"No. Fucking. Way." Tom slammed his fist on the table, making all the dishes jump. He shoved his chair back and leapt to his feet, bolting from his apartment to the stairs, where he took the flights five steps at a time.

Pausing long enough for the wards to scan him, he continued his headlong rush through the lower level to a false wall. Taking a folding knife from his pocket, he flicked it open, drew the blade along his palm, and dripped his blood onto the floor. The wall vanished, and he clattered down another staircase.

He passed through another set of wards and blinked as a bright flash blinded him. When he opened his eyes he stood at the end of a long tunnel lined with doors on each side. He swallowed. Even though he caught the witches who ended up in these cells, he didn't like to see what happened to them when they got here. He just wanted to be paid for his part and forget about the rest.

Focusing on the payday he was about to get, he strode forward, glancing into the small window on each door as he went, searching for the mage. Through the fifth window he caught sight of Asim.

He crouched over a motionless, supine woman who lay on the floor and gazed at the ceiling. Asim kept his eyes fixed on the witch. She was naked and hadn't been here long enough to be as skeletal as some of the others.

But she wasn't the subject of Asim's stare. This mage didn't use his witches that way. His fat, black spiders gorging themselves, and mixtures of venoms kept his stable placid and drained.

"Come in, Tom." Asim's voice was creaky. "My little ones are almost finished feeding. It will only take another minute."

Tom opened the cell door and stepped inside. "Mage Asim—"

"Have you found my Musette?"

Sweat broke out over Tom's body. "No—"

The mage's voice turned frosty. "So you are interrupting my feeding because?"

Tom spoke his words in a rush. "Mage Asim, I believe I have found the Scourge. He's here, in Port Storm."

Asim turned his head away from the witch and regarded Tom with empty, black eyes. "Explain."

"I've been using a spider to watch Musette's friend's house, the one I went to the showing to—"

"She is also a witch?"

"Yes, I believe so. I put the spider on her at the showing to track her, but it fell off outside her house. The whole property is warded so I can't see inside. She didn't know anything about Musette, but a man keeps showing up at her house."

"And? The Scourge is no man, he's a vampire."

"I can't hear what they say, but I've seen the man's swords. They're curved and have silver medallions in the hilts. Who else could it be?"

When Asim held out his arm, a fat, black spider lifted its head, detaching two fangs from the witch's throat and scuttled to the mage. "I want to see the man."

Tom back up a step, and forced himself to stop. "I can describe him, maybe draw what his swords look like? I'm sure it's him."

"Show me." Asim's whispery voice was full of command.

Tom shuddered, pulled his shirt over his head, and held still. Like that would help. He winced as what looked like a spider tattoo covering his back, neck, and arms moved under his skin. He bit back a scream as two of the spider's legs ripped out of his arm, their claws digging in for leverage as the second pair of legs tore free of his other arm. The spider's head lifted from the back of Tom's neck. Four claw-tipped legs braced, the spider's body surged up his back, and its face loomed in Tom's peripheral vision. A drop of venom glistened on one fang.

"I am sorry to cause you such pain." Asim rose and approached Tom, one hand held out in a placating gesture. "It will not be for much longer, my little one." The mage stroked his hand over the spider's head. He swept his finger over the its fang, sweeping up the venom and sucked it off his fingertip.

Asim sucked in a breath and his eyes went distant. "Yes," he hissed. "That is the Scourge." His focused his gaze on Tom. "You have a plan for this witch?"

Tom nodded. "I'm meeting her tomorrow afternoon. I planned to tell her I wanted her to paint something for me, build up her trust over a series of meetings, and see if anything came to light about Musette. But we could monitor her instead. The Scourge has gone to her house two nights in a row. We could follow him when he leaves, find out where he goes."

Asim backed up and resumed his crouch near the witch. He tapped his fingers on her bare thigh, summoning the spider feeding there. "No. I have been waiting a long time to find that vampire. Bring his witch to me, and he will follow."

Tom bit back a groan as the spider attached to him resettled itself under his skin, its fangs poised to bite at the back of his neck, its legs returning to their places along his arms. He nodded at the Spider-Mage.

