stood into her top toes and peered inside.

Cooks in white uniforms bustled around like bees in a hive. Remi quickly spotted Safire bouncing around inside, cheerfully giving everyone a job and occasionally checking on the food. Her brilliant smile seemed to bathe the kitchen in joy.

"We have to be like spies," Kareem warned, now serious.

Quietly, they slipped inside through the doors when they thought no one was looking, and ducked behind an empty counter.

Safire was tasting a boiling pan of strawberry sauce. She tossed her spoon into the sink after using it. Without turning around, the bubbly blonde called over her shoulder, "Remi, Kareem, I saw you both come in. You're not sneaky!"

Sheepishly, Remi set Kareem back down on the floor and they both stood up and emerged from behind the counter.

A few of the servers looked surprised, but they continued on with their tasks without saying a word.

Safire finally came over, a new spoon in her hand. She crouched down to Kareem's level and offered him the spoon. "You'll like this—it's what's gonna be on your waffles this morning at breakfast."

Kareem eagerly put the spoon in his mouth. "Good, good!" he cheered. "More?"

"Nope," Safire shook her head, standing back up and looking at Remi, who was sheepishly rubbing the back of her neck.

"How do you always know it's us?" Remi grumbled with a begrudging smile. "We made sure no one was looking."

Safire put her hands on her hips and rolled her eyes. "I'm a Conda, remember? We have sharp eyesight. Besides, the only people who ever try sneaking into the kitchen are you two, and your dad."

Remi laughed at that. Her dad always tried getting into the kitchen before meals or in the middle of the night, and grumbled every time he got kicked out.

"So, what can I give you two to make you leave and wait until breakfast?" Safire smirked, adjusting the hairnet holding back her long, blonde hair.

"I'll take a few strawberries," Remi volunteered with a grin.

"Strawberry sauce!" Kareem yelled with a matching grin.

Safire giggled at them. "He's like a miniature version of you, Rem. And alright, I'll be right back."

A few moments later, Remi had a handful on strawberries and Kareem was gulping down the warm strawberry sauce from a big spoon that Safire had given him. It was too big to fit in his little mouth, so he tipped his head back and let it dribble in.

Hand in hand, the two of them walked out of the kitchen, now content.

As soon as they walked through the double doors, the nanny spotted them.

She had been going in another direction and caught sight of them out of the corner of her eye.

Remi would have scooped up Kareem and ran off, but their Aunt Colleen was also walking alongside the nanny, looking none-too-pleased, and her disapproving gaze pinned them in place.

Remi quickly shoved the last two strawberries in her hand into her mouth and chewed them up before her aunt could come and squash them.

She'd been known to squash things in the past, and Remi wasn't about to take any risks.

"Remi, you're seventeen," her aunt chided, annoyance dripping off her words. "Surely you could stand to behave a little more maturely than this."

Aunt Colleen had married into the family, and therefore didn't have the same abilities as most of her family members. She was simply human.

And yet, she was definitely just as cranky and serious as her husband, their Uncle Fahrem.

Their aunt fixed her gaze on little Kareem. "And you, my nephew, almost gave your nanny a heart attack. Would you have wanted to have to spend all your free time today fixing her heart?"

Kareem's bottom lip trembled. "No."

He was far too young to know much of anything about repairing the human body, not to mention after something so traumatic as a heart attack, but their aunt was out to scare him into behaving.

"If you don't behave, your father is going to kick you out onto the streets, and then you'll starve. You won't be able to break into the kitchen anymore and steal food. In fact, if you try to steal food, someone will cut off your hand. You don't want that to happen, do you Kareem?"

Tears began flowing down Kareem's cheeks at her words, but they did nothing to elicit sympathy from their aunt.

Their aunt didn't care much for any of them, and it had always been that way. She loved only herself and her possessions, and spent most of her days out shopping. Most were shiny, expensive pierces of jewelry that caught her eye in the moment, which she would wear once and then put it away in her jewelry closest and go buy another.

Remi squeezed Kareem's hand in support.

"Stop it," Remi growled at her aunt. "You're frightening him."

Aunt Colleen shrugged, not the least bit remorseful. "Someone has to scare him into listening, or else he's going to turn out like you and your brother. Now that would be a tragedy."

Remi grit her teeth, biting back the retort threatening to spew from her lips.

"By the way," her aunt commented, faking concern. "Where's that slave of yours? The tall, hunky one?"

"He's . . ." Remi stopped short. She glanced at the grandfather clock in the wide corridor and frowned slightly. Killure was always back by now.

Where had he gone?

"I'm sure he'll be back soon," Remi replied, her words hard. "With the bonding, he can't have gone overly far."

If he were to go more than a five or six miles away, the bonding would begin to drain his energy and make him weak. If he kept going despite this, he would fall unconscious.

Her aunt pursed her lips in disapproval. "You allow him far too much free reign. I haven't even seen a single bruise on his body, which is a shame. He's going to begin to think he actually matters, and you being weak will let him keep thinking that and allow yourself to be manipulated, and you'll have a big fiasco on your hands. Get someone to rough him up—it'll do wonders."

Remi rolled her shoulders backwards in a shrug. "He's my slave, and as his owner, I'm the one who decides what sort of treatment he'll receive—not you."

Aunt Colleen shrugged. "As you wish. But don't come crying to me when your slave runs away or orchestrates your death."

Remi sent her a dark glare, boring holes into her slender back as the older woman exited the room.

Screw her.