Serena's POV:

Cold raindrops hit my face and I shivered. My mind was hazy, had Darien left the window open for some fresh air? I shivered again, I wasn't used to feeling cold since Darien was always holding me. Where was Darien? I tried to sit up, but realized that I could barely move.

"Shit! She's starting to wake up! We aren't close enough yet!"

"No wonder she woke, the blankets came off her head. Hold still, I will put more of the powder by her face. The fumes from this stuff are pretty weak and we had to use this since we didn't want her mate to notice."

The blankets were wrapped loosely around my head again. My body didn't want to cooperate with my half-drugged struggle. A crisp smell became stronger and I blacked out again.

My mind tried to sort itself out. The blankets were soggy and cold. The memory of the voices returned, and I inhaled in alarm as my eyes opened. I had been drugged. I struggled to sit up as I looked around in desperation. Where was Darien?

I was sitting against a wall under some sort of small awning that looked like it had been hastily rigged up. I blinked as I tried to make sense of the little I could see in the darkness.

Four dark grey metal walls formed a huge room. I didn't see anything like a door either. The rain was still falling and poured off the edges of the meager shelter. A flash of lightning lit up the room from above. I leaned over a bit and glanced up as I realized that it wasn't a room. It was actually a deep pit or sunken room of some sort.

It was as long as a soccer field was wide and half that in width. The only thing in this pit was the awning, my blankets, and myself. I shivered against the cold. The blankets were damp and cold. I knew from reading so many books about survival in the wilderness that this was not good. I had no way to warm up and I was getting chilled.

The bond stirred as my mind cleared and my fear built. I looked around again, but there was no way for me to get out of this pit and to leave the awning would mean that I would immediately get drenched by the cold rain. The bond told me that Darien was quite some distance away. If I shouted, even he would not hear me. How I wished that he was able to sense my direction!

There was no way for me to get out of here, but there was one thing I could do. I started humming a general help song. I wasn't fussy and didn't really care which form the help came in. About two minutes later, I jumped as something hit the ground near me. A bulky bundle was just out of my reach.

I heard an irritated voice from above, "Why did you do that?"

"If she dies of exposure, then all of this is for naught. I sure don't want to be the one to explain to Councillor Mitchell that we were responsible for this plan failing."

I didn't hear anything else, but whatever the bundle was, it was something that would help me. My arm got wet the second it left the shelter of the awning, but thankfully it was close enough that I didn't have to completely leave the small awning. I would have been soaked in an instant if that happened.

The bundle was a thick blanket wrapped in some sort of waterproof case. I pushed the soaked blanket to the side and spread the case on the ground before wrapping myself in the dry blanket. My clothes were still damp, but that couldn't be helped, and the dry blanket was making a difference.

At least one of the Council members was behind this. I wasn't sure what plan was in place, but I was quite certain that they were trying to force Darien to do something. There was a good chance it had to do with the war.

If past events were anything to go by, then they were going to regret this. Anyone who took me from Darien paid a high price. The lab had been levelled and those in charge were dead. Clair was currently on the run for her life, and I knew if Darien ever found her that there would be hell to pay.

I could feel the bond twisting, but it wasn't entirely in response to my emotions this time. My worry and fear had the bond reacting slightly and Darien was obviously able to feel the bond as it tried to get him to go to me. He had no idea where I was though. If I could feel the bond twisting from his emotions, then he was likely ready to kill anything in his path as he hunted for me.

A deep grating noise above made me look up. The awning was high enough that it allowed me to see most of the top edge of the pit. Some sort of roof was slowly starting to cover the pit. Slowly, the two halves kept sliding closer together. They stopped while only quarter way open.

The bond shifted and I could feel Darien getting closer. He was still a long distance away, but he was coming quickly. I felt relief even though he was not here yet. Someone must have told him where I was since he was heading almost straight for me. I waited for probably fifteen minutes as I felt his approach.

He should be close enough now. "Darien!"

Like an answered prayer, his very distant voice responded, "Serena!" It was so faint that I barely heard it, but it had likely been a loud shout. If I could hear him, then he could hear me. He was heading directly towards me now at a high speed.

"Darien! It's a trap!"

He didn't slow down, and it wasn't long before a familiar set of mostly black glowing eyes appeared on the edge of the pit. Darien spotted me at the far end of the pit and jumped off the edge. I inhaled in alarm, but the steep drop didn't seem to faze him and he didn't slow in his approach.

