*“It's not always true that when someone disappears, they never come back, even if that has been my experience.” ― Yanyi*
***Nuria***
Live my life to the fullest? Check.
Annoy the shit out of my brother as a good sister should? Check.
Get a girlfriend? Check.
Get kidnapped and held in a dingy cave by my psychopathic, undead father and his shitty-ass minions? Not part of my life’s plan!
“**Yet here you are; sitting on a filthy floor with your wrists shackled to the wall with dried blood on your face**.” Angelika popped in like a party favor.
“*I know I wanted to have a little more excitement in my life, but this was not what I had in mind*!”
What’s even worse was that damned feeling of being watched hadn’t left me since I first arrived. My eyes floated to the dark corners of the cave prison, my heart fluttering with the eerie feeling of eyes searing into my skull. I couldn’t see a damn thing, but I knew someone, or something, was watching us like vultures stalking its meal in the grass.
Yes, I said **us**. Because my mother sat straight across from me in the same position as I was. The only difference was that she wasn’t injured, at least from what I could see.
The chain behind my back stiffened when I scooted forward a few inches from the craggy wall. I guess that’s as far as I could go without the silver irritating my wrists more than they already have. I stretched my foot forward, hoping to touch Mom’s shoe, but I fell short by a damn inch.
“Fuck!” I half-whispered, half-yelled. Shuffling back to my original spot, my ears picked up distant footsteps and harsh whispering coming from the open entrance to my left. Curious, I strained my ears to listen in.
“*Are you seriously going to cower away just because Jonathan pulled your hair*? *He slapped me across the face*! *A hair pull is nothing*.”
My blood lost its warmth. Phoebe?
“*He pulled it because he’s going to come after both our asses for how you roughed Nuria up*. *If you only listened—*!”
“*I can handle whatever the old man can dish out, pixie*. *I’m not afraid of him*.”
A little overconfident, are we?
“*You should be*. *You didn’t see the look in his eyes*. *He’s going to make sure our punishment hurts*.”
“*That sounds like fun*! *But Jonathan will be preoccupied with his family to deal with us*. *We’re in the clear, for now, little pixie*.”
An exasperated groan. “*I told you not to call me that*. *You know I hate it*!”
“*But I like it*. *You’re cute and feisty like a pixie*.”
“…*I don’t know if this is you flirting or complimenting me, but just so that we’re clear, I’m not gay*. *I don’t like women*.”
“*Yet, you can’t keep a man*. *How curious*.” A mocking giggle. *Are you going to continue to toss your ass around a man who doesn’t like you*?”
“*How dare you, bitch—*!”
“*I’m going to check up on our two prisoners*. *You can join me if you like or continue to try and fail to make that alpha love you again*.” Another giggle. “*I’ll never be like you, dear pixie*. *That would be devastating*.”
Seconds later, the face I know and love poked in from behind the entrance wall, a pair of mulberry purples locking with my eyes. Her fang-tipped grin turned my already-cold blood to ice. That smile was the last thing I saw before I got knocked out. Was this truly my Phoebe? It couldn’t be…
“I see the cut on your forehead healed nicely.” ‘Phoebe’ laughed, skipping to me. I pressed my back against the wall when she dropped to her knees and peered in my face like an excited child looking at a fucking Christmas display. “I guess I can see why she’s like you. You are pretty cute. I think I rather keep you for myself!”
This ‘Phoebe’ was close enough to where I could smell her, and that alone told me that this wasn’t my mate. This was someone else with her face. Her scent was identical to my mate’s wildberry scent, but this Phoebe had a soured blackberry scent infused with her overall aroma, while my Phoebe had potent blueberry infused with hers.
It wasn’t just her scent that sealed the deal. It was also that the side of her neck was completely bare. My Phoebe has the triple-moon mark on hers—acting as both her most erogenous part of her body and the magnet for my lips and tongue.
*Sheesh, I shouldn’t be thinking about seducing Phoebe now*.
*But I swear to Selene, I’ll be doing just that once I get her back in my arms*.
