I understood now why Dimitri was so worried about mates being abducted. His own fear came true.

When I came to I had no idea of how much time had passed, but I could the look of relief on my friends' faces when I jerked in the chair. We were each tied to a chair, our wrists bound with zip ties. I had tried to break them the way Dimitri had shown me, but they were too thick.

"How long have we been here?" I asked, working my mouth to gain some saliva. It was dry and I had an odd taste in my mouth.

"It's hard to tell, but at least a couple hours," Eddie said quietly, "what the fuck is Nathan doing?"

"He's using me," I whispered, "And he's using you to keep me in line. Same with Christian."

"Why?" Mason asked with furrowed brows. I could tell from here that he tried to fight against the bindings but his wrists were raw and bleeding.

I looked at them all and closed my eyes and bit my lip. "Because they want Dimitri and know that I'm his biggest weakness. And that he will literally do everything in his power to get me back. And that's what they want, they want to lure him out," I explained.

"Why?" Mason urged.

"Because holding an Ekon's mate captive puts their protective instincts into overdrive."

"Ekon?"

"An ancient race of vampires. They want me too because I haven't matured. I'm still prized goods," Christian butted in, "The three of you are being used to keep Rose and me in line."

Mason's brows furrowed as he tried to process what he said. Eddie just looked down at his knees, looking as exhausted as Christian did. I didn't know if Christian ever needed to feed, but now I was starting to worry. I knew what Dimitri was like when he hadn't fed enough. He would be pale and exhausted, but also irritable.

Mia was quiet too, possibly in shock. I wouldn't be surprised if she was. Having a gun held to our heads would have been terrifying. I blinked a few times and tried to relax, hoping that I could try and feel for Dimitri mentally.

When I started prodding around I got sucked into his mind, his emotions were overrun and frantic. He was in the hub, but both my parents were there. The hub looked like it had ensued in chaos. I recognized the room they were in, the screen I had seen the Strigoi activity on had security footage up now.

Footage of our abduction.

I wanted to take some of Dimitri's anxiety from him, but I couldn't. There was so much and I wasn't sure what would happen if I syphoned any off of him.

"The sun will be up soon. I want to go out on foot, see if maybe I can feel her," Dimitri said, rubbing his neck anxiously.

"I know you want to, but that is exactly what they want. They'll be waiting for you," Baba said.

"How can you stand there and be so calm?!" Dimitri snapped, his voice rising and his anger pulsing through his veins. Baba raised his brows at him but Alberta intervened, resting a hand on Dimitri's shoulder.

"We all need to keep a level head, Dimitri. We will get them back. Can you feel her now?"

"Last time I tried, she was unconscious," Dimitri said sadly.

I'm here, comrade.

His whole body flinched, making everyone else in the room jump.

Roza?

I breathed a sigh of relief inside my head.

I don't know where we are. We're in a basement. We're all together tied to chairs. I can't break my cuffs, I said to him telepathically.

"Rose's here, she's in my head," Dimitri breathed and then relaid my words. I was going to ask him what to do when a sharp yank to my hair pulled me out of his head.

"There we are, welcome back," Nathan sneered in my face. I glared at him and pressed my lips shut firmly so I didn't spit in his face.

Nathan grinned at me and let go of my hair with a rough jerk. I hissed quietly and looked at Christian, but he looked just as on edge as I felt. I felt the hair on my neck stand up and I grimaced when a Strigoi walked into the room.

He looked over each of us like we were delicious prey, eyes wandering over us slowly. He tapped Christian's cheek with his hand before coming to stand in front of me, gripping my jaw in his cheek.

"There is something about mates that just calls to me. The way they smell is different, and the fear in their eyes when they realize their mate isn't coming for them. It's intoxicating," the Strigoi mused out loud. I jerked my head out of his hand and looked away from him. He chuckled as he turned to the others, examining them up close.

He mused to himself and the two others in the room while Nathan stood against the wall with a grin.

"Which one of you should I try first," the Strigoi mused. I swallowed thickly and pulled on my cuffs again. Mia looked up at me and from here, I could smell her fear. I think a part of her had always suspected something about Dimitri was different but turned a blind eye to it. Now she was seeing just how much she didn't know.

"I think you would be a good meal," the Strigoi said, pulling me away from Mia. I watched him walk towards Eddie and my eyes widened.

"No!"

The Strigoi stopped, turning towards me.

"No?"

"Bite me, not him."

The Strigoi grinned and I saw Nathan grin as well. The Strigoi walked towards me and I tilted my neck the slightest bit. I knew that it would make me sick, but my body also knew that I would get a marginal amount of that high.

The Strigoi leaned over me and I felt his breath fan over my neck and I shivered. He laughed and pulled back, laughing menacingly.

"You want the bite. You crave it. You're no more than a common blood whore," the Strigoi said as he went back to Eddie. I started thrashing in my chair, trying to rock it so I could loosen the binds around me.

