Luca

Luca knew what Van planned to do as soon as Abe told her to bring the bottle to him. Knew as surely as she'd known Isaiah was sneaking up behind him, a mystery he intended to solve as soon as they escaped this forsaken place.

They would escape. Livy was safe, and so was her mother. How Rosita ended up in Slayer custody after being taken in by Xandra's people, he didn't know. Another question to add to his growing list.

While Abe contemplated Van's offer, Luca pulled on the clothes Hailey tossed his way. There was a chance he would need to shift again, but standing naked among a room full of strangers left him feeling exposed. It would have been better to remain as a panther, but watching Van hit the wall so hard had drawn out his need to touch her. For his hands to confirm what his eyes saw. A rising chest. Warmth in her skin.

There was also the minor fact that he wanted to use his hands to throttle the girl for putting herself in this position. The site of bruises blossoming on her neck tempered the urge, but he felt no less frantic as Abe pushed Xandra down and grasped for Van.

Tensing, he prepared to lunge, but Van used her father's trick against him, moving so fast she was a blur. Xandra shifted into a falcon, using her lethal talons to wrench the blade from Abe's hand. Luca watched her fly up to the beams overhead and wondered why she waited so long to shift. She could have saved Van from drinking whatever had been in that bottle.

"Stop," he shouted when Nancy's team unleashed the first round of gunfire. "You could hit her."

Nancy hesitated to call off the attack. Hailey pointed her gun at her mother. "Do as Luca tells you."

The mother-daughter pair glared at one another until finally Nancy signaled her team to stop. "You're making a mistake. My team is skilled. We can end this."

"If you wouldn't risk Xandra, then you shouldn't risk Van," Luca admonished, his eyes tracking the figures zipping through the room. Not being able to help caused a physical ache in his chest, but even with his advanced speed and strength, he was no match for the Helsings. All Abe would have to do is catch him, and he would use Luca against Van.

"We couldn't get a clean shot while he had Xandra," Nancy argued.

Hailey gestured at the spot her eyes had last been able to lock onto Van and the Supreme. "And you're telling me you can get a clear shot on that?"

A pew exploded as Abe crashed into it, tumbling across the tiled floor. Van came into focus, her leg stretched out in front of her. She lowered it slowly. Cheeks pink and her red hair tangled, she remained in a fighting stance as she watched her father.

"Had enough old man?"

He held his stomach and spit blood. It hit the floor with a wet splatter. A front tooth followed. When he looked at his offspring, his lips curved in a smile, the gap in his grin adding to lunacy burning in his eyes.

"Why don't you shift?" he asked. "Use your devil powers for victory."

Van scoffed. "That's rich, coming from you."

"Is it because you can't shift? The Helsing blood is too strong in your veins. I can see it. You're fighting for the wrong side, Van." His voice took on a keening note, and Luca wondered if beneath everything there was a part of Abe that cared for his daughter. If the man Xandra had loved once still existed. When he moved his hand, Luca saw the shard of wood protruding from his abdomen.

"Take the shot," Nancy whispered.

"No," Xandra screamed, dropping from the rafters. She had shifted into a creature somewhere between falcon and human. Dark brown wings sprouted from her back and assisted in a softer landing. She folded the wings around Abe.

"Mom," Van said, stumbling and shaking her head. Her complexion was wan, and black circles clung to her eyes. "Move."

"No," Xandra said. She stared at the fallen Supreme, her expression a blend of pity and fury. "We are not murderers."

Abe laughed weakly. Luca remained on edge, prepared to intervene if the man so much as moved toward Xandra, but with every passing second, he grew into less and less of a threat.

On his side, his eyes glazed, he spoke to Xandra, "What would you call what you did to poor Isaiah?"

"Protecting my child," she knelt down, snapping her wings out so hard Luca felt the wind from their tips across his face. "Shooting you right now would be murder. You're no stronger than a child."

Nancy didn't look convinced, but once more she ordered her team to stand down. "Xan, I hope you know what you're doing."

"If he dies, the truth dies with him. The supernatural world will put him on Trial, and when it's over, no one will follow the Slayers."

"You're foolish if you think others won't rise up in my place," Abe said. His eyes closed. "And I'm nothing compared with what's coming."

Van limped to Luca's side, and he caught her before she collapsed. "Xandra, she's burning up."

He lowered her to the floor, his hands running all over her to find the source of her weakness. Hesitating only a moment, he lifted her tattered shirt. A long, jagged pink line ran under ribs. Various bruises speckled her skin, and all along her arms and face scabs formed. Each wound looked days and weeks old.