“I would appreciate your compliment if it didn’t come from such a foul mouth.” I sneered, glaring into this imposter’s eyes. “Who the fuck are you?”
‘Phoebe’ gestured to her face, smirking. “Don’t I look familiar?”
“You’re not my mate. Don’t even try to trick me.”
She dropped her jaw before throwing her head backward to laugh. “Oh, torturing you is going to be so much fun. A little word of advice, wildflower? You should reject Phoebe while you still can. You don’t want to end up on the wrong side of her fire when she gets mad.”
“My Phoebe doesn’t hurt people. You’re not going to manipulate me into hating her.”
“I think I know my sister better than you do.”
I blinked, stunned. “Sister?”
“Come on, Nuria.” She rolled her eyes. “I never pegged you as stupid, so don’t change my mind now. The name is Rhea, by the way. And judging by the shock on your face, Phoebe never talked about me, huh?”
I pressed my lips together, scowling at Rhea in silence. No, Phoebe never mentioned she had a sister, let alone an identical twin. I was under the impression that she had lost her family, but she never spoke about them. In fact, Phoebe’s entire past was shrouded in mystery, just as she, as a person, was. There wasn’t much I knew about her, but I’d figured she’d tell me in due time.
I still love her. No force in this universe will change that.
Rhea’s eyes scanned me up and down, her lips parting for a sigh. “Such a shame. It seems like she’ll continue to play the sweet and innocent good girl until the day she dies. Your mate is a con artist, Nuria. She’s a liar.”
“I don’t believe you.”
“And that’s the prerogative that will get you killed.” Rhea stood on her knees and unbuttoned her black blouse, pulling apart the fabric to reveal her chest. I involuntarily cringed. A nasty black and red burn stretched from her left breast and sunk into the valley, clawing over to the right mound like the claws of a bear. “Dear little sister gave me this. You still think she’s innocent, now?”
Hatred burned in Rhea’s eyes as her nails poked through her blouse, trembling. I looked at her face and back to the burn, unable to imagine my Phoebe causing a hideous mark like that. A wicked hand made that mark. I’ve held Phoebe’s hands in my own—soft, supple, and full of care. They didn’t hold any sin or malice.
Rhea had to be lying to me, right? But when I swallowed the lump in my throat, a tiny voice in the back of my mind told me she’s telling the truth. She was Phoebe’s sister, and there’s no doubt there’s bitter history between them, especially with how Rhea spoke about her.
However, the snake insignia etched into her arm told me to keep my guard up. Sister or not, Rhea was still an enemy. She assaulted me and kidnapped me. I’m here against my will because she’s working for my father.
Speaking of which…
“You brought me here under the orders of my dad. You weren’t supposed to harm me, but you did.”
She shrugged. “Yeah, I’ll be paying for that later.”
“Why did you hurt me? Was it so you could somehow get back at Phoebe?”
“Are you trying to psychoanalyze me, wildflower? I didn’t know you were so interested in me.” Rhea grinned, cupping my face. I shrugged her hand off, feeling revulsion roll in my stomach. “I love pain, and I love to give pain to others even more. Through pain, I homed in on my magic.”
She held her free hand between us, palm up. A spectacle of dancing wisps of black swirled around her fingers, drilling and sprouting from the ridges of her fingertips. “Phoebe is not the only dark witch you’ll come to know. Yeah, she’s a cheat because she’s the avatar of the damned witch goddess, but until now, she hadn’t met her match.”
“You won’t hurt her. I won’t let you!”
“A powerless alpha bitch thinks she can protect an avatar from her big sister?” She shook her head. “I commend your bravery and loyalty, but I could stop your heart at this very moment and leave your spoiling corpse to the beasts of the forest for her to find. A basic command will make my black magic do anything I want it to.”
“Then what are you waiting for?” I challenged, baring my teeth. “You can kill me, so why don’t you?”
“Because I want to live long enough to take everything from that bitch just as she took my life. But the caveat to that is that Jonathan wants you back, so I can’t kill you.”
If there was any moment to play a needle scratch, it’d be now. “What? Phoebe killed you?”
