I felt trapped in my chair as Felix and Maven both hovered at either side. They'd pulled my chair out away from the table, waiting now for Jericho. Why he was here was something I didn't understand.

Felix came around to stand in front of me, hands in his pockets. "Nocen," he addressed the demon who stood a few steps away from us. "Explain to Kate what a mate is. Elaborate."

"Can I get a pretty please?"

Felix shot him a cruel glare, "yes, you'll get one on the day when Noxia no longer owns your balls. And she says that you have to answer to me."

Nocen narrowed his dark eyes, gritting his teeth before his darkness forced him to give in. "A wolf's mate is his partner for life, and their souls are bound together for eternity. It is a unconditional love that can't be broken, the wolf's natural response to finding his or her soulmate."

He added, "wolves cannot live apart from their mates without experiencing excruciating pain and even in some cases suffering insanity. They only love one individual for their entire lifespan and will claim them as their own with a bite."

"What are you trying to tell me exactly?" I asked, thinking over his words inside my head. "Are you saying that Finn..."

"Finn's mate is Cybele." Felix said, cutting me off. "She has always been his true love, and she always will be. You're a smart girl; you must have had suspicions about their relationship before."

"Finn isn't in love with Cybele." I replied, "he's told me many times that he loves me."

"And you were foolish enough to believe him." Maven said with a chuckle. "You think that it was just a coincidence? That out of all the women in the world, you were paired with him, a prestigious Guardian? That you could really compete Cybele?"

Her words stung more than I expected them to, her questions swirling in my head because I'd asked the same ones before myself. Never had I understood how Finn and Cybele hadn't ended up together, but I'd decided to let the past go. Now it was being thrown in my face and I couldn't help but start to see some of their logic.

"It's alright, dear. I know it hurts that they played you, but we can work together to right their wrongs."

I looked up to Felix, clenching my jaw. "I still don't believe you."

The pixie nodded to Jericho, whose hands began to glow red like blood. The crimson fog rose up into the air in front of us, fanning out as it went.

I narrowed my eyes as objects began to move around the fog almost like a movie screen. In the red cloud, my eyes widened as I finally saw the two main leads of the film. It was Cybele and Finn, both dressed in their combat gear as they walked inside a large tent.

"Remember when they left for a week to find him?" Felix whispered, gesturing to Nocen. "This happened on the side too."

My eyes were fixed on the two guardians as they began to slid off their clothing, kicking off shoes, and lying their weapons side by side.

'We have until sunrise before we need to take shifts at the watch post.' Finn's voice echoed, making my chest constrict. I missed him so much.

'I can't believe he got away again.' Cybele shook her head, slowly unbraiding her hair. 'We could have finally killed him, Finn. Then we'd be one step closer to ending this war.'

Finn drummed his fingers against the wooden desk where he laid his daggers. 'We'll end this, especially now that we have Kate. She's the best weapon we have in our arsenal once Secta finishes training her.'

His words surprised me, making me narrow my eyes. Had he really meant that? I was just a tool to him?

'How are the two of you getting along?' Cybele asked, her voice now softer and much deeper than before.

'She's falling for me. We've been spending a lot of time together, and I think I have her convinced. Kate isn't going anywhere.'

Cybele turned around, flashing him a smile that made me clench my hands into fists. 'Do you care for her as much as you care for me?'

Finn turned his head, looking at her over his shoulder with one of those sweet expressions that only I ever received. 'You know that I love you, Cybele. No one can replace you, sweetheart, especially not her.'

I couldn't define what emotions I was feeling, a combination of shock, agony, and rage. My heart hammered in my chest so hard that it was painful. Tearing my eyes away, I looked around the dining room trying to calm myself with deep breathes.

What nearly had me falling out of my seat was the light blue figure standing in the corner of the room watching us all. Made of fog and smoke, Karmen was taking in the room before her eyes settled on me. She gave me a small wave before lifting a finger up to her lips.

Felix grabbed my chin, yanking my head back straight to watch the events unfolding on the red fog.

Cybele and Finn were standing nearly chest to chest, both hardly clothed. Finn cupped Cybele's face in his hands, gently tilting her head up so that their eyes met.

'You're beautiful in every way.' He said to her, running his thumb along her cheekbone. 'I'm so lucky to call you mine.'

Cybele stood up on her tiptoes, her lips capturing Finn's. He let out a familiar growl, making me suck in a breath. They both fell into the bed, one that was large and looked soft especially for a temporary one inside their tent.

The remaining clothes were being peeled off, their tongues and hands everywhere as I felt my own lips begin to quiver. I stole a glance at Nocen, who watched stone faced. Deep down he had to be in there, screaming and going as mad as I was. But he couldn't, the darkness gripping him like a snake.

'Don't believe this show. The acting is fucking terrible!' Karmen's voice echoed inside my head, her apparition now standing beside my chair. No one else appeared to see her, and she rested her cold hand on mine. 'You know this isn't true, Kate. If you can hear me, tell me something by thinking it to me.'

