Chapter 13

                                    

                                          
I understood now why Dimitri was so worried about mates being abducted. His own fear came true.
When I came to I had no idea of how much time had passed, but I could the look of relief on my friends' faces when I jerked in the chair. We were each tied to a chair, our wrists bound with zip ties. I had tried to break them the way Dimitri had shown me, but they were too thick.
"How long have we been here?" I asked, working my mouth to gain some saliva. It was dry and I had an odd taste in my mouth.
"It's hard to tell, but at least a couple hours," Eddie said quietly, "what the fuck is Nathan doing?"
"He's using me," I whispered, "And he's using you to keep me in line. Same with Christian."
"Why?" Mason asked with furrowed brows. I could tell from here that he tried to fight against the bindings but his wrists were raw and bleeding.
I looked at them all and closed my eyes and bit my lip. "Because they want Dimitri and know that I'm his biggest weakness. And that he will literally do everything in his power to get me back. And that's what they want, they want to lure him out," I explained.
"Why?" Mason urged.
"Because holding an Ekon's mate captive puts their protective instincts into overdrive."
"Ekon?"
"An ancient race of vampires. They want me too because I haven't matured. I'm still prized goods," Christian butted in, "The three of you are being used to keep Rose and me in line."
Mason's brows furrowed as he tried to process what he said. Eddie just looked down at his knees, looking as exhausted as Christian did. I didn't know if Christian ever needed to feed, but now I was starting to worry. I knew what Dimitri was like when he hadn't fed enough. He would be pale and exhausted, but also irritable. 
Mia was quiet too, possibly in shock. I wouldn't be surprised if she was. Having a gun held to our heads would have been terrifying. I blinked a few times and tried to relax, hoping that I could try and feel for Dimitri mentally.
When I started prodding around I got sucked into his mind, his emotions were overrun and frantic. He was in the hub, but both my parents were there. The hub looked like it had ensued in chaos. I recognized the room they were in, the screen I had seen the Strigoi activity on had security footage up now. 
Footage of our abduction.
I wanted to take some of Dimitri's anxiety from him, but I couldn't. There was so much and I wasn't sure what would happen if I syphoned any off of him.
"The sun will be up soon. I want to go out on foot, see if maybe I can feel her," Dimitri said, rubbing his neck anxiously.
"I know you want to, but that is exactly what they want. They'll be waiting for you," Baba said.
"How can you stand there and be so calm?!" Dimitri snapped, his voice rising and his anger pulsing through his veins. Baba raised his brows at him but Alberta intervened, resting a hand on Dimitri's shoulder.
"We all need to keep a level head, Dimitri. We will get them back. Can you feel her now?"
"Last time I tried, she was unconscious," Dimitri said sadly.
I'm here, comrade.
His whole body flinched, making everyone else in the room jump.
Roza?
I breathed a sigh of relief inside my head.
I don't know where we are. We're in a basement. We're all together tied to chairs. I can't break my cuffs, I said to him telepathically.