Wow, thank you soooo much for all of your reviews! Sorry this chapter is a bit later than I expected. July really flew by! Anyway, hope you enjoy reading this chapter. Please review and let me know what you think Price is up to!

Cole was being held in a real estate office on Main Street. I'd been freaking out and the whole time he was less than ten minutes away. Figures.

The storefront looked the same as it always had: a quaint, picturesque main street address. It was sandwiched between a local beauty salon and the pizzeria my family and I used to go to after Cole would win one of his lacrosse games. The striped blue and white awning of the real estate office hung over the door in a forcibly cheerful way. I never would have suspected the welcoming space to be the headquarters for sorcerer-hunter collaborations. For some reason, in my head, I imagined a dark and damp abandoned building on the outskirts of town. Clearly Price thought it was better to remain in the center of the action.

Not that I could blame him. When I suggested that we hide at Bella's old house, I had been thinking the exact same thing. While being closer to the enemy was risky, it was necessary to be kept in the loop regarding what was going on.

I shivered uncontrollably. I had been submerged in nothing but ice water for thirty minutes before getting in the car with Nathan and traveling into town. Ice packs were crammed in every one of the many concealed pockets of the hunter uniform I wore. The black shirt and pants themselves spent the night in the freezer. I was as close to hypothermic as anyone would dare get. Jet had insisted on taking my temperature before leaving just to make sure it was still above 95 degrees Fahrenheit. I refrained from clasping my hands together to keep them from shaking, knowing that would only heat my body back up faster.

"You alright?" Nathan whispered beside me.

I glanced to my right. Brad and Jet's father stood tall, his face an unemotional mask. Had I not heard the words out loud, I wouldn't have believed they'd come from the thin that was his mouth. He looked like the perfect, obedient soldier—exactly the kind of hunter Price wanted. And I had to look the same.

I fought for control of my skin and bones. I forced my body to remain still and pushed my shoulders back, lifting my chin. "Fine," I said seriously.

A guard stood rigid, much like Nathan, further down the hall. She would be our first test. If I made it by her okay then maybe, just maybe, this plan would work.

I made my steps match Nathan's, desperate to seem more like the soldier I was pretending to be than ever, as we slowly approached her. I was tempted to check the guard for an aura, but restrained myself. If she was a sorceress then she might recognize the look of one searching for an aura.

"Hello," Nathan said to the guard, not smiling. "We're here to talk with the prisoners."

The guard narrowed her eyes at me but didn't say a word. Like Nathan, I didn't smile, but, then again, that was the easy part. Even though I was about to see my brother, I wasn't here to rescue him, so I had little to smile about. She studied me for a moment before turning to let us pass.

I wanted to feel relieved that she didn't suspect me, but I had a feeling we were far from clear. With every step, I felt the weight of what I was risking by simply wanting to talk to my brother press harder on my shoulders. Sure, Brad waited outside in the car with Fallon, and I knew Jet was hidden somewhere nearby—each of them ready to act should something go wrong—but was it really worth it? Especially for them? If something did go wrong, they could get hurt, or worse, killed, and then what? Whatever was going on was far from over and I knew I would need as many allies as I could get further down the line. I wished they would just leave me, but I knew they wouldn't do that—if they did, how could I possibly call them allies?

Nathan led the way down the hall to two adjoining doors. They looked like they led to any old offices, and yet, beside the handle were electronic key swipes and number pads. And those were only the visible security measures. I was sure there had to be some sort of spell guarding each door as well. I just hoped that the spell didn't block shapeshifters from walking through them. But I didn't let that thought deter me. I hadn't turned back yet and I wasn't about to now that I knew Cole was on the other side of one of those doors.

Pulling a plain, unlabeled key card from a pocket in his jacket, Nathan swiped it and punched in a code. He then grasped the metal door handle. I counted one, two, three, four before there was an audible click and Nathan was able to press the handle down and open the door. He held out his arm, allowing to me enter.

"I'll wait outside," he told me.

I nodded silently. Hesitantly, I stepped into the room. It wasn't large, but I shouldn't really have expected it to be. It was an office. There was even a desk and filing cabinet pushed against the wall the door was on.

What surprised me most was that Cole was in his human form. I had assumed since the last I'd seen him he'd been forced into his tiger form that he'd still be in it. And yet, even though he was human, he didn't look like himself at all.

He was slumped up against a wall to the left, his head hidden under his arms. His brown hair looked wet, though, with a closer examination it could prove to simply be grease from a lack of wash. His ankle was chained to the wall, most likely using the same spell enhanced cuff that Nathan had used on me in the back of the van.

"Cole," I breathed.

He lifted his head at the sound of my voice, his eyes meeting mine.

They were dead. His eyes moved and held my gaze like normal but there was something missing in them. Something was horribly, dreadfully wrong. I suddenly knew that I couldn't just leave him here. I didn't care what it took. He looked beyond awful and he couldn't stay in the prison. My gut twisted at the thought of him dying in this makeshift cell.

"Marina?" he asked, his voice hoarse and lacking all of its usual conviction.

I rushed over to him, pulling on the chain linking him to the wall. "Yeah," I said, "I'm getting you out of here."

