"Thank the Gods you're almost back to normal. If you had been any slower this could have been bad," she heard Keelan say.

"I'm so sorry." Colton's voice sounded contrite.

"It wasn't your fault Colton. I think the increase in blood has helped. I can't wait to get back to normal," Gavriel said, sounding slightly bitter.

"Think of it this way, when you're done, you'll be this new, even more badass version of the Gavriel that everyone already fears," Keelan said, sounding amused.

"It can't happen soon enough. I don't like feeling out of control," she heard her mate confess.

When the wind shifted carrying her scent towards the men she stepped around the side of the house smiling. "There you are! I was looking for you. What happened to your head?" she asked trying to sound nonchalant. She needed to figure out a way to get Gavriel to feed from her again. It wasn't the amount of blood he was taking in that was keeping him safe, it was her blood. If he needed to feed from her three times a day so that he could defend himself then she would force him if she had to.

Gavriel turned to her face neutral. "Just a miscalculation on my part, that and I think Colton was trying to get even with me from this morning."

Colton winced. "I said I was sorry."

Keelan clapped Colton on the back. "Come on, I bet Aiden has figured out some wonderful way to pay you back for nearly taking out his second in command." He steered Colton back towards the training grounds.

"I said I was sorry!" Colton complained loudly.

Gavriel grinned then winced. He brought a hand up and gingerly touched his wound.

She stepped closer and lowered her voice. "Are you sure you're okay?"

He pulled her close and began rubbing her arms. "Yes I'm fine, just a nick. It should be healed by dinner. Why are you outside?" he asked.

She rested her head on his shoulder enjoying his simple touch. "Meryn called Adair about the trainees. They will be arriving tomorrow."

"Ah. I bet neither Meryn nor Aiden knew that," he guessed.

"You got it. Aiden said all of you would be helping to clear out rooms after lunch."

"Then let's head back, you need to go inside and I need to help Aiden with drills. I may not be able to spar but I can help correct others." He stood and kept one arm wrapped around her.

When they reached the training grounds Aiden was trying to get one of the wooden swords away from Meryn who held it up at eye level in what looked to be a samurai stance.

"Okay baby, time to go in now, see here's Elizabeth." Aiden, despite the cold had sweat beaded across his forehead.

"Size matters not. Look at me. Judge me by my size, do you?" Meryn quipped and brought the sword down making what Elizabeth guessed by the quote, were lightsaber noises.

Aiden looked heavenward. "I still don't understand you!"

Meryn swung the sword around in a mock battle against her invisible opponent. The other men cheered her on. Elizabeth took pity on Aiden. She kissed Gavriel on the cheek. "Be careful." He nodded. She stepped up to the training area. "Much to learn you still have, my old padawan."

Meryn froze mid-swing. "I guess you're right." She handed the sword off to Colton. "Try not to kill any of our warriors," she teased. Colton groaned.

Meryn jogged over to her. "Let's go in! I'm freezing my balls off!" Behind her the men erupted in chuckles.

Aiden looked over at the grinning fools. "Ten laps starting now!" he barked. The men jumped to and began jogging.

She and Meryn went inside and to their delight Ryuu had stoked the fire in the family room and prepared hot cocoa and oatmeal cookies. When they sat down Ryuu bundled Meryn up in a blanket.

"He said they'll be in for lunch and after that they'll help us with the rooms," Meryn told Ryuu.

He nodded. "Good. I'll check on lunch now, we're having a thick beef stew with biscuits. Marius sent over the recipe when it began to get colder last month; he said it was a good meal on a cold day." Ryuu bowed and left for the kitchen.

Meryn turned to her, adjusting her hands on her mug. "After our break can we input the files I have for the missing persons? I was only able to input the basics to run my programs. I want to make sure we capture everything."

"Of course. Even in Noctem Falls we heard of the murders. I'll do anything I can to help." Elizabeth took a bite of her cookie.

"Thanks. Aiden and the guys do what they can of course, but women think differently than men, we may catch something they have missed."

"I'll do what I can," Elizabeth promised.

After their break they went back to the office and Meryn showed her the missing person's files.

Elizabeth was shocked at the number. "We can't be missing so many people!" she exclaimed.

Meryn nodded sadly. "Some weren't reported to the council and others were attributed to 'hiking accidents' or 'animal attacks'. But when I started correlating the data more and more people started popping up."

"Are they all concentrated around Lycaonia? Because we haven't had any missing persons around Noctem Falls," Elizabeth asked.

"I ran as far west as St.Louis, but you're right, they are close to Lycaonia." Meryn pointed to a piece of paper that was a map of the US with little red dots clustered around Lycaonia.

"Does the council know?" Elizabeth asked.