Chapter 10 The Crimson Cage

I awoke to the metallic tang of blood in the air and the sound of running water.

The lingering effects of the medicine pounded my head; each throb sent waves of nausea around my body. I felt like the cold metal searing straight through to my bones as silver chains tying my wrists and ankles. The physical anguish, though, was nothing next to the hollow pain in my chest where my connection with Kael should have been-a gaping wound that made every breath feel like dying.

A familiar voice from the shadows said, "Awake at last.

I forced my eyes open and squinted against the soft red light that seemed to come from the walls surrounding me. What I saw made little sense-I was in what looked like an underground chamber etched from black stone, its walls decorated with ancient symbols that pulsed with a faint crimson light. The air was heavy with the aroma of older blood and ancient magic.

Elder Thorne was standing before me, quite alive and smiling in a way I had never seen before.

"You are meant to be dead," I muttered, hoarse and broken.

He laughed, and the sound crashed off the stone walls like shattered glass. "Death is a limited idea, don't you think? Particularly when one has the right... . He came closer, and I could see now that something ageless and predatory had replaced his regular weathered appearance. "I have been several things over the centuries, child. Death was never one of them.

I struggled to project strength, but my voice came out shaky and terrified: "Where am I?

He said with clear satisfaction, "The Crimson Sanctum," "a place where dangerous beings such as yourself are studied, confined, and eventually. harvested. He pointed to the emblems on the walls, and I saw they were not merely decorative; they were moving, shifting, reacting to some invisible power. "These runes guarantee your powers remain dormant. Very efficient, I'm told. We've had centuries to perfect them.

Using what little strength I had, I tested the bonds that held me against the silver chains. Though it held tight, more than that, it appeared to purposefully drain the energy from my body with every movement. "What do you want from me?

Elder Thorne giggled once more, and this time I heard something in it that made my skin crawl. "My dear girl, you misunderstand entirely. This is about what you are-and what you may be-not about what I desire.

Approaching me, he circled me like a hunter analyzing injured prey. I saw something as he walked into the light that briefly stopped my heart beating. His eyes were not the warm brown I remembered from many pack meetings. Like the hunters that had caught me, their red hue shone with an inner fire that spoke of equal measure power and insanity.

"You're one of them," I gasped as the pieces of a terrible riddle snapped into place.

He corrected, his voice bearing absolute authority, "Have been for three centuries. I lead them. Did you genuinely believe, kid, your small awakening was a chance? That by pure happenstance you discovered your abilities?

You've been manipulating me from the beginning, the truth struck me like a physical blow, stealing what little breath I had left.

He said softly, his tone almost paternal, you, nurturing you. And by means of stress and trauma, assisting you in realizing your whole potential. Do you believe it was a chance that brought you to the Blackthorn region? That dragged you toward their juvenile Alpha? That pushed you to the breaking point again and again until your strength eventually materialized?

I looked at him with escalating terror as his total control became clear. "The attack on my pack-"

"My handiwork. I needed to isolate you, to strip away your support system so you would be adequately vulnerable when the time came.

"My parents-" Your mother fought quite a battle, I have to add. She was aware of your identity. Spent years attempting to stifle your powers in the hopes of keeping you unnoticed. His smile became harsh. She failed, of course. "

Rage ran over me, pure, hot, and devastating. Silver light flashed around my chained hands for a brief time as my power flared despite the suppressants and the binding runes. But I was gasping from the exertion, and the light vanished nearly at once.

Elder Thorne admonished, "Temper, temper. your power, child. You will need it for what follows.

I spat, "And what exactly comes next?

"Your apotheosis," he said, and the term caused shivers to run down my back. "Your metamorphosis into something really spectacular. First, however. . . " He pointed to something behind me with a dramatic style.

I turned my head and nearly cried. Against the far wall, suspended in a cage looking like it had been woven from silver wire and crystal, Kael was seen. Unconscious, his body bore scars that spoke of a furious battle: claw marks, burn scars, and something that looked dangerously like bite marks. Blood flowed slowly from his wounds, creating a dark pool beneath the cage.

I hissed, struggling against my links, "Let him go," with fresh rage. Notwithstanding the medicines, power in my chest barely flickered in reaction to my need.

Elder Thorne said with delight, as though we were chatting about the weather, "Oh, I plan to," then continued, "Just as soon as you give me what I need.

Which is your might, given freely and tied to my will, bound to mine for all millennia, your spirit.

