All around us are cages. And there are people inside the cages. Some are naked, some have tattered clothes which look like rags. It's gruesome and a horrible sight to watch.

Somewhere among these cages is Dimitry. I choke on my own breath as I take in the state of women and men being trapped like animals inside these cages.

"It's horrible!"

"I agree!" I respond back to Fenris's words that are spoken inside my head.

We nod at each other and then spread out, walking between the cages, soothing the trapped people with our gifts, one by one.

"Don't free an unknown person," whispers Fenris and I nod my head, indicating that I heard him.

At this moment, we don't know the reason behind these cages. Why were these people trapped?

It is better to just free those people whom we know to be harmless to us. An unknown person's intention would be difficult to gauge. We can't even question a trapped person to ask about his intentions towards us.

Moving my gaze through the cages, I spot a pregnant female inside one of the cages. Her body is quite frail with the foetus inside her body alert to the outside world. It senses me and from the looks of this female, she appears to be a witch.

She is unknown to me but maybe to Callum she might be someone from his friends or family.

"Callum, please could you come here?"

A few seconds pass by and I hear the woosh of his breath.

"Oh, Lord!"

I turn to look at him, hearing the breathless tone of his voice. A second later, I spot him on his knees, while his hands are raised up, hopelessly. They are trembling while tears run down his cheeks.

I have never seen the easy-going wizard weep like this. Sorrow is the most prominent feature on his face, while his heart bleeds out through the tears that are flowing from his eyes. I turn to look at the woman inside the cage. She's not naked but she's not even fully covered. Her belly is visible while her breasts and lower body are covered in rags.

"Callum?" I whisper, not wanting to scare these victims. Bending down to look at the wizard, I squeeze his shoulders, trying very hard to not focus on the conclusion that my mind is drawing here.

"She's my... Dominic. She's my mate," sobs Callum as he puts his head in his hands, his entire body shaking in defeat and sorrow for the pain she must have been through.

This is the fear of the unknown. He doesn't know what happened to her. But the foetus, very much speaks of the torture that she must have gone through.

"What happened?" Fenris and Connor reach us while Fenris goes down on his knees to console Callum while Connor takes in the cage and the woman trapped inside. He looks at me and I see the rage that's bubbling in his eyes. He's reliving the moment when he found Catrina, trapped and tortured by one of Oman's minions.

Hadn't we saved Catrina on time, she might have ended up like this female here. It is times like these that make us realize that we are not actually the rulers of this Kingdom. Evil lurks around and possesses a person so deeply that it can easily overpower us, King or no King.

"Let's break the cage, and teleport her to Crimson Shadow," instructs Fenris after a long minute. I assume that Callum must have telepathically explained the importance of this female inside the cage.

Slowly we all let Callum get up and watch as he uses his magic to break open the cage. One by one he breaks all the chains while making sure that the woman is not harmed any more than she already is.

He takes out his robe, and wraps it around the woman, placing her gently in his arms and the next moment, the duo disappears from our sight.

I am shocked to realize that just minutes ago Alcina was here with Wulfric, participating in Nikita's torture. Can she stoop so low, that she allowed her brother's mate to be tortured in such a cruel manner? That's the worst type of torture a supernatural being can ever tolerate.

"Let's find Dmitry and teleport to Crimson Shadow. I am getting a very eerie feeling here," whispers Connor while looking around and massaging his neck.

"This place has Wulfric's and Alcina's black magic embedded in it. The moment we break one of these cages, the black magic gets triggered and it focuses on us, to create fear in our mind," explains Fenris while looking around us and then walking back slowly.

"Move back slowly, the cage is being engulfed in black smoke," says Fenris.

I look around, my legs automatically walking backwards when I spot that one by one all of the cages is starting to be engulfed in black magic.

"Fast, find Dmitry and get out of here," whisper-yells Connor and starts walking back.

Using my vampire speed, I quickly file through the series of males and females. I pause for a second to check if any female is pregnant but fortunately find none.

I finish both rows and come up empty-handed when I spot a cage that is placed in the far corner of the other row. The outline appears to be like Dima which makes me walk toward him. I am unable to sense our twin bond which makes it very difficult to track him telepathically but still I walk toward the cage and nearly weep in joy when I see that it's him.

"Dima's here."

Making quick work of breaking the cage and working through the mist of black magic, I haul Dima's frail form in my arms and walk out of the cage just in time to see Fenris and Connor both carrying someone.

Fenris is carrying a male while Connor's carrying a female, she's pregnant.

"That's Sebastian and this one is a pregnant female, so we are taking her with us. That's your twin, I assume?" asks Connor. I nod and then look around us. One by one the cages are engulfed in the black mist and then all the cages with their victim inside them, disappear.

"It was a trap."

"Yes, let's get out of here. We need to remove all the dark magic from their pores," says Fenris and then starts walking briskly toward the other side of the castle. Feris leads while Connor and I flank him through the dark corridors.

We walk and walk but are unable to find a way out of this place.

"It's a trap. We are lost," whispers Connor from beside me.

