Sitting with my knees to my chest, while staring down at the cold floor of the warehouse, I reject the man's offer again. I don't even respond, choosing to try and ignore his presence in the room. I don't want any part in this resistance or their plans. I've just got to be patient, and wait for the right moment to escape or for the guys to come for me. I know they won't just leave me here.

“We've been here for two weeks, Mackenzie. You need to give me an answer soon. The men are getting restless,” he says. I've given him an answer, plenty of times, just not the right one. Well, the one he is after anyway. The door opens, and I look up to see Ryan enter the room. He whispers something to the man and then leaves, casting a regretful look in my direction as he leaves. It’s a bit late for regrets now, big brother. The man—Alaric—stands closer. I think of him as Alaric, as I refuse to call him anything else. He is nothing else to me. As he towers over me, I advert my eyes back down, not wanting them to meet with the man whose eyes match my own. He sighs and turns back away from me.

“Mackenzie, my child, if you will not talk to me, perhaps you will listen to your lover?” he asks, as he continues walking to the door.

Lover? The confusion settles into my mind, and I look up, wondering what he could be talking about. Icy shock sets in, chilling me to my damn bones, as a familiar face looks down at mine. He’s got a tight-lipped expression on his face, and his hair is messy. His glasses are noticeably absent, and I’m convinced he only ever wore them for show at school. He's never had trouble seeing during our training sessions, and I never saw evidence of contact lenses in his cabin. It was just a front, something to hide who he really is. What else was he hiding? Running my eyes all over him, I’m feeling both happy to see him, but cautious about the way he has shown up. I bite my lip as I sink back against the wall, bringing my knees up in front of me again, more tightly this time. One question breaks through all the other thoughts that I feel rushing through my mind right now.

What the hell is Mr Daniels doing here?

“Kenzie,” he says gently, making me remember the last time he used my nickname, moments before we kissed. I wonder if he uses it on purpose, to convince me to trust him.

“What are you doing here?” I ask him, and he sighs.

“Can we have a minute, Alaric?” Mr Daniels turns and asks him.

“Fine, but I want her to cooperate, I’ve had enough of this game she’s playing,” Alaric says firmly and walks out, slamming the door behind him. The harshness of the slam makes the whole wall slightly shudder. I look up as Mr Daniels kneels in front of me.

“Kenzie…” he starts, reaching for me, but I knock his hand away.

“Tell me what the fuck you’re doing here, Mr Daniels? Why the hell would Alaric listen to you?” I question him, and he sighs, rubbing his hands over his tired looking face.

“Will you please listen to me? That means not trying to attack me before I can tell you the whole story?” he asks me gently.

“Depends what you’re going to say to me, and it wouldn’t be trying, Mr Daniels,” I respond, and for some reason it makes him smile a little.

“I’m the leader of the rebels, well me, your father, and two others are,” he explains. I stand up quickly, walking as far away from him as I can as the sting of betrayal begins to boil inside of me.

“You bastard! You did all this, didn’t you? You let them take me away from the academy, it’s your fault they kidnapped me! You knew my father was alive the whole fucking time!” I seethe and he shakes his head.

“I didn’t know anything about the kidnap plan. I swear to you I didn’t,” he tells me, but I don’t believe a word he says anymore.

“Was kissing me part of the plan? Making me fall for you?” I ask, my voice catching a little. He tries to move towards me, but I hold my hands out in front of myself in warning.

“Get out. Just get out, Mr Daniels,” I spit out and he stops walking.

“You can hate me for lying to you, and I deserve that, but remember not everything’s fucking black and white, Miss Crowe,” he replies, walking out of the room. The door slams shut once again, as I fall to my knees and hold in the tears that threaten to fall. I don’t know how long I spend staring at the floor, running every moment with Mr Daniels over and over in my mind, before coming to the conclusion that he played me. He played me so damn well. I stand up and walk over to the middle of the room. Nobody else is going to save me now.

“I know you can see me, and I want to see my father. Now,” I shout and cross my arms, waiting for the door to open. I wait in silence. The seconds turn to minutes, and then the minutes turn into hours as I wait in silence. I pace back and forth in my little makeshift cell, waiting for him to come. Typical that as soon as I am ready to talk, he makes me wait. Eventually, I give up, going to sit on the air mattress on the floor,while I wait for someone to come in.

The door finally opens and I look up, watching Alaric as he strolls in, a satisfied look on his face. About frickin time.

“Well, Mackenzie?” he asks, as he leans back against the door, looking down at me. I stand up and walk across to him.

“What exactly is it you need me for?” I ask.

Instead of answering me, he gestures for me to exit through the door. I watch him, unsure for a moment, before daring to step through. When nobody stops me, I relax a little as he walks past me, and then leads me to another room. He opens the door and again gestures me inside. Like he’s herding freaking cattle.

I motion for him to go first and he frowns, but steps inside first anyway. Following him in, I’m holding back a smile at my tiny victory. I refuse to let him be in complete control. I’ll push where I can so I don’t become a mindless robot while trapped here.

“Take a seat, Mackenzie,” he says as I shut the door behind us. I grab a chair on one side of the table, and he sits at the other before beginning. “We need you, the twelfth power is crucial to our plan,” he says.

“You’ve said as much, but what does it do? What do you need me to do?” I ask, crossing my arms across my chest defensively. I glance around at the small meeting room. There’s a long table with chairs on either side, and not much else. Other than to shower, this is the first time I’ve been out of my cell since arriving here, so I appreciate the change in scenery. Even if it is just a trip to this bland-looking room.

“Mackenzie, do you think I am a fool?” he questions. When I don’t reply, he sighs. “I cannot trust you with our plan just yet, but you need to realise why you should help us. The Marked Council are corrupt, mad with power. They make decisions for our kind that they should not. There are things you don’t know, Mackenzie. They have forgotten our ways and allowed polluting of the bloodlines. They’re making the rest of our kind weaker, so that they remain stronger. Encouraging people to procreate with humans, when they themselves do not. Why do you think that is?” he asks me, and I try not to snort. Does he not realise how crazy he sounds?

“Why?” I ask, trying to feign interest. I’m sure falling asleep won’t help convince him I am on their side. I need to do that, if I want them to drop their guard enough that I can escape.

“Because they want to rule completely. Not as elected officials, but as a dictatorship over our kind. They want to weaken us all to the brink, so that only their selected few families remain strong,” he answers.

“And what do you want?’

“We want to stop that. This is why we need you. You can stop this madness, and bring the power we need into our cause. We must overthrow the council.”

“How am I meant to bring power into your cause? Why does it have to be me? How do you even know what my mark does?” I fire off my questions, not able to keep them in any longer.

“I cannot tell you everything yet, nor can I trust your change of interest now. But perhaps, soon I will be able to. I hope that over time you will see what we are doing here, that you will understand we are the good guys in all of this. We will be moving you to our main base tonight. If you try to escape during transport, we will lock you up tighter than Alcatraz. Do you understand?”

“I understand,” I acknowledge.

“I’m not quite sure you do, but it does not matter. Either you will comply willingly, or we will make you.”

“Is that a threat?” I ask, wanting him to just spit it out.

“Call it a motivator to behave accordingly,” he answers, making me roll my eyes. “That’s all I am going to tell you for now, Mackenzie. We’ll be leaving in three hours,” he says firmly, and it’s clear this discussion is over.

“Where exactly is this base?” I ask anyway, but he doesn’t answer. He stands and exits the room, slamming the door shut behind him.