She'd lost track of how long she'd been here. Time always seemed to elude her in this place. A week? Months? A year? Anala wasn't sure anymore. Everything consisted of agony and screams and half-consciousness. She could hear Carus speaking lowly, saying something but her head couldn't process his words. White-hot pain slashed across her back and curled around her side. A hoarse cry left her lips and her body went limp in the restraints. More blood ran over her skin. 40 . . . 50? She'd lost count about twenty lashes ago.

She'd been like this, on her knees and wrists chained to the wall for what had to be hours. The shackles on her wrists cut into her skin as she pulled. There was his voice again, talking. Anala concentrated and tried not to focus on the burning pain in her limbs. ". . . always liked how you screamed. Don't worry, I'm doing this for a purpose now, not just for my entertainment." A hand wrenched her head back and the red and blue gaze she detested so much met her own. "You see Anala, your gift is extremely rare, almost unheard of, and unimaginably powerful. Marked as the Oracle, you're connected to things in a way no one else can ever be. I will have the power inside of you, but first, you need to access it. The Seal I placed on you is not yet gone so we're going on force." He shrugged, unbothered. "You'll get there eventually. It's instinctual."

"You . . . piece of shit." She rasped. Fire raked across her skull and her body bowed as a scream tore from her. Her eyes burned. Her head was going to burst. Anala slammed her head against the wall in a useless attempt to stop it.

"Apologize." The pain increased at her silence, spreading down her spine, through her bones, and a choked sound escaped her throat.

"I-I'm sorry." The burning stopped and Anala relaxed, feeling the cool stone under her head. Her head was bleeding and Anala accepted the pain. Anything but what Carus did.

He looked over his shoulder. "Come, Michael."

The younger blonde entered her line of sight, Carus still held her by the hair and pulled her head back. He touched a slash on her chest and Anala recoiled. Carus raised his fingers and carefully smeared her blood onto Mike's cheek, temple to chin. Anala got the thought that was for a deliberate reason other than disturbing her.

"Pick your fancy, and use it."

Anala trembled. She couldn't take much more of this. She'd been beaten, limbs broken and left to slowly heal. Her flesh had been torn over and over and Mike's advances had become more and more violent and Carus . . . her mind was beginning to fracture. Her thoughts were becoming disorienting and confused. She could feel that darkness within her and she fought. Anala didn't know what Mike had picked up, but the pain of it radiated along her skin and Anala shuddered. Her chained wrists were the only thing keeping her upright, straining the muscles in her arms.

"We might just have to kill that vampire of yours." Anala froze. "Emmett, is it?"

Her heart gave a painful lurch.

"Stubborn that one. Quite the smart mouth. Took a lot of demons to get him . . . complacent."

No. No, don't listen. He's lying. He's lying!

"Would you like to see?" he asked lightly. "Here, I'll show you."

He placed a hand on her forehead and there was an uncomfortable feeling of him forcing into her head.

Roars. Hissing and growling and a large pale form blurred. Demons pulled him, finally subduing him, bringing the large body to its knees. Burning amber eyes glared with hatred. "You must be Carus."

"Good to finally meet the mate of my niece. Unfortunate you won't live very long."

"Where is Anala?!"

"That is no longer your concern, Vampire."

A blade slashed across Emmett's chest, carving into the solid flesh and muscle. Emmett snarled as the demons fought to restrain him.

Anala sobbed and shook her head, feeling sick. It's not real, it's not real. It's not real. She didn't know how convinced she was by her thoughts anymore. Her heart pounded thunderously. Pain radiated up her legs this time and Anala uselessly tried to conjure the security of the shadows for a moment. The skin of her wrists and neck where the shackles were burned as if touched by open flame, reddening and hot, nearly blistering her skin. The intrusive feeling returned, showing her flashes of Emmett screaming, chained and surrounded, suffering in this place. Anala witnessed every agonizing moment, felt the vile elation in her uncle. Carus laughed as he released her and stepped away. Her head was swimming. The pit of unconsciousness lured her but she knew Carus would not allow her to pass out. Her body was shaking and the lack of regular allowance of water or food had weakened her. Something was wrong, she felt strange, like she couldn't ground herself and the pain suddenly didn't matter. An immense pressure built within and everything around her slipped away.

And then came the voices.