Horrorstruck, I gazed at him as my mind raced with the consequences. "You're insane. But openly given? Voluntarily surrendered? It can change the course of history. His eyes flashed with ancient hunger, and I recognized I was viewing something that had devoted millennia to perfecting its obsession. "I have waited three hundred years for another of your kind to emerge. I won't wait another three hundred.

"I'll never- He gestured again, and I watched in horror as Kael's cage descended toward what I had first mistaken for a pool of dark water. I could clearly see it now-acid, bubbling and hissing as it destroyed the stone floor beneath it. My eyes watered from the sharp stink. "Even to preserve your treasured friend?

My heart pounded against my ribs so violently I thought it might burst. "You're bluffing.

Am I? The cage stopped just a few inches from the acid's surface, and I could see steam coming from near. Kael murmured gently as his unconscious form started to respond to the heat. "By my computations, you have until the blood moon reaches its peak-about six hours. Submit to me willingly, connect your power to mine, and I will let him live. Refuse..." He shrugged elegantly. "Well, you can see the other side.

Whispering, tears flowed down my face. "You bastard.

Sticks and stones, child. Time is running out. He then paused at the chamber door. "Oh, and don't bother trying to escape. The runes will drain your power quicker if you try to use it, and the chains are enchanted to grow stronger the more you fight. I have centuries to prepare for this event.

Left alone with my fear and Kael's laborious breathing, I heard the heavy door slam shut behind him like a tomb sealing. The silence that followed was deafening, interrupted only by the regular drip of water somewhere in the darkness and the rare bubble from the acid below.

I pulled against the chains until my wrists bled, silver burning against my skin like liquid fire. True to Elder Thorne's words, the bonds seemed to tighten with each struggle, becoming heavier and more restricting the more I fought. I attempted to reach our companion bond, grabbing frantically for any link to Kael's awareness, but it was akin to trying to contain smoke with my bare palms. The suppressants had muted our relationship to almost a whisper.

Hours passed-or perhaps minutes; in this location, time had no significance. Seeking any weakness I could use, I started analyzing the patterns of the runes on the walls. But the symbols seemed to move and change whenever I wasn't looking right at them, therefore impossible to decode their meaning.

Kael stirred again, a faint groan leaving his lips. The sound was like a knife to my heart.

I whispered, not wanting to alarm any guards but desperately hoping he would wake up. "Kael, can you hear me?

His eyes fluttered open, hurt and distant. He needed several minutes to orient himself, to grasp his surroundings and what was going on. His facial expression ran through a range of emotions-relief, rage, anguish-when at last he saw me chained to the wall.

He croaked, his voice scratchy from whatever they had done to him, you harmed?

I said, "I'm fine. you-" Testing his own ties, I could observe the silver cage tighten slightly in response to his motions. "Where are we?

"The Crimson Sanctum. Thorne-he's alive, Kael. He's been pulling everything throughout. The words rushed out of me. "He is behind the assault on my pack, behind everything that has transpired. And he wants me to-"

Kael's voice was steady, cutting through my explanation. "The response is no for whatever he's requesting.

"You don't understand," I said desperately. "He will-if I don't offer him what he wants.

Quietly, Kael said, "I know what he's going to do. And I'm telling you-don't you dare die for me.

My cheeks were wet with tears. I can't lose you.

He responded, "And I can't live with myself if you become a monster to save me. find another path.

But even as he spoke, I could detect the uncertainty in his eyes. We were stuck, helpless, and racing out of time. With it, Elder Thorne's deadline, the blood moon was rising somewhere above us.

That's when I heard it-so muted I almost missed it over the thump of my own heartbeat.

Viktor's voice, speaking directly into my mind: "Did you really think I would let my nephew die, little star?

I looked around frantically, but I was still with Kael in the chamber.

"The blood moon approaches," the voice went on, and I came to understand no one else could hear it. "And when it rises, not even Crimson magic will be able to contain what you really are.

"What's wrong? Kael queried, noting my changing countenance.

Before I could respond, a fresh sound rang through the chamber-the far-off howling of wolves approaching by the second. But these were not typical pack howls; they had an ancient, primal quality that spoke of power older than civilization.

For the first time since I had awakened, the runes on the walls flickered, their constant glow faltering.

And suddenly, I realized that Elder Thorne had made a critical error in his centuries of planning.

He thought he was the hunter, and we were his prey.

But he had no idea what kind of monster he'd actually caught in his trap.

The blood moon was rising, and with it, everything was about to change.