I shove the entire file in my bag and slip out of the room again. I try to make sure everything else is as it was as I leave, walking back quickly to the front desk. I take one look at the closed door behind the desk and drop the keys onto the desk quickly but carefully so as not to cause a racket.

"Arden?" a voice asks from behind me.

I swivel around to face Theo. "I need you to come with me to Eichen," I say. "I have the file."

He bites his lip. "That sounds like a freaking terrible idea," he says. "Let's go." As we walk towards the door, Theo asks under his breath, "How did you manage getting the file?"

I press my lips together in a firm line. "Let's just say that my mom's lawyer isn't very lawful at all."

"So now we're in a law drama as well," he says, amused. "Man, I love conflict."

I open up the door to the passenger side and slump back into the seat. As Theo starts up the car, I pull out the file and take the time to study it more carefully. "What does it say?" Theo asks, side-eyeing me.

I trace my finger under the lines of words. " 'Ian Caraway was killed by his mistress, Lena Klein. Klein had initially thought that Caraway was single, but on the second of May, two days before the discovery of Caraway's body, she found out that he had a wife, Alexandra Demitri.

"Caraway's daughter, Arden Caraway, four, reported that Klein had come over earlier that evening while her mother was at work. It was the first time she'd seen her and it was also when Klein slipped poison into Ian's meal.' " My voice is quiet by the end of it. "My mother made me lie," I say quietly. "She knew I was a siren so she made me lie using her own powers."

"Arden," Theo says matter-of-factly. "She was doing it for you. She couldn't leave you to grow up with no parents. She wanted you to have a normal life."

I swallow hard. "But I'd never be able to have a normal life," I murmur. "Not as long I was a siren."

Theo exhales, long and heavy. "You don't have to have a normal life, Arden," he says. "Take advantage of it. You can make people bend to your will just like that. You can kill someone with one word." The corners of his mouth stretch into a small smile. "You're a slaughterer," he says.

"You were made to be a killer, Arden."

The last time I visited Eichen House, I got my wrist broken by the Dread Doctors and got rescued by someone who I probably never should've trusted. To put it lightly, I'm not looking forward to going back there.

I look up at the wrought iron gates, focusing my eyes on the buzzer and pressing. As we wait, Theo turns to me. "What do we do if we can't get through?" he says under his breath.

"We kill them," I say. "We kill anyone who gets in our way."

The door makes a buzzing sound, and when I test it, it's unlocked. I push it open and it lets out an eerie squeak as I step through. The path is ominous, black and has an oily sort of quality to it that makes it look it could swallow you up whole if you walk too forcefully on it.

There are only a few working lamps on the sides of the pathway that emit a dim, sinister glow. I suck in a breath, grateful for the few knives sheathed at my belt. The whole place had that sort of unnerving feeling that chilled you to the marrow of your bones. It had the type of aura that made me think that if anyone stayed here long enough, they'd be driven insane regardless of their previous mental state.

I could only think what has gone on in these walls. Not just in terms of supernaturally, but also the murderers, the psychopaths and the criminals. Sure, the supernatural world had monsters, but the human one was so tainted by evil that I also had to pity them.

I read in the documents that Lena Klein was under close guard in a restricted section. It sounds like a sort of prison and I have to wonder exactly what makes it so different from a normal holding cell.

I push open the front door and walk into the foyer of Eichen House. "Hello," I say as levelly as I can to the man behind the desk. He looks weary and irrevocably pissed. "We're here to see Lena Klein."

He coughs, and with a bland voice he says, "There are no visitors allowed for Lena Klein."

"I'm actually here for a photography series," I lie, trying to sound as knowledgeable about art as I possibly can. "It's about how the human mind works in relation to its surroundings."

"You think I'm going to let you in because you have a camera? Get out."

As quickly as I can, I shoot my arm out and grab a hold of his neck before swiftly ejecting my knife. I drive it in an upwards arc into the fleshy part between his chin and neck, blood splattering across the timber desk.

He makes a choking sound and then I'm taking the knife out and he slumps back into his chair, lifeless. Theo looks at me half in shock and half in awe, his eyes wide and his mouth slightly open with a small smile. "Stop staring," I say. "Let's go."

I nod towards the hall branching off from the room and take off running down the narrow passage. I follow the signs until I've finally reached the restricted area. I've just taken a step around the corner when I see two guards standing at the door. I quickly recoil, putting a hand out to stop Theo.

"You take the left guard, I take the right one," I whisper under my breath.

His breath is hot as it brushes my ear. "On the count of three," he whispers. "One...two...three."

I lunge at the right guard, and his mouth is just beginning to form an oval shape when I draw the knife. I take a swipe at him with the blade, but he grabs my arm and twists it, the knife clattering to the ground.

