Recollection

I wake to the sensation of metal claws digging into my skin. At some point during my transport, I must have passed out. I've lost track of time, how long has it been?

Where the fuck am I?

Bright lights greet me, there are chains wrapped around my throat, legs, and arms. As I try to move, I realize the metal claws dig into my shoulders almost piercing bone. I guess their taking precautions after all. My vision blurs, whatever drug they gave me is still in my system.

Where is Rania? What happened?

My head feels like it's been struck by lightning, there's a tingling that spreads from my head to toes. I can make out muffled voices here and there nothing concrete. "Is he," "Just watch," "what..." The smell of iron is strong it mingles with that of decay. I'm in some type of cage the white walls are cover in dry blood. There's a buzzing then a click as a door opens and two sets of footsteps approach.

"It seems you're awake," a female says, her tar-like eyes hold no humanity.

"How should we proceed?" the male next to her asks. His eyes wander up and down taking me in, he pushes in glasses up before looking at the female, "he's amazing most would be dead by now."

The female smiles before responding, "He's not like most."

"Mam?" a voice calls from the handheld radio strapped to her waist.

She takes the radio, eyes not once leaving my own, "What is it?"

"There's a commotion in cell D, the subject is attempting to take her how life."

The bitch smiles at me before answering, "Sedate her."

The radio goes silent just as a massive jaguar comes bounding towards us. I close my eyes and inhale twisting the chains around my wrist for support as I rise us. There's a flash and then there is darkness. Rania's blade cuts through the chains as the jaguar sinks her massive maw into the male that came with the bitch.

"Took you long enough," I say, as Rania unclasp the hooks completely freeing me.

"Bitch kept moving you around," Rania says, just as the earth begins to shake.

"What did you do?" the bitch asks just as the earth gives out below her feet.

"Did you think you could capture so many of our kind and no one would notice?" Rania asks, a figure made of shadows holding the female up.

"Told you she's good," a male says.

"I wasn't doubting her," another adds as we make our way out of the cell.

"Bring her along," Rania orders the Shadow, "you should close your eyes."

"Why?"

"You don't want to see this," she says as silvery chains wrap around us then we are swallowed into the darkness.

###

Ren is still sleeping when Max and Morgan arrive. The twins carry blankets and first aid kits they set atop the only empty cot.

"How is he?" Morgan asks.

"Better, they poisoned him so his wounds wouldn't heal. Sol helped me with the extraction."

"You should sleep."

"Not yet," I say, Ren looks so peaceful while he sleeps. It shouldn't have taken me this long to find him but that bitch kept moving him around.

I guess Lidia mostly works for herself, I do wonder what Nicholas will say when he finds out she lied to him. Lidia had Ren all along, had I not found Fuchsia in that shitty dive bar I doubt I would have found him. Lidia runs or I should say ran a secret facility where she experimented on immortals. She received private funding from anonymous sources that aren't so private anymore or even standing.

Many immortals are pissed off, that they were captured, to begin with, but demons are tricky creatures. Morgan had Lidia placed in a special cage where her magic won't work and not a soul will hear her.

Sol comes by to check on Ren as she does her rounds. The nymph is proficient in healing, but unfortunately, there are far more wounded than anticipated, and she can only do so much.

"Where are we?" Ren asks, snapping me out of my thoughts.

"A safe house of sorts," I say, brushing glossy black hair away, "you should thank your cousin, I wouldn't have been able to find you without her."

"Fuchsia?"

"Yup, did you know she's taken to dive bars?"

Ren scuffs as he props himself up, "figures, where is she?"

"Running recognizance," I say, "I know you just came to but do you know a mortal named Nicholas Constance?"

"Why?"

I smack his shoulder, "Don't answer my question with a question, you know I hate that."

He smirks, "unless you're the one doing it."

"Ren."

"He wanted to buy the MorningStar from me along with a few properties, I refused and he said I'd regret it."

"He killed our baby and changed my name to Kara in an attempt to pass me off as his wife. I doubt it's just about property."

"His mother wove her way into our lives and my father's bed, obviously his not my kin."

"Go on."

"Mother made sure the bastard didn't inherit our fortune or name, especially since all father had come from her."

"So are the properties part of your inheritance?"

"Some yes, others I acquired along the way."

"Wait he killed our baby?"

"When I woke, I was in a hospital where I was told our baby was no more. Nicholas claimed you stole me from him and abused me, he said I escaped and was hit by a car causing a miscarriage."

"What?"

"That's not the crazy part," I say thinking back to every dream I've had each time I manage to sleep, "I don't think our baby is dead. There's a dream I keep having, you're in it and so are my parents. Only my parents are the gods of the Underworld. I know it sounds crazy…

"It doesn't," Ren interrupts, "when I was out of it, I kept having flashes of memory, you were in labor we were in another world. You had a brother, and Nora was there only she was different."

"Perhaps it's not a dream," Sol says, as she seats the tray, she carries down, "perhaps you somehow traveled through worlds."

"That art's been lost for ages," I say.

"Crazier things have happened."

"Like what?"

"Like Nicholas being outside of our compound with an armada," Max says, "look," he shows us his tablet the security feed shows Nicholas and an armada of soldiers.

"Where the fuck did, he get an armada?" Morgan asks.

"I'll kill him myself," Ren says.

"You're still healing," I say, "how did he find us?"

"Sol removed a chip from one of the captives we freed, I guess Nicholas was aware of Lidia's dealings after all," Max says.

"Dammit, bring me the bitch," I say, picking up the dagger Liuli left me.

"That's new," Ren says, taking in the dagger and the jasper I wear around my neck, "I don't think that belongs there."

"What?"

He stands, "the jasper," he says, pulling the necklace free. Before I can say anything, he's pressing it against my forehead, right where my third eye should be.

There's a tingling followed by stabbing pain, as I'm flooded with memories. The pain turns into a cooling sensation, just as a feeling of awakening hits me, this is not my life.