My Match (Watty Awards 2013)

Chapter 44

Chapter 44

Recap:

One of his hands started to trail down my face, lifting a limp strand away and I flinched at his touch. Only Max was allowed to do that. His hand went even lower until it reached the bottom of my hoodie, and he literally tore it off my torso, leaving me in a cami and feeling exposed even though I still had most of my clothes on.

I hugged my arms around myself as his arms caged me again. His mouth descended lower and lower to where Max's mark was and I was afraid that he'd try to stake his own claim over it. I didn't know the specifics of marking, but I was praying with all of my might that he wouldn't try to cover up Max's.

I squeezed my eyes shut when all of a sudden, his mouth moved to my ear, whispering something that was entirely out of context with the whole situation.

"Psst."

~~~~~~~~~~~

I dared to crack open one eye to see him looking at me with an expression akin to...concern? Rage flooded through me and I pulled my arm back and let it snap forward, punching him in the face. I hissed in pain, yanking my hand back. Lucian looked mildly amused and not the least bit hurt.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Oh, God. I hoped my hand wasn't broken. I scrunched up my nose when I realized that this was exactly how Bella had broken her hand in some Twilight book. Which one was it again...?

Lucian started muttering quickly. "Trust me. I need you to play along."

"And why the hell should I do that?" I snapped back, just as quietly. What was going on? Was he, God forbid, pranking me or something?

"Because if you don't, we're all doomed," he whispered. "Please." His luminous eyes focused on my face and I saw just how sincere he was. Well, for a person who just tried to rape me. "I'll explain later."

He started taking off his shirt and I shot him a 'what the f*ck are you doing' look that he responded to by winking. After his shirt was off, he started tearing it into pieces loudly and whispered to me, "Scream."

"What?" I asked in a hushed tone. Was he nuts?

"Just do it! Make it convincing!"

Okay, then. I opened my mouth and shrieked long and loud as Lucian tore another strip of his shirt away. When he finished ripping it into shreds, he grabbed my hoodie, mumbling a hasty 'sorry' before proceeding to rip up, too.

My mind was jumbled as I added in random screams whenever I thought appropriate to match the ripping. Was it...could it be possible that he was actually on my side? I figured that the screams and the ripping noises were just in case Sebastian was still outside, waiting for something to happen. I shuddered.

Once he was done, Lucian turned to me and helped me up. "Get in the bathroom," he muttered, following after me. I should've been questioning my decision to get into an enclosed space with a guy I hardly knew, but like I said before, my thoughts were scattered.

"Listen carefully," Lucian said lowly. "Look, I'm sorry for doing that to you," he actually cringed, "but it was just in case my father could still hear your heartbeat. If it accelerated, it means I'm doing my job. I don't want to do this any more than you."

So he was on my side. I gaped at him. "Then why-"

"Do you really think I had a choice? I'm sure you've seen what my father can do with demons," he said bitterly. "I know he wouldn't hesitate to set one after his own son. And I have to take care of Korrie." After seeing my confused face, he added, "She's my mate."

"That's..." I couldn't come up with a word to describe it, how Sebastian was forcing his son and I to do something like this while both of us had mates. I settled on, "sickening. I am so lost right now, but just explain as fast as you can."

"My dad doesn't know I have a mate. If he knew, he'd kill her because she'd stand in the way of his plan," Lucian replied. "We meet in secret, just once a week."

"Why are you telling me this?" I questioned. "Aren't you afraid that I could turn you in?" Part of me was somewhat glad that he was trusting me with the information, and another part of me was suspicious. What if he was trying to trick me somehow?

His mouth quirked up. "You're practically in the same position I'm in. You have a mate, too, don't you?" I kept quiet. "See? I want to be able to be with my mate, and you probably want to go back to yours." He was damn right. "So I propose a peace treaty, as the future Alpha of this pack."

"What good is that to me?"

"It comes with an escape plan," he said in a lighter tone. "Oh, and did I mention that the plan includes a mass prison break-out?"

I felt a slow smile come onto my face. Maybe this guy wasn't as bad as I'd thought. "Keep talking."

~~~~~~~~~~~

Kassia's POV

The first division members had already gone into town, hunting for places to stay. A lot of them just vanished into the forest to sleep in their wolf forms. I unwittingly ended up being their personal recommendation center. I had no idea who started this, but I was now in charge of basically matching good rooms and hotels to various pack members.