"Once I've dealt with the Scourge, we will resume the search for my Musette. I can no longer feel the young ones I sent with it. I need to know if the Wolf-Mage found the witch. Its poisoned magic would have killed a mage, but none has risen. The web was woven. I want to know why we did not catch our prey."

"I've been looking for Dmitri, he was supposed to be able to track her, but no one's seen him in a week."

"Dmitri and Inedel are not important for now. Bring me the Scourge's witch."

"I'll bring her to you tomorrow."

"You have done well and I am pleased." Asim waved a hand at the catatonic witch. "Do you wish to have this one again? I will not need it for a few days."

There was still some nice curve to her form, and Tom had enjoyed every inch of her when she thought she could use her body to get him to help her escape. But that was before Asim started siphoning off her magic. Once they had his toxins in them, Tom found the idea of fucking them repulsive. It was bad enough he had to wear the other man's magic on his skin. He didn't want to put his dick in it, too.



"Viktoria! I'm so glad you could meet me on short notice." Tom stepped onto the porch of the house he'd asked them to meet him at. "And you brought some assistants! All of you, come in."

Memory leaned close to Viktoria's ear. "I bet this house has a creepy basement."

Viktoria bit back a laugh. Tom wore a shirt with shorter sleeves than he'd been wearing at the gallery, and the claw-tipped spider legs on his arms were more in evidence. "No bet."

Tom led them into a dining room and gestured to the table. "I wasn't expecting extra guests, but have a seat, all of you. We can have a drink while I tell you about the project I need your help on, and I'll show you around afterwards, so you can pick which room works best." He turned to go into the kitchen. "Coffee? Beer? Water? Wine?"

"Oh, I'd like some wi—" Dream said.

"Beer!" Viktoria gripped Dream's arm and pulled her into a chair, cutting off her words. "We'll all have beer."

Tom paused at the swinging kitchen door, a hand pushing it part way open and glanced back over his shoulder at Dream. "You sure?"

Viktoria pinched Dream.

"Yes!" Dream glared at her sister. "Beer is fine."

Memory gasped.

"Are you all right?" Tom turned back around.

"Sorry." She faked a sneeze and flapped a hand at him. "Allergies."

Tom's mouth quirked and he narrowed his eyes at her, but he went into the kitchen and the door swung shut behind him.

"One of those spider legs on his arm moved! I saw it!" Memory whispered.

"Why did you pinch me?" Dream rubbed her arm. "I don't like beer."

"We're not going to really drink what he serves us! He's one of the men who hurt Musette. We can't trust him. We just have to find out what he knows." Viktoria dug a flask out of her coat pocket and held it up. "And beer makes it easier to use this."

Memory and Dream gaped at her. "Did you get that from grandmother?" Memory whispered.

Viktoria grinned, and nodded. "Beer of Oblivion. She gave it to me as a going away present. I've used it a few times to make people forgetful. Distract Tom when he comes back in so I can pour a drop into his drink."

Tom pushed through the door, four bottles of beer clasped by their necks in his fingers. He handed one to each of the women and took a swig of his. "Okay, so—"

"Kippis!" Memory whacked her beer bottle into Dream's, sending up a geyser of liquid that splashed on the table.

"I can't take these two anywhere." Viktoria sighed.

Tom's smile looked forced as he set his bottle down on the table and went back into the kitchen. "It's fine. I'll just get a towel."

As soon as he disappeared through the door, Viktoria unscrewed the cap and tipped a drop from the flask into Tom's drink. It bubbled and the amber color turned a little darker.

"Is that going to be enough?" Dream asked.

"Yes, if he drinks too much he'll forget he ever existed. He only needs to take a sip of that to muddle his thoughts." She capped the flask and tucked it back into her coat pocket as Tom came back with a handful of paper towels. Viktoria took them from him and mopped up the spill.

His jaw was clenched and his eyes were cold as he took his seat.

"Tell me more about the project." Viktoria tipped her bottle, pretending to drink. nd drink your beer.

Tom spun his bottle between his hands as he watched them. "I want to commission you to paint a picture of my sister for our mother. My sister died though, so you'd need to paint her from a photo. My mother loves this house, and I thought one of the rooms, or the house itself, would work for the background."

"Aww, that's a nice thing to do," Dream said.