"I don't see anything that could cause this kind of fever," he said, looking up at Van's mother with panic. "Unless it's internal. She hit the wall so hard."

The Protean shook her head. "Van's getting stronger. Internal damage would heal the same as the outside wounds. It would have to be very bad for her to be in the state. Too bad for her to have gotten up and fought like that afterwards. Abraham, what was in that potion?"

"He's out cold," Luce said, pushing him with her booted toe. Blood spurted around the stake in his side.

"Have we secured the area?" Xandra asked, scooping Van into her arms. Scott picked up Abe. They followed her to the tunnel leading to the main house.

"Yes. Fighting in the surrounding woods ceased ten minutes ago, and the prisoners are being held in the parlor," Luce answered.

"Get Paula here now."

"Paula?" The name was familiar to Luca. Van had mentioned her in some capacity.

Luce had a phone out. "I'm on it."

"She's a healer, but for the last several months, she's worked as a housekeeper for the Helsings," Xandra replied.

They reached the upper floor. Luca and Hailey followed Xandra into a bedroom while everyone else moved to the parlor. Nancy shouted orders, and just before the bedroom door closed, he heard Falcon reply with a condescending remark about women.

A soft knock sounded and the door creaked open almost as soon as it shut. Livy stuck her head inside. "Luca?"

"Crap, Livy," he said, pulling his cousin into a warm embrace. "Are you okay?"

She wasn't. Her face was nearly as mottled as Van's, and she'd lost weight she could ill afford to lose.

"I'm fine." Tears choked her words. "There are others here. Bane."

"Brantley?" he said, hope soaring only to come crashing down as she shook her head.

"No. I saw him at the labs before they moved us here. From what I've heard, he hasn't shifted back into his human form, but it will be okay. We have their Supreme. Maybe they'll give up Brantley in return?"

He swallowed hard, gave her another hug, and nodded. The acquiescence was deceitful. He no more believed the Slayers would agree to that deal than he believed that Nancy or Xandra would offer it. Abe was far more useful in their custody, and the Supreme was right- the Slayers weren't ended just because they captured Abe. Brantley was in more danger now than he'd ever been.

"I'm going to show them where to find the others," Livy said, giving him one more squeeze. "Take care of Van."

When she was gone, he went to the bed. Van looked so frail and weak atop the silken comforter- nothing at all like the spitfire he met that first date at school or the one he'd come to know over the last few weeks. Xandra smoothed hair away from her face, and he took her hand.

"Will she be okay?" Hailey whispered.

"Yes." His reply was harsh. Demanding. "She has to be."

"Luca," Xandra warned, "We don't know what was in that potion."

"Something wasn't right down there," Hailey added.

"Van will tell us when she wakes up," he insisted, not understanding the sympathetic looks on their faces. "Why wouldn't you be hopeful? She's your daughter."

"I am hopeful," Xandra said. "Cautiously so. When you've seen the things I've seen and lose as many people as I've lost, you learn to guard your heart. I will fight with everything I have to pull her through this, but I cannot break down."

He thought of the times Van had clung to her strength. The way she refused to break until she couldn't fight against it anymore. It was in her most vulnerable moments that she showed the most courage, and it was always a stronger girl who emerged from the shattered pieces.

All this time, he had prided himself on being a rock. Level-headed Luca- always so careful before acting, but Van had forced him to confront uncomfortable emotions. It wasn't until he allowed himself to feel that he took action, and he would choose his heart over his head a hundred times over.

He looked up at Xandra and responded, "If you're not terrified right now, then you're already no better than the Supreme. What are you fighting for if it's not something that could break you?"

Hazel eyes took on a glassy sheen, and she cupped his face. There was a tremble in her arm. "Thank you for reminding me of that."

"Don't thank me. I learned it from your daughter."

"I'm so glad she found you."

Luca ran his thumb along Van's knuckles, trying to focus on anything but the fact that an icy chill was replacing the fever. He wasn't ashamed of the tear that dropped from his chin, and when he looked up, he found Hailey openly sobbing beside him.

"You two are just so damn cute," she hiccuped.

"Geez, Hailey," he said, grateful for the brief levity. "Way to ruin the moment."

"I'm sorry."

He gave the blonde girl a watery smile as he lifted Van's hand to his lips. The kiss he planted on her knuckles was both a promise and thanks. They had a long fight ahead, and she would be at his side. Of that, he had no doubt.

"I'm glad you found me, too," he whispered.