I ought to get paid for this.

The woman I was currently helping nodded her head at the hotel I'd proposed. "The room has a single bed, right?"

"Yep, and it's a pretty comfy size from what I've seen, just big enough for you and your mate." I handed her the brochure. "So yes?"

She smiled. "I think we'll be going with this one. Thank you so much!"

"Next," I called out in a bored tone, not looking up from the park bench I was situated on. I had dozens of brochures sprawled out on my lap, a last-minute supply I'd made William get.

I already knew what the rooms looked like because...well, if you can walk through walls, why not, right? I had to make sure that no one was occupying the space at the time though. They would've had a heart attack.

A familiar voice drawled out, "Am I just another one of your customers now?" I glanced up at William. "Or am I VIP?" He moved me over on the bench with just one hand and sat down. "Need help?"

I took a quick head count of the people still waiting for their recommendation. Why were they even trusting my opinion? "Sure. Can you run down to that bakery down there and grab me a bagel?" I pointed around the corner.

He rolled his eyes. "Fine," he said in an exasperated tone, but I knew he was kidding. As he got up and walked away, I literally had to force myself to pay attention to the next customer instead of watching him.

~~~~~~~~~~~

A few hours later, everyone decided to go to sleep. We were attacking in a day. As soon as night fell tomorrow, we were sending in people to take out the border patrols first, and then we'd invade.

I was still wide awake, staring up at the ceiling, wondering if we should've gotten the Council involved. I mean, they'd probably get involved anyway, but still...they were our government officials, sort of. This was like waging a war behind their backs. What would my grandmother say if she knew about this?

I let out a soft breath. I missed my grandmother more than I thought I would. At times, she infuriated me to no end, but I knew deep down that it was for my own good. Everything she did had a good reason behind it. Even locking away my wings.

Rolling onto my side, I reached one arm behind my shoulder and touched my back ruefully where they used to be. They weren't like the delicate little butterfly ones that people portrayed them as today, God, no. They resembled angel wings more than what people considered faerie wings.

And my grandma had literally locked them away. I had been young when I received my powers, and somehow, despite me having a human father, I also sprouted a pair of wings, like most faeries had. At first, I'd been so excited to get a pair of wings like the ones I did; some full-blooded faeries weren't so lucky. I'd heard of people getting bat wings before, too.

The Sera enchantment that Grandma cast on me was so powerful, she managed to confine my wings within. I never really thought much of it since I could still fly without them, but then my height and distance traveled was hindered. To get to the territory tomorrow, I'd either have to go on foot or steal a ride on William's back again, which he didn't really seem to mind. But using an automobile was out of the question; a Jeep crashing its way through a dense forest with no path looked too suspicious.

I wished I had my wings back at times like this. It would've been so much easier.

"Kassia?" A voice interrupted my thoughts. I turned around to look at William.

His eyes were still closed when I answered, "Yes?"

"No! Run!" he yelled all of a sudden, almost startling me right off the edge of the bed. His arms were flailing and I just barely dodged his flying hand. "Get out of here!" William's voice was so full of panic and worry, if he wasn't sleeping, I would've thought that we were under attack right this moment.

I stared at him and gingerly got off the bed. He continued mumbling nonsensical things until finally, he stopped thrashing. The only thing that was moving was his chest as he took deep breaths. Thank God Max wasn't here right now. He was staying with his parents in their hotel room or wherever they were settled so that they could discuss some more details.

I put a hand to my chest. He'd scared the bajeebies out of me. "William?" I whispered, crawling back under the warm blankets. I shook his shoulder a little bit. "Will?"

Groggily, he opened his eyes and they focused on me. "Is it morning already?" he muttered.

"No, I-" I stopped for a second. "What were you dreaming about?" I asked instead.

William stared at me, then smacked his palm into his forehead. "I was sleep-talking."

"Eh, more like sleep-yelling."

"Well...I guess I'm just a little nervous about the fight tomorrow," he admitted. "Sorry if I woke you up. Usually, if I sleep-talk, it's whispering."

I laid my head back on the pillow and turned to look at the ceiling again. "You were yelling at me to run," I commented quietly. "Am I usually in danger in your dreams?" I teased.

William was silent for a long time, to the point where I thought he'd fallen asleep. "Usually," he replied sheepishly. I could almost picture his face turning pink in the darkness.

Wait, usually? "Why?"