"NO!" I shrieked but it was too late. Eddie gasped when his head was jerked back, but I watched the haze take over. I let out a small whimper as I watched Eddie's eyes flutter closed when the Strigoi pulled away.

Eddie slumped forward in his chair, his eyes barely open. Strigoi left us with a parting grin, his teeth still red with blood.

They were trying to make us weak. We were given the privilege to use the washroom, but we were escorted there and when I tried to see if there was a way out, I was smacked on the side of the head again.

The bathroom didn't have a window big enough for me to even get my shoulders out of, but there was a set of stairs that led up to another door. We weren't given food, and every time I went to the bathroom, I drank the water from the tap. It tasted horrible and probably wasn't good for drinking, but I did it anyways.

I knew that we had been here at least a day, maybe two. The ache was a flicker in my chest but I knew that I needed to hold onto it. It would help me through this. Christian looked particularly sallow and tired, his eyes showing dark circles under his eyes. Maybe he did need to feed.

The Strigoi, Isaiah, had come back twice since the first day, and each time he left after feeding from Eddie. I was starting to worry about the long-term complications Eddie would have, but a soft thought flowed through my head that I didn't want to acknowledge.

There was a very good chance we weren't going to make it out of here.

I could almost tell that it was nighttime. There was activity upstairs before it got quiet again, the doors opening and closing. I closed my eyes and tried to get comfortable despite my arms being sore and a little tingly.

We were never alone either. There was always a human sitting in the corner, a gun tucked into his pants. It was strange to me that I could tell the difference between people. But maybe I was just noticing it now because Dimitri's instincts were still on overdrive.

I tried to get through to him, but I couldn't. I wasn't sure why but it upset me to no end. It was my escape from this hell hole. I would look through his eyes to distract me, to get away, but not being able to was driving me nuts.

When I looked around the room, I found everyone was asleep. I was a little envious that I couldn't. instead, I sat there with my eyes closed, trying to lull myself to sleep.

I was sprawled out on Dimitri's bed, flipping through one of the many books he lent me. He leaned against the doorframe with a fond smirk on his face.

"Find anything interesting today?"

I looked up from my book and notepad and smirked. "Sort of. Are Ekons as difficult to kill as Strigoi?"

Dimitri shrugged. "Why, wanting to off me in my sleep?"

I gave him an appalled looked and shook my head. Dimitri laughed and left the doorframe, crawling over me on the bed and lying down beside me on his stomach.

"No. Ekons are hard to kill. It makes us in a sense, superior to Strigoi. A stake to the heart is really the only way to kill us. Strigoi, on the other hand, can only be killed a few ways."

"Such as?"

Dimitri ran his hand through my hair affectionately. "Do you remember the exercise I made you do with the laps? And the running?"

I groaned quietly and let my drop onto the book in front of me. "Yes," I groaned.

"There was a reason for it," Dimitri said, "Strigoi can only be killed three ways. There is the obvious stake to the chest, but it has to be one of the charmed stakes like I gave you, and it has to pierce the heart. There is fire, being burned. They can't go out into sunlight because it causes them to burn. And then there's decapitation. If you can some how completely sever the head from the body, it can kill them. But, they heal quickly, so killing them is hard. Why do you ask?"

I shrugged. "After last week with the Strigoi, I just wanted to know more. I don't want to be helpless like that again," I said with pinched brows.

"Oh, Roza. You aren't helpless," Dimitri said softly.

"But right now, I kind of am," I said, "I haven't had enough time to learn how to fight them, and I can't expect you to give up every ounce of your free time to teach me."

Dimitri looked conflicted. I knew that he wanted to do everything he could to protect me, but he couldn't be there every second of the day to do that. I reached over and cupped his cheek, giving him a small baby.

"I don't say that because I want you to feel bad, comrade. It's the truth. I just wanted to know," I said gently.

Dimitri nodded and leaned toward me to kiss my forehead. "I know," he whispered softly. I leaned into his side and sighed.

"But beheading doesn't work for Ekons?"

"I mean, cutting off someone's head will surely kill them, but, if it's not completely severed, we heal."

I nodded and sighed. "This is kind of crazy. It sounds like something out of a movie."

Dimitri chuckled. "I know. I've had years to learn all of this and it's still crazy to me."

I closed the books and rolled onto my side, curling against him.

"I miss you so much when I'm away," I whispered.

I snapped my eyes open and gasped, finding Isiah leaning over me.

"Trying to get ahold of your mate?"

I shook my head. "No. I'm not stupid enough to lead him here."

"No, but you can't warn him either," Isiah said as he stood up. I shook my head to myself. He must have fed on Eddie already. He looked dazed where he was and I noticed that Christian was looking worse than he did before.

"You know, you are really the only one who could help themselves," Ishah taunted Christian, "All you need to do is what your parents wanted for you."

I shivered at his words. Dimitri had told me that they became Strigoi by choice and that they had planned on coming back for Christian, but Natasha put herself between them and that was how she got the scar on her face.

That was the only redeeming quality Natasha had in my mind.

"No," Christian croaked.

