I let out a wheezy, pained groan as the same knee that has been kicking me for the past half an hour makes contact with my stomach once more.

I'm almost numb to the pain now with no idea how long I've been stuck down here. The surrounding stone is dark, walls dripping with damp and the floor freezing with cold, shocking me every single time I drop. It's a dungeon. There's no other explanation.

My first experience of Gia's mansion has been no different to what I could have ever expected. It's hardly like she was going to welcome me like an old friend?

After all, I did shoot her in the leg nearly two months ago. I wonder how she's recovering...

I haven't seen her once, with only a few smug Enforcers keeping me company, but it doesn't matter. I know that this is her doing. I know I'm beneath the mansion. I'm certain of it.

The alternatives don't bear thinking about.

The Enforcer in front of me moves backwards, another quickly stepping around him and raising a fist, not even pausing before he slams it into my face. My head jerks back as pain splits through my cheek and beneath my nose, my eyesight blurring from impact. The chains that are holding me up against the wall clang together from the action and I grimace at the noise. My arms are tired, my feet almost giving way beneath me.

Giving me no time to recover, another hand catapults through the air towards my face. Stars dot across my vision and blood rings in my ears. I'm well aware that I, most definitely, have a concussion from the hours of torture. There's blood drips and pools on the disgusting ground, right next to my feet.

I grit my teeth at them, forcing myself to smile through the pain. I probably look insane, blood coating my teeth as I smirk at them, cocking my head to the side and daring them to continue. The Slayers have destroyed every survival instinct that used to exist inside me.

Now... now, I'm out for blood. Just wait until I finally get my hands on a knife. They won't know what's hit them. Especially if Zac finds out...

I suck in a breath at the thought.

No matter what I do or how many times I try, I can't keep my mind away from Zac.

He's upstairs. Probably.

I wonder if he knows I'm down here...

What a stupid question, Emilia.

If he knew, he'd be down here within half a minute, furiously battering his way into the cell, fighting his way through Enforcer after Enforcer and leaving death and destruction behind. I'd be out of here within minutes, his sister discarded — murdered by her brother's hands.

He's none the wiser to my predicament, which means it's completely up to me to get myself out of here. 

I can't risk ruining his cover. After all, why the hell would Gia take me if it wasn't to test his loyalty at some point?

And that loyalty will be completely shattered. I know, because I'm so deeply in love with him that I know I would kill anyone if they so much as thought about harming Zac. And I know he feels the same about me. I need to get away from here before that happens.

I'm torn back to reality as another Enforcer, one with greasy red hair and acne littering her forehead, steps forward. The light glints off of the short blade in her hand, an arrogant smirk on her face as the others laugh. Fucking idiots.

This is exactly why I never wanted Zac to come here. Gia knows what she's doing, she's an absolute pro in manipulating the situation to suit her... and we all underestimated her.

I always thought Gia would use her Enforcers against us, that she would fight unfairly with all the weapons and ammunition she holds in her arsenal. She has access to the North and the South — at least — and so, it was obvious she could outnumber us. I thought her guns and knives would be used to fight against us, to torment Zac, to question his abilities. 

I was wrong.

Instead, it was me.

*~*~*

Grabbing onto the weeds in front of me, I coil my hands around them and harshly wrench them out. The garden that surrounds the manor is overgrown and out of control, but I don't see Gia assigning any of her Enforcers to the job.

And I need to keep my mind off everything. Try to stop imagining my feisty blonde's anger, every ounce of it directed at me, once we finally reunite. Hopefully it's been enough time that she'll reconsider killing me.

But then again, she's never exactly been someone who lets things go.

So I'm not optimistic.

Maybe I'll remind her of the time she ran off with the girls in London. Or when she got tattoos that explicitly screamed at the State that she was their enemy. How about the time she decided to avenge Rayden as soon as he died, publicly throwing herself into a dangerous street rebellion?

God, she infuriates me.

Focus, Zac! Keep Emilia out of your mind...