"I don't know," he responded simply. He folded his hands behind his head and we lay there side by side, just letting the stillness settle in. I felt my eyelids growing heavier, so I shut them and let sleep overcome me.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Hanna's POV

This was insane. Mind-blowingly, completely, utterly, insane.

But it was our best shot.

"I've got Daniel, Mike, Jillian, and Helena on our side," Lucian whispered to me. "I know my dad's probably in his office on the third floor, messing around with the demons again."

"That's what he said," I couldn't resist mumbling, and it earned me an eye roll.

"Seriously, are you sure you're eighteen?"

I squinted my eyes at him. "Shut up. How old are you, eighty?" We were the best of friends, I swear.

"Twenty-two," he answered curtly. "Do you remember what the plan is?"

"Yes, sir," I mock-saluted him. "Put up your mental guard," I ordered. "What if people see what you're planning?"

"Way ahead of you, sister," he grinned. As if I wanted to be related to this weirdo. "Daniel and Mike know what's going on, and I'm betting that everyone down in those dungeons will be on our side."

At this, he went to the door of the room and tapped out a long pattern. It opened with a click, revealing Daniel standing there with Selena. His eyes swept the room until they found me. "Hey, Keyna."

"Hanna," I corrected automatically.

The jerk ignored me. "Lucian," he greeted, shaking hands. Lucian looked down at Selena fondly. "If worst comes to worst..."

"We're getting our mates and kids out first," Daniel said firmly. Then he looked at me incredulously. "Are...are you crying?"

I quickly wiped my eye with the back of my hand. "No! I...this room is dusty," I retorted lamely. Okay, fine, I did get a little misty-eyed at how determined they were to save their families.

Lucian shook his head. "If we run into anyone working for my father, let us do the talking, capiche? You obviously can't lie for your life."

I grumbled, "Max says the exact same thing."

"Your mate, right?" Daniel asked, and I nodded. "Don't worry, we'll reunite you two in no time." I was taken aback at how sincere he sounded. What happened to *sshole Daniel, again? Was he bipolar?

"I'm not bipolar," he hissed. Oops, did I say that out loud? "And yes, you did." Crap. "Can we duct-tape her mouth?" he asked, turning away from me.

I gave both of them a look of outrage. "We're wasting time! Let's go! And my hand still hurts," I complained.

Daniel frowned. "Why-"

"She tried punching me in the face," Lucian chortled.

I scowled as they laughed together, quietly so that Selena could continue sleeping. Finally, they calmed themselves down and the three of us tiptoed out of the room together after making sure that the hallways were clear.

Lucian led us down a long hallway that seemed deserted until he paused in front of...a lovely painting of the moon. It covered almost three quarters of the section of wall between two doors and he ran his fingers along the frame until he found what he was looking for.

And, just like what happens in spy movies, the frame swung open, revealing a squarish hole in the wall big enough for someone as tall as him to fit through. Daniel whistled in surprise and appreciation. "I thought the secret passages were just a myth."

"This house has loads of secrets," Lucian replied. "You just have to know where to look. C'mon." He jumped up into the hole first, which started about two feet off the ground.

Daniel went next, hopping in soundlessly while refraining from jostling his daughter. I stopped. "Wait, what about Mike? I thought you said he was coming."

The sound of footsteps coming down the hall gave me my answer. A grinning Mike and a pretty young, black-haired woman were running toward us. He gave Lucian and Daniel 'the nod' and grinned even wider at me. "'Sup, Hanna?"

At least one person still called me that. "Same old, same old." I rolled my eyes. "Starting a few rebellions, breaking prisoners out of jail, you know."

"The usual," he joked back. Then he pulled the young woman into his side and she ducked her head at the sudden contact. I felt a grin come onto my face. "This is my mate, Helena."

Helena gave me a shy nod. "Hullo," she said softly, and I detected hints of a British accent.

Lucian crawled back into the hole. "We're going to stay in the bunker for a while,"he explained. "And then we can break everyone out tomorrow at sunset. That'll be enough time for me to convince everyone...I hope," he added in a hushed tone.

We filed after him and after Mike got in, being the last one, he grabbed the knob on the back of the painting and shut it. I heard it close with a soft click.

It was complete darkness, and I wondered if this was what it was like to be blind. How strange would it be to not be able to see colors or anything at all? I wouldn't be able to see buildings, obstacles...people. Suddenly, I decided that I much rather preferred the dim hallway than the pitch black stairs.

Suddenly, the narrow space was filled with light. Lucian and Daniel could be heard conversing quietly at the bottom so I raced down after them.

