"She can't go on like this."

"She's fine."

"Look at her! Look at what they're doing to her! How can you say that this is fine?!"

"I said she is fine. I did not say any of this is fine."

"Chandra, would you at least look at what they've done to our child?!"

The woman turned away from the glass wall and turned the same furious glare of the male. A tense moment passed before she turned her attention to the small girl. "You okay, baby?"

Kate lifted her head and blinked at her mother. Everything felt slow and heavy. It was hard to see, and their faces swam in and out of focus. Pain wracked her body, particularly the pulsing throbbing of her head. Her eyes felt swollen and dry, despite not having cried through the entire ordeal. She knew better than to cry. She knew better than to fight. Nodding took far more effort than it should have.

Chandra looked back at the male. "You're underestimating her. If you keep coddling her-"

"I know exactly how strong she is, damnit! That doesn't make any of this right! She shouldn't have to know this kind of pain! She's five, for fucks' sake, we're supposed to coddle her!"

"What do you want me to do about it, Morgan?!" Chandra screamed suddenly, the red color of her eyes taking over the pupil and cornea. "What can I do? Please, oh wise one, tell me! Do you think I like watching them take her away and bring her back in pieces?! Do you think I like knowing that the next time they walk in here, it could be to tell us she's dead and they have to start over?!"

Morgan took another step closer, his own eyes turning bright, radioactive yellow. "Give them what they want," he spoke every word slowly and clearly.

"No," she snarled back. "That will only make things worse."

"Worse than this?" he gestured at Kate. As she always was when they brought her back, she handled her pain in silence, but she was shaking violently, and her eyes were empty. The blood trickling down her arm from the intravenous needle was thick and dark from dehydration and whatever else they did to her.

"They will turn her into a weapon. They will use her to hunt her own kind, our people!"

"I would rather see her used as a weapon with a chance to fight back than watch them cut her open over and over until her essence fades."

"That's easy for you to say; you don't know what it's like to be a weapon! You haven't been here as long as I have, remember? I know what they will do!"

Morgan threw up his hands in frustration and turned away. Careful not to aggravate any open wounds, he lifted Kate up off the floor. Her arms automatically wrapped around his neck and rested her head on his shoulder, closing her eyes and melting into the comforting warmth of her father's magic. "You are a coward, Chandra. You have always been a coward. You're right. Katalin is likely the strongest demon that has ever and will ever live. But what good is that when she has nothing to live for?"

Turning his back on Chandra, he carried their daughter away to the bathroom to wash her wounds and put her to bed. Kate forced her eyes open so she could smile and wave at her mom. They argued a lot, but her parents always smiled when she did. And while she looked absolutely miserable, her mother did smile and raise a shaking hand to wave back.

Behind Chandra, unseen by the demons and their keepers, was a black-eyed male slamming his fists against the invisible wall separating him from the dark memories that trapped his mate. No matter how loud he shouted, how hard he pounded against that wall, or how much power he used to call her name, they could not hear him.

As suddenly as he'd been thrust into the memory, he was dragged back and slammed into his own body again. He stumbled, grabbed the counter to keep him upright, and snarled. "What the hell are you doing to her?"

The imposter using Kate's body was twisting this way and that in front of a mirror in the living room. "She's not very pretty, is she?" it asked, ignoring Cyrille's distress. It leaned closer to the mirror and pulled the strap of her dress down to look at the faint line of fang indentations. "Weird that a mating bite makes her more appealing. Truly unfortunate."

Cyrille shot forward. The imposter turned casually to face him, holding the tip of the iron knife to Kate's stomach between her hips. He froze a foot away from it, watching the blade carefully. "Get out," he snarled. "Leave her alone."

"I am doing nothing that she hasn't tried to do to herself for the last five years," the creature used her mouth to smirk. "I have blocked out the world and allowed her to wallow in her own misery. I do not choose the memories. I do not force her to relive the most painful times of her life. She can always go back to her days with you."

"Get. out!"

They narrowed her eyes. "You have always been short-sighted, brother. So focussed on the now. When are you ever going to learn to think long-term? This is for the best. For me and for you."

"The best?" Cyrille snorted. "You stole my mate's voice and wear her body like it's yours. She would never choose this."

"She was never supposed to have any choices!" the creature roared, and the house shook.

Cyrille flinched, and, in tightening his grip on Kate's magic, he was thrown back into the darkness of her memories. This time, he stood inside the glass box. The male, Morgan, was nowhere to be seen. The female, Chandra, was talking to a human female on the other side of the glass. The child version of Kate sat on the floor in front of a toy made of a mess of rails with brightly colored beads on each set.