"What do we do? I think the only way to walk out of here is teleporting," I whisper, trying very hard to not be scared for all of us.

"That's right." That voice.

I whirl around while my heart beats loud enough for all to hear. There she stands, looking all elegant and pure, while the black mist tries to touch her.

"Nikita! What are you doing here?" asks Fenris, appearing scared as well as enraged. I agree with him. By coming here, she has stressed herself beyond her limits.

"I come to pull you all out of this trap," she speaks and watches me with a raised brow, trying to seek entry into my mind. I allow her in and let her see my fear and rage for being helpless like this.

"That's great. Please get me out of here, sestra." Connor's wail-like words make Nikita break eye contact with me and then smile at the wolf Alpha. I can feel my fangs peek out.

She isn't supposed to smile at other males! Fuck!

"Emotions are leaking!" sings Fenris inside my mind and I snarl at him, not letting Connor's puzzled look bother me.

Nikita chuckles and we all turn to look at her. She's looking at me and Fenris while smiling and it's a pleasure to watch her. My pants feel tight all of a sudden and I forget about the black mist around us.

"Let's get you all out of here," Nikita says ignoring me for a second. She holds onto Fenris and Connor with each of her hands and then looks at me once, before disappearing out of my sight.

"WHAT?"

My shouting in the dark causes the mist to fall back, away from me but I am not at all worried about it. How could she leave me here?

Just as I am trying to find a way from this place and neglecting those negative thoughts creeping inside my mind, Nikita lands right in front of my face.

"The fuck, woman!"

Again she chuckles, making my heart stop for a moment. It's as if I am watching another Nikita unfold in front of me. She's so carefree and she's smiling freely. As if killing Wulfric switched on a light bulb inside her.

"Hello, Prince Dominic," Nikita bows down in front of me and once again my heart stops.

That's... that's how Charlotte bowed to me the first time I visited her home. How is this possible?

"What... what are doing?" I ask and cringe slightly at the shocked tone of my voice. I should not be displaying my emotions so freely but this witch defeats me. She rules my mind and her smile is definitely my liberation.

I need nothing if I can have her with me.

"Greeting you," she whispers and then takes a step toward me. She slowly places her hand on mine, then another one on my shoulder. "Let's get out of here," she whispers and the next moment, I see white light around us.

A few seconds pass by and then my feet touch the ground. As soon as we land in Fenris's home, Nikita stops touching me, creating a distance between me and her. As if in a trance she walks away, slowly yet sleepily and then into her room, shutting it softly.

I look after her, even when she disappears behind the door, not able to comprehend what just happened.

What was that?

"She sleepwalked," someone answers my unasked question, making me startle out of my shock. Fenris and Christine are standing behind me as I turn to find the source of those words.

"Are you sure?" I ask Christine as she is the one who said it. She nods while Fenris looks at her and then at the closed door where Nikita just walked.

"She woke up a few minutes ago and as if in a trance, she walked out of her room. I thought she had woke up, but when I took a closer look at her, I realized that she had a different glow around her, as if she were an angel. And then she smiled at me, bowed down at me before disappearing right out of my sight."

Christine's words sound shocking, while she tries to comprehend her own words. Whatever she is saying is true however, she herself is not able to believe what she saw.

"So what now?" I ask, not quite able to believe what I just saw. She appeared to be so carefree and so innocent. Nikita is innocent but her soul has been tarnished by the evil tricks of Wulfric and Xavier.

"We wait."

I nod and look at Fenris who's focused on the door behind which Nikita sleeps peacefully.

"Nora's still upstairs, looking after Callum's mate. The child is his," Christine informs, startling the both of us. Did he know her? From Fenris's shocked expression, I can conclude that even he was unaware of Callum knowing his mate.

"What about Sebastian, Anya and Dmitry?" asks Fenris further shocking me. He's being considerate enough for me, for Callum and Sebastian but not even once has he thought of his mate.

Come to think of it, even I am wondering where Sierra is. It has never happened that Sierra is absent in the presence of guests at her home. And these are crucial times when her sister-by-mating was abducted. Well, we can't say abducted because Nikita came out of it stronger than before.

"Sebastian is in the infirmary. Elder Fridolf is there for him. Anya is looking after Dmitry but he's still unconscious," reply Christine while looking at me. I nod at her words and track my brother's trail. Sighing in relief that I can locate him in the house without any obstacle, I nod at Fenris once before setting off in search of my twin.

I do not catch Fenris's words to Christine as I am too busy worrying about Dmitry but I do hear something like Selene. Perhaps he's enquiring about Selene. She might be with Cayden and Mila. Because I do not sense Sierra's presence anywhere near this place. Selene however, appears to be close by.

Opening the door to the far side of the cottage as soon as I reach there, I am shocked to see Dmitry's fangs dipped in Anya's wrist as he sucks her blood in huge gulps. Anya is almost on the verge of collapsing which triggers my beast.

Can't let her die. However, I sense different emotions pouring out of Anya. She appears to be happy as if she's relieved that she's somehow helping her mate revive.