I don't even know if the plants I'm pulling are weeds anymore. I'm yanking and ripping at everything, not a clue what I'm doing. It's not like we had a garden to tend to when we lived in our high rise London flat.

Hell, the garden could probably benefit from all of this being removed. That's what I'm telling myself anyway.

"Isn't that just a fern?" Poppy's voice makes me jump.

I peer over my shoulder to see her smiling with her arms crossed. I shrug, turning back and letting go of the large plant, instead grabbing hold of the prickly, thorny thing beside it.

"What are you doing?" Poppy asks, stepping closer.

"Weeding," I answer. "Distracting myself."

"I don't blame you," Poppy murmurs before she's beside me, reaching for another plant. "Mind if I join you?"

I look at her and nod. "Of course not."

We descend into silence, the two of us tearing away plant after plant, both lost in our own worlds, but clearly grateful to have our hands distracted by something.

Wiping my muddy hands against my trousers, I clench my fingers into a fist a couple of times, trying to get the blood to flow quicker. It's cold out here.

"Do you... believe her?" Poppy asks suddenly and I shoot her a glance before shrugging. Do I? I have no idea...

"Maybe," I answer. Poppy cocks an eyebrow. "She might truly believe, and mean, everything that she's saying. After all, she loves the power and her plan will only extend that further."

"True," Poppy mutters.

"But then again... I've been betrayed by her too many times to trust anything she says," I add.

Poppy nods. "That's understandable."

"Sorry that I don't have a definitive answer for you," I tell her.

She twirls one of the weeds in her hand. "Either way, we need to keep up appearances with her," Poppy reminds me.

I nod. "Believe me. I know," I tell her.

Poppy smiles weakly. "We can do this, Zac."

"How long are we going to need to stay here?" I mutter. "I never even thought this through when we came here. No escape plan."

"Whenever you want to leave, I'm right behind you," she promises.

I smile, reaching over and placing my hand on her shoulder. She's done well, grown up into a strong, independent young woman who's got a smart head on her shoulders. At times like these, I'm grateful for it.

A sudden outcry of screaming erupt from behind us. I shoot upright, both alert and on edge as we turn on our heel, eyes peeled for danger.

It's coming from around the other side of the building. More shouts, yells and hollers follow and my heart pounds, eyes narrowing. Poppy edges forward, towards the edge of the building, her brow furrowed.

Brushing my hands against my trousers once more, I curse myself for not bringing a weapon outside with me. There's nothing around us that we could use either. 

"Shit," I mutter before stepping forward and grabbing onto Poppy's arm, yanking her behind me. She's unarmed too.

Poppy scowls, trying to fight against me but I shoot her a deathly glare before peering around the edge of the building to assess the destruction that awaits us.

A collection of Enforcers stand at the gate, every single one of them armed and ready as they panic, their wild, crazy eyes darting back and forth. The front gate is still closed but Gia's guards look just about ready to haul it open. It's not hard to deduce that whatever is outside poses a threat.

"Keeping up appearances, right?" I murmur to Poppy. She nods.

Taking a deep breath, I push myself away from the brick wall and stride towards the huge metal gate. Poppy is on my heels and when an Enforcer exits the manor through a tiny wooden door beside us, two guns in his arms, I reach out, grabbing his arm.

"Give those to us," I order.

He shakes his head. "I have to—"

"I'm warning you. Give us the fucking guns," I snap, wrapping my spare hand around his neck as Poppy yanks his weapons out of his grasp. "Now, go get yourself some new ones." I smirk, shoving him away from me.

Poppy hands me a gun before cocking her own and holding it with two hands. Gritting my teeth, I turn back to the gate just as the Enforcers start opening it.

Narrowing my eyes, I hesitantly step closer.

As soon as the gate is wide enough to let someone in, the problem becomes clear. Three Enforcers are crying on the other side, reaching out for their comrades through the bars of the gate. They're looking for safety, trying to flee from whatever monster exists on the other side.

Two of them manage to make their way inside the gate before a spear ploughs through the chest of the final one. He gurgles, blood spilling from his mouth before he falls to the floor.