He reached me and immediately scooped me up as he held me to his chest, blanket and all. Even through the blanket, I could feel his muscles shaking. He was breathing heavily from his hard run. I raised a hand and rested it against his cheek. Darien opened his eyes and I blinked when I saw that they were still mostly black.

A grating noise above had us both glancing up. The two halves of the roof closed the gap and sealed us inside the pitch black pit with an echoing thud. Darien's deep growl told me that he was not impressed.

"What is going on?" I leaned my head against his shoulder, nervous and unsure of what was happening. All I could see in the darkness was the faint glow of his eyes.

He exhaled slowly and his deep voice was deadly calm, "I am going to kill someone. Several someones." His eyes turned to me and became concerned, "Are you alright?"

"I am a bit cold, but otherwise I am fine."

Darien somehow unwrapped me from the blanket without putting me down. He held me close to his warm chest before wrapping the blanket around both of us. His skin was always so warm, and I soon relaxed with the heat. The occasional shiver slowly worked its way out of my muscles as I warmed back up and my goosebumps faded.

He stood there for quite some time with his forehead resting on my damp hair. I turned my head to look at him and he lifted his head to gaze down at me. I couldn't see his expression in the darkness, just his eyes. They were halfway blue now.

As concerned as he was, I knew he would be trying to read me constantly. I pushed the image of his oddly colored glowing eyes to the front of my mind. The glowing eyes disappeared momentarily as he slowly blinked. "They are going to regret taking you from me."

I blinked in confusion, "I heard something about a Councillor Mitchell, which one was he? Do you know what they are planning?"

His eyes turned towards the ceiling as they narrowed in anger, "He was the red-faced one. I am not sure what they are planning, but the fact that they are trying to trap us in the storage hold of a ship means that they are likely going to try to take us behind enemy lines via the ocean."

We were on a ship? I couldn't feel it rocking, but Darien knew what was above. I looked up, but of course, couldn't see the ceiling doors in the complete darkness. They had been quite high up and the walls were completely smooth. "Can you get us out?" I really didn't want to end up in the middle of a warzone.

For the first time since we met, Darien's voice was uncertain, "I am not sure. Those hatch covers are heavy and I am not sure I can reach them. I doubt I can damage these walls, and even if I could, it is below the water level."

He was silent for some time, "Are you warm enough?"

I nodded, "Yes."

"Then I am going to put you down. I am going to see if I can reach the hatches."

He carefully put me on my feet and I leaned against the wall as I watched his blue eyes move to the far side of the pitch black room we were trapped in. His eyes suddenly launched up, before coming back down, and landing with a light thud. It was an impressive jump that would have shocked any Tarulk or human, but it hadn't been enough to reach the hatches.

He tried again and it looked like he tried to ricochet off the wall this time to gain more height, but the smooth walls gave his feet no purchase and that too failed. I watched his attempts as I tried to think of what I might be able to do to assist.

I spoke quietly, "Are you actually able to see in here?" It looked as if he could see the walls from how he kept trying to get up them.

His eyes glanced back at me as he paused, "Very little."

I hesitated, "If there was a fist-sized indent in the wall, would you be able to see it? Would it help?"

He walked back to me as he peered at my face, possibly trying to read me, "Can you elaborate? If I knew roughly were such an indent was, then I could probably find it. Even my fists will not dent this type of metal and the walls in a cargo hold like this are quite thick."

I spoke quietly, "My magic may be able to rust such a hole or two in the metal walls."

His eyes watched me intently, "It is worth a shot. Do you need me do anything?"

I shook my head, "It will take me some time, is there a certain place you want the hole?"

He glanced back, "About two-thirds of the way up, preferably near where the hatches are joined."

I took a deep breath to help me concentrate as I started humming. I didn't bother to keep it quiet. My magic tested the bizarre metal as I concentrated on one spot. I wanted something like a foothold for Darien. This metal was designed for life on and around salt water, it didn't want to rust.

My hum increased in intensity, with pauses whenever I took a breath. The magic was rising, but it wasn't really getting anywhere. I kept testing out the pitch, scale, and even tone. I had never encountered a metal like this before and hoped that if I ever did, that it wasn't trying to hold me hostage.

The metal seemed foreign, and it reminded me more of rock or stone than of metal. But it was capable of rusting or corroding – it was just really resistant to such disintegrations. It was going to take a lot of work to cause any damage though...

The higher pitches seemed to fit best. I modulated my hum into a whistle, which earned me a startled glance from Darien. Now that I thought about it, he had never heard me whistle or sing before. The whistle was able to hit higher pitches and carried more power. I just hoped it would be enough.