Fireflies.

Austen and William flanked me, their rage a silent fire on the edges of my senses. The rest of my Seven had slipped in and had begun the search for her. Stealing my spine and forcing a look of calm onto my rage littered features was an effort. I wanted to rip the woman apart. Kidnapping someone's bond mate was a crime that was punished with execution.

But the fact that Estelle had yet to accept the stone and become an Immortal left her vulnerable. I couldn't kill Melrose without being executed in return. There were few rules that resulted in such extreme punishments but those two qualified.

But if Estelle became the Damned or if she died all together I wouldn't hesitate. Melrose would endure through what she put Estelle through and far worse.

Estelle's emotions had been coming through the bond all week. Pain had come rushing through the bond in a constant stream. It was relentless and it was grating on my patience. Because as she screamed out, when the pain reached a point when she had no choice but to give into useless pitiful cries. I fought not to cry out along with her.

But now all I could feel was an eerie calm. A calm that was far from natural. It was as if she had come to some conclusion, a realisation. This scared me more than any fear, pain or desperation. We had to find her. Now.

My entire seven were a mass of seething creatures. Their loyalty to me only and seeing me in such a waring position had begun to create a rage within them.

Gritting my teeth as we were led through her sprawling mansion. The exterior one piece of over feminist furniture after the next.

Stepping into the library, with its towering shelves and dome celling and bare woods. It was a warm and inviting space. The large open fire went a long way to ensuring the vibe she was so desperately trying to converse. Warmth.

But warmth was lost to her. The ice queen was a chilling creature void of any humanity. She was breath taking as always. With her blonde hair that rolled down her back in cascading waves, her slim figure was reaching unhealthy extremes. Her bones hidden under thin layers of skin and muscle. Her spidery fingers held the thin stalk of a wine glass with exaggerated elegance.

Her piecing eyes were clouded with malice and a darkness that surrounded her in a cloaking embrace. I could scent Estelle on her, it was an undiluted scent. A crash of freedom, fire and defiance. The touch of not darkness but the moon, its note marked her as a creature of the night. But then there was this burst of freedom, of life. A fire so radiant it was both unyielding and intoxicating. But marring all the scents I loved was fear, pain and betrayals. It was a bitter edge to the undiluted brilliance that was Estelle.

I said nothing just letting my gaze fall on the pathetic creature in front of me. A creature adored in a gown that only enhanced the dark edge to the deadly blade of a personality.

"Eric, darling how are you." She practically purred.

The desire to rip her limb from limb was a burning fire within me. The scent of Estelle on her hands strong and over powering. Did she really not remember what it was like to have a bond mate? I couldn't ever see me forgetting this.

I merely stared.

She let a chilling smile curl its way along her lips as she reached for a piece of fruit that was displayed impeccably on an elegant table. Placing the strawberry between her lips she paused holding the small plump fruit between her curved lips as those chilling eyes flicked over me.

"Give her to me." The words flowing from my own lips in an angry snarl as I moved in a blur of movement. My muscles bunching and coiling as my fingers enclosed around her throat shoving her against a book case. The sheer force of my movement plunged her through the hardwood shelves. They cracked around her marble form effortlessly as her own eyes narrowed.

She wasn't a fighter, never had been. She wasn't a warrior. A victim, nothing more.

"You kill me they'll kill her. You can't win here Eric." Her words void of emotion as she regarded me.

"I'm not going to kill you."

"No?" She asked with a raised eyebrow.

"No. Because killing you would be offering you a mercy I have no intention of giving. You want out, the madness the loneliness is a hole in you. It consumes your sanity, taints anything worth holding onto. You lost a piece of you, you can never get back. Your broken. And that broken part of you is ten times more painful than any death I could give." With that I let her go and turned my back on the pathetic creature she had become.

I felt the presence of Austen and William just outside of the only exit. They would hold Melrose until I found Estelle. I left her thrashing against my guards, as she screamed words and threats that held no weight in my direction.

I let my feet move faster, let them move as fast as they could take me. Even with an Immortals advanced speed I wasn't sure if I could reach her before it was too late. Her strength, her light was a dwindling thing. Estelle who had once burnt like a firefly, brilliant and inspiring was dimming to nothing more than a fading spark.

She was a girl who had survived time and time again, fought for the life that was the only thing she had left to hold onto. She gave everything, had given everything. She inspired you with just her presence. Never called for a hero, for someone to save her. He let his muscles burn as he reached a speed he had never needed to use. But Melrose had buried her in the tunnels, a series of underground pipes and rooms that stretched for miles. She was buried in a maze with only her light to guide him.

* * *

I watched as Jeremy rose the poker, watched the muscles bunch in his arm as he flicked the stick between his hands. His eyes alight with the pain he could deliver with it. The things he could do to me, how he could break me. Those eyes I couldn't hold not with my strength evading me so completely.

I sagged against the chains, letting my head bow against the pain that had nothing to do with the glowing poker. I heard his boots scuff against the slime covered concrete. Heard his excited breath as it rushed past his lips.

"I have to admit you have strength hunter." He sneered as he moved around in front of me.

I said nothing, I had no strength left to say anything with.

"Which makes it all the more fun to break you. There is something extraordinarily addicting about breaking the righteous."

Again I stayed silent as he rambled on, my mind focused on the plan. Ignored the pain and the voice that was screaming at me in defiance. Begging for a voice I couldn't give.

I focused on him and I heard it all, like I was trained to do. I was completely focused on his every movement, his every thought put into motion.

"Forgive me Eric." I whispered, the sound barely audible as he brought the poker down. I lifted my head just as he brought it down, I thrashed up against the chains. Using that last piece of strength to push myself in his line of strike. The line that would ensure that spike would go through my heart.