"Slayers," I breathe out.

They throw themselves towards the gate, war paint painting their faces in the form of mud, their eyes wide and crazed, spears and daggers in hand. They aren't here for prisoners — they've stalked these Enforcers back to their home and now their only mission is to kill every single one of us inside. And they don't need a reason to do it.

The guards on our side don't have time to close the gate before a few of the Slayers pile inside, attacking any person who's within reach.

I grit my teeth, frustration and conflict flooding through me. I know we don't have a choice but to help, to fight back. But... I really don't want to engage in anything that might help the very people who tortured me. My jaw tenses.

Poppy's hand is suddenly on my shoulder. "Appearances, yeah?" she whispers.

I force myself to nod.

I don't have time to react before Poppy races in front of me, practically sliding across the floor before she swoops up into a Slayer's face, the butt of her gun smacking into his chin. Ruthlessly, she yanks his spear from his hand, turning it in her hand and slamming it into his stomach. Lifting her gun, she shoots the woman beside her.

My head nods at the sight. My mind is made up. I'm hardly going to let her do this alone.

I step forward to help her, quickly sending a bullet through the head of the man approaching her from behind.

Something slices painfully past my arm and I let out a curse, looking down to see blood pouring out of the wound. Turning on my heel, I find the attacker drawing her weapon back to strike once more and I smirk, dodging it.

Winding my hand around her weapon, I yank her towards me. She gasps as she loses her grip on the spear and her eyes widen as she falls into my chest, completely defenceless. She's blonde, like Emilia...

Her pupils are dilated, terror visible inside her green eyes. She's drawing in breath hard and fast. The girl is scared.

A loud bang suddenly rings out and her body instantly goes slack in my hands. Letting her drop to the floor, I look across at Poppy just before she wrenches another weapon from a Slayer.

"I had it sorted," I tell her.

She smirks. "Seems like you were getting distracted," she retorts.

I lift my gun, shooting at another man who is heading for one of our Enforcers. "I only have eyes for one—"

"Cut it out!" Poppy laughs before she ducks her head, effectively dodging an attack. "I meant that you were considering her emotions."

Turning away, I swipe my leg in front of one of the Slayers running past me, aiming my gun for his back and pulling the trigger.

"Rule number one... never look in their eyes," Poppy exclaims. "It reminds you that they're human too, and we don't need that."

"It's kind of hard to avoid it when they're right in front of you," I answer, reaching out and pulling her out of the way of a spear flying through the air.

"True. But always remember that they're here to kill us," she answers, shrugging. "If you didn't kill her, she would have murdered you. At least you didn't kill a kid."

"A kid?" I exclaim.

Poppy nods, pointing towards the gate where three children lay, dead on the floor. "They use them as weapons," she reminds me. "Slayers are messed up."

"You've got that right," I retort.

One of them launches themselves towards me and I curse, losing my grip on my gun and falling back towards the ground. The man sends his right hook into my jaw so hard that I taste the blood and I grit my teeth before reaching up, curling one hand around his neck and using the other to return the favour with a brutal punch.

Within seconds he's knocked out and I shove him off me, hands clawing along the floor until I manage to grab back onto my gun.

Moving back into a seated position, I look up, surprised to see the brunette woman smiling down at me. Reaching out, she offers me her hand. I look at it for the longest time, debating my options before finally giving in and grabbing onto it.

Gia helps me up, looking every much the powerful leader as she surveys the scene in front of her. She gestures for the remaining Enforcers to shut and lock the gate, pointing at others to move the dead bodies. She's clearly angry at what's just happened, yelling orders out to everyone in the courtyard before turning her attention to Poppy and I.

Her eyes are wide with concern and I shift on my feet. Both Poppy and I are breathing heavily as we stand in front of her, covered in blood, completely back in the element we're used to. Fighting for our lives.

Gia glances between us five times before pursing her lips and nodding.

"I'm impressed," she says softly.

I grit my teeth. Great.