"What the hell, are you doing here?" Grahame quizzed, his tone gravelly and as intense as his gaze. Swiftly he launched himself at the bars to grab me but changed his mind at the last second and swerved to avoid touching them. Resuming to stand in the centre of the confines, his eyes immediately fixated on the cut on my cheek.

Joanne whimpered from the other cage. "Can you get us out Celandine?" She begged, eyes darting toward the top of the stairs, mascara running down her cheeks. Her clothes were torn and dirty, and one of her earrings had already escaped.

I gazed around trying not to inhale too deeply. "How did you even get here?" It was a damp room, a pipe slowly dripped into a mouldy corner. From the stale smells and discarded rags, it had been the detention facility for several people. Other cages stood empty as proof.

Grahame growled from his confines. "'Anne," his voice held a gentle cadence it took me a while to associate that it was him talking. It took me even longer to realise he meant Joanne. "Can you not see she is our enemy? Why else would she be here?" His voice cracked, and he flashed me a shallow glare. "She has proved to be a liar, murderer and not at all what she claims to be."

Jo gasped, huge, watery eyes contemplating and darting between us. Well, he wasn't wrong. Wait until I caught up with that darn Markus, he was far too chatty.

"You kidnapped us?" Joanne murmured, voice croaky.

Geesh. Now this was the problem when people jumped to conclusions. "Why on earth would I kidnap you?"

She smiled weakly, giving Grahame a small nod as a relieved sigh escaped her chest.

"I'd rather just kill victims outright," I explained.

Jo froze, her chin crinkling as she threatened to break out into a new shower of tears.

Grahame erupted in a flurry "I knew it you lying scut!" This time he collided with the bars and his skin instantly hissed into welts.

Interesting. I cooed mentally.

He withdrew hastily, pausing before his eyes grew wide. As he tried to look up towards the second storey he grew a bit too close again, causing a sore to open across his cheek before rapidly healing. "Where's Stan?" He stumbled over his words quickly. "What have you done to him?" His dialect completely dissolved into thick Irish, still watching the stairs as if his friend would suddenly appear.

I rolled my eyes at him but otherwise ignored the question.

Joanne shuddered, crossing her arms over herself. "So you didn't trap us here?" She spoke clearer this time, her chin stilling from its tremble.

"Nope." I popped the 'P' with a grin. At least she was talking some sense.

She let out a long breath. "I knew it couldn't have been you, since you spoke to me on the phone; of course, I went to see what was making all the racket after I hung up but I didn't get a good look before everything went dark... next thing I knew, I woke up here." She inhaled a long snotty breath. "If I had my skin, I would've stood a chance."

My head tilted to try and catch what she said better. "Your skin?"

She nodded, eyebrows scrunched together. "I thought you'd realised when we met?" She wiped her nose on her arm. "That I'm a selkie?

"Then you're not human?" Trying to hold back a dramatic gasp, I focused my sight on her looking for any signs of magical residue. She had more specks than usual gathered around, but not enough for me to consider her anything other than she appeared.

"I-I am," she stammered, "but I transform when I wear my seal skin."

That was a new one. Um-hmm. "And where's your skin now?"

She turned even paler, the chin dimpling and eyes scrunching. "I left it at home." Her eyes spilt over again. "I house-share. My friends are going to be so worried!"

She must be the most pointless magical creature I'd ever heard of. So without this skin that she doesn't even carry around, she is completely helpless?

Staring towards the ceiling I truly felt at a loss. At least her co-inhabitants had managed a bit more fight in them. "I'm sure they haven't even noticed you're gone," I reassured her. After all, they didn't seem to be too interested in any sort of thinking, being dead and all that.

"D-do you r-really kill people?" She continued rambling. Meanwhile I gave the metal on the bars a flick. The cage was a problem. I wasn't sure I could bend it with brute strength, and heating the metal to boiling point would probably kill Joanne first. Both ideas seemed like a considerable amount of effort for little reward. Absently I rubbed the gem in my hand. Leo would've probably cast some really cool spell to make the bars just disappear.