I swear under my breath and bring my knee up between his legs. He grunts, loosening his grip on me and I kick him in the side to hinder him further. As quickly as a viper pouncing on its prey, I pull out the gun at my belt and hit him in the head with the butt of it.

A gut wrenching crack echoes through the hall as blood begins to gush out of the wound. His eyes roll back into his head as he falls to the ground and I take one last look at the man whose head I just bashed in before lifting my gaze to Theo.

The man at his feet has his throat torn out, blood pooling beneath his lifeless body. My eyes are wide and my mouth is open. I just killed two men.

Theo holds up a bloodied set of keys and jingles them softly before tossing them to me. I step over the dead guard and jam the key into the lock, taking a deep breath. I push open the door.

Eichen House must have great soundproof walls, because as soon as I walk in there, I am met by a chorus of screaming, a sonata of crying and, beneath it all, the soft sound of smooth jazz playing over the speakers.

The cells have glass fronts and I can see every sunken face and pair of crazy eyes. I take a step forward and look to my left at a wrinkled, scarily skinny, grey skinned woman. She points an accusing finger at me. "You killed my son! You fucking killed my son!" she screams. For a second I can't do anything but stand there, frozen and frightened, until I feel Theo's hand on my back.

"They can't do anything to you," he whispers. "They're behind walls."

"They blamed it on me!" the woman continues. "I never killed William! I never!"

I take a step forward. A man throws himself against the glass and I flinch, half-expecting the glass to shatter into a billion pieces. "The monsters will come and do bad, bad things to you," he wheezes urgently. "They'll come once they hear there's pretty young things on the loose."

Lydia is somewhere in this building. I press my lips into a firm line and continue on. The next lady screams. Just screams. Her mouth is open and emitting a high octave squeal. When I look closer, there's blood on her lips.

And at the end of the hall, is a woman. She's silent, sitting and staring straight ahead. In the photograph, her makeup and her hair were sleek and sophisticated, but even without makeup and possessing a sunken appearance with a few more wrinkles, I know that it's Lena Klein.

Her eyes are wide and vacant and she sits stiff against the back wall of her cell. She wears a loose hospital gown of blue, but even under that I can tell that she's little more than skin and bones. My eyes dart to the door, but then I realise that there isn't a door.

Lena Klein was stuck in there forever.

Instead, there is a little flap of glass with a lock beneath it. That must be how she gets fed, I think dismally. But how does she shower and go to the toilet? I push the thought to the back of my mind. How is this even a medical establishment?

The keys in my hand suddenly feel heavy as I sink down into a crouching position. "Hi," I say, as softly and gently as I can. Who knows what'll push her over the edge. "Do you know who I am?"

She gasps for air. "The Caraway girl," she says timidly. I worry that she's going to have a heart attack or something from the way her breathing is paced.

"Yes," I say levelly. "I need you to tell me about Ian."

She shakes her head feverishly, her lower lip quivering. "Not Ian. Not Ian. Not Ian."

"Lena," I begin. "Did you kill Ian Caraway?" I already know the answer, but I'm trying to get a feel around just how much she knows.

She sniffles. "No, stop!" she shrieks. "Get away from me, you monster! I didn't know he was your husband!"

She thinks I'm her. She thinks I'm my mom. I can feel Theo's intent gaze on the woman in the cell. "What do you know about wolves?" I ask. "Do you know much?"

Her eyes go wide. "Red riding hood," she whispers, her lips moving just a touch. "I'm red riding hood."

I furrow my eyebrows, looking wide-eyed at her. "Yes, you are, Lena," I say gently, not daring to disagree with her. "And what do you know about the big, bad wolf?"

"He took him," she says, trembling violently. "He took him," she repeats.

"Who did he take, Lena?" Theo asks.

She lets her mouth fall open, her eyes darting back and forth. "He took our son."

For a second, my mind completely collapses in on itself and I can't do anything but sit there frozen and staring. "Ian's son?" I choke out.

She widens her eyes, nodding. "He took our son," she repeats.

"Your son —"

"Ian's son."

"Right. Yours and Ian's son. Where is he now?"

She raises her brows and shakes her head. "Oh, no," she says. "My boy told me never to say."

"Lena," I hiss. "I will kill you. Tell me where. I won't ever tell your son."

Her eyes seem to pop out of her head as she turns to me, looking me in the eye for the first time since our meeting. Her words are hushed, but when she speaks they ricochet off the sides of my brain as I comprehend them.

"My son is an alpha."

I feel my head swimming and a lump in my throat. Because whoever did this to me, whoever caused me this much pain, is someone who should've never tried to cause me any harm.

The alpha is my half-brother.

I edge closer to the glass wall, simultaneously slipping the bloodied knife out of my belt. I jam the key into the lock below the little glass flap, jiggling it around until I hear the click of it unlocking.