Naturally, my foot caught on a step and I tumbled down about fifteen stairs all the way to the bottom, skidding on my butt. "Ow," I moaned. I hadn't had a clumsy episode like that in a while.

Lucian looked at me bemusedly. "I thought half-faeries were supposed to be coordinated."

I gave him a glare in return. "Shut up." I was still trying to get used to the fact that I was indeed part of their world now.

"Hey, why haven't you teleported your way out?" Helena asked quietly, looking at me with a strange expression. "I heard that faeries could do all sorts of magic."

I raised my eyebrows. "Okay, first of all, I didn't even know I was half-faerie until like, yesterday. Second of all...I was raised as a human. They don't exactly offer Faerie 101 classes in schools."

Did everyone living here think I was some sort of all-powerful magical being? I even saw Lucian giving me a surprised look. "Guys, I don't even know if I have powers. They've never showed up," I admitted. Why was I letting my guard down around them? I was practically spilling my guts to the enemy...but then I had to remind myself that we were all on the same side now. Against Sebastian.

"Well...that changes things," Mike mumbled.

"Why?"

"I- we all thought you were fully trained," he said sheepishly. "From the way Alpha talked about you, like how you were the last one in North America...we sort of expected you to be some sort of faerie prodigy."

A corner of my mouth lifted in a half-smile. "Remember when you tried to kidnap me? Did I look like I knew what I was doing?"

"You hit me with your shoe," Daniel sniffed, hugging Selena closer to his chest. "And you freaking shot me."

Lucian looked impressed. "You can use a gun?"

"I guessed?" I shrugged. "It wasn't that hard."

He rubbed the bridge of his nose, looking troubled. "So let me get this straight. You have no idea how to use your powers...even if you did have any."

I nodded. "Bingo. Believe me, if I had them, I'd have gotten out of here on the first day," I added, making all of them laugh.

"I do owe you an apology," Lucian bowed his head slightly. "For scaring you and for everything my pack has done against you."

A couple of tears pricked at my eyes as I thought of my best friend. "You killed Jayden," I whispered accusingly. Oh my God, what was I doing? I was just talking as if it were the most normal thing in the world to hold a conversation with the pack that had killed your friend.

He took a step back, blinking. "Who's Jayden?"

"My best friend, goddammit!" I snapped. "Right after I told Max what was going on, he turned up dead the next morning!"

A slow grin started to make its way across Lucian's face. "You told your mate about what's going on?"

I stared at him. This guy was just unbelievable. Was that the only thing he got out of my little tantrum?

The rest of them were looking at him with smiles on their faces, too. Was there some sort of unspoken communication- oh. Telepathy. I nearly face palmed. Of course. But what were they discussing?

I spoke up, "You know, I'd really appreciate it if someone told me what the hell's going on. You're all smiling weird." Maybe not the nicest thing to say...

Mike chuckled. "We weren't expecting to have any backup at all. So if your mate knows about this, I'm assuming that he's on his way over here now with an entire squadron of werewolves. That combined with our forces should be more than enough to..." He lowered his voice, "...overthrow Sebastian."

Huh. I'd never thought about that before, but now that I did...it seemed like such a Max thing to do, declaring war on a pack that had kidnapped his sisters and mate. Actually, I probably would've done the same.

Everyone started talking in hushed tones about the plan, and I just gave up on trying to listen. After looking around the little room, I deducted that it was some sort of underground bunker. The walls were stone and so was the floor. Furniture was scarce, except for a few ancient-looking wooden chairs here and there. I spotted one a couple feet away and walked over to sit on it. My butt had literally just touched the seat when-

Crack!

They stopped talking and whirled around to look at me, crumpled on the floor on top of the remnants of the now broken chair. Sh*t. Daniel flashed a teasing grin. "Hey, have you ever heard of Weight Watchers?"

That *sshole.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Kassia's POV

It was about midday, and we still had a few hours until the invasion. All the wolves, except for William and Max, were gathered in the forest to go over the plan one final time. The boys were here to, quote, protect me. I snorted quietly. The amount of metal weapons concealed on my person would've been more than enough to get over ten airport scanners to go off at once if I'd just walked through one.

We were sitting in our hotel room playing BS. Seems kind of weird to be playing a card game right before a battle, but we had to do something to calm our nerves. Plus, Alpha Mason had issued an order for everyone to remain as inconspicuous as possible, so it wasn't like we could hold training sessions in the woods even though that was probably what they were doing.