“Yep!” Rhea shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly. “There’s a monster hidden deep inside her. A sweet little killer. You want to mate with that for the rest of your life?”
‘*I’m no monster*’. Phoebe’s voice rang in my head. ‘*I’m no killer*.’
The puzzle pieces were coming together. This was what Phoebe was most afraid of because the visions I had weren’t of her—they were of Rhea. Phoebe was afraid of her past catching up to her and here I was, staring at it with my own eyes while her darkness tickled my chin.
*Goddamnit, Phoebe, why didn’t you tell me*? *Why did we have that stupid fight when we could’ve just talked through this*?
“You know what the weird thing is, Nuria?” Rhea asked, pulling my attention out of my head to her. “I can smell the fiery spirit in you and I just want to reach in and *squeeze it*…” Her hand slid to the back of my neck and pinched the thin skin on my nape “…until it breaks. I’d like to play with you, in more ways than one.”
“I rather fuck a cactus.”
“That can be arranged.”
“Get your fucking hands off me.”
“I don’t want to. Are you just as soft everywhere else too?” She grinned maniacally. “I’m dying to know.”
“*Get your hands off of my daughter*!” Rhea turned her head to be met with the powerful, knee-shaking stare from Mom. Her nostrils flared and her deep blues turned to cobalt stones. “When she says get your hands from her, you do it!”
“As if I’m going to let a decrepit hag tell me what to do. You’re lucky it was Katalina who got you and not me.” The witch snarled, sliding her hand to the front of my throat. “But, if you want to watch as I tear your daughter to pieces, you’re more than happy to!”
Rhea never got the chance to do what she wanted because a rough hand grabbed her by the collar of her unbuttoned blouse, lifted her into the air, and tossed her to the wall like a baseball. Her body hit the rocks with a sickening thud before she slid to the ground, holding the side of her face. I should be grateful to my rescuer, but I wasn’t.
Because my ‘rescuer’ was the man I hated more than soggy cereal. My father’s eyes found mine, blue granite softening with his frown, but I jerked my head away from him. That look reminded me of how my father used to be when I was a little girl and if I wasn’t chained, I’d claw those eyes out.
“You just landed yourself another infarction, Rhea.” Jonathan hissed. “I don’t want you in this room again. If I catch you touching my little girl, I will cut your hands off and feed them to the demons. Understood?”
“Yes, sir,” Rhea grumbled, slowly rising back to her feet. “Whatever you say.” She left the room, but not without tossing a sinister and flirtatious smile back in my direction. “Bye, Nuria!”
*Oh, she wasn’t done with me yet*!
Gain a stalker? Not on the list, but I’m adding to it, anyway.
“Are you alright?” Dad asked me.
I shot him a glower, launching a wad of spit at his shoe. He looked down, shook his head, and turned to Mom.
“*Drittsekk*!” Mom roared, pulling at her chains. “You dare to ask if she is alright after you have us chained like prisoners? What is the matter with you?!”
“It’s a precautionary move.” Dad shrugged his shoulders. “I didn’t want to risk the chances of either of you running from me.”
“Yet, treating us like rabid animals was the better solution?” Mom scoffed, shaking her head. “Do you know what I had to endure before coming here? There is no doubt in my mind that you were behind the attack at Iron Stone.”
My eyes widened. Dad attacked Iron Stone?
I couldn’t see his face, but I could hear the smile in his voice. “It was the only way to draw you out, since I know you wouldn’t come to me willingly. After all, I couldn’t sit by and allow my wife to slut herself out to another man. You belong to me.”
“I belong to no one.” She shot back, crossing her legs. “We are no longer mated, Jonathan. You have no claim to me. My heart belongs to another.”
“And that man will soon be dead.” He sank down on one knee and grabbed Mom’s chin. My protective instincts kicked into overdrive, my body fighting against the chains and the effects of the silver to get to my mother. “We’re meant to be together, as foretold by fate. I will have you again, Celeste, because I love you. Nothing will get between us, not as long as I breathe.”
“What did you do to my son?” Mom suddenly asked, ignoring his proclamation. “Where have you taken Neron? I know you have him here!”