Voices that had always been no more than mere whispers were now deafening. They spoke to her, giving her understanding and Anala suddenly knew. Tears spilled freely down her cheeks. As the soul-wrenching grief entangled around her for the first time, Anala was left clear. She slumped against the wall, exhausted. She had heard them and now it didn't matter what Carus or Mike did to her. Fate was Fate. What they did it for though, that was the true fear. Anala didn't know but it would not be good.

"It worked." Carus sounded somewhat surprised. Her shackles were suddenly unchained and she fell over onto the stone floor. Carus was there, gripping her chin. She stared at him, dazed. "Good girl, Anala. What did you see?"

"See?"

He frowned lightly. "Well, I shouldn't have expected you to have a vision. But I still got what I needed."

"What do you want from me?" she whispered.

"It's not what I want, dear. It's what you are going to give me."

Anala's body gave in and her world went dark.

"Again."

Nolan was sweating. His limbs screamed in agony and his lungs burned. He did as told and stood, preparing himself. Nolan didn't stop. He couldn't. Not until he got his sister back. He and rowan circled each other. His form had improved, but it wasn't enough. He needed to be stronger. There was an itch in him, a restlessness. His skin crawled and Nolan utilized his turbulent emotions to help him focus. Rowan moved around him, dodging his attack. The physical movement was reassuring. Nolan could trust the motion, his body's reactions and shifts, and the steady rhythm of his heartbeat corresponding with his breathing.

"Have you slept?"

Slept? Sure. Staying asleep was the struggle. Nightmares of his sister haunted his sleep. He knew he was worrying Jasper but he couldn't help it. His worst nightmare had come to pass. Nolan knew the cruel nature of Carus. He had first-hand accounts, more than he cared to remember. Nolan had wanted to die, but he continued on for Anala. He would look to her and be reminded of why he refused to die, why he fought. But she was alone now. Anala wasn't meant for a place like that. She needed to get out.

"Yeah, I slept."

"Lie convincingly."

Nolan sighed and straightened. "You can't seriously be expecting me to sleep?"

"I am. You need to be focused."

Nolan changed to subject. "Any progress?"

Rowan wiped his brow with the back of his wrist. "We've had to begin our tracking anew, the trails we picked up a month ago were decoys. Luckily we found out quickly enough to not waste any more time. The demons have gotten quiet. There hasn't been an attack in a few weeks nor sightings."

"Carus is planning something."

"That's what we suspect."

Nolan wasn't surprised Carus had an agenda but it was alarming knowing whatever he was planning, he was going to use Anala and Nolan was petrified. It wasn't the fact of what he'd do to her, Nolan knew what kind of sick things Carus would do. It was that Nolan didn't know, not truly. How could he? He was here in Washington and Anala was somewhere unknown, suffering indefinite terrors. It had already been four months since she was taken. How much longer would this take? The worst part was the pretense of normality he had to maintain as to keep the town oblivious. School, interactions. As far as the school, and by default the town knew, Anala was taking care of a distant relative. The most agonizing thing about it was pretending everything was alright when all he wanted to do was scream and destroy and shake the blissfully ignorant people and tell them of the true horrors of the world. Madness.

"Anything else?" he asked.

"Kadus might've found something. He took Emmett and half the Guard with him this morning."

Good, that was good. They were making progress at least, one step closer. Emmett was unstoppable, he trained, hunted and helped in any way he could to get Anala back. If it weren't for the fact he knew nothing of the place nor how to get there, Emmett would have left and roamed his homeland endlessly in search. Nolan wasn't going to stop him, not because the vampire was searching for his sister but because he was not going to get in his way. Emmett wouldn't stop until he found his mate or died in the process. Nolan loved him like a brother but he knew he needed to respect Emmett's decision no matter what he thought. There was an unspoken agreement between them and he could see Emmett appreciated him for it and was grateful that at least he would not try to stop him if he did something drastic.

Nolan now thought in ways he never had. He continued his sessions with Iria, gaining memories and Nolan found his mind strategizing, planning working in a way that was both strange and made complete sense, as if he'd been asleep and now was beginning to awaken. He had always felt the fighting instinct inside of him but now he could finally understand it. He noticed the difference and the Lotus had noticed he was becoming more aware. He was a leader. This was familiar territory, Nolan was raised for war, even if he couldn't quite remember it yet. Anala was not, and he wasn't going to let his sister be subjected to this anymore.

This war was going to end.