He glanced around the room and his eyes widened as if he'd just realized where he was. His hand reached out and snatched my own, stopping me from tugging on his chain.

"No," he said, his confidence returned.

"No?" I asked, "What do you mean no?"

He didn't answer. The dead look seeped back into his eyes.

"Cole?"

He looked down at the floor. His hand slipped away from mine. I desperately wanted to catch it and cling to it, but that would mean nothing if he didn't hold me back.

"Cole?" I tried again, "What's wrong?"

He remained silent. Part of me wondered if the boy before was even my brother at all. I had never seen him act this way: so downtrodden, so depressed, so…defeated. Cole had never been one to give up. Even when his lacrosse in high school had been down by ten goals, he'd still be out there, giving it his all. He didn't even get this way when our dad was taken by the tribe. Instead, he'd stepped up to make sure everyone else was okay before himself.

"What's wrong?" I repeated.

Still nothing. He wouldn't even look at me. It was as if he couldn't bare to face me. Price had done something to him. That was the only reasonable explanation for his behavior. I swallowed hard at the images of Cole being magically tortured by the high school principal. And yet, Nathan had insisted that Price wasn't torturing the shapeshifters he was holding prisoner. But maybe it was some unseen torture.

"Cole!" I said in a clipped tone as loud as I dared. His head snapped up in my direction. Finally. I put my hand on his knee in an attempt to comfort him. "What happened?"

He let out a long breath and averted his eyes again. But this time, he spoke. "I can't shift," he whispered.

"What?"

"I can't shift," he said again, a bit louder this time.

I frowned. That hadn't been what I was expecting him to say. "What do you mean you can't shift?"

"I mean like I've tried and it's just not there."

I stared at him. He still refused to meet my eyes as if he was ashamed of himself. "Cole," I said softly. I gestured to the chain binding his ankle to the wall. "It's okay. It's probably just the cuff. It could be magically stopping you from shifting. I had one around my ankle that changed size with me as I shifted."

Cole shook his head. "It's not the cuff." He shifted, pressing his back up against the wall. "You know how when you shift you can feel your other form inside and you kind of reach for it and pull it out?"

"Yeah." I nodded. I knew exactly what he was talking about, except I could now feel basically an infinite number of different forms gathering inside me.

"Well," Cole said, propping his head up in his hand against his knee, "when I reach inside, there's nothing there."

I suddenly felt frozen inside—and the feeling had nothing to do with the colder temperature my body was still experiencing. "I-I don't understand."

He shook his head again. "Neither do I. But the principal, Price, he did something. I don't know how but he took my tiger form from me."

No. That wasn't possible. I'd never heard of such a thing. We were born shapeshifters. A sorcerer couldn't just take that away. It was part of who we were.

Cole glanced back at the wall he sat against. "And, whatever he did, I think he's going to do it to her too."

"Her who?"

"The other shapeshifter, a girl," he said, "She's next door."

"Who is she?" I asked.

Cole shrugged. "No idea. I only saw her once and I didn't recognize her."

"And you're sure Price hasn't taken her animal form as well?" I asked, forcing the words from my mouth. The fact that this was even possible made me cringe inside.

"Yeah. He'll use it as leverage. From what I've heard, she refuses to tell him anything, even though she knows the answer."

"The answer to what?"

Cole ran a hand through his hair. "Price is trying to find the tribe."

I sat back on my heels. Of course. If he wanted shapeshifters why not go after an entire town of them?

"I talked," Cole said miserably, "but I had nothing to say. I don't know where the tribe is hidden." He looked up at me, eyes wide. He reached out and snatched my wrist. "You can't be here. You know where it is and, if Price catches you—"

"Relax," I said soothingly. "He doesn't know I'm here. Why do you think I'm dressed as a hunter?"

He eyed me warily. "I don't care," he said, "You need to leave."

I shook my head. "I'm not—"

"Shh!" Cole whispered, holding a hand to my mouth. He cocked his head to the left. I did the same, listening. Multiple footsteps sounded in the hall outside, growing louder the closer they got to the two doors. Glancing around the room, I looked for someplace to hide. I couldn't shift without leaving my uniform behind and that would only make anyone who came into the room suspicious. I scrambled across the floor, sliding under the desk just as I heard voices outside.

"Hello, sir," Nathan said in a formal tone.

I held my breath. Please don't be Price. Please don't be Price.

"Mr. Glenn," came Price's voice through the crack under the door.

Crap.

"Any changes from our prisoners?" Price asked.

"No, sir," Nathan said, "They're as quiet as usual."

"Okay, well let's see if we can get the one to talk," Price said.

Even though I didn't want Price finding out the location of the tribe, I found myself hoping he meant to interrogate the girl next door. If he came in Cole's room, he would not only find me there but he'd also recognize me, probably capture me, and then discover Brad's father is a traitor. And we really couldn't afford to have that happen.

A distinguished click sounded and I waited for Cole's door to open. It never did.

"So, you ready to talk?" Price asked, but his voice was slightly muffled.

"Marina," Cole whispered, "It's okay. He's in the other room."