"I'd do anything for my mom," Tom picked up his bottle and took a large swallow. "She means the world to me." He blinked as he set the beer back on the table. "I... what was I saying?"

"I think that's enough beer for now." Viktoria leaned across the table and plucked the bottle from his hand. "You were telling us why you wanted me to come here today."

"I was?" He frowned. "I think that's supposed to be a secret."

"Did someone tell you not to tell me?" Viktoria asked.

His brow furrowed and he scratched his jaw. "No, I don't think so..."

"So it's okay. You can tell us. Why am I here?"

"Asim wants me to bring you. Don't drink the beer. I drugged it." Tom giggled and listed sideways in his chair. He caught the table with one hand and pushed himself back up. "I think I drank the wrong one!"

Memory clapped a hand over her mouth to hide her laugh. "I want to give this to all the humans."

"Shhh!" Viktoria hissed and turned back to Tom. "Who's Asim?"

"He's a mage. He likes spiders but not the Scourge!" His eyes widened and he clapped a hand over his mouth.

"I don't think I would like the Scourge either. That's a terrible name."

"But the Scourge likes you!" Tim tittered and pointed at Viktoria. "I saw him at your house."

Lurky was the Scourge? She'd worry about that later. "What about our friend Musette? Does Asim like her?"

Tom nodded. "He made it special, but we lost it."

It? Viktoria shuddered. "How did he make Musette special?"

"He..." Tom shook his head and blinked.

"Have another sip." Viktoria slid the bottle to him.

He squinted at her, but obeyed.

"Tell us about how Musette is special."

"Asim put poison in its magic. Now when another mage tries to use it, he'll die, and the witch will come back to Asim. He's the only one who can use it now."

"Memory, take my phone and call Ember." Viktoria kept her voice calm and low. "Tell her what our friend Tom just told us."

Memory slipped the phone from Viktoria's pocket and left the room.

"Tom," Viktoria said. "Will you take us to see Asim?"

He nodded, head flopping back and forth on his neck. "Yes! He wants you to go to his house." He lowered his voice. "Then the Scourge will come and we can catch him!"

Memory returned, handed Viktoria her phone and crossed her arms over her chest. "No answer. I left her a message."

"Damn. They said they were flying somewhere. I don't have anyone else's number. We'll have to go to the house and tell Selene what's happening to Musette. Ember could be hours away even if she gets the message."

"No, you... you have to come with me... see Asim." Tom slurred his words, tipping sideways in his chair again.

Viktoria patted his hand and stood. "Come on, Tom. We'll go to see Asim, we need to make one stop first."

"It's not your turn to be kidnapped, Shadow." Dream pouted.

"Shadow cannot be kidnapped right now. Just, no. That would ruin everything."

Dream stuck her tongue out at Memory. "Well, it's not your turn."

"Oh," Memory said, "I want to be kidnapped! I just need to go back to the house and change clothes first. I didn't know kidnapping was an option today, and this is a nice outfit." She turned to the mystified Tom and shrugged. "Sorry. I thought it was just going to be an interrogation. You don't mind, do you? I just want to change into some jeans. I'll be as quick as I can."

"Maybe we can all be kidnapped," Dream said, turning to Tom. "You can take all of us, can't you?" She scrunched up her face. "You're not the kind of kidnapper that was going to put Viktoria in a car trunk, are you? Three of us will never fit. I miss the days when men showed up on horseback and swept me off my feet." She sighed. "We'll have to take Viktoria's car. Do you use blindfolds? Hoods just mess up our hair, and blindfolds can be fun later on. What about our hands? Can you just tie them in front? It's so much more comfortable than having our arms behind us."

Tom squinted his eyes and cocked his head.

"Have another sip of your drink, Tom."

He lifted his bottle and drank. His eyes half closed and he slumped forwards onto the table.

Viktoria sighed and faced her sisters. "You two understand this isn't a real kidnapping, right? We're going to make him take us where we want to go and let him think its his idea. If you can't get your misconstrued, romantic ideas out of your heads, you can't come with me. You saw what this guy and his friend Asim did to Musette. This is serious and dangerous." No wonder Mother never lets them out of Pohjola. Was I like that, too?

She felt bad for her irritation when she saw the crestfallen looks on her sisters' faces.

