MasukThe door opened.Dr. Wells entered with her two medical assistants. Both carrying equipment. Both moving with the efficiency of people who'd done this before."Good morning, Melina," Wells said cheerfully. Like they were greeting an old friend rather than a captive. "How are you feeling?"Melina didn't answer.She turned her head away.Wells seemed unbothered by the silence."You'll experience significant weakness for the first few extractions," Wells said, preparing the extraction apparatus with practiced efficiency. "Your body will need time to adjust to the systematic blood loss. By extraction five or six, you'll have adapted. The weakness will diminish. The dizziness will pass. And by extraction fifteen, you'll barely notice the physical symptoms at all."She approached with a blood pressure cuff."We need to establish your recovery baseline," Wells explained as she took Melina's vitals. "Your body has had approximately sixteen hours to compensate for yesterday's extraction. Let's
Immediately, Melina felt her blood beginning to flow. Felt it being drawn out of her body through the tube that connected her arm to the extraction apparatus.The collection bag began to fill with dark red liquid."There we go," Wells said, watching the flow with satisfaction. "Beautiful. The Strain is responding perfectly. The blood is flowing at optimal rate. You're exactly as potent as we predicted."Melina felt the weakness beginning immediately.Not dramatic. Not sudden. But a gradual loss of strength. A gradual feeling of her vital force being drained away.She could feel the Strain responding inside her. Could feel it trying to compensate. Trying to produce more blood to replace what was being removed.But it couldn't keep up.The extraction was happening faster than her body could replenish."How are you feeling?" Wells asked, maintaining a casual conversational tone. "Any nausea? Any dizziness?""You're a monster," Melina whispered. "You're all monsters.""We're scientists,"
She opened her eyes.A man entered. Tall. Muscular. With cold eyes that assessed her like a specimen."Hello, Melina," he said. His voice was calm. Professional. Completely devoid of emotion. "I'm Thompson. I'm going to be your primary caretaker while you're here."He pulled a chair over and sat beside her bed."I wanted to introduce myself because we're going to be spending a lot of time together," Marcus said. "I'm going to be monitoring your extraction sessions. I'm going to be ensuring your compliance. I'm going to be making sure you understand that resistance is futile."He leaned forward."You're going to hate this," he said quietly. "You're going to rage against it. You're going to beg for mercy. But none of that is going to change anything. Because you're ours now. And you're going to give us exactly what we want."Melina felt her voice returning. Felt the paralysis wearing off just enough to speak."The brothers," she whispered. Her voice was hoarse. Raw. "They'll find me. Th
Another IV was in her right arm. Empty. Waiting for something.Above her head, mounted on an articulated arm, was a machine she recognized from the Vigil's planning discussions.The extraction apparatus.Her blood went cold.She tried to sit up. Tried to use her supernatural strength to break the restraints.But her body wouldn't respond.The sedative was still in her system. Making her a prisoner in her own body. Making her helpless and vulnerable and completely at the mercy of whatever was about to happen.She opened her mouth to scream.Nothing came out.Her voice was gone. Sedated out of her. Or perhaps they'd paralyzed her vocal cords to keep her from making noise.Melina felt panic rising in her chest.This was real. This was happening. She was in the Vigil's facility. She was restrained to a medical bed. She was about to have her blood extracted like she was some kind of laboratory specimen.A door opened.A woman entered. She was dressed in surgical scrubs. Her face was obscur
Dr. Lisa hesitated."I'll kill you," Alaric said simply. "I'll kill you slowly and painfully. Or you can tell me and I'll make your death quick. Your choice.""Pacific Northwest," Dr. Lisa said quickly. "That's all I know. I swear. They never told me the exact location. They said it was for security purposes. They gave me coordinates but they were encrypted. I couldn't decrypt them. They said I didn't need to know. That once the extraction was complete, they would contact me with further instructions.""The coordinates," Alaric said. "Give them to me."She recited them.Alaric immediately began cataloging them in his mind. The Pacific Northwest. A hidden facility. Underground, judging by the security protocols Lisa had mentioned."The extraction team," Alaric continued. "Who led it?""I don't know the names," Dr. Lisa said. "They were professionals. They were trained. They were coordinated. But I don't know who they were.""How many people?""At least twenty. Maybe more.""The medical
Alaric's POVThe interrogation room was cold.Intentionally so. The temperature was kept at fifty-eight degrees Fahrenheit. Cold enough to be uncomfortable. Cold enough to make a prisoner think about cooperating just to get moved somewhere warmer.The room itself was designed for maximum psychological pressure. White walls. One table. Two chairs. A single light fixture overhead that cast harsh shadows across everything. No windows. No way to judge the time. No escape.Dr. Lisa sat in one of those chairs, her hands restrained to the metal table in front of her.She looked terrified.Alaric stood across from her, his hands placed flat on the table. His silver eyes were completely devoid of emotion. Completely focused on the woman who'd helped orchestrate the kidnapping of his mate."Let me explain what's going to happen," Alaric said, his voice low and absolutely deadly. "You're going to tell me everything. You're going to tell me where they took her. You're going to tell me how long yo
"Silly could be discovered," Sarah said immediately. "If anyone gets suspicious, if they test the water, if they figure out she's not who she claims to be....""Then we extract her before the assault," Victor interrupted. "We lose the inside advantage. But we still assault. We still take what we ne
She looked at him. At this man who'd trapped her in a contract. Who'd manipulated her. Who'd controlled every aspect of her life.Who was doing it again.But this time, she understood why. This time, it wasn't about the curse or the bond or keeping her bound. This time, it was about survival."Okay
"We will," Marcus said. His voice was firm."Good." Alaric pulled up a checklist on the display. "Implementation starts tonight. Marcus, begin guard increase immediately. Pull from our secondary estates if needed. Elena, prioritize intelligence. I want hourly reports on Vigil activity. Gregor, begi
"Not just large. Specialized." Silas pulled up another file. "We have operatives with supernatural combat training. Ex-military. Hunters who've been fighting supernaturals for decades. We assemble the best we have. We arm them with everything we've got. Silver weapons. Fey-forged ammunition. Chemic