Cyrille crouched in front of her on the other side of the toy and was about to call her name again when the sound died from his throat. He could hear the sound of his own heart cracking as he looked on upon the young child who would one day be his mate. Those beautiful, sun-gold eyes were empty. There was no sign of the fire he'd fallen in love with. Instead, her body bore the signs of a demon child who had never tasted a soul even once in her short life.

She moved the beads one by one along the rails, watching them with those wide, blank eyes. Her hand jerked involuntarily, and she flinched but made no sound to announce her pain. Her arms were covered in bruises along the joints from where she had been chained down and poked with needles. What did they do to her? What was this place?

"Caedes," he whispered her name. "Katalin... please, hear me."

The child made no indication that she noticed his presence.

"Should I be honored that you came to see me?" the female said harshly, making Cyrille look up.

Kate's mother was tall, thin, and gaunt with pale skin, lifeless black hair tied up in a messy knot, and burning red eyes filled with anger and hatred for the human beyond the glass. There was no doubt she was a demon, but, for the life of him, Cyrille couldn't tell what kind. She had an all-too-human appearance, and since he was experiencing this through a memory, he couldn't explore her power.

"I was going to come anyway," the human woman answered. Her voice was calm without any additional hostility, but there wasn't any warmth either. She, too, was watching Kate. "I was told the testing did not go well yesterday."

"Testing," Chandra snarled, her eyes flaring. "Haven't you tested enough? Don't you have the results you need?"

"Until we have the outcome we desire, the tests will continue. You know that."

For a brief second, there was a flash of the demon's true face. Her features flattened and skin darkened, her mouth split open, and her fingers turned into talons. She slammed her fist against the glass wall in outrage and hissing with so much power that Cyrille could feel it through the magic of the memory. Child Kate jumped and looked up at her mother, the first sign of emotion welling up in her eyes. "We are not of this world!" Chandra roared, her voice splitting into three different tones. "What you have done to the dragons will not work on us! How many times do I have to tell you?!"

"It's not up to me," the human woman snapped back. "You know what we want. We cannot proceed without your cooperation. Until then, the tests will continue to explore other hypotheses and how they can be manipulated for creatures of the veil."

Chandra continued to snarl, glaring daggers at the woman on the other side of the glass. Her talons started to morph together and grow longer into one, long, sword-like claw. Kate got silently to her feet and ambled to her mother, a slight limp on her left side. When Chandra didn't notice her right away, she reached up to tug on her shirt and said in a soft, sweet voice, "Mama?"

The effect was immediate. Chandra's body returned to its human appearance. The red of her eyes shrunk back to normal pupils. She took a small step back before lowering herself and sitting cross-legged on the ground to let Kate crawl into her lap. Her arms wrapped protectively around her daughter and started combing through the tangled mess of her hair. "What will happen if she can't do it?" she asked quietly.

The human woman was quiet for a moment, looking down at the pair of demons with cold indifference. "We will have no use for her except for testing those other hypotheses. The compatibility of the father will be re-evaluated and replaced if necessary, and we will start fresh. Again."

"Damn it, Birch," Chandra hissed. "Be straight with me for once. What will happen to my daughter if she can't control them?"

"I don't know for sure." Something akin to pity flashed across the woman's face for the first time. "More than likely, they will pull all safeguards during testing and push her until either her body gives out or her essence fades."

"You people have the gall to call us monsters," Chandra closed her eyes, and her arms tightened around Kate. When she opened them again, they shimmered with tears of fury and pain. "Fine. I'll do it. I'll summon one. But on one condition, and I want your generals to agree to this."

"I can try. What is it?"

"If she can't do it, let Katalin go. I can wipe her mind; she won't remember any of this. There is a legion in Paris that will take her without question."

Cyrille's heart kicked him hard in the chest. Birch crouched on her side of the glass to meet Chandra's eyes on her level. "Who are the leaders? What kind of precautions would we have to take?"

"I don't know what form the patriarch is taking now. The last I saw them was during the Templar wars. I have changed much since then, and it's likely that they have too. You won't need to take any more precautions than not being seen. Leave her in the west Catacombs during the day. They'll find her once the sun goes down."

For an answer, Birch only nodded, stood, and walked away. Chandra eventually got up too, clutching Kate to her chest and glaring through Cyrille at the spot the human had been. He stared at her face, willing himself to remember her, as she clearly knew who he was. "Who are you?" he breathed.

The air came rushing out of his lungs as he was suddenly slammed on the ground, coming out of the memory no more gentle than the last time. The imposter was sitting on his chest, much heavier than it should have been in Kate's tiny body, and pinning his hands by his head by digging her heels into his palms. Then, leaning forward, it looked deep into Cyrille's eyes with those swampy green ones that were not his mate's. "I don't know how many times I told them," it hissed. "As soon as she was born, she was supposed to be isolated. Kept away from any other demons, shown nothing but indifference. She was not supposed to know affection; she wasn't supposed to know anything but orders and the consequences if she disobeyed."

