They took him.

He's gone. Gone. Gone.

You're a man of your word, Zacharias. So you better keep that promise.

If only to hear you call me Zacharias again.

Gone.

The words play on repeat in my mind, while I manage to help Caleb down to the medical ward and hand him to Angie. She immediately springs into action, cleaning the wounds on his face and arms while he groans in pain.

I need to know what happened on that mission. I need to find a way to get Zach back. But Angie gives Caleb a sedative and puts him to sleep, announcing that; "he's going to be just fine. He just needs some rest."

I leave her as she's stitching up a particularly nasty cut on his cheek and head off to Lideri's room, determination in my every step. The hallways feel like an endless concrete tunnel with walls that are quickly closing in on me. The pain in my stomach is forgotten, my entire body taken over with an entirely new crushing ache that seems to be stemming from my heart.

Caring about people only leads to pain. I know that first hand.

Zach was right. This hurts like hell. It stings and pulses with a life of its own, threatening to overwhelm me. I do my best not let to it, focusing on getting to those double doors made of silver and iron. When I'm finally in front of them, I enter without knocking, finding Lideri going over some paperwork at his table. He looks up at me with his one eye and stands, keeping one hand on his chair. It's as though he knows that the world beneath our feet has been shattered and he needs to hold on for balance.

"They took Zach," I burst out, finding myself dangerously close to tears. My words are a jumbled mess as I try to get my point across. "The vampires. He's gone. Caleb's in medical ward. Severely hurt."

Has it ever occurred to you, that maybe I just don't want you to get hurt?

Lideri looks at me for a long moment, his mahogany eye wide and cloaked in sadness. His silence is unnerving, stretching out for far too long. I can't help the impatience that washes over me as he just stands there, staring at me. Wasn't Zach supposed to be the next Lideri? Shouldn't the current one be more concerned for his well-being?

Or maybe I'm being unfair and he is just in shock. I know I am.

"If Zach was taken," Lideri finally speaks. "That means he is lost to us."

"What?" My voice raises in disbelief. I'm too stunned to apologise for my rudeness, sure I must have heard him incorrectly, because there is no way that Lideri just said what I think he did.

"Peyton, if they have taken him, it's for a reason. The chances of finding him are slim. The chances of us finding him alive or unturned, are almost zero." His voice cracks on the last word and a lone tear slides down his cheek. It's this more than anything that makes me realise how serious he is.

"So we just give up?" I ask incredulously, trying not to focus on the phrase 'almost zero'. If there's even a one percent chance that Zach's okay, then that's all that matters to me. I can't even think about the alternative. Zach can't be dead. He just can't.

If you do die, I would notice your absence.

"I'm sorry, Peyton," Lideri says, looking genuinely distraught. "But that's the way it is. Zach knew the risk he took when he left tonight."

"But we have to at least try!" I insist, seconds away from losing my shit altogether. "We can track him on the monitors. We found this vampire before, we can do it again. How can you be so callous about this?"

"I cared for Zach as much as I would my own child. I brought him into this world. Don't presume that I am being 'callous', as you call it." Lideri angrily swipes his cheek, where more tears have fallen. "But understand this, Peyton, I do not believe in false hope nor fool's errands. I've seen this before, many times, and it always ends the same way."

"Please Lideri," I beg, not ready to give up just yet. "At least let me try to find him."

"You have my permission to look for him," Lideri finally concedes. "But, not to leave the headquarters. I will not risk another Hunter, especially one who is not yet fully qualified, for a hopeless mission."

"You're wrong. There is still hope."

"I think you are the one who is wrong here, Peyton." He folds his arms across his chest, staring me down with his grief filled eye. "I have given you the permission you need, but I must caution you to be realistic. You should let this go."

I think you're the one in denial, Peyton.

"If you think I'm going to give up on him, then you clearly know nothing about me."

My stubbornness has always been one of my flaws, but now I'm going to use it as a strength. I'm not giving up until I find Zach, whatever that may entail. If there's a possibility that he's still alive, then I will bring him home. And if he's not...

I have to admit, I will miss you.

My heart clenches, aching with pain. I chase the thought away as fast as I can, but it still lingers, as though it's been imprinted on my skin. I try to focus on my anger instead, to keep the dark thoughts at bay. Anger at Zach and Caleb for going on the mission. Anger at the vampires that took Zach. Anger at Lideri for not letting me save him.

"I know enough about you," Lideri tells me, though his tone is soft. We waves a hand in my direction, effectively dismissing me as he turns away. "Now please, leave me to grieve."

I storm out of his room, the anger coursing through my veins like wildfire. How dare Lideri tell me to 'let this go'? Doesn't he realise how impossible that would be? How can he expect me to admit defeat when there's still a chance that Zach might be alive?

I understand that he is the head of this organisation and that he has to make difficult decisions, but surely when your most trusted protégé goes missing, you do everything in your power to find them? Maybe I'm being too harsh on him, but I'm finding it hard to think straight. The rage dulls slightly, but that only leaves room for the panic that takes its place.