I brushed it off as a respect to my grandmother's request. If she knew what we were doing...

"BS," Max said confidently as I put down two sevens.

I smirked at him. "Take the pile," I laughed and he groaned.

I guess it was a little unfair for me to be playing BS. It was basically a lying game and it was harder for me to lie than it was for most people, having faerie blood and all. Honestly, it was a pain in the butt sometimes.

I put down an eight and we kept slapping cards onto the ever-growing pile until I called William out on supposedly pretending to have a four. He narrowed his eyes at me and grumbled as he pulled the giant stack over and added it to his pile. "I don't like this game."

"You just don't like it because you're losing."

He stuck his tongue out at me. Immature William. I rolled my eyes.

A few hours later, after we'd had a light lunch...linner...dunch, whatever, we all filed as nonchalantly as we could into the forest to meet everyone else. I didn't know what a nearby cyclist thought when all three of us just aimlessly ducked into the woods, but I hoped he didn't call the authorities to report suspicious activity. The last thing we needed was to be hindered by police officers. Then there was the matter of what they'd think when they saw William and Max bare-chested, barefoot, and not to mention my clothes.

I had brought a change of 'traditional' faerie clothing since they were so much less constricting than normal ones. My short dress fluttered in the chilly wind and my bare feet trod on the crackly forest floor. I honestly hated wearing shoes in a fight. They were pretty constricting, too. My weapons were concealed in the long sleeves and otherwise hidden by magic.

Max was in wolf form already, snuffling at the leaves on the ground beside me. William chose to remain human until the fight, claiming that I needed human company. I technically didn't, but it was nice of him to care.

I risked a quick glance over at the boy next to me. He looked like he was deep in thought, and his shoulders were hunched over with tension. His eyes appeared even darker than usual, save for the unusual gold flecks. His hands were clenching into fists.

On impulse, I slipped my hand into his and he jerked his head up, surprised. A faint grin found its way onto his face and he squeezed my hand gently, rubbing his thumb across my palm. My hand was completely lost in his huge one.

Was it normal to feel some sort of electric current up your arm?

"Nervous?" I asked quietly. Max was already trotting ahead, darting around a large moss-covered boulder and we started to jog in order to catch up.

We turned the corner. He said in a dull tone, "A few hundred more yards to go. The pack's close."

I frowned. He didn't answer my question. "William?"

"Hm?"

His detached tone was irritating me. What did I do? "Why are you acting like this?" I demanded.

"Acting like what?" he replied snippily.

I stopped moving and yanked my hand from his. "All cold and distant. I don't like it."

"I never said you had to like it."

"You- William, what's wrong?" I was getting frustrated and I had no idea why. But then again, he was the one acting weird. Just a few hours ago, we were getting along fine, and then he reverted to an aloof attitude.

He turned around, fire blazing in his eyes. "Do you remember last time we were in a battle?" he asked sharply. "Do you?"

I blinked. "Yeah, against the rogues. But what does that have to do-"

The words burst out almost like a nuclear bomb of emotion had gone off inside him."You died in front of me!" He was super agitated now, pacing back and forth so fast, I could hardly see anything but a blur. "Do you think I enjoyed seeing that? Do you think I liked knowing the fact that I couldn't protect you from everything? Do you even know how I felt when I thought you were gone?"

"I-" I stopped and looked at the glowering werewolf. "Well, now you know," I said timidly, waiting him to wolf out on me. "I can't really die."

Surprisingly, he sucked in a calming breath and shook his head. "I'd feel better if you sat out of the fight."

"No."

His eyes fired up again. "This time I'm not asking. It's an order."

"Who do you think you are?" I shot back. What was his problem? I could take care of myself.

"Goddammit!" William shouted suddenly and slammed his fist into a nearby sapling, cracking the trunk from top to bottom. "I'm your-"

"Guys!" Max yelled, jogging back in a pair of athletic shorts. I glanced at William who was still mumbling underneath his breath. I wondered what he was going to say...

"What?" William snapped.

Max made a 'follow me' gesture. "We're about to head out now. My dad says we'll be at the edge of their territory in about an hour, tops."

I took out a short dagger and twirled it in my fingers, narrowing my eyes at William who was giving me the exact same look. "Can't wait."

My blood was tingling with excitement and tension at the same time as I followed William deeper into the woods. I noticed that my senses became somewhat sharper before combat and during it. My eyes flicked to a small raven wobbling on a branch. It cocked its head to one side and then I saw its eyes glow red.

