"I thought you were like a high-ranking general or something?" Selena whined as she threw herself against the wall dramatically. She sunk to the floor and contorted her body into a sitting fetal position. She was so close to getting out of here, but this was not helping. She needed details. What spells were on the borders. Were there any monsters that they had to worry about? Surely there were some protections he'd know about.

"Selena," Ander said again. His patience with her had long left this conversation. "I'm telling you. There is no way to plan for Gedeon. He has had the borders booby-trapped with so many things that I doubt even he remembers them all."

This wasn't a good enough answer. Selena knew that she had to figure out a way to help her friends reach her in this castle. Gedeon needed to be stopped. The servants of Glorianna needed to be set free. She was frustrated listening to his reasons why he couldn't explain what was out there. It didn't make sense if he was as high up there as he claimed.

"Why don't you ask that servant girl who took a liking to you?" Ander asked. As if someone who has served the castle would have any idea about the war strategies that Gedeon had. "I'm sure she could be a bit more resourceful than me. It's not like I have an encyclopedia of top-secret information in this cell I've been rotting in."

Truth be told, it wasn't a bad idea to ask Catlynn. She had found ways to communicate information before, but since the disaster that happened the night Selena was summoned to Gedeon's dinner she hadn't seen her. She also didn't like risking Catylnn's safety. Selena brought her hand to her mouth and placed her nail inside of it. She hadn't bit her fingernails in years, but being in this cell brought out the worst in her.

When she was little, her parents used to try everything to stop her nail-biting. You could tell exactly how Selena was feeling because when she was stressed or nervous her fingers were in her mouth. It was a horrible habit, but old ones are hard to break. The only reason her parents finally got her to stop was that Aria started to flick her with a rubber band every time she saw her do it. Selena hated it then, but she was grateful for her sister.

She missed her.

She was so close to getting out of here. So close to seeing her sister, seeing her mom and dad, and putting all of this behind her. She thought back to the dinner and what she would have done differently if given the chance. Deidre said the difference between her and Selena was that she would have gone for the kill shot. Selena took that to heart.

Next time she saw Gedeon she'd take her kill shot.

"You know she hasn't been down here since the dinner," Selena said.

"Well, I wish I could help you," Ander responded, "I simply can't."

Selena felt anger bubble inside her at Ander's response. She slammed her hand against the wall and winced at the pain she felt. It was almost like he didn't want to help her. Doesn't he know that they would both be free? That if he helped her she wouldn't let her friends punish him? He was just like her; trapped by a monster.

Unless he isn't?

No, that couldn't be. Ander wouldn't betray her. He's told her about himself and his life. He's told her jokes and helped keep her sane here in this prison. It was because of him that she wasn't completely mad down here. She felt a sinking feeling in her stomach and felt as if the wind was knocked out of her.

"Can't or won't?" she asked accusingly.

"What do you mean?" Ander called.

Selena wasn't an idiot. Ander was one of Gedeon's highest-ranking generals when he tried to fight them at the school. He was so high up there that when Ander lost, instead of killing him Gedeon showed mercy and placed him down here. Gedeon doesn't seem like a man that would show mercy.

Selena began to wrack her brain. Something wasn't adding up. Why place Ander down here alive? Why keep him fed and taken care of if he failed him?

Unless Ander was still working with him.

"Shit," Selena said loudly. "I'm such an idiot."

She walked over to the bar and kicked it as hard as she could. Searing pain radiated from her foot up to her leg, but she continued to walk around her cell angry. Ander poked his head into the hold connecting their cells confused.

"What the hell are you doing?"

"You're working with him still, Ander!" Selena said harshly. "You've played me this whole time with this 'oh I'm a fallen angel' bullshit. Why would he keep you alive if he is this big bad man after you failed him? How did I not see the coincidence of him putting us right next to each other in the cell block?"

Selena laughed, but it wasn't one of joy. She was laughing at herself. She had never felt more stupid than she did at this moment.

"What are you talking about?" Ander asked her. He had confusion in his voice, but when Selena turned to look at him in the window she didn't see the confusion. Ander had a face of fear. Tears welled up in Selena's eyes and she collapsed to the floor. She held her cards close when she talked to Ander, but he knew that Judah and the others were coming.

"You betrayed me," she said. "I thought I could trust you because you were in here with me. You betrayed me."

She sobbed as she sunk to the floor. There was no way that she was getting out of here now. She'd never see her family again. Never see her sister. All of this was for nothing. She's going to rot in here. Or she's going to die in here once Gedeon captures the others.

Panic rose in her chest and she clutched her hands into a fist. Air seemed to be too thick to pass through her body as she hyperventilated. How long had she been in this cell? A few weeks? She already felt like she was going insane. What was she going to do when she was in here for potentially years?

Selena sat there sobbing and gasping for breath until she finally felt nothing. Judah would be here soon. It wouldn't be the happy reunion she'd hoped for though. It would likely be the last time that she saw him.

"He promised me my freedom."

Selena didn't look up at Ander. She couldn't bear to see his face. She didn't care about the reasons for his betrayal. Just that he did it.

"He said that if I could get information from you about Elora and the others I would earn my rank back and be able to live the life I had been. I can't live how I was after that fight anymore Selena. You don't understand what it is like here being the only one of my kind-"

"You're a disgrace to your kind," Selena hissed. "If there's an afterlife for them I bet they're watching you in horror at what you've become!" She stood up and placed her face as far as she could into the hole that separated the cells. Her only regret at this moment was the wall that separated her from punching Ander in the face. "You sat there and watched your entire people be slaughtered to join the man that killed them! You turned your back on everything good and you've been living in darkness ever since."