Dad paused for a few seconds, but they felt an eternity to me. That brief pause lowered the temperature of the room and my mind dove into the deep end of conclusions. Was Neron hurt? Did Dad hurt him? I tried reaching him via mind-link, but it was walled off with steel.
“Neron will be fine.” He replied, running a sickly pale hand through Mom’s hair. “If the experiment is successful, you two will be next.”
“You’re a fucking monster! Get your hands off Mom!” I shouted, feeling the frustration I’ve been holding in reaching its boiling point. I yanked and pulled at my chains, but all I got was the bitter taste of defeat and fire burning into my flesh. “Why are you always hurting him?! He was doing good until you came back and you’re still hurting him! Why can’t you leave him alone?!”
“You’ll never understand, Nuria. I’m doing what I must do for my family to be back together again.”
“We ARE together without you!” I roared with tears stinging my eyes. I was tired, so *tired* of watching the people I love get hurt. “You’re beyond sickness. Everything that you’re doing is hurting all of us! When you hurt Neron all those years ago, you hurt Mom and me, and you never cared! You don’t give a shit about us because all you care about is yourself! Why can’t you see that?”
Dad’s chilling chuckle made the hairs on the back of my neck stand in full salute. I watched his bulky, enormous body rise to its full stature; intimidating and all-consuming. He took measured steps toward me, his shadow bathing my entire body in his darkness.
This wasn’t the Dad who held me when I cried or kissed my head every night before I went to sleep as a child. With all he’s done to the family, most importantly, to Neron and Kiya, to think I share half of his DNA made me wish I had a different father.
I looked more like Mom, but hints of Dad laid under my skin and in my face. Was it possible to love myself fully when I shared blood with an abuser?
“You used to be so sweet.” Dad hummed, tapping his cheek with a finger. “I still remember the days where you used to come in my office with a book, wanting me to read to you. I’d push aside my work to fulfill my little girl’s wishes. You were and still are, my little angel. You may have let me go, my baby girl, but I will never let you do. I can’t do that.”
I scoffed. “You already lost me. I’m not your little girl anymore. I’m a grown woman with her own thoughts and opinions and my thoughts are that you’ll never understand the extent of the damage you’ve created. Are you going to slap us around like you used to do to Neron if we don’t do what you say?”
“Watch your tone, Nuria.”
“You sold your fucking soul to the damn devil!” I wailed, feeling my heart constrict in its chamber. “I don’t have to watch a damn thing. Mom has a new man; someone who’ll treat her better than whatever cockamamie scheme you’re cooking up. I have a life and a mate I love very much, and Neron has finally grown into the man he wants to be! None of our future plans involve you and it would be much better if you stayed dead because I rather have no father than a fucking beast like you! I hate you!”
Hearts made sounds. In dead silence, I could hear the lub-dub of my life pumping through my veins. But today, my heart shattered, singing the song of broken glass against the unforgiving floor.
The floor didn’t break my heart. Dad’s violent, thick hand slapping me across the face did.
Silence fell over the three of us like a massive blanket. My cheek burned like fire on top of more fire and the metallic taste of blood drenched my tastebuds. Mom gasped but couldn’t formulate words. Dad, however, froze. A flash of regret touched his face, but died as fast as it appeared, hardening like diamonds in the earth.
I lost it. I struggled against my chains and screamed at how much I hated that man and wished he remained dead. The silver dug more into my wrists, but I didn’t have a smidgen of care. A banshee-like mantra of “I hate you!” spilled from my lips uncontrollably as tears dripped down my face.
My throat burned when I finally stopped, my voice strained beyond its limit. I sniffled deeply and bowed my head, exhaustion flowing through me once the adrenaline left. All I could do was sob to myself, even as the pain on my cheek lessened.
Dad hit me. He *hit* me.
And he left the space without so much of an apology.
“Nuria…” Mom wept, her chains clinking as she pulled on them again. “My baby…my little girl…”
“Mommy…” I whimpered.
The cave was cold, but I never felt colder in my life.