In less than five seconds, it was dead on the forest floor, pierced through the neck by one of my darts. Max blinked at me. "Why did you-"

"Watch," I whispered.

A thick, tar-like substance started to ooze out of the wound and as a drop of it hit the fallen leaves, they disintegrated. The bird itself let out a dying croak and dissolved as well, leaving a single black feather and my half-melted dart.

"What the hell was that?" William choked out.

"Demon," I replied quickly. I knew I felt something off. "I can't feel any more of them around here, but...I'm afraid that it was spying on us..."

William looked worried. "You don't think Sebastian sent it, do you?"

"That's exactly what I think. Max," I called, and he turned around. "I think we should get the pack moving and attack earlier than planned. If one demon was set on us, who knows how many others Sebastian has under his control?"

Max had a reluctant look on his face. "We're not one hundred percent sure it's Sebastian..."

I rolled my eyes. "Let's assume the worst for now, and we'll see when we get there."

We finally emerged into a clearing that would've seemed vast if not for the huge crowd taking up the space. Everyone was whispering amongst themselves, going over last minute battle formations and techniques. I saw Max head up to where his dad was and whisper something. Then, in one fluid movement, everyone shifted into their wolves and I winced at the sound of hundreds of bones cracking and snapping as they did so. Everyone except William of course.

I nudged him with my arm. "What are you doing?"

"Walking you there," he replied brusquely. "Then I'll shift." After a few minutes of silence, trailing behind the pack, he asked, "Why are we going early? You said you didn't feel any more demons."

"I know. But it's better to attack in the light than the dark. They can't stand sunlight," I explained and he nodded slowly. Wow, it seemed as if no one in this pack had any basic knowledge about demons or other species from our world. It made me wonder what they were taught...

A sharp howl pierced the air and the pack started to run. My first thought was, sh*t now how am I going to catch up?

Without a word, William scooped me into his arms and I turned my head away from the biting wind as he ran impossibly fast. Too bad faeries couldn't run like that. Maybe react extremely quickly, but not run.

I kind of fell asleep because the way he ran was so smooth, so soundless, that it was like being rocked back and forth in a hammock. When I woke up, the sun was farther from the center of the sky than before. I frowned and looked up at him. "Aren't you tired?" The pack was only a couple feet in front of us. "You can put me down."

William flashed a smile. "You weigh about as much as a little doll," he teased, surprising me. Wasn't he supposed to be...I don't know, mad? "I'm not tired."

"Suit yourself," I mumbled.

Eventually, the pack came to a complete stop. William put me down gently. "I have to shift now. We're only about five minutes from their territory if we run like that again."

I gave him a brief nod and he shifted right in front of me. I would never get over seeing werewolves shift. It was the most fascinating yet disturbing thing to witness. William nudged his wet nose into the palm of my hand and I giggled. He made a 'get on' gesture with his head and I flew up slightly to perch on his warm back. A big black wolf, who I could guess was Alpha Mason, let out a loud growl as he launched into the forest again. The pack echoed the growl and the noise made the hairs on the back of my neck crawl. They all shot off into the trees as one big rippling wave of fur.

Digging my hands into William's thick fur, I bent down lower as he tore through the underbrush towards the Lost Pack's territory.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Hanna's POV

I sat up straight in the second wooden chair with a gasp, drawing attention from the people I was stuck down here with. "Wait, Lucian, what if your dad goes to check on the room?"

He waved a dismissive hand. "Taken care of. Excuse my crudeness, but I told him that he ought to give us a few days because...well, I'm assuming you've already completed the mating process with your mate. Werewolves aren't always 'gentle'...during that, if you get my drift."

I groaned. "That was a bit too much information," I replied dully, to everyone else's laughter.

"And plus, you're not even a werewolf." Oh my God, the boy still had the audacity to continue? "So naturally, you would've had injuries, bruises at the very least. I convinced my lovely father to give you a few days to 'recover'."

I crinkled my nose. "You're disgusting."

"Why, thank you."

I rolled my eyes. Typical guy. Daniel spoke up suddenly, "Does anyone know what time it is?"

"Time for you to get a watch?" I suggested. A few quiet chuckles resounded in the small room.

He narrowed his eyes at me. "Haha. Very funny. I'm serious. We need to know what time it is so we don't miss it."

I knew exactly what he was talking about and a small grin came onto my face. I'd never been part of a planned breakout from prison, but there was a first time for everything, right?