"Sorry, Shadow," Memory murmured. "We don't have to go home so I can change."

Viktoria snorted. "Those are my clothes anyway,"

"Well, you have half a house full of them!" Memory grinned. "We'll be serious now, and follow your lead."

"I just don't want you two to get hurt. Mother would kill me. Repeatedly." She grasped Tom's elbow and levered him to his feet. "Come on, let's get him in the car so we can go." She grinned. "But we can't have him see where the vampires live, so we'll put him in the trunk."

"It's so exciting." Dream's cheeks flushed with excitement. "It's like we're kidnapping him instead!"



As Viktoria parked in front of the vampire's house, the front door swung open. The same way the gate at the end of the driveway had opened when the voice sang "Soră!" in her head. She'd though it was Ember speaking in her head through her new magic again, but Ember wasn't here. The vampires live in a haunted house that talks in my head. Perfect.

The voice laughed.

She, Memory, and Dream got out of the car, leaving Tom locked in the trunk, and entered the house, blinking as they went from late afternoon sunlight into dark.

"You're back!" Angel-faced Alaric rushed to them, took Viktoria by the shoulders, and tried to kiss her.

Viktoria fended him off, pushing him to arm's length with a palm to his forehead, amused rather than threatened. "I suspect you've only survived this long because of your looks."

"Do you like them?" Alaric batted his eyes. He took her wrist in his stronger hands and moved her hand to his lips. "If you were my Draga you could see them all the time."

"Your looks won't save you from Jael if he catches you trying to kiss his Draga." A tall vampire with waist-length hair in shades of brown laid a hand on Alaric's neck and lifted him away from Viktoria like a puppy. He bowed to them. "Ladies. I'm Xenos."

Two more men rushed from different parts of the house to stand in front of them.

"I'm Karov."

"I'm Zeke."

They stood next to Xenos in a row like schoolboys lined up for inspection, eyeing Dream and Memory. The looks on their faces were hungry, but this wasn't the lascivious leer they received from heroes in Pohjola. There was want, but the larger part of their expressions was more of hope than lust. Her sisters weren't helping matters by appraising the vampires in turn.

"If you keep looking at my sisters like you want to eat them, you're all going to be leashed," Viktoria shook a finger at her sisters. "And you two, don't encourage them."

Their hopeful looks vanished, but Xenos grinned. "We're not being very polite, are we? Would you like something to drink? A snack perhaps? I'm sure there's stuff in the kitchen."

"No, thank you. We're on a tight schedule." Memory smiled at him. "We can't be late for our kidnapping."

"What did you say?" Xenos straightened from his slouch and his eyes glittered, going from playful to predator in a second.

"Your... sorry, you want to be kidnapped?" Zeke crossed his arms over his chest, his jaw clenched.

"Don't all girls want to be kidnapped? It's ever so romantic," Dream sighed.

Memory nodded. "But this isn't a real kidnapping. It's for work. In fact, we have—"

"To see Selene." Viktoria shot a glare at Dream. "So we'll just be on our way."

Taking each of her sisters by the arm, she pulled them towards the door to Selene's tower.

They climbed the spiral staircase and knocked on her door. After a few moments, Idris opened it and waved an arm to invite them in.

Dream waved at Xenos, who had followed them halfway up the staircase.

"If you'd rather stay here and flirt with vampires, you can. I'll go alone," Viktoria whispered.

"No, we won't let you go by yourself," Memory tugged Dream into Selene's room. "They're just yummy and...eager."

"They're hopeful of finding their Dragas now that three of us have found ours. They don't mean any harm." Idris closed the door and resumed his seat beside Musette. Her brow smoothed and she sighed as he took her hand.

Dream clasped her hands together and sighed. "She's looking for you in her dreams."

Idris smiled and lay Musette's palm against his cheek. "She's closer. I could hear her before, now I can feel her."

"It doesn't seem like the vampires here would have a hard time finding someone. Why don't more of you have Dragas?" Viktoria asked.

"There used to be more, but a thousand years ago almost all the bloodlines were wiped out. Selene escaped and was able to bring her sons and us with her here. But until Ember, Musette, and now you, there haven't been any Dragas."

