[Carmen]I didn’t know where they took us. They loaded us into a van and drove somewhere, then made me walk while they carried Austin. We ended up somewhere I was pretty sure was underground or in a cave. It had to be the cave from my visions with Dolly.The echoes of our steps bounced off the cavern walls. I knew more about this place because of the time I spent watching Dolly’s life. They didn’t know that. All they knew was that I was blind. I knew that because I heard them talking about it.There were four men in total. Three had come after me and Austin, the other one was driving the van. One of the men who captured us was a witch. There was a werebear and a dark elf. The driver was another witch.Once I agreed to come without a fight and didn’t try anything, they relaxed. As much as I wanted to escape somehow, I couldn’t leave Austin behind. They would hurt him. Instead, I was going to have to believe in my Alpha to save me. I prayed to the goddess that the Alpha who would save me was Trent. I didn’t want Rock to risk his life.I’d been so happy when he told me he was a contractor when we met. My first mate was a warrior. He died almost a year ago when the supernaturals grouped up to fight the hunters. I didn’t want to lose Rock like that.As we walked, we passed through some sort of barrier. It felt like something crawling on my skin as we passed through it. I shuddered but didn’t stop moving.“You don’t ask a lot of questions. Most people would want to know why they were taken,” one of the men said.“I figured someone would tell me. It takes a lot of focus to walk with someone who’s not accustomed to guiding me. I can’t take up my attention by trying to make small talk. You’ve got me here now let Austin go. I won’t fight whatever you’re doing. He’s just an omega. Let him go,” I replied.“You can ask our leader. It’s his choice. He’ll know if we can trust you,” another answered.“One of you is a werebear! All shapeshifters can smell lies. You can smell I’m not lying!”“There are some people who can lie without smelling like it. Our leader will decide what to do.”I needed to do whatever I could to get rid of Austin. He couldn’t be here. If Trent didn’t get to me in time for whatever they had planned, I didn’t want Austin to think he didn’t do enough to stop it or get hurt trying to protect me.Voices talked in low tones around us. I knew people were looking. It sounded like a lot more than I thought there were.For some reason, I always believed that this cult was like forty or fifty people. Dolly only saw very few people because she wasn’t allowed to go into the main area most of the time. I never thought to count how many different people I saw through her eyes.From the sound of it, there were well over a hundred people. Did the leaders know there were this many? I hoped they did. I prayed that they would have enough warriors that there weren’t many casualties.Throughout the entire ride and walk, I’d tried to link different people. I tried Mike, Trent, Rock, and Gemma. There was never any answer. Either we were nowhere near the pack or where Rock was working, or they found some way to block telepathic communication.“Looks like they fought back a little,” a man chuckled as we came to a stop.“Yeah, we’ll be fine. I have some healing salve that will clear most of this right up. The girl’s compliant as long as you keep the man,” the one holding my arm said.I said nothing. Keeping myself quiet was the only way to keep Austin safe. I didn’t want to give them any reason to hurt him. I wished I had convinced them to leave him behind at the grocery store. They knew they needed him to keep me from fighting back. I wondered what else they knew. How much had they learned about who I was, other than the fact that I was blind? There was some rustling as they handed Austin’s unconscious body off. A different hand gripped my free forearm, pulling me from the man who had been guiding me along earlier. I didn’t struggle. I just kept a stoic expression on my face as best I could and allowed him to pull me deeper into the cave. The air grew colder and damper as we descended further down. I felt the ground under me become bumpy, and the sound of water rushing somewhere close by became audible to me. The grip on my arm tightened, and I felt a sense of unease.We moved past an area that smelled like vampires. I knew the next level down was Oberon’s throne room and worship area. After that was the place they kept the people they punished. The final cavern was taken up by the monster the elf had brought to the cave years ago. It had started out child-sized, but I’d watched it grow through Dolly’s eyes. It was larger than Oberon. Large enough to touch the ceiling of the cavern. I couldn’t help but shudder at the thought of that thing and what the cult might want with me. But I pushed the fear away and focused on my surroundings. The ground leveled out, and I could hear voices echoing through the cavern. My guide pushed me forward, and I stumbled, nearly falling, but he caught me.“Watch your step,” he warned. “We’re almost there.”Watch your step? Was that a joke? It pulled me out of the fear I was feeling. Being annoyed could do that. And I was more irritated than I should be. We went further down into the earth. My guide pulled me in one direction while the man who carried Austin stopped. I tried to stop, too, but I was pulled roughly in the other direction. “Don’t fight it,” the wolf growled quietly. “What?” “Just relax. Everything will be okay,” he whispered. I put my hand over his and got a flash of Alpha Trent and my brother giving him a rundown of what information they needed him to dig up on the cult. He was their spy! Thank the goddess. I might not be saved, but there was another ally and he could fight. With a nod, I let him pull me until he suddenly stopped and let me go. I stumbled forward slightly. I felt an icy breeze, and the hair on the back of my neck stood up in anticipation.