Cameron hesitated inside the arcade. It was packed with teens and preteens, even though it was a Friday, and not much past noon. He slowly expanded his thoughts, tapped into the minds of a few of the happy kids, and found that the nearby school district had a half-day and another nearby school was out.

It took him a few minutes to locate Adam, who was playing a shooting game, killing zombies while competing against a fifteen-year-old. And winning by a huge margin.

The game ended and the other teen groaned.

"You win again," he told Adam.

"Yep!" Adam grinned at him. "Though it's not like this game would help against real zombies. They aren't what media makes them out to be. You need to either incinerate them or to kill the necromancer, though the latter doesn't always necessarily kill the zombie."

The teen gave Adam a baffled look, then rolled his eyes and left. Cameron approached the ancient mage, who put two more coins into the machine.

"Come on," Adam said. "Let's see your skills!"

For the next hour, the two of them played games as Cameron did his best to work his mind magic at the same time, then they moved to the arcade's restaurant and ordered nachos with cheese sauce, burgers, fries, and soda.

As they waited for their food to finish, Cameron watched as Adam messed with the napkins on the table, arranging them over and over until the worker brought them their food. The two talked as they ate, though Cameron left out his earlier encounter with the traffickers.

Mostly so that Adam wouldn't pressure him into telling how he escaped, and he wasn't sure he could tone down the scale of the attack enough while still being believed to not be pressured. Cameron didn't want to reveal that he'd made a deal to feed vampires three times a week in exchange for protection whenever possible.

Cameron was just happy that he wasn't asked to move into their mansion, though he was sure that wasn't far off. He wasn't sure how he'd react when that day came, especially since calling them for help had been a huge leap of faith and trust for him.

One he still wasn't sure if was a good choice or not, and that scared him, like most unknown things.

After they ate, Cameron practiced his breathing exercises again, then they talked a bit more before he left to make his way back to the hotel, where Blake and Greyson were waiting for him, ready to head to the warehouse.

Cameron pulled on his mask and gloves, then pulled the hood of his hoodie over his head, and the trio left, walking down to the packed warehouse.

Because of their improving skills and Eden's clear ability to resist Cameron's attacks, betting was still excellent between them, and the warehouse found itself packed every Friday night in anticipation of the fight, especially after the previous week's match, where Eden managed to punch Cam before giving up.

Word had begun to go around that Cam was a mind mage, particularly after that Monday's matches against against someone who'd come just to fight him. She was a registered mage who had some dealings in mind magic and had felt his attacks slamming into her mental barrier before he broke through.

Because of everyone's inability to defend against the blasts, people began to realize the small mage probably wasn't a master of wind or force magic, but mind, and Cameron knew that most of them were eager to challenge him again as a result of it.

Though his knowledge of that mostly came from tapping into minds and hearing their thoughts, though he pulled out before the first matches of the brawling section began. He didn't want to exhaust himself.

As the brawling section drew to a close, Cameron expanded his mind out to its full range and frowned. The six agents were there, as usual, though he knew they'd given up on tailing him, Greyson, Blake, and Eden – Adam was quite protective of his customers.

That wasn't why he frowned behind the mask, however. Sensing with his mind, he hoped Adam would return soon. There were more than two hundred unfamiliar, hostile presences outside of the warehouse. He wasn't sure, though, as he was counting more than he normally did, and lost track somewhere along the way.

"Eden," Cameron projected his thoughts to his future opponent after around twenty mage fights.

"Thought you hated doing this before matches?" Eden responded, not moving an inch at the sudden telepathy reception, though his eyes did move from the match to his foe.

"There are more than two hundred strange minds outside," Cameron told him. "They keep thinking something about how we'd make for excellent trees, and-"

Eden vanished, causing Cam to jump. A few minutes later, the spatial mage returned.

"Eden?"

"Sorry," Eden replied. "If you're serious about that, then it's better that I have more than two handguns and two spare magazines on me. Have you let Adam know?"

"He left halfway through the brawlers," Cam responded. "It's not unusual, he finds that section boring most of the time. Why do you want to have guns on you?"

"Because they're just as effective as beheading those guys," Eden responded. "Be prepared for a fight, and make sure you hit them hard and fast when they attack. Don't provoke them. More than half the people here are fighters."

"What are they?"

"Fae," Eden answered. "They kidnap magicians and convert them into trees for their magic forest. The more powerful the magician, the bigger the tree and the more magic it'll output and longer that it'll live. You and I are probably the two most delicious targets for them, though Adam would be a big one as well, were he here."

"THEY TURN PEOPLE INTO TREES?"

Half the people around them jumped at the sudden mental outburst, Cameron accidentally projecting that to everyone within twenty feet of him. The fight stopped as everyone who heard his exclamation turned to the mind mage.