I crawled back over to my brother and we both pressed our ears against the wall to listen better. Whoever the girl was, she didn't respond to Price.

"I know you know where I can find the tribe," Price continued, "All you have to do is give me the location and you'll be free to go."

The girl still say anything but I thought I heard a muffled scoff through the wall.

"I don't understand why you're protecting them," Price said. "They imprisoned you against your will. Surely you don't have any loyalty towards them."

Silence.

"It must really stink to finally have your freedom only to captured again. But look, I don't want to keep you here. I want to let you go. I really do. Except I can't do that unless you give me the location in return," Price persuaded.

He stopped talking for a minute. I pressed my ear to the wall harder, listening. But there was nothing to hear. The girl kept quiet.

Price sighed. "Fine," he said, "I was hoping to do this the easy way, but seeing as you refuse to tell me…You see, I've developed a new spell—a spell that can take away something very dear to you." He paused, clearly hoping to get a reaction out of the girl. "You are awfully fond of being able to turn into that cat-like thing, aren't you?"

At that the girl seemed to find her voice. "Lynx," she muttered bitterly.

"Tell me where to find them and I'll let you keep your lynx," Price said, his satisfaction seeping through the sheetrock.

"You promise not to hurt them?" the girl asked.

I frowned, listening more closely. My ear ached from pushing it against the wall so hard. The girl's voice sounded familiar. I knew I'd heard it somewhere before, but I couldn't remember where. Who did I know who could turn into a lynx?

"Of course not," Price said, "I just want to offer them a proposition. One that could free them from their current oppressor."

Whoever this girl was, she couldn't actually be buying what the principal was saying. Surely she knew he was lying just to get what he wanted.

"Okay," the girl whispered, "It's in Utah. Up in the mountains, near Salt Lake City."

Even though I couldn't see it, I knew Price was smiling. "Good girl." The door opened. "Release her," he said to someone out in the hall.

"But sir?" a guard questioned. Apparently releasing prisoners was not common behavior.

The principal betrayed nothing. "We made a deal," he told the guard. "She is free to go."

The sound of clinking of chains falling to the floor reached me through the wall. I couldn't believe Price was keeping his word. Multiple footsteps left the room, some continuing back down the hall. A couple seconds passed before someone spoke.

"Sir?" Nathan asked. Apparently Price hadn't left yet. "I thought we weren't releasing any prisoners."

"We weren't," Price said, "but it doesn't matter. Besides, it's not like we won't be following her."

I turned back to Cole. "I have to get you out of here," I whispered. "I don't know how, but I'll figure out a way to get your tiger form back."

Cole grabbed my hand. "Marina," he said, staring into my eyes, "stop. Don't worry about me."

"Why?" I asked, "It was wrong of Price to take it from you. It's part of who you are. You didn't deserve that."

Cole shook his head sadly. "Yes, I do."

"What are you talking about? No you don't," I said adamantly.

He let out a shaky breath. "This is my punishment."

"Punishment?" I frowned. He wasn't making any sense. "We need to get out of here. Maybe Nathan has a key." I reached for the cuff around his ankle, studying the lock.

"Marina."

I looked up at my older brother.

"You need to leave me."

"No, I won—"

"Marina, listen to me." He grasped my hand. "This is my punishment for killing Principal Wang."

I stopped breathing for a second. "That's ridiculous," I told him, refusing to believe his words. "You didn't actually kill Grace's father."

"They have it on film," he said.

I froze.

"It was me. I don't remember doing it, but it was definitely me. I did it. I attacked him and…killed him."

I gulped. I didn't want to believe it. But Cole wasn't joking around. I could see it in his face. He was devastated. He felt guilty and I could see that it had broken him inside.

The door swung open and Nathan stood in its place. "We need to get you out of here, now," he said.

I glanced once more at Cole before nodding to Brad's father and standing. I followed him out the door and down the hall, feeling helpless and even slightly hopeless.

He leads me back out the way we came, passed the same guard. She doesn't say anything to us. I look around, just waiting to Price to turn the corner and spot me but he never does. Apparently, wherever he disappeared to, he wasn't about to cross paths with me.

As we approached the front door, I spotted another guard and a girl with dark brown hair and a bunch of jagged scars covering the back of her legs. She was escorted outside while Nathan and I followed close behind. She made her way across the street towards a patch of trees, but, before she disappeared, she turned and met my eyes.

Drew.

I didn't know how, but somehow she'd escaped the prison back in the tribe, just like she told me she would. Apparently, she'd been right: she hadn't needed my help. But now she'd betrayed the tribe. Of course, she didn't owe them anything. And yet, didn't she hold any loyalty toward shapeshifters in general?

She turned back around and ran into the trees, not giving me a second thought. I realized it was foolish of me to think she'd be concerned about the shapeshifters back in the tribe. She was only worried about herself. I guess that's what happened when you spent your life on the run.

I stared after her. Because of Drew, Price now knew the location of the tribe. I didn't know what he had planned, but it definitely wasn't a proposition like he'd told Drew.

Turning, I rushed ahead of Nathan to the car. I had to tell Fallon what I'd overheard.