Please be warned that the beginning of this chapter briefly mentions torture.

Neris had no idea how long she’d been in that room. She’d woken up bound to a chair by metal cuffs that had hieroglyphics etched into the surface. After the interrupted phone call with her mother, she was able to figure out that the sender of the statue and her kidnapper were one and the same.

She’d woken up uninjured – something she didn’t experience the last time she’d been kidnapped and woken up tied to a chair. But as soon as she woke up, the torture began.

He didn’t act as if he wanted to kill her…yet. Not once was henbane used against her in any form. Instead she was burned, shocked, injected with something that ran white-hot through her veins before numbing every sensation. The pain from the injections didn’t last long, the unknown substance quickly burned away by her supernaturally enhanced healing.

“Just transform,” the deep voice of her kidnapper persuaded. “This will all end if you just do this one simple thing.”

“Personally,” Neris croaked, sore from holding in the yells of pain, “and this is just a theory, I think I’ll last longer if I don’t.”

“You’re incredibly stubborn, aren’t you?” He quirked an eyebrow, more confused now than he was when she refused to scream.

“I hear that a lot,” she chuckled roughly. “I have to say, your skills are a bit lacking. The last time I was tortured was a lot worse.”

He gave a small laugh. “We’ll see. Let me grab a few more of my tools and I’ll do what I can to convince you to transform. You’ll see how good my skills are then.”

Now was her chance. He was out of the room and she could work on her escape.

The last time she was in a situation like this, she had used a ring given to her by her great aunt – a silver ring with a blue quartz stone. The stone connected the sirens to their ancestors in the spirit realm, and in dire situations they could slip through the spirit realm to safety.

She had tried it this time, but to no avail. The hieroglyphics on the metal cuffs must have been a kind of holding spell. So, if she couldn’t disappear she’d have to use brute force.

Neris closed her eyes and breathed deeply, channeling all her energy through the Strophalos. A light sizzling sound could be heard, and she looked down to see the cuffs glowing with white heat. Gritting her teeth, she broke through the melted metal, the hieroglyphics destroyed and the holding spell no longer active.

She bolted out of the chair and made to exit the room when something caught her eye. An open book – almost like a leger – place on top one of the dusty tables. Upon taking a closer look, she discovered the reason for her abduction.

Fomoire eyes - $8,000

Fomoire hands - $8,000

Fomoire heart - $5,000

Siren tail - $15,000

Siren wings - $25,000

Siren talons - $10,000

Werewolf head - $10,000

Werewolf tail - $5,000

Werewolf claws - $5,000

Yakshini hands - $15,000

Yakshini hair - $25,000

She looked over at the door when she heard approaching footsteps and saw her kidnapper pulling a strange looking contraption behind him. His face paled when he saw that she was free of her restraints.

“How…how did you – ”

Neris cut him off with a swift kick to his gut, sending him crashing backwards into his machine.

“You know, I once had a bounty for $20 million put on me.” She held up the leger with a distasteful expression, “This is just insulting.”

With a snarl, the man grabbed a serrated knife that was resting on the nearby table, “ it; I’ll just kill you and sell your body to the highest bidder.”

“You’re welcome to try.”

He was strong, Neris would give him that, and he managed to slice her here and there. However, he was still human.

She didn’t want to kill him – that was a lie; she did want to kill him but had to remind herself that doing so would push her down a slippery slope she wouldn’t quickly recover from. She decided to just incapacitate him long enough to call the hunters. They had better heads to deal with people like her opponent.

She was only half surprised when they burst into the building about ten minutes into the fight, guns blazing. She figured they’d be looking for her once they discovered she was missing, especially after Doojoon’s constant insistence that she stay safe. However, Neris was caught off guard to see Taemi standing among them. Her distraction gave the kidnapper enough change to lunge and bury the knife in Neris’ side.

“Goddammit,” Neris shouted, elbowing her attacker across the jaw before her fingers through his hair, bringing his nose down sharply on her knee.

He gave a sharp cry and fell backwards, Junhyung and Kikwang running over to tie him up before he could attack again. Wincing, Neris pulled out the knife and flung it aside, stumbling a bit as she walked towards Taemi and the rest of the hunters.

“Told you I could take care of myself,” she grinned, her hand pressed against the wound to stem the bleeding as it healed.

“That was brutal,” Taemi remarked, her jaw hanging slack in shock.

“Trust me, I’ve been worse,” Neris admitted. “You’re…not going to be scared of me now, are you?”

Taemi shook her head, “No…though you’ll look a lot less intimidating without all that blood on you.”

“Oh, don’t worry; not all of it’s mine.” She waved it off, turning to Doojoon. “How did you find me?”

“It was all thanks to your friend,” he informed her, casting and impressed glance at Taemi that Neris echoed. “She knew the statue in your bookshelf was inscribed with hieroglyphs of Apep, a snake diety.”

“And all the bodies were found in places that had some connection to snakes.” Taemi added. “This place used to be a herpetology research facility.”

“Makes sense, in a ed up kind of way.”

“Did you find out why he was doing all this?” Hyunseung wondered.

Neris gestured to the blood-spattered leger that had skidded across the floor. “Some kind of black market supernatural poaching ring; he takes the most important bits and sells them for a hefty price. The wanted to charge $25,000 for my wings alone.”

“That’s awful,” Taemi sympathized.

“I know; they’re worth so much more.”