Cameron felt his face heat up behind the mask, unsure of what to do. He knew then why no one wanted to tell him what the fairies did with their victims. The idea of being turned into a tree to pump out magic until he died wasn't very appealing to him. It horrified him.

He sensed Adam's mind reappear, and the confusion in the surface of it as soon as he registered the unusual scene in the warehouse.

"Cam, why is everyone staring at you?" Cameron heard in his head.

"I may or may not have made a mental outburst when Eden told me why the fae kidnap people."

"I'm going to kill him," Adam said. "Why did he tell you that?"

"There are at least two hundred fae outside."

A few moments passed before the response came.

"Shit!" Adam swore in Cam's head. "And they're about to attack, too!"

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"We're too packed! It'll be a slaughter!" Cameron wailed.

"I can expand the space within here," Adam projected soothing thoughts to the panicking preteen. "It'll give us more space, and-"

The windows exploded inwards and hundreds of fae flew into the warehouse. Cameron felt Adam's mind leave his as the space in the warehouse expanded, yet he could tell that the walls themselves didn't move an inch.

Cameron watched as the mages around him began casting spells, Eden pulling out a pair of handguns and firing at the fae, werewolves shifting and barreling their way through the fae. There were more fae around than Cameron had counted. A lot more, he realized.

Within a minute, the warehouse had turned into a space five hundred feet on each side with more than a thousand mages, other beings, and fae fighting on the two levels. Cameron moved closer to Eden as he mentally assaulted any fae that came near him, giving the gunner enough time to kill them, putting three bullets into each.

Looking around, Cameron spotted Adam, who was flinging fireballs, spears of ice, lances of stone, bolts of lightning, slashes of air, and waves of force at the fae without pause. He looked around for Greyson and Blake, sensing them near him. Blake himself was injured, and suddenly, his mind disappeared from Cameron's sense.

Did he get teleported out? Cameron wondered as Greyson's mind filled with fury and sadness.

A wail let out, and a moment later, Cameron watched as Greyson flew up into the sky, his hoodie and shirt falling to the ground in front of him, ripped by the sheer force of the manifestation of the pair of pure-white wings stretching out of his back, an aura that felt heavenly just by its nature filling the space around him. Cameron wasn't sure how he knew it felt heavenly, just that some primal, subconscious part of him did.

Cameron watched as Greyson cried, deftly dodging attack after attack of the fae, and realized that the warehouse had gained a lot of height, too.

Then, he realized what happened to Blake. He didn't get teleported out.

"NO!" Cameron screamed, and at the same time, a wave of mental energy washed over the warehouse, a pink-and-purple wave of energy that flowed out of Cameron.

----------------------------------------

Greyson fell out of the sky, losing consciousness at the same time as nearly everyone in there. Only those who had mental guards or powerful wills and strength of magic managed to stay conscious under the sudden outburst. Even most of the fae were knocked out from the force.

Adam looked over at the wailing demigod, who was continuing to emit a powerful mental ram in all directions at once, and he was glad he'd erected a barrier around the warehouse. If that wave hit civilians outside, it would cause a number of problems he didn't want to deal with.

He needed to shut it down, too, before he was knocked unconscious. Focusing himself, he aimed a mental hammer at Cameron and swung, watching as the boy collapsed to the ground. Instantly, the mental waves ceased, and the ancient mage took a few deep breaths, then looked around. Only around a dozen non-fae were still standing, while around twenty fairies remained conscious, though everyone else looked weakened.

Taking the opportunity, he manifested a series of firebolts and threw them, killing the fae with a fire that consumed their bodies, leaving only ash behind.

The other magicians and the werewolf recovered quickly, and they went about killing the remaining fae.

"What the fuck was that?" One of the female mages looked at Adam, who sighed.

"Why are you asking the kid?" One of the men asked.

"He's an extremely powerful mind mage," Adam told her, ignoring the inquiry as he did a mental search. "Damn. The werewolf who's been taking care of him recently was slain in the fighting. One of the only people he's ever let in. Brace yourselves, I'm about to undo my spatial spell, so you'll probably feel the distortion. I'd do it slowly, except that it'd be pointless with nearly everyone unconscious."

Adam undid his spell, and space snapped back to normal, with corpses and people suddenly a lot more packed-together than they had been a moment before, many of them laying on each other.

"How the hell did you do that?" The male mage asked.

"He's the owner of this arena," the werewolf snorted. "A shifter-type mage who's older than… who the hell knows? I don't think they even had calendars back then. I take it we have you to thank for us not being forced unconscious by that?"

"Yeah," Adam rubbed his temples. "He almost knocked me unconscious, too. Maybe one or two seconds for you guys? Three or four for me? Agent. You calling this in?"

Adam turned his gaze to the agent who was at the warehouse often, to keep alert for any signs of fae activity or any potential targets.

