Izar wondered what Taylor thought he was doing. As far as Thea and Eric were concerned, she *was* on their side. Lately, though, some pretty strange characters had been showing up.

It seemed wise to Izar to keep an eye on both sides and be fairly neutral, pretend for whoever benefited her the most.

So far, Izar had learned the Night World paid more. She had heard reluctantly from Nerissa that her new "friends" Bellona and Camilla worked for some hot shot Redfern vampire named Aubrey who was supposed to be hunting Viola down.

Viola had supposedly set her sights on Taylor. Nerissa had been whining about it ever since Viola had arrived. So now here they were - together - in the Daybreak safe house. Being the idealists they were Thea and Eric of course, were more than happy to help them hide,

As far as Izar knew, they weren't the least bit suspicious of her - but Taylor and Viola *would* be.

So why waste time dancing on tip toes around both sides when she could go to Nerissa and company and get a nice large cheque when she presented Aubrey Redfern with what he wanted most.

Heading to Nerissa's house took barely ten minutes. They were all arguing when she walked in.

"What do you want?" Morpheus snorted at her,

"Where is she? Damn women and their word games!" A vampire with long black hair and blazing blue eyes demanded from his seat in an arm chair.

Nerissa and Izar exchanged glances. ~Both of them?~ Nerissa thought to her, projecting clearly.

Izar simply nodded. The blue eyed vampire, Aubrey, presumably? stood up. "I take it they don't know you're a spy?" he asked, pleased.

"*Her*?" Morpheus interjected, appalled. "*She's* a spy for *us*? How the hell do we know she's not really a spy for *them*?"

Izar scowled out him. This boy was too smart for his own good. Asked too many questions. He needed to be silenced before spoiled everything.

"Why are we stalling? Let's *go*." Aubrey had grabbed Izar's arm and was leading her out the door.

* * *

At least *this* girl seemed to be slightly more cooperative. Aubrey refused to give up. He *never* gave up. Aubrey Redfern got what Aubrey Redfern got. Viola had escaped from him one - but *twice* - *twice* - that was all too much.

Izar had directed him to a none descript house, through the back gate under the cover of the gathering twilight.

"Wait here," Izar told him. "I'll go get her. What about Taylor?"

Aubrey debated. The boy would be kind of useful in blackmail, he supposed, but apart from that, he really had no uses for him. "Fuck him for now," he answered. Viola was all that mattered to him.

He waited patiently as he could manage. As promised Izar came outside, Viola following. Framed by the twilight she was more beautiful than ever with her chestnut hair and eyes, orchid pale skin.

"What did you want to talk to me about?" she asked.

Izar pulled her closer in Aubrey's direction. He stepped forward out of the shadows, grabbing her arms and pinning them, covering her mouth with the other hand.

"You didn't really think you'd get away from me, did you?" he hissed in her ear. "You're *mine*. Now and forever."

Out of sheer cruelty he knocked her out with his fist rather than mentally before locking her in the trunk of Izar's car,

"Drive," he ordered her.

Izar frowned, not liking the way he bossed everybody about. "Where to?"

"Nearest torture chamber. We're going to have fun."

* * *

"Where's Viola?"

Taylor raced into the lounge, a sinking feeling in his gut. He'd gone to her room, only to find she wasn't there.

"She went upstairs," Eric said. "Why?"

"She's not there," Taylor hurried to the window, hearing the sound of a car starting and roaring off into the night.

"That was *them*?" Thea asked in alarm, seeing the look on Taylor's face.

"You were taking to someone a whole ago who just came in," Taylor said, glancing from one to the other.

"Oh, Izar came in," Thea said. "I was introducing her to Viola. Izar Redfern? I believe you guys go to the same school."

Taylor felt as if he might have been running at a wall. They were practically *handing* Viola over to those whom she feared most. "How many of these damn Redferns are they?" he snorted in disgust. "Izar *Redfern* is a friend of Nerissa Harman. She's the baddie."

He wondered how Nerissa would react to his change of view of her as "the baddie".

Eric looked as disgusted as he did. "We should have checked her out more thoroughly before we agreed to let her stay."

Thea looked embarrassed. Taylor could tell she was the type of person who seemed to want to give most people the benefit of the doubt. He wondered what she was like before she met her soulmate.

"I didn't know," she said in a small voice.

"It's not wroth arguing over who's fault this is, we need to find Viola." Taylor's mind was overrun with vivid images of Viola being tortured viciously by Aubrey,

He was soon learning that most Redferns were evil. Then again, wasn't that the story for vampires in general? No, his mind told him. Viola's a vampire, and she's not evil. That was true.

She was also his soulmate. The one person in all the world who meant more to him than anything.

"We'll help," Thea said, her determination to make up for her mistake,

Taylor nodded. He was going to need all the help he could get.

* * *

It was like being trapped in a walking nightmare. Her entire life had been like that for the past 100 years or so, ever since she'd met Aubrey. Escaping hadn't been enough. He'd caught her again. Viola refused to cry in front of him.

He'd taken her back to the mansion of course, chained her up in the dungeon and she'd been there ever since. He hadn't actually done anything to her yet. She knew he'd be back to torture her sometime.

All too soon she heard the key turning in the lock. She braced herself. Aubrey walked into the dank room, smirking triumphantly.

Viola tugged pointlessly at the chains binding her wrists. "How *could* you?" she shrieked at gin, not knowing where the rage came from all, all she knew was she had to get it out and scream at him. "I never *wanted* you to do anything to me! I *loved* you and you made me a monster, you mother fuck - "

He bit her viciously before she could complete the sentence. "Oh stop your stupid whining, like you've never said that before," he sneered at her. "I gave you a life others would have died for."

"Did it ever occur to you to pick one of *those* girls?" Viola snapped at him, ignoring the screaming pain in her head.

Aubrey snorted. "Now where's the fun in that? You belong to me, princess. You think about that. You're never going to get out of here again."

With those words he left, locking the door behind him. Viola was more than a little surprised. Aubrey had installed himself an official medieval torture chamber, racks, iron maidens, and some nasty looking things she didn't even want to *think* about what they might be.

She wondered why he hadn't jumped on the chance to use them. He'd probably been planning his punishment ever since she'd escaped. Unless for starters he wanted to torture her by leaving her in the dark with her own thoughts, that was bad enough.

Things in her mind...she didn't even want to think about them, but they were there, and wouldn't leave her alone no matter how hard she tried.

Like, for instance, was Taylor ever going to come and save her?

* * *