---------------------------------------------------
***Phoebe***
“Is anyone else having a bad feeling about this?” Violetta asked as the four of us traversed over rocky terrain. The woods were abnormally quiet, void of sound and life from Gaia’s inhabitants. I have yet to hear the tweeting of birds or the scuttling of squirrels and rabbits. The area in itself whispered for us to turn back or suffer the consequences, forcing the hairs on my neck to stand straight.
Eyes were on us, but the holders were unseen.
Orange light licked the blue skies and stretched in between the trees, the sun bidding us farewell for the day until the next morning. The other avatars and I spent an hour devising a rescue plan before I teleported us near Trinity Prospect High, just as Liberty informed us before. My mind spun gently on its axis because of the repeated teleportations throughout the day, but I squared my shoulders and breathed the lightheadedness out of my nose.
*Or else the guilt would eat me alive*.
“Vi, don’t tell me you’re quitting on us now.” Kiya joked as she hopped over a log.
“Me? Quit? Oh, please.” Vi waved her hand. “But, I’m just saying that I have a feeling I can’t shake off.”
“It could be your nerves.” Asim suggested. “We are entering enemy territory, after all.”
“Yeah, I guess you’re right.”
I kept my mouth closed, my focus ahead to the cave hidden somewhere in the distance. I should’ve told Nuria the truth. It’s my fault she got into this mess because I was too cowardly to talk about Rhea. My big sister was my biggest shame and my biggest torment. I couldn’t utter her name for over ten years and her memory brought about unbearable pain to my heart and soul.
I’ve done something so horrible to her that even thinking about it could awaken the demons I’ve worked so hard to bury. What I’ve done to her reserved the right to grant me the title of monster.
Now Rhea was back. I’m certain the mad god had a hand in her revival. And it will either be her who kills me or delayed karma.
And I, unwillingly and unintentionally, got my fated mate tangled up in my crap. I’ll spend the rest of my life working for her forgiveness if fate allows her to return to me alive and unharmed.
I couldn’t lose one of the best things that has ever happened to me.
“Phoebe?”
I turned my head to see Kiya matching my pace beside me. “Yes?”
“Are you feeling alright? You’ve been quiet.”
“I’m always quiet, Kiki.”
“I mean, more than usual.”
“Guilt tends to keep you quiet, as you know.”
“Yeah, I do and hope to never feel it again.” She wrapped an arm around my shoulders, offering me one of her softest smiles. “We’re going to get Nuria, I promise. We won’t rest until we get the family out of there, okay?”
Still silent as a mouse, I nodded. I know we will, but so much can happen in a short span of time. Coupled with Violetta’s uneasiness, which I don’t blame completely on her nerves, it makes the situation that much dire.
But, with the four of us working together, I knew we’d succeed.
*Hang on, Nuria*. *Please*.
Ten minutes later, the four of us stood at the entrance of a large groove under an enormous cliff that stretched miles above our heads. The trickling of running water echoed in the distance and the smell of wet earth assaulted my nose. The sun continued to set under the horizon, slowly dousing the area in darkness. Faint whispers echoed all around us from the darkened air, warning us again to turn back.
The four of us pulled out our flashlights, courtesy of Darien and Mara lending them to us from their hiking expeditions in New Mexico. Asim’s light was too bright and will set off the alarm of the habitants within. We set them in the lowest setting possible, so we don’t alert the demons within, but high enough for us to see into the pit of black.
“This is it.” Kiya told us. “Anyone who wants to back out now, say I.”
Silence.
“Good.”
“I will go in first.” Asim announced, stepping forward. “You three follow behind me.”
“What a gentleman.” Violetta giggled. “I feel like we’re in an episode of *Darkness* from the Discovery Channel.”
“We might as well be.” Kiya inhaled deeply and nodded. “Let’s do this. We know the plan. Neron, Nuria, and Aunt Essie are counting on us.”
Asim stepped into the cave, followed by Kiya, then me, and Violetta entered last. We tiptoed, walking over pebbles and rocks as the darkness swallowed us whole.
*I’m coming for you, Nuria*. *I hope you’re okay*.