"Have to," Michael said, rubbing his temples, then looked at the other two agents who'd maintained their consciousness before looking back to the ancient mage. "Are you going to stop us if we try to take the boy in? After this-"

"He's under my protection," Adam warned him. "I've been personally training him to help him get his mind magic under control. You will leave him, Eden, and Greyson alone."

"So it is a he?" The female agent asked. "Cam, I mean?"

"Yes," Adam responded. "It's short for 'Cameron', and he's twelve. Call it in, Michael, but make sure Lucas knows that the three of them are to be left alone. You're reporting a fae attack, not taking advantage of their unconscious states."

Michael nodded, then pulled out his phone as Adam jumped back onto the second level, sitting on the railing and looking down at them. Twenty minutes later, dozens of agents began attempting to enter the building, so Adam expanded the space again, giving them the room they needed to do their work.

Fae bodies were removed, and agents began to check the guests' bodies to remove the ones who'd been killed and began treating those who'd been injured. Lucas made his way up to the second level and walked around the bodies until he reached Adam.

"You're Adam Leosvar?" Lucas asked.

"You're Lucas Tulim?" Adam responded.

"Would you mind undoing the sleep spell you've cast on everyone Cam knocked out?"

"You might want to tell your agents to back off," Adam snorted. "A room full of fighters, right after getting knocked-out? They're liable to attack anyone touching them when they wake."

Lucas gave the orders, and his agents temporarily left the warehouse until people began waking up, then returned to resume checking on people and working.

"We aren't going to arrest anyone," Lucas told Adam. "Even though you and they know this is illegal."

"You and I know that this keeps most of them from doing this on the streets or doing other shit," Adam said.

"Which is why we've let you do this," Lucas nodded. "I take it you're changing form again once this is over?"

"That is correct," Adam nodded. "Your son's conscious. I'd recommend not attempting to force him to come home."

Lucas looked down to where his son was picking his way through the bodies to reach the werewolf's. Blake had reverted to his human form upon death, as all werewolves did. The boy began to cry again, hugging against the older teen's body, telling him to wake up.

"Without Blake-" Lucas began.

"Greyson did fine on his own before he met the werewolf," Adam stated. "He'll do fine on his own without. Give him time to recover."

"And the mind mage?" Lucas asked. "What are your intentions towards him? It is best if-"

"Don't," Adam said. "I can handle him. I've contacted one of my familiars to track him and alert me if he begins to do such things. The fact that the thing let me know even though I was right here tells me it'll do its job."

"If he does that in public-"

"It's unlikely it'll happen before he can pull himself under control," Adam said. "At least, not again. He'd let Blake and Greyson in and had begun to trust and like them. Then he found out that Blake died. Even with all the fighting going around him, he didn't freak out. It wasn't until someone close to him died that he freaked out and began casting a powerful mind spell. He'll shut himself down again and raise his walls once more, blocking even your son out."

And Adam, though the ancient mage didn't mention that.

Lucas sighed, but knew he wouldn't get anywhere with the ancient mage. His department had clear orders to not tread on his feet, and if Adam wanted them to leave Cam alone, then they would need to.

Adam watched as the Director of the Anti-Fae Task Force made his way back downstairs, then he started watching the warriors and mages who were recovering from Cam's mental blast. After nearly half an hour, his gaze traveled over to Greyson, who was standing up, rubbing his eyes.

Looking around, Greyson began walking over to his father, those beautiful, brilliant wings of his tucking in behind him. That told Adam all he needed to know. The boy didn't have true control over his wings and they'd manifest on his own if his emotions were heightened. He didn't possess the ability to dismiss them until he calmed down.

The ancient mage enhanced his hearing and listened as Greyson spoke with his father with a shaky voice, tears streaming down his face again. Lucas stared at his son's wings at first, a human's natural reaction to seeing the wings of nephilim and angels, though his son's words caught his attention.

The director pulled his son in for a hug, and Greyson began sobbing into his chest. He asked to go home. That surprised the ancient mage, his estimation of the situation being off. A rarity, when he knew the subject involved.

Looking around, Adam frowned. Cameron was missing. He was pretty sure none of the agents would have disobeyed him and began to panic at the thought that someone somehow managed to kidnap the mind mage from under his nose. That worry disappeared as he realized that Eden, too, had disappeared, and the last he'd seen of the teen, he was checking on the younger boy.

So, Adam thought to himself. Eden's taken Cam out before things could get uncomfortable for them.

Sliding forward, Adam let himself drop to the ground and asked his familiar for its location, receiving confirmation that the boy was at the spatial mage's apartment. Undoing his spatial spell, Adam waved his hand, and the glass shards around the warehouse flew up and to the windows, returning to their previous state.

"Would you please not perform such a blatant use of time magic?" Lucas asked as the few remaining agents, mages, and supernats stared.