Arden’s Mate(53)
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They were underground like she’d been last time. They were split up though, not in the same room. Remy was in a room with six other women. This time the demons hadn’t chained her up. They didn’t know what she could do. Remy was sure if they knew they would have bound her hands.
The six other women in the room were huddled in the corner, hugging each other for warmth. Remy knew without the fire element she would be cold. It wasn’t freezing, just cold.
Slowly, she walked over to the terrified women. “Hi. My name is Remy.” A woman with strawberry blonde hair gasped, and Remy continued. “Remy Wolfen. I’m a fire element. What are you all?”
The strawberry blonde pushed out of the huddled women and Remy got her first good look at her only to stumble back. Her mother stood on shaky legs before her. She looked sickly malnourished and in need of a good shower. Remy felt like she looked into a mirror...well, if the woman was clean and wasn’t sickly thin.
“How the fuck did you get here?” Remy was angry. This was the woman who’d dumped Remy at her grandmother’s and left, without ever even phoning.
Her mum flinched. “You were supposed to be safe. Mum lives so close to the water.”
“Well, I wasn’t. You just left me.”
“I tried to keep you safe. You were so powerful, even when you were little. You kept drawing demons to us. I left you so I could be safe.”
“You have no idea the power I have now. I don’t have time for a mother-daughter reunion . I need to know what powers these women have and any information I can get.” Remy fiddled with her hair and grinned as the small iced knife slide out. The demons had checked them for weapons but not very thoroughly. Slipping off her shoes, she undid the chucky heel to reveal iced daggers. She gave one to each woman and held on to the three left over in case Ava or Lexie needed one.
“What are you doing?” her mother asked. “There are too many of them to escape. I have tried. We all have.”
“Ah, but I have a secret weapon. I expect them to arrive in an hour or so. They won’t want to risk the demons moving us.”
“Remy, what are you talking about?”
“Answer my question first and I’ll answer yours. What powers do these women have?”
Her mother glared at her, but Remy didn’t know the woman in front of her and didn’t owe her anything. Eventually, her mother sighed. “Fine. I am like you—a fire element. Debra is an air element. Renee is a witch. Greta is a telekinesis. Helen is a healer, and your sister Nara is a mind reader.”
“Say what? Did you just say sister?”
Her mother nodded and looked over at the very young girl, with long strawberry blonde hair and warm brown eyes. She looked just like someone…
“She looks like Dad.”
“Yes, she does. She’s nineteen.”
Remy started to go to her sister, but her mother stopped her. “She’s deaf. It’s one of the reasons why she’s in here still with me. They think she’s faulty, and that’s why they haven’t tried to breed with her.” Tears rolled down her mother’s cheek. “You have a brother. He is half-monster. I will not give them any more children. I am too old.” She spat on the floor.
Oh God. How long had they had her mother and sister? She had a brother like Bengie. She grabbed her mum and almost shook her. “Have you seen the child? How old is he?”
“I think he would be six. It’s hard to tell for sure how long we’ve been in here.”
Remy felt sick. She clutched her stomach and sobbed. “Have you seen him?”
Her eyes softened, and Remy sighed in relief. “Yes. They let me have him for the first year of his life. He isn’t like them, Remy.”
Remy nodded and wiped her eyes. “He’s not the only one. I have seen one out of here. He’s the sweetest kid you’ll ever meet. He protected me with his life. Mother, do you know where they keep him?”
“Yes. I have tried to escape and I found him.”
“We will get him. I promise. I have friends coming to help. I expect them to be here soon. I need you all to use your power to help. The knives I gave you all are special. They are all iced. Demons don’t like water. If you stab their heart and cut off their head they die.”
Her mother stared at her. “How do you know this, Remy?”
“There are beings out there that protect us from the demons. They’re called shifters. They shift into different animals, but when they are in their half-change mode they are huge—eight and nine feet tall—and they’re covered in protective hair so the demons’ blood won’t hurt them. I am mated to one of them. I need you all to remember that they may look scary but they are the good guys.”