"who is she?" the female spoke up again.

"she's staying with jesai family. i've seen her with their son." this time another unidentified man spoke up.

"quickly, we must get her back."

i was lifted into the air and carried swiftly down the street. the mob of people that started with us died down as they stopped following us and one by one entered their home.

"no!" i tried to shake my head. i didn't want to go back and the pain in my stomach was dying down into smaller controllable cramps. "i'm fine. please let me down." but it wasn't larn who was carrying me, it was someone else.

"i'll take her from here." a voice shot out from the darkness. the man carrying me stopped and waited for the speaker to come into the light. i felt myself cringe as i recognized the balding head and robe of talbot.

"oh, talbot, it's you. do you know her?" the man carrying me asked. he must know talbot and know that he is a close friend of the family.

"yes, she is the guest of honor at the party and she ran off. i'll take her around the back so no one will be the wiser."

the stranger carrying me shook his head and carefully set me down feet first onto the ground. weakened, i leaned against the closest building for support. "alright!" the stranger spoke. "just make sure she seen to right away. she's apparently sick and running a high fever."

"wait," i called out. but the stranger, having done his good deed for the middle of the night, turned and ran back home.

i clutched the wall and glared at talbot as he came near me. "is it true?" he asked.

"is what true?"

"are you running a fever?" he stepped closer to me and raised his hand as if to feel the temperature of my skin.

turning my head i avoided his touch. "not anymore," i lied.

"do you have cramping in the stomach? does it feel like you're on fire?" he asked quietly, surveying me with his dark eyes. a chill went up my spine as i stared at him, trying to place that cold calculating stare.

"sometimes."

"hmmmm, thalia, thalia, thalia." he chanted, walking around me while still keeping me pinned between the wall and himself. "what am i going to do with you? you were the only one worth keeping. at first, i thought you wouldn't survive, but you're stronger than that. you've surprised me. and now you are proving me wrong again. even as we speak, you are trying to resist." he stopped pacing and leaned towards me. "but you can't."

fear shot up my back and i froze at his words. my heart began to race and i could hear its frantic thud loudly in my ears. the dark eyes were suddenly familiar; only, i had seen them watching me from behind a silver mask. here was raven in the flesh. i felt myself go weak with terror at facing my greatest nightmare.

"you are coming with me." talbot grabbed my wrist and commanded me to follow him. out of fear, i followed for a few steps and then i resisted. he pulled on my arm again but i was tired and weak so i dropped like dead weight to the ground and pulled away from him. "all she was supposed to do was make you drink," he snarled angrily at me. "you didn't drink anything, did you?"

i smiled weakly at him in triumph.

"stupid girl," he spat out. whether he was talking about me or gloria, i wasn't sure. "i'll show you," he threatened and grabbed me around the throat. i felt a jolt of power slice through me and i went limp. talbot grinned evilly and sweat dripped off his bald head. he was tired, weaker now, but so was i.

the jolt, paralyzed me, and talbot grabbed me under the arms and started dragging me down an alley, murmuring curses under his breath. "stupid female couldn't even follow one instruction. how in the world you figured out about the drink, i don't know, but it would have made it much easier if you hadn't."

he fumbled with his jacket and pulled out a small packet. he dumped a few seeds on the ground as he reached for another and tried to shove it in my mouth. i bit at his fingers and felt the bitter familiar taste of the drug used to paralyze me in prison and that bvork had used to incapacitate me in a solid, concentrated seed form.

talbot forced one into my mouth. i pushed out the seed and bit down with my teeth to keep him from forcing another one in. but i was already feeling the effects of it being in my mouth and a numb feeling started to take a hold of my senses.

"i hate wasting the nulle seed. they are so few and rare. it's why i prefer to shave it down and use it in drinks. it stretches farther," he chuckled.

my eyes started to get heavy and i felt him grow larger in my sight.

"when used in the right dosage, it's also a great mind control; did you know? mona, of course, didn't have the gift of persuasion until we stole it from a poor little denai. it's sad that mona was only able to retain that one ability."

i had no choice. i was losing this battle, so i decided to give in to it, let him think that i had swallowed the whole seed. pretending to go limp in talbot's arms, i let him drag me down the street, waiting for the perfect opportunity to surprise him. plus, i needed to see where he was going to take me.

"you probably wonder whose denai gifts we gave you. but ah, ah, ah, that would be no fun. i'm interested to see what you retain and which ones are still developing. you are a conundrum. i've counted four denai gifts running through you, and it seems that another one is going to appear soon. i know, i always know. headaches, stomachaches, fevers. it will be so much fun to recreate our studies. mona has asked if, when we are done with you, she could have your gifts. you think the girl would be satisfied, but no, not that one."

"stop!" a voice yelled out of the darkness.

talbot froze and dropped me on the ground but stood over me, keeping his hands free; eyes darting back and forth, looking into all of the shadows for the speaker.

"you!" the voice yelled again. "how dare you!" i took this moment of distraction to roll into talbot's legs and knock him off his feet. his moment of surprise didn't last long as he scrambled to his feet, but i was already scrambling away towards the now familiar voice of fanny.

fanny stepped into the street carrying a torch, which lit her copper curls to look like a ball of fire. "how dare you take my invention and turn it into a means to inflict pain." she shook with anger and i tried to stand next to her and take the torch from her shaking hands. fanny shook me off and stepped forward to confront talbot. "you stole my designs and perverted my creation."

"no, i didn't. i made a few changes and it has been immensely useful to me. it is helping us make the world a better place."

"i highly doubt that," she growled, clenching a hammer in her hands that she pulled from her work belt.

"oh, but it has. even now, after all of these months, it is still affecting her, changing her, making her stronger."

"what have you done to me?" i had found my voice and for once i could get my answers. "what did you do to kael?" i screamed at him.

"why, i've started the wheels of fate in motion. i've released your true form. you can feel it, can't you, trying to get out? it's going to break free. there's no stopping it now. i injected the serum and the machine has activated it." talbot spoke but took a step backwards away from me.