"Why?" Cyrille snarled.

The creature tilted Kate's head and blinked in what looked like genuine confusion. "Because she is a weapon. That is her purpose in life. That is what I created her for. She and all her siblings."

He stopped struggling and stared up at the imposter again. "Siblings?"

"What do you think they meant by starting over? She was the first to survive past the first year of testing, but she was not the first to be born. It took me a long time to figure out what was wrong. Then they ruined her."

With a surge of energy borne of his outrage, Cyrille shoved the imposter up and over until he was the one on top. "Who the fuck are you?" he snarled.

The creature smiled. "I am everything you have ever wanted. Think about it, Greed. I did not need to show myself to you. I could have taken what is mine and left. I am still here because we need each other."

"I don't need anything from-"

"Your greatest desire, brother," its voice had gone quiet. A lustful purr rumbled in the back of its throat. "The things you crave. The things you want the most. Protection for your legion. No more pain. No more suffering. Just peace. I can give that to you and more. And if you really find this body pleasing," lazily, the creature wrapped Kate's legs around his waist and pulled itself up to rub against him. Then, using her hands, it started feeling and exploring the contours of her body, cupping her small breasts through her dress and bra. "I can give you that as well."

Cyrille shot up, backing away and shaking the sickly chills dancing across his skin. There was another hot wave of anger from the creature. It followed Cyrille up, grabbed his wrist, and threw him onto the couch with enough force to push the whole thing back against the wall, crushing everything in its way. In the next second, it ripped the dress off and mounted his lap to straddle him, grabbing his face and forcing him still while it hovered Kate's lips over his.

"Why are you acting so shocked?" It yowled like an angry cat. "All of this was possible because of you. I am trying to thank you, you ungrateful piece of shit!"

"What are you talking about?!" Cyrille struggled against both the creature's grip and his own strength. He couldn't risk hurting either Kate or that barely flickering life. "I haven't done anything to help you!"

"Of course, you did. I truly thought I had lost her. I knew they were lying to me when they told me she had died. As if I would fall for the same lies I had to tell. But those damned bracelets kept her hidden from me." It opened Kate's mouth in a loud hiss, flashing row upon row of sharp fangs. "I knew one day she would take them off. When she came out of that dead zone, I almost missed my chance, but she only put one back on. It was a crack in her defenses, just enough to worm my way back in. It felt so good to be back in her fractured little psyche. Just the way I left it. Oh, and the things I was able to do once she started on the venom again."

It made a moaning sound that had Cyrille's stomach-churning.

"It took nothing at all to make her call the werewolf. The stupid beast was already helping so much, and it didn't even know what it had done. Weakening her resolve with venom, holding it over her head to do his bidding. So, I rewarded it by telling them of the Templar and her soulmate. I told it to lock little Kate down with iron chains and leave her for the sun. I needed her to break free of that other bracelet. I needed her to destroy it beyond repair. It worked out so much better than I thought! Not only did she free herself, but you then took us down to your lair. I was so thankful; I lent her just enough power to desire you once more and call your name."

The more the creature talked, the more Cyrille was sure he would be sick. This thing had been in her the whole time, and he never noticed. How could he call himself her mate when he'd been this oblivious to her suffering?

"You came like I knew you would. You took your pleasure in her body, and how could I pass up that perfect invitation? While you made her scream your name, I whispered hers and let your essence join long enough to plant that little seed. She never noticed my presence until you decided to cut her off from the drugs, and then she only believed me a hallucination. She was mine once again. I told you I would have her back.

"I told you I would finish my work. You played your part so well; it's only fair that I give you this chance. She will be a shell by the time I'm done what should have been done fifteen years ago. An incubator for the next generation of weapons just like her. With her and the greatest legion in the world under my command, nothing can stand in our way. The dragons will bow to us, and we will have everything that is rightfully ours!"

Something about the way the creature said that last part struck a long-forgotten memory within Cyrille. He frowned, trying to sort through the rapid influx of information coming at him from all angles. "What about Katalin," he heard himself ask.

The green of the creature's eyes flared angrily. "What do you want with a timid little mouse? The girl is nothing without me. All you need is what I can give you!"

It finally clicked. He didn't know why it took him so long. He didn't know how it was even possible. He still needed to be sure. Raising his hands slowly, he took Kate's face in his hands, willing himself not to react to those putrid green eyes. "Show me," he said softly. "Show me what she was made to do."

~