"The vampires that came to Pohjola didn't talk about Dragas. They wanted my sisters, but there was no love involved."

"As far as I know, only one created of our line is capable of love and will have a Draga. There were never a lot of us to begin with, and many of us died in the massacre, too." Idris shrugged. "Dragas tend to run in families, so the guys downstairs were hoping since you are a Draga your sisters would be, too."

"Why were the Dragas massacred?"

His eyes flicked to Musette's face.

"If you don't want to talk about it, it's okay."

"No, you should know. And if Musette can hear me, so should she. It might help explain some of our tendencies to be a bit... over-protective."

Viktoria huffed.

Idris took a deep breath, held it, and blew it out. "In this line, we are reluctant to turn people into what we are, but our number was at its peak before the massacre, and a large percentage of us found our Dragas. As you've seen with Ember, Dragas have the potential to become a type of witch called a strygoi.
"We didn't hide it, or the strygoi. We never needed to before, but we never had the numbers of them we did that time. Mages jealous of their power, vampires unable to have a Draga or create a strygoi, and shifters under their control decided the strygoi were too powerful. They targeted entire families, starting with the last remotest relatives so we didn't put together what was happening at first. But in the end, it almost cost us everything.

"Finding a Draga isn't just about finding someone to care about. Our Dragas make our hearts beat and restore the best parts of us. They bring life to our death, light to our dark." His lips twitched. "I won't lie, if they turn strygoi, we get a little lunacy as a bonus."

He gave Musette a soft smile. "A Draga and her vampire can even have children. No other vampires can do that."

"That's what you are to Jael, Shadow!" Dream squeaked.

"No, I can't." Viktoria shook her head, refusing to allow herself even the briefest thought she could have everything she'd wanted. If she accepted what Jael could be to her, she and her sisters would lose everything. "I can't be all that to someone. Especially someone like him. Not now."

"Why not?" Idris asked.

"He'll want to save me. Rescue me. Help me. You saw how he trivialized me when we fought the spiders. I was fine, and he kept shoving me aside."

"When we find our Draga, there is nothing we won't do, including protect them, as we see it, when they don't want us to. Jael won't force you to accept him—"

Viktoria lifted her chin. "No, he won't."

"—but he won't be able to stand aside while he thinks you're in danger. Especially not him."

The last thing Viktoria wanted was a lecture. She had plans, and couldn't have a man in her life right now, especially one like Jael. She turned to Selene, who had not stirred since they'd come in. "Is she all right?"

Dream sat next to Selene and took her hand. "She's not dreaming."

Idris nodded. "She goes into trances, but—"

"I am awake." Selene accepted Dream's help to sit up. "What brings you back to my tower?"

"Memory left a message for Ember, but I know she's away, so we wanted to tell you," Viktoria said. "We found one of the men who kidnapped Musette. He said the mage he works for poisoned her magic so any mages who tried to take it would be killed. That might be why she hasn't been able to wake up yet."

Idris growled.

The sound raised goosebumps over Viktoria's skin.

"Is there no end to what they will do?" Selene hissed. "It's not enough they kidnap us, torture us, drain our power to use for themselves? Now they want to poison our magic and use us to kill one another? This has got to stop." Her voice cracked. "It just has to stop."

"Do you know how to help Musette, now that we know what the mage did to her?" Idris asked. "If we bond and she turns strygoi, will that fix her magic?"

"I don't see her magic around her, but I will try. It may be just as well she's sleeping if her magic is poisoned." Selene said. "As far as I know this hasn't happened before, and I know nothing about venoms. The strygoi magic is also manifesting differently than before. There's no way to know what might happen if she tries to use her magic, or if you two bond and she turns strygoi. I'm so sorry Idris, even if she does wake, I don't think you two should bond while the venom is tainting her magic. It might not even be safe for you to drink her blood."

Idris' eyes darkened from light blue to black, and menace radiated off him. For a moment, Viktoria saw him as he was when he fought the spiders in Musette's mind—feral and enormous. He pushed away from Musette with barely controlled fury and paced, tension emanated from him. "When Ember returns tomorrow we can go after the mage."

Viktoria stood. "We have a plan to see the mage today. Maybe we can get some more answers or an antidote from him."