I keep my voice low, the cloudy quality of a siren's washing over it. "Lena, listen to me," I begin. When she doesn't drop dead, I realise that my theorisation of her not being human was true. "I'm going to hand you this knife and you're not going to do anything with it apart from what I tell you to." I grip the knife in my fist so hard that my knuckles go white. "You're going to tell nobody about this. You're going to break out of here and when the guards try and stop you, you're going to keep fighting.

"And you won't stop fighting until they have no choice but to kill you."

I push the little door open and send the knife clattering to the floor inside the cell. I don't wait for her answer, since she can do nothing to refuse the instructions. You were made to be a killer.

I get to my feet from my previous crouching position and without repenting anything, I make a start down the hall. And then I hear it. As quiet as a wisp of wind sinuously blowing, I hear Lena Klein whisper.

"And he huffed and he puffed and he blew the little house down," she murmurs, her voice croaky and quiet.

She's referencing The Three Little Pigs. At first I don't think much of it, knowing she's pretty much fully out of it at the moment, but then I remember something in her file that I read.

It didn't stand out to me much when I scanned over the page, but now it could be something that throws the mystery on its head.

Because Lena's house was partially burnt down just before she got imprisoned. "It was a murder attempt," I muse, not realising I'm speaking out loud until I'm halfway through my sentence. "My father thought she knew too much so he tried to burn her alive."

"Huh?" Theo says.

"Her house," I say. "We have to visit her house."

"Here's the thing, Arden," he says. "We've just killed three guards and given a crazy person a knife. I think we should focus on getting out of here first."

I take off, darting down the hallways. Theo is always a pace quicker due to his long strides, but I fare pretty well considering my lack of superhuman speed. I haul open the gate and Theo slams it shut behind us. I throw the door open to the car and jam the key in the lock. "It won't be long before they find the bodies," he says. "Step on it."

I slam my foot down on the pedal and speed away, not looking back at the mess we made. "How's the Beast thing going?" I ask once we're a fair way away from Eichen and at a neutral speed.

Theo sighs. "I've found a lead on an alpha called the Demon Wolf. He's blind, apparently, but only when he's in his human form."

Something nags at my mind. "Deucalion? You're looking for Deucalion?"

He furrows his eyebrows. "Wh — How do you know about it? What do you know about it?"

"I'm not stupid, Theo," I say. "I pay attention. And I'll have you know, I'm a very popular figure in the supernatural world."

"Oh, really?"

"Mhm. I have connections, like, everywhere. Isaac, the scarf wearing beta, and I happen to be old friends. And did I mention Malachai? Wait, did you even know that witches existed? Because I didn't."

"I'm not stupid, Arden," he says. "And, yes, I understand that you think you're a queen in the supernatural world, but I need you to tell me about Deucalion."

"Think I'm a queen? I am a queen," I correct him. "Deucalion was the alpha of the Alpha pack. Crazy, huh? I know that they had twins in their pack. They were some real lookers, apparently. Lydia told me all about the wild se —"

"Really, Arden? Hot twins? You're telling me about hot twins?"

"Relax, Theo. I'm getting there. Okay, so said hot twins actually mashed together in werewolf form to create a massive werewolf. Scott defeated the evil blind alpha using a Darach — I don't know what that is — and they became best buds with the hot twins, because why not. The end."

"Do you know how powerful Deucalion was?"

"Deucalion," I say. "Hmm. I know he could be one of the most powerful alphas in the country. After all, he is an alpha of alphas."

Theo bites his lip. "Arden," he says quietly. "Did you know you had a half-brother?"

Taken aback by the sudden spur of change, I take a little while to answer — maybe because it's still sinking in in my own head, as well. "No." I lean back into the seat, tipping my head back and sighing. "There's no birth record of a child bore by Lena Klein or any other offsprings from my father. It doesn't make sense, you know? How are we supposed to find a kid who doesn't even legally exist?"

He sighs. "Arden, we're looking for a ghost."

"No, we're not, Theo," I protest. "A few hours ago, I didn't even know I had a sibling. It'll take some time, but I'll find him."

Theo hesitates. "What are you going to do when you find him, Arden?" he urges. "Do you really think you'd be able to kill him?"

I swallow hard. "For what he did to my mom, I wouldn't hesitate for one second."

* * *

HELLO EVERYONE!! I hope you enjoyed that chapter and that plot twist. I've planned how she'll find Lucien and all that but it's not going to come that easy, so it's not near its resolution (sorry, Arden!) I also hope you're enjoying this whole no humanity thing bc I am, and tell me what you want to see in coming chapters :). Idk what's up with my cast because sometimes it's saving and other times it's not so I'll tell you all here that I've made the decision to keep Bob Morley as Luke Cohen!!

Georgina xx