A/N: Hurrgh, this chapter might be long. Very long. Possibly double my usual chapter length *pokerface* And there’s some profanity in this chapter, so yeah.

I couldn’t believe this. After all the warnings my dad gave me about supernaturals, I still managed to fall into their hands. I was sure the vampires wanted our blood, but I couldn’t shake the feeling they wanted something else too. They couldn’t still want revenge on my dad… Could they?

“Walk faster, and keep your head down,” one vampire ordered. I snorted, but did as they said. With my head down but eyes pointed up, I saw a mound of sandy stones peeking through the endless forest. A miniature castle.

Elubarin nudged my shoulder and quickly leaned over. “There’s no windows on that turret. I bet that’s where they’ll keep us-“

That was as far as he got before the head vampire shoved us apart and dragged him inside.

By the time my eyes had adjusted to the dim, candle-lit hallways, I had been herded into a circular stone room. Treznor yanked my elbow and threw me past a row of metal bars. I landed sprawled next to Elubarin, my knees and elbows roughed by the wooden planks. A clang echoed behind us.

I stumbled to my feet and dizzily watched Treznor bolt the metal gate.

“No!” My hands flew to the bars and tugged, but it was useless. The vampire was smirking at me from the other side. “Let us go! We didn’t do anything to you.”

“No, but your father did. And since he stays holed up in the palace with an army of unicorns to protect him, I thought you were the best way to draw him out.”

“You can kill me or keep me here as long as you want, but he’ll never come.” We had rules now. Rules that protected the Prince at all costs, even if that meant sparing one of his heirs. The unicorns (and Lily) would never let my dad leave the Middle Ground.

“Just watch,” Treznor said. “One way or another, he will get what he deserves. Your father let us vampires take all the blame for killing the werewolves. Everyone on Earth just assumed because we were uglier than fairies – or wizards -” He shot a glare at Elubarin over my shoulder. “- that we were the violent ones. They had no idea,” he chuckled. “Now that we’re here, we can be as violent as we want.”



“My dad’s not like that!” I screamed and rattled the bars, wanting to tear that smirk off his face. “Everyone keeps telling me he’s a horrible person but he’s not!”

He can’t be. He can’t be.

“Maybe you should rest,” Elubarin said tentatively. “There’s only one bed – if you call that plank a bed – so we would have to take turns anyway.”

“Why didn’t you stop them?” Heat bubbled up in my chest as I swiped at my eyes. “You have goddamn magic powers and you couldn’t even hold them off?”

“My wand broke.” He shook his head and sighed, muttering something to himself.

“But you can do magic without a wand,” I choked out.

“Not that time.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

Elubarin ran a hand over his beard. “It means what it means. The magic just stopped working.”

“Kind of like my teleportation,” I murmured, climbing on the plank next to him. A lazy drift of cold air slipped between the cracks in the wall, causing me to shudder. I unintentionally rested my head on Elubarin’s leg. Deciding not to move it, I said “It’s cold,” as if that explained everything. Besides, one touch wouldn’t kill him.

He stretched out on the plank beside me, effectively blocking the draft. When he didn’t respond I added, “I’m sorry about your cat.”

I couldn’t tell if he heard me or not.

***

“It’s those rings again,” a huffy voice grumbled behind my ear. I started and spun around, almost elbowing a guy in the ribs.

“You?!” It took me a second to remember his name – Matt. “You better not have had anything to do with me getting captured by those vampires again.”

“Again? I specifically told you not to go last time until – Oh, nevermind. I discovered something that I think you and your wizard cuddle buddy want to hear.”

“Cuddle buddy?” My face was growing hotter by the second. “No, no, we’re not dating – yet.”

Matt chuckled. “Right. Well, if you guys are curious, the reason you can’t teleport and he can’t use magic is because the vampires are using leftover magic rings from the werewolves.”

I nodded. I had heard of those rings. My dad had been possessed by one years ago, and I knew a few townspeople who hadn’t looked at him the same way since.

“The rings have been modified to block power rather than mind control. So…”

“So what?” I asked.

“So I cannot help you – yet,” Matt said, mocking my earlier statement. I rolled my eyes and ignored it. “But I’ll be working on it. I hate to say it, but I’m probably the reason you are in this mess. I intend to do whatever it takes to get rid of those rings.”

***

“Well, which one of you wants to go first?” Treznor was standing on the other side of the bars. I blinked awake to rapidly flickering candlelight and a chill in the air. Elubarin was already up, warily making his way towards the bars.

“Go where?” he asked.

“Just in the hallway,” Treznor said, a dangerous smile making his alabaster skin glow. “It will only take a minute – if you both coöperate.”