Howls echoed in the distance, growing closer with each passing second. Through the open door of the abandoned building, six wolves dashed through.  The wolf with dark grey fur, black fur mixed in on his back and white fur covering his bottom jaw was at the lead – Neris could only assume it was Yongguk.

Himchan practically leapt at Neris upon seeing her, and she wrapped her arms around his frame, his white fur dirtied from running through the woods.

“I’m okay,” she assured him. “And it might be a good idea for you all to stay like this – no need to terrify Taemi with your ness.”

The wolves looked over in her direction, and Taemi gave a shy wave. “Neris didn’t tell me anything, just so you know; I figured it out myself. Once she told me the myths were real, it was really easy to see you guys aren’t subtle at all.”

Wheezy noises that must have been laughs came from the wolves. Neris locked eyes with Himchan, he gave a small whimper from the back of his throat and looked down at her abdomen. She pulled her hand away from the knife wound just enough to see its state.

“It’s fine,” she pulled her hand away completely, stray droplets of blood falling to the floor. “It’s healed.”

He nudged his head under her chin, a large puff of breath pushed out in what Neris could only assume was relief. From across the abandoned building, her kidnapper gave a watery laugh, blood dripping out of his mouth.

“You think you’re so amazing, don’t you,” he coughed as he laughed. “You think you’ve won, right? Wrong.”

“You’re in no position to be making threats,” Junhyung reminded him, bending down to make the bindings tighter.

“It’s not a threat; it’s a warning.”

A fist connected with his jaw and Neris’ kidnapped went limp, knocked completely unconscious.

“I have zero tolerance for bull.” Kikwang stated simply, wiping flecks of blood off his hands and onto his jeans.

“I’m proud of you, Neris,” Doojoon said as he walked over to her, gently rolling Himchan away so he could help her up. “You had every chance – and, arguably, every right – to kill him, and you didn’t. And I think your friend Scott would be proud as well.”

Neris frowned, “Ew, did this whole thing make you sentimental? Because I’m not sure if I can handle it.”

Doojoon rolled his eyes and knocked her gently upside the head. “Way to ruin the moment.”

“What are you going to do with him?” Taemi asked, gesturing towards the limp form on the floor.

“Justice,” Yeosob answered. “And that’s all you need to know.”

Argumentative growls came from the wolf pack as they lowered themselves in their haunches in disagreement.

“I’m sure we can come to some mutually beneficial arrangement,” Yeosob amended, with just a hint of sarcasm in his voice.

“I’ll leave you guys to that; I need a shower,” Neris decided, turning to Taemi. “Can I hitch a ride with you?”

“Yeah, not a problem,” Taemi nodded. “Though…we’ll have to put something over the seat. I have no idea how I’d explain blood stains to my parents.”

|||

Himchan – in human form and fully dressed – was waiting for Neris as Taemi dropped her off. As soon as she closed the car door behind her he wrapped her tightly in his arms; Taemi took that as her cue to leave.

“I should have never left,” Himchan mumbled into her hair.

“You had no idea this was going to happen,” Neris rubbed his back soothingly. “You can’t blame yourself.”

He gave a soft chuckle, the warm air tickling her neck. “How is it that you’re the one comforting me?”

She gave a light shrug. “Maybe because this wasn’t the first time this has happened to me,” she told him ruefully.

Himchan pulled away, his eyes boring deep into hers as he cupped her face gently in his hands.

“It’s going to be the last. Anyone who tries to harm you like that, anyone who tries to take you from me, won’t even have the strength to regret it once I’m done with them.”

“That’s the mate-protecting side of you talking, isn’t it?” She gave a small grin.

“Maybe a little,” he admitted, pressing a chaste kiss to her forehead. “Come on, let’s get you cleaned up.”

They began walking to her front door when Neris stopped him, a thought striking her.

“I never got to ask; did you ever find the runaway girl?”

Himchan stiffened at the mention, “We did. She was…she…”

“Her head and tail had been cut off and her claws were ripped out, weren’t they?” She asked softly, and he turned to her with wide eyes.

“How did you know?”

“It was in his ledger, crossed out with the other creatures that had turned up dead. I had a suspicion but I wasn’t sure.”

A low growl emitted from the back of Himchan’s throat. “I’ll gut him like the beast he is.”

“Slow down there, tiger,” Neris soothed him, wrapping herself around one of his arms. “Text Yongguk and let them get started without you. You’re not leaving my side tonight.”

He breathed out heavily through his nose, forcing the anger from him to focus on the girl whose arms were circled around his. A soft smile crossed his lips as the tension slipped from his shoulders. “Sorry, almost let the wolf take over. You’re right; after what’s happened I’m not gonna go anywhere.”

“And, who knows, once we get cleaned up maybe I’ll ask your wolf side come out and play.” Neris smirked.

Another sound came from Himchan, though this one sounded more like a purr. He leaned towards Neris, his eyes dipping down to her lips, before freezing and whipping his head in the direction of her house.

“There’s someone inside your house.”

Smiles gone, replaced with annoyance as Neris followed his eye line. She had assumed the lights in the house were simply still on from when she was taken.

“This is bull,” she grumbled as the pair stalked up to her front door. “I just want a shower and to sleep; I’m so not in the mood for any more bull.”

She wrenched her front door open and stormed into her house, but was startled to see the angry glare of the golden-haired woman they found inside.

“Uh,” Neris stammered. “Hi, mom.”