"Selena-"

"Do not talk to me ever again, Ander," Selena said definitively. "I was so stupid to think that I could even start to trust you. I'm going to die in here and your pathetic life is going to be spared!"

Selena saw red. She wasn't even processing what she was saying. It all came out like verbal diarrhea. She just knew she wanted to hurt him. She should have only talked to Catlynn. That would have been the smart thing to do. Ignore the man who tried to kill her and talk to the servant who treated her with respect.

"Oh my god," Selena said. "What did you do to Catlynn?!"

Ander sighed. "She's somewhere in the dungeon locked up for betraying her master," Ander said.

She saw him walk toward the door in his cell and push it open. Her jaw would have fallen to the ground if it wasn't attached to her face. He came over to her cell and placed his hands on the bars. "I got enough information from you that he gave me my freedom. I was going to try and get more information from loverboy tonight, but you figured me out."

He shrugged. "I didn't want to hurt you, Selena," he said. "I think you're cool. When it comes to saving my life or saving others though, I will always choose my own. Better you than me, right?"

He turned and began to walk down the hall. Selena felt her world fall and crash into a million pieces with each step he took down the corridor. "Ander?" she called out to him. He stopped walking but didn't turn to face her. "You don't have to stay on this side," Selena said. "You can still pick to fight for the good guys."

Ander shook his head and sighed. "Darkness and light can't be in the same place, Selena."

He left the corridor and Selena threw her hand over her mouth and stifled a scream. Tears began to stream down her cheeks again and she wondered how she would tell Judah that she failed him. They surely were making preparations and meeting with other realms to plan their method of attack. She let them down. She had one job being trapped in here and she let them down.

"I guess you're not as dumb as I gave you credit for," Deidre said as she appeared in her cell. She wore a taunting smile on her face and raised her eyebrows in excitement at Selena.

"Go away, Deidre," Selena said.

"They know everything you know," she said. "Nightly, everything you said Ander would recite back to me as I sat just out of your view in your cell. He would wait until you were sleeping and call out to me. Everything you told him."

"I get it," Selena said. "I'm an idiot."

"You're more than that," Deidre chuckled. "Because of the stunt with you and loverboy, Gedeon has organized several raids on the dwarves, aquins, and minotaurs. War is brewing. Our borders are stronger than ever! We are ready for whatever it is they throw our way."

"Why are you telling me this?" Selena asked. "You have the power of surprise and you're feeding me information that could help them just a little bit."

Deidre rolled her eyes. "I was just trying to be nice."

Selena turned away and Deidre walked over to the side of the cell she was facing. "And," she said. "When I helped you get the bracelet off at the dinner the other night he added another lock on the prison in my mind as punishment. I'm not one to be pushed around. I refuse to let a man tell me what to do."

Selena rolled her eyes. "You're letting a man tell you what to do regardless, Deidre. You let him control you from the very beginning. Even when he was using you to fight us because he couldn't."

"He loves me!" Deidre said angrily.

"I do not doubt that," Selena said. "But toxic is toxic. He locked you deeper into the prison that he was so upset we put you in. You don't find that weird?"

Deidre fumed as she sent a burst of wind into Selena sending her backward. "You little bitch!" she screamed as she burst the wind again. Selena felt her body slam into the cell bars over and over. Each burst of wind hit her harder than the last. Selena felt her body ache and scream in protest as Deidre continued to slam her magic into her.

When she finally stopped Selena lay on the floor. She felt inwardly defeated, but she refused to let Deidre see her that way. She sat up from the floor and raised her middle fingers into the air toward her. Her arms and body screamed as she did so, and Deidre sucked in her cheeks and raised her hands again.

"That's enough," a loud voice echoed into the cell. Deidre glared at Selena and lowered her hands slowly.

"I refuse to let a man tell me what to do," Selena mocked as Deidre disappeared from the cell.

Her head pounded and she began to massage her temples. She had to warn Judah when he came. They knew about the army that they raised. They had to be warned so they could at least try and prepare. She wiped away tears that began falling down her face.

I'm so weak. She thought to herself. I was captured. I'm scared of everything. I'm not a good guardian. Why was I picked for this life?

Selena had been grateful for her magic, but now it seemed more of a hindrance to herself. Because some power chose her as a baby in Glorianna, now she was sitting in a cell because some man needed her power so he could survive.

It wasn't fair.

None of this was.

"Can you hear me?" whispered Judah's voice.

Selena looked around her cell but couldn't see him. "Judah?" she whispered. "Judah where are you?"

Judah appeared in the cell. "I'm getting better at this!" He wore a smile and ran over to her by the bars. He crouched down next to her and his smile quickly faded when he saw her face. "Wait, are you okay?"

"No," Selena said. "Look, you need to go. The others need to know that there are going to be raids on the other allies. Ander was in the cell next to me and heard about how you were going to come and break me out. He told Gedeon everything, Judah. Everything."

Judah looked at her somberly. "Ander was in the cell over?"

"He was a spy. You need to warn the others!" Selena said. "I wasn't able to get any of the information that you asked me for. I'm sorry."

She sobbed and looked away from Judah. She was unable to hide the shame she felt. She looked over and saw his hand touch her arm. "We are going to get you out of here, Selena. Do not worry. I'll be here soon, and the next time you see me, you'll be able to hug me."

"I hope so," Selena said. "You need to go."

He nodded and disappeared into the void he came from. Selena brought her knees to her chest and sighed.

"Please come get me out of here," she whispered. "Please don't give up on me."