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Scarlet's POV:

Sacrifice

I lean against a tree, panting with exhaustion. Around me the others are much the same except for Jacin, who's glaring at us all like we're being totally unreasonable and it was only a panicky run for our lives away from a murderous monarch get a hold of yourselves!

I'm very tempted to wipe that annoyed look right off his face.

"Well," Kai gasps, "that could've gone worse."

"Points for optimism Kai," Cinder says between heaving breaths, "but it also could have gone a lot better."

I scowl at my feet. "A lot better" is right. We were sitting ducks back there! We were so, so darn close to getting out of that damn throne room, but nooooo, a bunch of vampires with their stupid mind-control had to show up and throw a wrench in everything. It was like someone had taken my muscles and covered them with cement. No matter how hard I strained, I couldn't move, not even an inch.

And then the vampires started getting closer, and by then I was getting really scared. One of them looked just about ready to bite me. I could see black liquid shining on his teeth and I swear I felt my missing finger throbbing in pain as if it had only just been cut off. I was pretty sure at that moment that our situation couldn't get any worse.

But guess what? It did get worse! Because a certain green-eyed werewolf seems to have the word "martyr" permanently ingrained into his brain!

I'll admit, I felt a spark of satisfaction at first, watching that vampire stumble back in shock while spitting long brown hairs out of his mouth, but that mood quickly crumbled into horror as I finally registered just who had been bitten. How could I not recognise him, with those bright green eyes that are unmistakable no matter what dimension you're in or what species he happens to be.

For a second I thought, maybe he'll be okay, maybe that vampire mind-control venom doesn't work on werewolves. Then he started to sway on his feet, his green eyes drooping, and his jaws stretched in a yawn.

He stared at me. I think. His eyes were glazed over as he struggled to keep them open. He stumbled, finally collapsing to a heap as his eyes slipped shut.

And when they opened again, all trace of green was gone, lost in an infinite pool of black.

At that point I doubt it would've mattered for me whether I was still frozen or not. The shock from what I'd just seen, the painful pressure in my chest as memories of something that tasted like sugary tar surging through my throat as something warm and wet spilled over my hand, seemed to be sending a wave of frost over my entire being. I would've just stood there, stock still, as some other vampire came up to me and bit me instead, rendering what Wolf just did for me, how he sacrificed himself for me, all for naught.

But then Jacin charged forward, the hideous noise of breaking bones filling the air as he shifted with unnatural speed into a giant blond wolf and started murdering the vampire crowd. Surprise surprise, it's really hard to concentrate on mind-controlling a bunch of hapless teenagers when there's an honest-to-God apex predator tearing through your ranks. It was even enough to jolt me out of my state of frozen shock, and I followed the others out of the castle in a desperate stumbling run, the cries of pain and rage from human (and I'm using the broadest definition of human here) and wolf chasing after my every step.

And now here we are, bent over in exhaustion while Jacin attempts to glare the exhaustion out of us and Kai attempts to be optimistic.

"We're alive." Cinder says firmly, "That's what matters right now. As long as we're still breathing, then we actually have a chance to finally bring down Levana."

"Hate to burst your bubble, but that chance just got significantly smaller." Jacin tells her, "Levana's definitely going to up the security after that stunt, and I wouldn't be surprised if she sends more soldiers to monitor the village you got found in. All of her staff will be working double time to keep this out of the ears of the public. The odds of you pulling off a successful revolution are one in a million."

"If it's so impossible then why rescue us?" I snap at him.

He shrugs. "I guess any chance is better than no chance, and it's not like I've got anything else to hinge my hopes on at this point."

"My son was bitten by a vampire in there." Maha's voice, quiet and shaking blew through our group like a breeze of freezing cold air and I can't help but wince. Here I am, feeling sorry for myself because my maybe-boyfriend-who-I-shared-one-kiss-with got condemned to a life of slavery, while Maha must be absolutely heartbroken because Wolf was her son, who she'd thought was dead up until very, very recently, and just as it might seem she'd gotten him back, she lost him all over again. I'm amazed she's holding it together as well as she is. Certainly better than me, who just went statue in my panic.

"I'll take any chance, hang on to any hope," she continued, her voice breaking slightly in her sorrow, "if it meant I'd get him back again."

"Maha's right!" Kai says, "If we give up now then Levana's already won. Besides, it's not just us. We've still got Thorne, Cress and Iko on the inside, and if we get the message out that Levana's time is limited, then we're sure to find even more allies, maybe enough to actually win this fight."

Jacin rolls his eyes. "Oh please, you're going to need way more than a pretty speech to get people to suddenly throw their lives away for your cause."

"Then what will we need?" Cinder demands, narrowing her eyes in a frustrated glare. Hey, I'm with you there my friend.

Jacin scoffs. "Gee, I don't know, how about actual concrete evidence that you have a shot at this?"

"Would a successful escape from custody and being the true heir to the throne count?" I ask.

"And how are you going to prove it? The security cameras? Those things have some majorly advanced security, and last I checked, none of you are hackers."

For the first time since we got kidnapped, I smile. "Anybody have any ideas on how to contact Cress?"

A/N: I live!

Here's the latest update! Don't worry, I'm not going to end this story on a cliff-hanger, I'm not that cruel . Or am I? :)

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