I woke up in a limo. The plush seating reminded me of my father but he wasn't next to me, Mordecai was.

"Why are you back again?" I said, rubbing my eyes and trying to remember how I got here. I must have passed out from whatever she did to me. I don't think Mordecai was there to save me. It seemed like he was trying to stop Li Na from whatever she was trying to do.

"Did you hurt that woman from before?" I asked.

"How rude," Mordecai said with a sneer. "I'm here visiting my remaining relative, and instead of greetings, I get scorn."

"You do realize you have a brother and his whole line of spawn still breathing and living, right?" I said.

"My remaining child is so heartless." He said,

I laughed despite my best effort to remain serious. There was something comforting about this banter with Mordecai. "I mean it, though. Why did you stop her?" I said.

"She was meddling." He said with a shrug as if that could brush it all away.

"That's all you do!" I said, smacking the plush leather seat.

"What I do is maintain the grand design. She was trying to remove your safety wheels before you could even walk. It would have created world ending chaos."

"Did you hurt her?" I said, glaring at him.

He faked being aghast, "She gave us this cushy limo to go home in. How could I?" He said.

That was something, at least. I could take apart what he said, but this wasn't the first time he had brought up my potential. I had something far more pressing on my mind.

"What is Graham?" I said, looking as deeply into Mordecai's eyes as I could.

An all too familiar smirk graced his face as he met me stare for stare. "He's your fiance, isn't he?" He said.

"You said I was the only one in the other world who could see your true self before. You did something, and I could see the lights that shone from you. Graham told me he saw lights similar in nature and color coming off me. How is Graham able to do that? Is he human?" I said in a jumble that came off a bigger mess than I meant.

"It's a shame something has to be dangled in front of your face like bait for you to pick up on the basics," Mordecai said as a necklace popped into being in his hand.

It was something I'd never seen him with before, but it looked familiar. It was shaped like a coin but thicker than the coin he usually played with. The design was the same as the coin. It floated into the air before he dismissed it with a wave of his hand.

"Ah, John is calling for me. Poor sucker is being consumed by the pet Golem." And with those words, Mordecai disappeared.

I was too exhausted to rage. I had gone through almost the whole spectrum of emotions tonight. I leaned back against the limo and reviewed what Mordecai said and what he left out.

Graham wasn't human. He was quite possibly someone like Wyatt and myself. I hadn't seen that necklace before, but clearly, it was another clue for me to bite on like bait. Why couldn't Mordecai just say outright what it was he knew?

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Li Ni's attempts to help me were stopped, but maybe she could do something because I felt clear-headed and more powerful than when I set off for the party. I wasn't too far gone to allow this limo to drop me off where I lived. The driver did not care and merely handed me a card when I asked to get off. Then I did like ten other things to hide my steps.

I totally blamed Wyatt for what happened. Maybe Mordecai's insults triggered my growth in deduction skills, but he had a point. I was letting too many things slip by without connecting the dots. How in the heck was the first party I was going to attend be so chaotic? Wyatt gave me the invite and look at what happened. Agent of Choas that he was, the fucker still worked for Mordecai.

I became sick after, though, so I waited until I felt better to start hurling words. It ended in an impasse.

Even if I was upset, it was vital that I had gone. Not only did I see Graham's true nature, I met Li Na.

If this was all part of Mordecai's grand scheme, why did it feel like I was being slowly helped instead? I can't say the journey was easy, but it wasn't so bad.

My resolve to stay stern and resolute against Mordecai was weakening. I could throw all my faults and problems his way, and he took them in stride. He wasn't bothered by accusations, even if they were wrong or right. Whenever crap hit the fan, and I desperately needed someone, he was there…His end goal was still a huge, sloppy bowl of question marks, but out of everyone in my family, he'd supported me the most while actively being a part of my life. Even if that support was more torture than care.

I bit my lip as I stared at my class notes in bed. It sucked being sick and stuck with my own thoughts. I was softening towards Mordecai, which meant, once again, the real person to blame for my problems was myself. I've had more than one life, and yet I continually screwed up. I'd been given more chances than most people have to live and change things, but I wound up making the same mistakes.

How in the hell did I wind up with two secretly crazy childhood fiancés who are control freaks? This must be why Mordecai was laughing at me at the engagement party. He knew what was happening again, but his attitude towards Graham was different than towards Adam. Mordecai teased Adam and was annoying. I don't think Mordecai has even bothered giving Graham the time of the day, let alone tease him. It seemed strange for the ancestor to not make an appearance but then again I wasn't serious about Graham. Our union was merely for the sake of our father's companies.

The dots I hadn't appropriately connected were lighting up my brain with activity. It's a wonder it took me so long to make these connections. I did have my dreams and visions back without Graham's interference, but that didn't bring me peace. That meant I was bombarded with images, scenes, and things I didn't want to know. I'd gotten used to dully living without them, but their resurgence should have sparked some kind of awareness. Apparently, my intellect had become a dull knife that I had no control over.

Li Na had said that Graham was looking for me. He wouldn't be able to actively harm me. I wasn't alone; I had Wyatt, my duplicitous cousin and possibly Li Na's aid. She wasn't scared of Graham and was powerful enough to stand against him and make him want to recruit her.

I had Wyatt bring me a burner phone to contact Li Na. She was pleasant and wanted to do pleasantries, but I had no patience, so I immediately set up a time to meet at a teahouse.

It was a public space that could still afford privacy. I didn't spend the time leading up to the meeting being idle. I can't say those days were entirely behind me, but I needed to step up and do more.

I attempted to look up Li Na, but all I could find were her father's accomplishments online. It was a lot harder to track down any details of her. It was somewhat reminiscent of myself. I had a ton of conspiracy theory videos after my disappearance. Funny how that sent ripples online and made me my own person. No one really cared or possibly could care about the daughter of the wealthiest man before that. They all knew his name but not my own.

Li Na was alive and well, according to social media. She frequently posted new things showing off her favorite brands and things to do in her downtime. That meant that Li Na hadn't fallen victim to Graham's threats.

The two of us had the same idea when the time for the meeting finally came to pass. I ran into her while entering the teahouse, which meant we both arrived an hour early.

There was an awkward pause as we laughed when it wasn't a laughing matter. Either both of us were wary of the other or eager to meet. I wasn't entirely sure which. What mattered most was that we both showed up.

Since I created the reservation, I had planned to arrive an hour early, and our private room was ready. It was time to meet for tea and exchange information.