Derrek led me away from the road and into the woods.

We weaved through the darkness until we came out to a highway on the other side. "What time is it?" I asked him while I looked off into the horizon. The sky was starting to lighten and the stars were slowly disappearing.

He looked down to the watch on his wrist and groaned. "It's already 4:30am and we've still got an hour ahead of us before we get to The Order."

"That's an hour drive, and we don't have a car." I pointed out.

Derrek looked up and down the highway with his eyes squinted. "That way." He said pointing to the right. "There's a couple gas stations up ahead and we can nab a car."

"You want to steal a car?" I asked him surprised.

"You have a better plan?" He challenged me.

"No." I admitted after giving it a minutes thought. "How do you think we are going to do this exactly?" I asked as we started trekking that way.

He smiled while he walked. "Well, you're going to use your little mind tricks to unlock us a car, and I'm going to use one of my little tricks to get it going." He laughed.

"Don't tell me you know how to hotwire a car?" I said with a questioning glare. He just smiled and kept on walking. "Derrek?" I said his name loudly.

He turned to look at me, flipping his blonde locks out of his eyes. "What? You told me not to tell you." He joked. "I learned back in Cali one summer from my cousin, Jeff."

"Jeff sounds like a stand up guy." I muttered sarcastically.

Derrek laughed but didn't disagree. We walked the rest of the mile and a half in comfortable silence. As much as I love my converse, they were not the best shoes for long distance walking. Their flat bottoms and lack of support was really starting to make my feet ache. Again I thought about how this is not the way I wanted my confrontation with The Order to go. Now I'm going to be alone, well with the exception of a half-blood Potente, and I am going to already be exhausted before I even get there.

I was beyond grateful when I saw the gas station sign.

We walked up from the back of the building and looked around at the few cars that were there at this time.

"How about this one?" I asked when I noticed an old Acura that had dirt and dust all over it. "It doesn't look like anyone would be missing this one. Seems to have been here a while."

Derrek didn't look too excited about it. "There might be a reason for that." He told me but after a quick peak under the hood he nodded.

I looked around making sure no one was watching, then I flipped the locks all up. "Tada." I whispered to him.

I hopped into the passenger seat and had to crank the window down quickly. It smelled like stale cigarettes and mold. Derrek coughed his head off when he sat down, then rolled his window down too. "You sure know how to pick them." He said through his shirt that he had pulled up to cover his mouth and nose. He leaned down into the floorboard and started pulling wires out and mixing them around the way he wanted. It took him a few tries, but finally the engine gurgled to life. "Tada." He laughed closing his door and slowly pulling away from the lot.

Derrek hopped on the interstate and we headed for Swanford.

Once all of the windows were down the smell was hardly noticeable. I leaned my head back on the headrest and tried to ease my mind and mentally prepare for what was coming. I know there are only two possible outcomes, and I want to be ready for either.

I could get there, kick butt and take names, saving all of my friends and family while also freeing so many Potente families from these arbitrary rules they've been forced to follow all of these years; fulfilling my destiny and making the world a better place.

Or, I could get there, be forced to watch the death of my loved ones, and then in turn I'd also get killed.

One way or another, someone is dying today. I just hope it won't be me.

I sighed as the sun began to light up the sky in front of me. I opened my eyes and watched what could very possibly be my last sunrise. I watched the whole time, enjoying the phasing of the colors that painted across the skies.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" Derrek asked glancing over at me.

"It is." I agreed.

"Do we have a plan, Cade?" He asked with just a hint of his nerves creeping into his voice. "Or are we just going in ready to kick some tail?"

I chewed my lip still staring out into the expanses of sky in front of us. "I was kind of hoping you'd have a plan...Or maybe Stephen."

"Well, I hope Stephen's got something up his sleeve, because I sure don't. I only know where they are and how many. I can't tell you anything else."

"Ok." I told him while I soaked up the last bit of the sunrise before closing my eyes. I didn't need to call to anyone. I could already feel the presence. "Stephen? Mom?"

"Cadence, dear. We are here." My mother whispered. "They know you're coming."