"What a shame. But that is the only way you'll be getting blood. But who knows, maybe you'll mature and have absolutely no choice," Isiah said before leaving, instructing one of our guards to follow him. Once they were gone I looked at Christian with sympathy.

I leaned back in the chair and swallowed thickly. The water from the tap was putrid and made my throat feel even drier. It felt like it was on fire. Fire. That was what we needed!

"Can I get some water?" I asked suddenly, making everyone jump, "My throat is on fire."

"Shut up," the human said.

"Seriously I feel like my throat is on fire. I need something to drink. You can't use me to lure someone here if I die of dehydration," I said, emphasizing fire and looking at Christian pointedly. He didn't seem to catch on before I gave him a jut of my chin when he wasn't looking.

"What the fuck is happening in here?!" the other guard said when he came back, slamming the door behind him.

"This bitch won't shut up," the other groaned as he stood up.

"I'll make her shut up," one said as he advanced on me, pulling his gun from his belt.

"I'll do it!" Christian exclaimed.

"What?"

"I'll do. I can't stave it off any longer. I feel like I'm going to go crazy with hunger," Christian said, "I need to feed. And at this point, so what? We all know that I'm not leaving here an Ekon. Might as well get it over with."

The two guards looked at each other before going towards him, clipping the zip ties around his wrists. With the way his eyes looked, a part of me was a little scared that Christian was being serious. When they let the binds loose from around him, he came towards me. He was menacing to look at, but he kept eye contact with me.

I cringed away from him, not sure if he was actually going to bite me to make it look real. He leaned over me while Mason screamed at him, every swear word in the book flying from his mouth.

Christian's hands wrapped around my wrists while he pressed his face into my neck, making a noise as if he was feeding. I tried to act like I was consumed with the high of the bite, trying to keep the grimace of pain off my face as the zip ties got too hot for me to handle. It felt like I had plunged my hands into the fireplace.

Once the plastic was melted enough that I could move my hands, the smell of my flesh burning started to tip the others off in the room.

"What is that smell?" one of the guards asked and walked towards us. Once he was standing behind Christian I used my feet and pushed Christian into him, knocking them both down while I pulled my hands free.

The suddenness was enough for me to get loose, finding that Christian fried the rope around my waist. I got up and lunged at the other guy, knocking him back into the wall. He hit his head against the wall with a thud. He slid down the wall in a heap. I turned and watched Christian hit the other guard with his gun.

Once he was down too, Christian looked up at me and held the gun in a shaky hand.

"Give me that before you kill someone," I said holding my hand out for it. He set the butt of the gun into my hand and I checked the safety before sticking the gun in the back of my pants. Nothing would be worse than accidentally shooting myself in the ass.

We both went about cutting the other three free, Mason supporting Eddie's almost dead weight. I searched the other guard to see if he had a cell phone, luckily finding one. I sighed in relief and opened the map app, trying to figure out where we were.

Montgomery County. We weren't far from home.

I dialled a number I knew by heart. I watched Christian kneel down beside one of the Guards and lift his wrist to his lips, keeping his back to Mia and Mason. I watched him carefully and he only drank for a few seconds before pulling away and then checking his pulse.

"Hello?"

"Oh thank God. Dimitri," I breathed, tears coming to my eyes in relief.

"Roza?"

"We're in Montgomery County," I urged, "I don't know how many Strigoi are here, but we took out two of the humans. And the one guy, Ishia, he's been feeding Eddie. I have no idea how long we've been gone or where exactly, but I just know from this guy's phone that we are in Montgomery County."

I could hear Dimitri talking to someone before he spoke to me again.

"We are ten minutes away from Montgomery County. Once I'm in the county, I'll be able to find you. It's daylight, if you can get out of where you are, get outside," Dimitri urged.

"Okay, we'll try and find a way out," I said, "I love you."

"I love you too. We'll find you," Dimitri said before he hung up. I dropped the phone onto the guy's back and went to the others.

"Dimitri and the others aren't far from here. They're coming," I said, "But we need to get outside."

Mia nodded and took the second gun I took, holding it tightly in her hand. Mia helped support Eddie and I walked out first while Christian followed behind. When we got up the stairs and I pressed my ear against the door, listening carefully. I couldn't hear anything and I turned the knob slowly, pushing the door open.

It looked like we were in a house, but it was clearly abandoned. The furniture was old and broken down, and the room looked like it hadn't been touched in years. We all crept through the room and I spotted a front door.

I ushered the rest of them ahead of me, looking around to make sure we were in the clear. Mia opened the door and was stepping out when there was a noise behind me.

I turned and felt my blood run cold. Isaiah.

"Go, get out of here!" I called out when he lunged for me, knocking me to the side and slamming me into one of the old chairs. The chair broke my impact and broke into pieces under me.

I watched Mason hesitate before Christian pushed him out the door. I rolled onto my feet and grabbed a broken chair leg, holding it in front of me. All I needed was to be able to get around him and to the door.

But I knew that my chances were slim.

Uh oh!

Only one more chapter left! Let me know what you think!