“Welcome, my dear.”The voice was rich and aristocratic. In those three words, he conveyed everything I needed to know about him. He was powerful and he knew it. I was nothing compared to him and he didn’t want to need me. And he was certain of his future success. “Please let Austin go. I won’t resist. You only wanted me, right?” I replied. A soft chuckle echoed through the cavern. “Oh, my dear, I am afraid it is not that simple,” the man said. I could hear his footsteps as he approached me. “You see, you are not just any ordinary blind woman. You are someone very special, someone whom my cult has been searching for a very long time.”“What do you mean?” I asked, trying to keep the fear out of my voice.A hand on my back pushed me forward, and I took hesitant steps toward the voice. My heart was pounding in my chest, but I tried to remain calm and composed. I couldn’t show any weakness.We met somewhere in the middle, and he grasped me around the waist. He brushed the hair out of my face and seemed to be examining me. I stiffened as he pulled me more tightly against his body. “Yes, I see it. Perfect. You do not know how difficult it is to find someone like you, Carmen. I thought your father would be a fit once he lost his sight, but whatever took that took the fae magic in his genes as well. Your brother wasn’t an option, because he could see and none of his children were blind, either. “But you.... made to be a seer. The power of the fae in the body of a werewolf. That never happens. You are the perfect combination and you will give Drakaris the power he needs to reach demigod status,” he purred. “I won’t let you use me,” I spat out, trying to sound brave even though I felt like I was about to collapse. “You’re insane.”The man chuckled, his breath hot on my neck. “You may not understand it now, my dear, but you will soon enough. And I promise you, it will be glorious.”He paused and hovered over the tip of the mark Rock gave me. The man pulled at the collar of my shirt, revealing the whole thing. “Just like she said. Marked by a troll. A perfect link to the fae community. Your goddess’ disgusting obsession with mixing species will be over soon. Once Drakaris is strong enough, we’ll eliminate her and with her power added to his, he can finally reach his own goal.” “There’s something more important than killing our goddess?” “Yes, destroying his god. Then we will take their places and remake the world to fit our design,” he replied. My mind was racing as I listened to his twisted plan. I couldn’t let this happen. I needed to escape and warn the others. But how? I was trapped, blind, and the man holding me was much stronger than I was.“You won’t get away with this,” I told him. “My Alpha will come for me. You don’t know who you’re dealing with.”The man laughed, tightening his grip on me. “Oh, my dear, I know exactly who I’m dealing with. And they won’t be able to stop me. Not when I have the power of a werewolf/fae seer in my grasp.”He released me, and I fell to the ground. I held my breath as I heard him walking away from me.“Take her and the mutt to the punishment room. If she escapes, you will be the one taking her place. Do you understand?” he asked in an icy tone. “I will never fail you again, Oberon,” the man who had brought me in said. “See that you don’t.”I could hear him walking away, but he didn’t leave the room. The barely audible sound of his ‘throne’ taking his weight let me know he was still there, even if he said nothing. The man who brought me into this place grabbed my arm and pulled me to my feet roughly. I let out a pained yelp, which made Oberon chuckle. This man was Trent’s spy. I knew he was doing this to make it look believable. Expecting gentler treatment would be stupid. He had to act as if he were a loyal follower. That was the only way he could do his job well and be in place when Trent got here. He jerked me around and pulled me back in the direction we came from. I could smell Austin’s scent getting stronger. I was relieved to be with him again. No matter what happened, my goal was to get him out of there safely. It was my duty as his friend, his mate’s best friend, and a ranked blood wolf in our pack. They took us to the punishment room. The man who held me pushed me to the ground. There was a thump next to me where the other man threw Austin. I scurried over to my friend and laid him out gently. “You’ll stay here until Oberon is ready for you. Stay away from the edges of the room unless you want to feed the revenants,” the werewolf spy warned. With that, the two guards left. I only knew this was a place where there was a single entry and exit point. Dolly never went in here, but I knew she feared it. I could smell several other people in the room. I could also smell the scent of those creatures that attacked me a couple of weeks ago when I was with Austin, Rock, Sybil, and Dennis. They weren’t attacking, but I could hear dry fluttering and squishing sounds. Sitting on the ground, I held Austin’s hand. He should have woken up by now, even if he was an omega. His soft, steady breathing told me he was still alive. What did they do to him? With tears in my eyes, I prayed to the goddess to save me and Austin before Oberon got what he wanted from me. Even though he said nothing to indicate what it was, I had a chilling feeling that I wouldn’t survive what he had planned. I wanted to go home. I wanted Rock.