~~~~~~~~~~~

"Ready?" Mike whispered. We were all standing outside of the door that lead to the dungeon, dressed in black. "On the count of three."

They obviously did something with their mental telepathy because I just stood there like an idiot while they all rammed themselves into the door, actually knocking it clear out of the frame. The three prison guards that I could see were completely caught off guard, making it easy for Lucian, Daniel, and Mike to slam them to the ground.

Lucian snarled, "All of you, put up your mental walls. I can feel it if you don't."

The guy he was holding down choked out, "Lucian, sir...please," he coughed, his face turning even redder. "What have we done?"

"You're keeping your own pack members locked up in cells, that's what you're doing," he snarled back. I was watching from the side in utter terror at the venom in his voice.

Another man that was being held down by Daniel attempted to escape, but Daniel knocked his head against the ground and the guy went unconscious. Ooh. I would not want to get on their bad sides.

Mike tossed me a ring of keys. "Free them," he ordered. "Look at the numbers and match them up."

I tuned out what they were saying to the guards and raced from one cell to the next, unlocking them as fast as I could. I lost count of how many people I let out. Everyone, young and old, all had the same weathered, beaten-down expressions on their faces as if Sebastian had broken their spirit long ago, but still mustered up a faint smile to offer.

When I got to Acacia's cell, she was already standing at the door, her blue eyes dilated. "Hanna," she whispered. "How-"

"I'll explain later," I said quickly, looking for the correct key that matched her cell door. I frowned. There weren't any more keys that I hadn't already used.

Acacia looked at my hands sadly. "I know my key's not on there. He," she snarled the word, "keeps it and Khione's key somewhere else because we're the 'special' prisoners."

I gritted my teeth. Of course. "I can't just leave you here," I cried. "If Sebastian comes and sees just you two left, he'll torture you with...with that Taklit thing again!" Chills ran up my spine when I spoke the demon's name.

To my surprise, she just blinked. "The Taklit demon? It never tortured us. What are you talking about?"

"When I last visited you down here," I replied. "He said to release some Taklit demon and then I heard you screaming." The sounds of her screams would be embedded in my brain for the rest of my life.

"Do you know what Taklit means?" she asked suddenly. I was aware of the fact that I still needed to go free a few more prisoners in the back hall, but I was reluctant to leave her here. "It means 'imitation'. I was never tortured. That kind of demon can take any voice and manipulate it in any way. All it needs is to hear the voice once."

My shoulders sagged with relief. "Thank God," I breathed. "You weren't hurt at all?"

"No. Just...just a little mental damage. I'll be fine," she flapped a hand at me. "Go free everyone else. I'll be fine," Acacia repeated.

I wondered what she meant by 'mental damage', but I'd have to ask her later.

In approximately an hour and a half, we had freed all the prisoners, except for Acacia and Khione. I actually couldn't find Khione's cell at all and it scared me to death. Where was she being kept? I would've gladly sacrificed my time to go look for her, but we didn't exactly have much of it to spare.

With all the prisoners standing in a single file line, we ushered them quietly through the halls, back through the secret tunnels and into the underground bunker after telling all of them to put up their mental walls. Then we'd given them a brief explanation of what was happening, and after that, all two hundred thirty-seven of them were willing to fight for our side.

I felt my heart swell with hope as I looked around the underground bunker. Maybe, with the prisoners combined with Max's forces that he was most likely bringing, we could win.

Lucian had opened the entryways to a few rooms so that people could sit in there as well, but it was still incredibly overcrowded. The few children that we'd managed to get out were playing in a corner amongst themselves with Selena.

Almost everyone had brand marks on their wrists from being handcuffed with silver, but after I'd unlocked them, since I was the only one who could touch them without getting hurt, the marks had begun to fade. Even the deepest burns were healing and I marveled at their ability.

I'd gotten many curious stares from the now-freed prisoners, but none of them were malicious. In fact, they all seemed to look at me as if I were some sort of hero. I wasn't. I was technically exactly like them; locked away against my will. But we'd all be free soon. Hopefully.