"How?"

"Annabeth's body has already been found. The police called Charles to let him know. They know she went to get you, and now they know you got away. Dalton went to the hotel you were staying at, but everyone was already gone. He has already alerted The Order that you could be close."

"The others have already left?" I asked frustrated.

"Yes, I don't know when, but they aren't there now."

Crap. That means my head start is small. "We need to hurry." I told Derrek.

"We're only a few minutes away now." He responded quickly. I could see the nerves coming out of him now. His fingers shook ever so slightly on the steering wheel.

"Cade." My brother's voice now. "They know more about you than you do about them. You're going to have to play this smart. Get in, move fast, and don't let them confuse you or get you flustered. That's what they're good at. The only secret you have is that you've got fire now." He told me. "They've had an ace up their sleeve. They have a man from Africa who can control other people's mind. He's the one who has been sending you messages. He has been controlling Charles's mind and forcing him to taunt you telepathically, he's also able to give people visions. That's how you saw...Well, you know..."

"Yeah, I do." I shuttered at the memory of that horrific sound. The heartbreaking snap that still echoes around in my brain. "Who is he?" I asked angry now.

"That's good, Cade, use that anger. His name is Darian. He's the lead assassin hired to go after you. Besides him you've got Kaleb Marwell, and Eli Wellburn as the heads of The Order. The rest are just corporate lackeys. Those ones will be easy to take. You're so strong, as long as you keep a cool head, you're going to be fine. You'll need to guard yourself from their powers. They don't have much, but they can kill you if you aren't careful. Strength, telekinesis, mind control, these are all things you'll need to guard against. We won't be able to help you while your guarded, Cade." His voice came out strange. "Please be careful Cade, I love you sis."

"I love you too, Stephen."

"Cadence, darling, I know you can do this." My mother said soothingly. "You've got more power than you know. I have all of the faith in the world for you. I love you so dearly, my smart, strong, beautiful little girl."

"I love you too." I told her smiling with tears in my eyes.

Derrek pulled the car off to the side of the road then. "You see that smoke?" He asked me pointing off into the distance a ways. There was a thin grey plume rising out from somewhere within the trees. "That's it." He said.

I nodded my head. "So we walk then?" He shrugged then nodded back. "Let's go then." I muttered with zero excitement in my voice.

"Let's go." He repeated and we both got out of the car quietly and began to stalk into the woods.

Soon, the outline of a good sized old warehouse began to appear. It was slightly dilapidated and was riddled with holes in the thin metal walls. Derrek and I crotched down within the bushes about a yard away from the door, taking in the layout. The garage style door was half opened but I couldn't see anything inside. There was only one guard standing out front and he didn't even seem to be armed. He just paced back in forth in front of the door looking down at his phone.

Derrek leaned in close to me and whispered into my ear. "He's always on guard out here, but he doesn't ever do more than this. We'll need to take him down first. The others are all inside. I've counted at least 20."

"Yeah, I heard they've got 23 all together." I whispered back. "I don't know what to do." I admitted looking over to Derrek helplessly.

He put his hand on my shoulder and smiled. "What you've got to do." He said back.

"That doesn't help any." I groaned. "I don't know how to kill people."

"He sure does." Derrek replied.

"Yeah." I muttered. I've got to stop thinking so much.

The man's phone began to ring and he held it up to his ear. "No." He said into it. "No signs of them yet, you're clear." He said nodding. "Just bring the body back here. We can burn it with the other one."

That was all it took. I felt my rang rolling off of me like a real, breathing thing. I stood up, in full view of the man and I forced the phone away from his face with a flick of my hand, and then I pulled the oxygen right out of his lungs.

He collapsed to the ground, his skin an odd shade of blue.

I held out my hand from where I stood and watched his cell phone fly through the air to land in my palm. "Hi." I said cheerfully into it. "I'd like to speak with the man in charge."

"Who is this?"

"You know exactly who this is." I whispered menacingly, then I heard the line go dead.

Derrek stood at my side and we exchanged one last glace before taking off, and storming in through the door.