I threw my hands up at the realisation. That was it!

Just like my gold stash at home, glamouring a different kind of metal should be no different. With a mental yank on three of her cage bars, I snapped them into their own dimensional pocket. They simply vanished.

She blinked, wafting an arm in the space.

"H-how..."

"Hurry up." I snarled mentally chanting. Stay, staaay. Didn't want them slipping out. The fact that they were attached to something in the physical realm meant I'd never truly be able to possess it in another. She stepped through the gap, one of the bars flickering dangerously. She hesitated, eyeing me through tears.

It felt like swimming in treacle, but using my brain for the stroke. "Anytime now!" I snapped.

"Ah!" She jumped out of the gap. "Neptune praise." Joanne cried as the bars snapped closed behind her. "Celandine you did it!" Worries forgotten, she clutched my shoulders into a hug before shaking me. My toes began to tingle, and I acutely felt as if all my teeth were holding onto their gums for their life. "I knew you cared!"

"What the actual hell," Grahame swore from the other cage in a thick Irish accent.

His hands opened and closed slowly as he fixated on my neck. "That's a level one void. Only sorcerers like Leofstan can achieve that."

There he went again, trying to tell me what was what. "It's a glamour - and a fae child trick to boot." I snapped at another unfounded accusation. From the buzz in my head, maybe it was more complicated than my usual attempts.

"Can you get Gray out?" Jo asked, clutching my arm as she straightened, staring sadly at the vampire.

The man was glaring at me, eyes luminous red and fangs bared. I rubbed my neck.

"I need to recharge." I partially lied. "You should go get your skin in case anything else happens." And maybe then, not be as useless.

"But..." She looked to Grahame, then back to me. "Gray?" Was all she asked.

Grahame stared to the floor a moment, before pinching the bridge of his nose as he shook his head, beginning a pace about the small area. "Where is Stan, Celandine?" The vampire finally asked in answer.

Seriously? Still that topic. Always with the missing Leo nonsense. I was starting to think he didn't trust me. After all we'd gone through together. "Leofstan left to look for you hours ago." My hand raised in a dismissive wave.

He growled.

"He was in one piece when he left. Honest." 

He continued to shake his head. "I swear if he's lost somewhere in Faery again..."

"Then it was nothing to do with me," I interjected, throwing off Jo so I could perch my hands on my hips.

For a moment he said nothing until a small sob escaped from the girl next to me and his shoulders slumped. "Jo, it's fine, I know you need water soon. Just be careful, please. At least we can be certain you won't be on the target list for a while, since you're meant to be locked down here." A small corner of his lips twitched up as he talked to her. For a moment I wasn't sure I'd witnessed it at all.

She pushed a hand out to him through the bars, smiling weakly back. "I'm sorry," Joanne whispered. "You'll meet me tomorrow?"

He took her offered hand, hesitantly dragging his eyes away from the vein on her wrist. "I promise." Their touch lingered, her heart quickening. Joanne was the first to pull away slowly, fingertips trailing his.

Her chin began to wobble again but she turned, heading towards the stairs. Even as she ascended, the vampire stared long after, unblinking, completely still.

When he snapped his attention to me, I jumped. "So how long do you need?" He demanded as soon as she was out of earshot.

My jaw almost hit the floor. He was so bossy. Always demanding this, accusing me of that. Turning instead of answering, I went to follow Jo. If he knew so much, he didn't need my help.

"Celandine Doukas!" He roared. "Let me out!"

Not even the word 'please', with a shrug, I kept walking.

"Celandine, this isn't funny get me out of here right now!

Nope, not answering that.

"I know exactly what you are Oilliphéist!" He spat the word. "All dragán are murderous demons, I knew you were abnormal the moment we crossed paths!"

My feet stilled. And with a slow tilt of the neck I looked back towards him.

A/n: Sorry I had to split this up! It was meant to be the last part of the chapter until I got carried away editing it... Expect the next part tuesday! Forewarning, no real characters were hurt in the making of this book. 

Thank you for reading so far, I hope you are enjoying the adventure......