I closed my eyes, viciously trying to avoid seeing anymore of Finn between Cybele's long, toned legs. There was something inside me that sang with reason; Finn loved me and Cybele loved Nocen. But it hurt like hell to watch this scene unfold just the same.

"Open your damn eyes and see the truth!" Felix screamed at me, making me flinch as I finally peeled my eyes open again.

The red fog version of Finn sat up over Cybele just as her fingers made quick work to yank up his shirt. I watched the garment slide up his body before it was thrown on the floor.

I paused, leaning forward in my seat to take a closer look at what was actually happening. From this angle, I got a clear view of Finn's arms and strong chest, both things I'd seen before.

But what wasn't familiar was the fact that his entire body didn't have a single scar, his skin smooth and completely spotless.

"How did you find this out?" I asked Felix.

He replied smugly, "Maven teleported by their tent one evening, and this is her memory of what occurred that night."

"This is her exact memory?"

"Every detail from what she saw, yes."

I stared at the red fog, now finding the entire moment extremely hilarious. All the pixies and demons present turned to me in shock as I burst out into loud, uninhibited laughter.

Real tears began to fall down my cheeks as I wiped them away with my fingers. Ghost Karmen gave me a nod and a smile.

"What the hell is so funny?" Felix snarled. "You're watching your boyfriend fuck another woman! He betrayed you!"

"This isn't real." I shook my head, "I can't believe you took the time to make up a sex tape to try and convince me to join you, Felix. You must have a lot of free time."

"This is very much real! Can't you see that..."

"Cut the shit, Felix!" I said, raising my chin. "I'm not an idiot, and I know what you were trying to accomplish through this. You failed, and now I have no better evidence than this for how much of a liar you really are."

Felix stared at me for a long moment, the wheels turning inside his head before a dark expression washed over his face. He stepped forward, gripping both hands against the arms of my chair as he leaned in so close that his nose nearly brushed mine. "How did you know?"

"Your 'from life' details were off. For one thing, he's bigger than that, you know. You shouldn't have measured with your own." I said, glancing down at his hips before back to his face.

Felix cursed and backhanded me, the side of my face on fire as I gritted my teeth. Karmen appeared on my other side, whispering into my ear. 'Stay strong, Sugar. We're working on a way right now to get you out of there.'

"Bind her hands." Felix nodded to Maven and Nocen. The two demons gripped my wrists, pushing my hands down into the wood of the chair with a strength that was far greater than mine. If they wanted to, they could snap my bones in half. My eyes met Felix's as he stood in front of me. "It seems we'll have to try new tactics to make you see reason."

"I can see just fine." I said, which only made him snarl.

"Shut your damn mouth before I hit you again." He said, running his fingers against his chin. "I'm disappointed that I couldn't play your guardian against you."

"He'd never do something like that to me." I said. "You can't use him to manipulate me, Felix. I know the guardians are good because I know Finn. He's the only good thing I believe in with all my heart."

'Finn says he loves you. He says he's coming, sweetheart.' Karmen said to me from where she stood beside me. 'Where are they keeping you?'

'I love you too, Finn.' I said in my head, earning a nod from Karmen that she understood. 'I'm in a dark city, and it's so cold. It's always night here, and we're in some estate right by all these skyscrapers...'

Felix was handed a long needle, which glistened with a dark green substance that looked less than healthy. His eyes met mine, "well, since we can't keep you as our guest now, Kate, then I have to try another approach."

"With drug addiction?" I said as he stepped forward.

"This will put you to sleep for a little while so that we can move you to the dungeon. My old friend was a believer in the power of this drug, especially since it weakens the meraki to keep it dormant." My eyes widened as Felix smiled. "There's a reason Cybele never uses her gift, Kate. After years of being injected with this, she barely has any of her meraki left."

"You tortured her...?" I said in disbelief.

"I didn't. Her stepmother on the other hand... now that was a powerful woman. Ready to see for yourself what this bad boy can do?"

The needle was stuck into the side of my neck, making me jump at the suddenness of it. Felix injected the entire dose, pulling the needle away just to let me see that it was empty.

My neck was already starting to burn as I swallowed, my fingers digging into my chair as my back arched.

"You can release her." Felix said, "she won't be going anywhere now."

As soon as their hands were off my wrists, I was up out of my seat, the unbearable itch of the drug filling my body as though I were drowning.

I took two steps before my vision swirled and I couldn't see. My legs gave out and I fell to the ground, the ache inside growing more and more painful by the second.

'Deep breaths, honey. You'll be unconscious in a few minutes and it won't hurt anymore.' Karmen was saying kneeled on the ground beside me.

My entire body was reduced to spasms, and I was screaming at the top of my lungs, my hands clawing at my chest to pull whatever was restricting my oxygen away.

The pain capped, and my limbs went still, twitching and shuddering as I drifted into darkness.