The room measured approximately twelve feet by fourteen feet and was in complete darkness. The one window in the room was covered by heavy black drapes which didn't allow a single ray of light in. The only sound to be heard was that of Kade's slow measured breathing.

He sat in the middle of the room in the traditional meditation pose. He neither chanted nor emitted any other sound. He simply sat there with his eyes closed and his mind at rest. Kade knew he needed to clear his mind and concentrate on the individuals he was searching for. He needed to stay focused.

In recent months he had found that he was able to locate one of them after only a few minutes. But he had yet to be able to connect directly. This really bothered him as it put the completion of his task in jeopardy.

Kade didn't have much hope of succeeding today, but nonetheless, he tried for almost twenty minutes. He was pushing himself to the limit by doing so. It would leave him drained and vulnerable. But he'd already taken far longer than he should have.

He pushed his mind as hard as he dared. But when he felt the trickle of blood from his nose, he knew he had to give up. He didn't understand how they had managed to build such a strong shield. As far as he knew they were alone. Without anyone to guide, instruct, and protect them they should have been easy targets. It had taken him fourteen months just to be able to narrow down their location and try to initiate contact.

The present situation was unacceptable to his superiors. They were just kids after all. His orders were clear, destroy them and leave behind no evidence or witnesses. He had already tarnished his reputation when he'd had no choice but to destroy Dr. Neela in front of so many people.

What should have been a quick clean-up had turned out to be a major security risk. The fact that he had been allowed to stay and finish the job was a testament to his previously perfect record.

Kade walked into his bathroom and wiped away the blood. He leaned over the sink and splashed cold water on his face. He stared at his reflection in the mirror over the sink. But he was not seeing his silver blonde hair, or his dark gray eyes. He didn't even notice the thin pale crescent-shaped scar below his left eye. He was looking into the past, recalling the day he had received this assignment.

He had been looking forward to spending some time off. He'd been on an assignment that had taken him through a roller coaster ride of emotions. But the director had requested the best and that was Kade. After all, only the best in his field could be called upon to eliminate his own father. He had been shocked but had not questioned his orders. When all was said and done, he returned home as he did after any other job. He'd been just a boy of thirteen but was already established as the best 'exterminator'.

A summons was already waiting for him. The director herself had sent it and wanted to see him immediately. He had been in awe as he stood before her. Though diminutive in size, Director Riles exuded power. "I'd like to ask if you'd take care of a special little favor for me", she'd said. He never would have considered denying her. She was not asking, and they both knew it. Within a couple of weeks he'd found himself on Earth, correcting a mistake which had been made years before his training was to begin, while he'd benn a mere baby.

To this day he couldn't understand how Dr. Neela had convinced the council to leave her and two other researchers behind for a preset period of ten years. The team had been sent on a fact finding and sample gathering mission. But when it was time to depart, only eight of the eleven crew members were on board. Everything would have been fine. But when the ten years were up the good doctor refused to leave.

Kade shook his head; obviously being around human scum had affected her judgment. To think she had actually bred with one of them. The council was still in an uproar over the whole thing. The Director, on the other hand, took it as a personal insult that Neela had been able to conceal this information for so long. She convinced the council to terminate the offender and eliminate all evidence. That's where Kade had come into the picture.

It had taken him months to track down Neela. Kade's plan had been simple, get inside Neela and use her to destroy her mate and then the half-breeds. She was the only target which could present an obstacle so it made sense to get her out of the way via a surprise attack and actually use her to get the job done.

But everything had gone wrong. Somehow she had been able to sense him. It shouldn't have been possible but she managed to hide the kids and go on the run with the human. Kade persisted; he wore down her mind until it was so weak from the attack that he was able to take over.

What he hadn't known was that she and her 'family' had attracted attention from a homeland security task force. They were under surveillance. Within days of being on the run, the government had caught up with them. It was at the moment they were surrounded that Kade had his breakthrough. He had been so blinded by his triumph over Neela that he'd destroyed the human before fully realizing that there were dozens of witnesses surrounding them.

The shock of what he'd done, how careless he'd been had made him loose control of her mind. She was apprehended. But Kade had not needed to do anything about her. He had tried to find out where she had hidden the kids. She had used all her reserves to shield that part of her mind, to save those half-breeds. Ultimately her mind had snapped causing it to send the termination order to the rest of her system.

Now it seemed that at least one of her half-breeds also had the capability to shield, to some extent. Kade knew he needed to get physically closer to them. He needed to get a better read on their current location, if he could just get within a hundred miles of them, he'd be able to finish his job and go home.

He'd been away from home for six years – far too long. Maybe he was losing his edge. Or maybe the council's warnings had some merit. After all, they didn't know the ramifications of breeding with humans. They believed the 'boys' had some of the same abilities their mother had. But they should be diluted due to the inferior genetic pool from their father.

Kade had often wondered why Neela had chosen a human as a partner. Their intelligence was adequate, but they were still so consumed by feelings. Their looks couldn't be faulted; there were some that were quite attractive. One of his neighbors did have great legs and a beautiful smile. "I really need to get back home", he muttered to himself in disgust as he turned off the bathroom light and walked out.