“What’s going on?” I rolled off the plank and shuddered as my bare feet hit the ground.

Elubarin turned, his jaw clenched unusually tight. “They want our blood.”

I knew this was inevitable. Those bloodsuckers would use me until my dad came looking, or until I died. I didn’t want either of those to happen, but I couldn’t think of any way to avoid them. For now, it was best to play along.

“I’ll go first,” I said. My feet had edged halfway to the bars before Elubarin protested.

“Are you sure? Maybe I should go first.”

“But they want me. I’m the reason they attacked us in the first place. We might as well give them what they want and save ourselves some time.” I winced at the sound of my own words. They were weak. They made it seem like I was giving up.

Elubarin shrugged nonchalantly, but I noted the flicker of guilt that crossed his face. “I was only trying to protect you, Karissa.”

“If you wanted to protect me you could have stopped them back at the garden!” I spun on my heel and stomped to where Treznor had quietly been waiting, belatedly realizing what Matt had said about the magic ring. Sure enough, an emerald-studded ring sat on the head vampire’s finger.

He ushered me out the door and into a small room that held two chairs and a blazing fireplace. “Sit or stand, your choice,” Treznor said. He beckoned down the hall to someone out of my sight.

I chose to stand. Another vampire entered the room and my heart gave a sudden jolt. He was the one who tried to kidnap me when I was twelve. The whole group from then was almost in this room, except for the female vampire and the mysterious Vox.

You know, Vox, if you want to jump out and save my ass again, now would be a great time…

The vampire mockingly bowed and introduced himself as Russell Felix. Treznor gave him a nod, then his fangs were sinking into my neck.

They really were going to eat me.

“Uh-” Russell gagged suddenly and withdrew his canines from my neck. He dragged a hand over his bloodstained mouth and choked, “That’s nasty.”

“What?!” Treznor eyed me suspiciously.

“Her blood, it’s bitter. And sour.” He exchanged a look with his boss, then muttered, “You can try some yourself if you don’t believe me, but… It tastes like she is one of us.”

One of us?

Treznor slowly circled me, scooping a drop of blood off my neck with his pinky. He raised it to his mouth. Grimaced. “Somehow you have vampiric roots, girl,” he spat.

“I… My ancestors weren’t vampires! I’m not one of you; I’ll never be one of you.”

The head vampire completely ignored me, instead choosing to beckon to Russell and say, “Bring the wizard.”

“No, don’t! Please. Don’t hurt him! Stop!”

I never meant to get angry with Elubarin… The lack of intimacy just made me frustrated. Over the past several years I had told him nearly everything about my family, yet he told me little about his past. He was always secretive, never opening up.

If he wanted to make progress, he would be communicating with me.

No, he just needs time. Give it time. He’ll come around eventually.

But he’s had years. His decision was pretty fucking clear.

Elubarin groaned and stirred, and I hurriedly wiped tears from my cheeks that I didn’t know had been there. “Hey.” I tried to smile. “How are you feeling?”

He blinked once, then groaned again and left his eyes closed. “Like someone drove a nail through my neck.”

“Well, that’s pretty much what happened, give or take a few details…” The vampires said it would take him a while to recover from their feeding. But he seemed to be doing alright so far. His hand had gently slipped on top of mine.

And he just left it there. Like it didn’t mean anything at all. Why did he do this to me? Elubarin knew how long I’d been trying to date him, yet each time he refused. And now he was leading me on?

Maybe I was just over thinking things…

“C’mon, stand up. Our lovely captor Treznor said you need to get your blood flowing again.” I grasped Elubarin’s hands and pulled him upright, swaying and nearly falling under his weight.

“Oof, feel light-headed,” he mumbled. He staggered forward a few steps until I eased him to the floor. At least he could sit upright. If we had stayed standing, he could’ve fallen over and gotten a concussion, which was just what we wanted…

I sat with my back to him for support, and we stayed like that in silence. Eventually though, I grew tired and whispered, “I miss Mackenzie.”

I missed the times when she would come running, arms open, and cling to me like the world was ending. Now that she was a teenager, those times were rare.

I missed dad too. Even when he favored Mackenzie over me, he was still as supportive and caring as ever. And weird as it was, I kind of missed Lily too.

“Hmm,” Elubarin grunted in return. I sighed and hauled him to his feet, guiding him back to the plank. We lay back to back this time, definitely not snuggling so Matt couldn’t make fun of me again.

“Have you ever had a family? Have you ever cared about anyone besides yourself?” I muttered as I drifted off.

I was almost asleep when he said, “Yeah.” I pretended not to hear.