"Stop!" My words have no effect on the couple. Dima's far-gone in his bloodlust whereas Anya's semi-conscious because of blood loss. Both are almost unaware of my presence.

It leaves me with no other option than to go and remove Dima's fangs from his mate's wrists.

As I proceed to act on my thoughts, Dima's low growl makes me hesitate a bit. Not really understanding my brother's mental state, I tap into his mind. And it's a shock!

Gone is my easy-going, fun-loving brother, instead, is a vampire completely thriving on the rush of fresh blood. Dima's enjoying Anya's semi-conscious state, as if he's relishing the feel of his mate dying.

No!

In his blood lust, he has forgotten that it's Anya, his mate and not a random prey.

Fuck!

The realization makes me act on my instinct and I rip Dima's fangs out of Anya's wrist. Dima lets out a huge roar whereas Anya's blood-deprived body falls back on the bed. I want to help her but Dima doesn't at all focus on Anya's unconscious body, instead he attacks me.

Being forced to defend myself, I let go of saving Anya and try to detain Dima. His eyes are completely feral, angry at being disturbed during his kill.

"DIMA!" Roaring in his face, I watch as my command makes him falter in his attack and he mellows down a bit.

Taking advantage of his retreated form, I slap him hard, making sure that his brain rattles inside his skull.

There! Now his eyes are appearing a bit focused but he's still very hungry.

Pulling out a pouch of blood wine from my cloak, I tear it open while watching Dima's hungry eyes turn feral again. He might actually go feral if I do not feed him enough. If I allow him to feed on a human or me, he might end up killing me and become feral. Letting him feed on blood bags is a much easier and safer option.

As soon as I let him touch the blood bag, his fangs sink into it and watch my twin, drawing the blood in huge gulps. In seconds he finishes the blood, making me dig another one out of my cloak.

Fuck! I have only 3 more packets in my cloak. If his hunger doesn't satiate then people around here will be at a risk, including me and Anya, who's almost dead. Shit!

One by one Dima finishes the remaining three packets as well, leaving me no other choice than to lift my wrist and let him suck. I panic the moment he starts feeding crazily, getting high on my supernatural blood.

The sight of my brother succumbing to his baser needs crushes my heart, making me turn away from him. I start to think of all the ways to revive him, to make him sane again when my mind unknowingly peeks into his.

I don't know how it happens but slowly, Dima's hold on my wrist becomes less aggressive. He now holds my wrist loosely, making me focus back on him.

Slowly, he stops sucking and then licks at my wounds before collapsing on the bed and falling into sleep.

I sit on the edge of the bed myself, sighing in relief while watching him sleep peacefully. He's revived back into his normal form. I almost give in to the urge to cry at my brother's second chance at life when the diminishing heartbeats of Anya make themselves known.

Springing up from the bed, I turn around to see Anya's body lying in an uneven angle. Her heartbeat is slow, turning slower second by second.

Shit! What to do!

Blood rushes through my ears as I try to think of a way to bring Anya back. Dima's going to regret his actions when he wakes up.

I can't let Anya die because of Dima's loss of control. But he was put in such a situation by Anya.

Dual thoughts run through my mind as I think of a way to get Anya back from the dead.

Not thinking of consequences, I slip into Anya's unprotected mind. It's crime to do that but I do not have any other choice.

Committing this crime is much better than watching Anya die. So, I enter Anya's mind while biting into my wrist and opening my veins.

Commanding Anya's almost-dying brain, I boost her brain with some energy. Bringing my wrist closer to her nose, I allow her brain to be triggered with my blood. It takes a few seconds but her brain gears up, kickstarting her instincts to feed even when unconscious.

Opening her mouth, I rub my wrist on her teeth, allowing her fangs to lengthen and slip out. It's a desperate effort to get her body to react to food.

A long minute passes by but her tongue doesn't even move. I am almost on the verge of giving up now as the sense of loss pours into my mind. A soft moan is heard around me which makes me realize that the desperate sound is coming from me.

My vision blurs, making me realize my helplessness when Anya suddenly takes hold of my wrist.

As if being possessed she starts sucking on my blood, making me chuckle at her response.

A few minutes pass by and her brain starts functioning normally, allowing her to take control of her movements. Slowly, she let's go of my wrist and takes in a few more precious gulps before releasing my wrist from her fangs.

She licks her lips but otherwise, doesn't make an effort to close to my wound. The entire time her eyes were closed and even now, she's slipped into sleep, helping her body to reawaken itself.

Collapsing on the ground due to blood loss, I finally let myself breathe in relief. None of my family members is dead. Not this time.

My mate's sleeping! My brother and his mate are safe, finally!

The only thing left is my revenge, which I am not so sure of anymore.

The only thing that I am sure of is that I can't resist Nikita anymore. It's very disheartening to know that I have disrespected Charlotte by accepting that I might never be able to avenge her death. That I am more eager to focus on Nikita instead of avenging her.

It makes me no better than the ferals who move from one prey to another. Only here I am moving from one mate to another.

Does it make my sin worse?

~~~~~

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