Greyson paced impatiently in the cage, eyeing the disgusting tray that held whatever slop passed for food in this place.
"I'd rather die than eat whatever the fuck that is." He hissed as he kicked the tray in passing, sending the contents spilling to the floor.
"I felt that way too at first," Ximena said wryly, "You'll eat whatever they put in front of you though when you're hungry enough."
"I won't be in here long enough to reach that point." Greyson scoffed in denial.
"At the risk of repeating myself…I felt the same..." Ximena chuckled before sighing heavily, "Look, the sooner you face the reality of the situation, the better. The only way we're getting out of here is if someone gets us out. I've been trying for years to find a way, but without my magick…there's just no way."
"Yeah? Well now you have a Lycan, a werewolf and whatever Aoife is, to help you find a way."
Ximena raised her eyebrow and crossed her arms in front of her with a smirk.
"And why exactly would that be beneficial? ARe you going to dig your way out of here like a good puppy?"
"Geyson, behave." Allen snapped, moving to stand in front of Greyson and trying to divert the snarling stressed out Lycan from doing or saying something he might regret to his mother in law.
"You know, I can see where Lexi gets her smart ass mouth from." Greyson fumed as he turned and stalked to the corner, plopping himself down in huff.
"Do you have to provoke him?" Allen sighed as he turned to Ximena with an exasperated expression but she just smiled sweetly.
"This is more fun than I've had in decades." She grinned, "Let an old lady enjoy herself for once."
Allen sighed and ran his hands through his matted hair, shuddering as his fingers worked their way through the grease. The grime down here had a way of sticking to you and it made his skin crawl. He didn't like to think how many people had been here before him and what bodily fluids lined the floors of this cell yet, he couldn't help it.
"Is there any change with her?" He said, coughing awkwardly in an effort to distract himself from his thoughts.
"No, not yet, and I doubt that there will be either," Ximena shrugged, "I've tried everything that I can think of, but as far as I can make out, she isn't responding to any stimuli at all. She's no more than a shell…a husk..."
"Listen if you had seen the amount of blood that was left behind…" Allen trailed off with a grim expression.
"Yeah I can imagine given the state that she came to me in. Perhaps she's locked in behind the trauma…" Ximena mused as she frowned at where Aoife sat huddled speculatively.
"You mean like PTSD?" Allen asked.
"I mean…I'm assuming that's a human diagnosis, but yes, something like that." Ximena shrugged, "If I were to have my magick, then perhaps I could do something for her. Remove her memories of the event, or at least lock them away until she's ready to deal with them properly…"
"But you don't have your magick, do you?" Greyson snapped irritably.
"Ten out of ten for memory and observation there, sweetheart," Ximena simpered as Allen rolled his eyes.
Greyson was right, it really was just like having Lexi around and the smart ass comments that had used to annoy him so much, now, he missed them terribly.
As the back and forth intensified between the two of them, Allen moved to intervene yet again, but a female voice stilled them both without any effort.
"Well, what pleasure to see you all getting on so nicely," Narcissa purred as she sidled up to the bars of the cages and ran her eyes over them all.
"Fuck you!" Greyson spat as he launched himself at the bars, swiping wildly through the bars in her direction and hissing in fury as the silver burned into his skin.
"Well that's not very nice is it?" Narcissa tutted in disappointment as she easily stepped back and avoided his attempts to injure her, "I had hoped that you would behave while my guest was here…he really isn't fond of prisoners that misbehave…and he doesn't like any of you particularly well."
She cocked her head thoughtfully as her eyes landed on Aoife.
"Well, he may be a little more ambivalent towards the little irish girl there…" She mused as she sidestepped the glob of saliva that Greyson had spat in her direction and turned to him with a look of disgust.
"You shifters really are disgusting little vermin, you know?"
"We feel the same about your kind," Greyson snapped, finally stepping back from the bars and completely ignoring the searing pain that rippled across his skin from the silver bars.
"And which kind would that be? Witches in general or wraiths?" Narcissa purred, "Careful with your answer now, you wouldn't want to upset your dearest mother in law would you?" she chuckled.
"Enough games Narcissa." Another male voice snapped in a bored tone as the prisoners in the cells stiffened.
How was it this voice was completely unfamiliar to Allen and Grayson, yet they felt as though they should know who it belonged to?
The hulking figure that emerged from the shadows sent a spike of fury coursing through them collectively, and as one, the three prisoners glowered at him, making no effort to hide their animosity.
"You," Ximena breathed in a voice that shook with anger, "In all these years never once have you bothered to make your presence known…"
"There was no need until now." Eromaug shrugged as his eyes landed on the huddled wreck in the corner of the cell.
Ximena followed his line of sight and moved to stand in front of her, spreading her arms protectively and shaking her head.
"No. You can't have her. " She spat venomously as Eromaug chuckled throatily.
"Ever the martyr, Ximena." he said with a mocking smile, "Fine. If you don't want me to fix her, then I'll assume that you're okay with the exquisitely painful death of your daughter then."
His words hung in the air as Ximena froze and for a second, nothing but silence remained. Then Greyson began to throw himself at the bars of the cage in a crazed fury.
"You fucking sick bastard! I swear to god if anything so much as upsets her, you'll pay for it with your life." He roared furiously as Eromaug turned to him with an arrogant expression.
"Ah…the males who took what wasn't theirs to begin with." He sneered.
"You're fucking insane. She's your niece!" Greyson snarled, baring his teeth furiously.
"In a roundabout way, yes she is, but not truly, and if you're so worried about any harm coming to her, then where the fuck were you when this wraith took her and caused the injury that I am now trying to fix?" Eromaug smirked down at him as all eyes turned to Narcissa.
"What the fuck did you do to my daughter…" Ximena snarled as her full attention fixed on Narcissa.
"Nothing more than she deserved and was needed to keep my lord safe," Narcissa shrugged, "I simply forgot that your bodies are so unbearably fragile without the magick coursing through you."
Ximena's face contorted in horror.
"You took her magick away?!"
"She bound her souls," Eromaug answered with no more interest than if he were swatting flies, "Now she has an injury that your little witch there will be capable of healing in a heartbeat."
"Well, Narcissa broke her too." Ximena hissed, "If these things are so precious to you, then why is she still around?"
"Because she is useful, for now." Eromaug answered, "Now step aside so that I can fix that little witchling and have her heal my Eternal."
"Lexi is not your Eternal!" Ximena snarled, "If my husband was here he..."
"But he's not, is he, " Eromaug snapped, "Notin all the years that you've been here has he ever come to you or tried to save you. I grow tired of this," He snapped as he looked at Narcissa meaningfully and Narcissa stepped forward with a malicious glint in her eyes,
"Well, it looks like it's time to drain your battery again," She simpered as she motioned for the lumbering guards to intervene.
"No..." Ximena gasped her eyes wide with terror, "It hasn't been that long since.."
"Well, it's clearly been long enough for you to have acquired such a smart mouth already. Now be a good girl and try not to scream too much this time…it always leaves me with such a headache."