I do care, Peyton. More than you know.

So do I, Zach. More than I knew.

My first stop is the control room where I find Matthew and ask him to keep an eye out for Zach on the monitors. Then, I go to the medical ward to speak to Caleb. He's still fast asleep when I get there, the cut on his face looking angry and red beneath its stitches.

It takes four excruciating hours for Caleb to wake up. Each second seems to stretch into an eternity. Each minute could mean Zach's life. My mind runs over every interaction I've ever had with Zach, missing him more with each tick of the clock's hand. Every moment I had with him had seemed so insignificant before, but now I realise that they all added up to the way I feel about him now.

Will I ever get a chance to tell him?

It will be okay, Peyton.

But it won't be okay. Nothing will ever be okay again unless I can find him and bring him home. Caleb is the key to that, I know he is. He will be able to tell me everything I need to know. He can point me in the right direction, tell me what happened out there. His fingers twitch on the bed and my heart leaps to my throat. It's the first sign of movement from him in four hours.

As soon as his eyes flutter open and he looks at me groggily, I pounce. "Caleb, I need to know what happened."

"What?" he answers, his voice thick with sleep. He shifts slightly, concern and confusion fighting for the top spot on his features, as though he's not sure where he is or what's happened. Which, given that he was severely injured and sedated a few hours ago, is understandable. But, I'm too impatient to wait for him to gain his bearings, I've already wasted too much time.

"What happened to Zach?" I press.

"Jennings." He swallows hard, his hands coming up to rub his eyes. He glances around the room quickly, the confusion on his face giving way to realization. "Give me a moment."

"We don't have a moment!" It's impossible to keep the frustration out of my voice. Truthfully, the first thing I should have asked him was if he was okay as he is looking incredibly pale. But he's here, where Angie will take good care of him. Zach's not. "We've already lost four hours!"

He groans as he attempts to sit up, grabbing the water on his bedside table and taking a long sip. "You were right. It was an ambush. I barely made it out, alive."

Tears form in his eyes and my own threaten to follow suit. I'm not sure why I'm surprised by this revelation. Of course it was an ambush, hadn't I always known it? Deep down, I knew that something like this was happen. I knew that they were in danger.

I should never have let them go. I should have begged Zach when I had the chance. I remember the hesitation on his face. He would have stayed, I know he would have. And Caleb would never have gone without him.

"It was all eight of them, they were waiting for us. We tried to fight as best as we could but we were overwhelmed. Four of them dragged Zach away. He's gone." Caleb sniffles slightly.

The mission was less fun without you.

"No he's not," I insist. "We can find him."

"You don't get it, Jennings. If the vampires took him then it's over. They will either turn him or kill him. Either way, he's lost to us."

"He's not lost until we know for sure. We are going to find him. I've already got Matthew searching the monitors." I place my hand over his, pleading with him to agree with me. "Don't give up. Please, Caleb. Help me get him back."

His face is a picture of resignation, his shoulders slumped in defeat. "Jennings, we have to let him go. For all we know, this is another trap."

"No." The tears I've been trying so hard to keep at bay finally spill over, running relentlessly down my cheeks. "I refuse to give up on him."

Caleb eyes me for a long moment, studying my face as though he's searching for something. When he finally speaks, the last words I would have ever expected fall from his mouth. "You're in love with him."

It's not a question and it catches me completely off guard. My mouth opens and closes a few times as I try to figure out what to say. My hand leaves his, quickly falling to my side. "Caleb, please don't turn this into something that it's not," I finally beg, ignoring his accusation all together.

You are a weapon, Peyton.

"That wasn't an answer. I didn't hear you deny it."

"Zach is my friend, our friend," I emphasise, hoping to get my point across. "Don't you care about him?"

"I do, but I get the feeling that you care a little too much," he says, sitting up a little straighter in his bed with a wince of pain.

"You're being childish and turning this into a petty jealousy thing." Unable to sit there any longer, I stand up and pace in front of Caleb's bed, annoyed with him for wasting precious time. "Right now, Zach's life hangs in the balance and I refuse to waste another second arguing about this."

"I just want an answer, Peyton. Is that so hard?"

Yes it is. Admitting it means opening up my heart to a whole new world of pain that I'm not ready for. It means hurting Caleb and destroying the bond we have created over the last few weeks. Words have power, and these ones will ruin us all.

I stop pacing, standing still and taking in a deep breath before I answer. "If you're not going to help me, then I will go on my own."

He nods once, as though he knows exactly what my avoidance means. "Well that wasn't an answer. But I heard you loud and clear."

"I'm sorry, Caleb. But right now, the only thing I can think about is getting Zach back alive. Everything else is secondary at this point. If you change your mind, I will be in the control room with Matthew." And with that, I turn on my heel and stalk out, hoping to all hell that he will come and meet me there.

After all, how would we survive without our weapons? I know I couldn't.

Neither can I, Zach.