I raised an eyebrow in question while I lifted my head higher in defiance, much to Shara's annoyance. "And what do you mean about me not being able to have any control whatsoever after you try to do something to me?" I asked and raised an eyebrow in question. "Are you sure?"

Shara nodded in confirmation while he sneered and narrowed his eyes. "Your... mate has no control over whatever has happened to him," he pointed out, and I couldn't help but bristle slightly. "Why do you think you will be any different than that?"

I shrugged and pressed my lips into a thin line, biting back a small smirk. "Because I am special," I replied sarcastically, earning a small snort from my group. "That is why I think you will not be able to control me."

Shara scowled and narrowed his eyes while he took a threatening step toward me. "Are you sure that I am not able to?" he asked while he looked up and down. "You do not know me at all, Miss DeLamont."

"And you don't know me," I said, lifting my chin higher in defiance, earring a small growl from him. I bit back a small smirk and tucked my head closer to my chest while I looked at him.

"Oh, we shall see," Shara said, sneering while he narrowed his eyes further. "You are tied to a chair, and you do not seem to be able to get out of it."

"Or it is because that I am humoring you all by staying here and tied up," I said while I shrugged and grimaced. "I do not need to be here, and I am getting quite... bored," I added.

Shara gritted his teeth together and took another threatening step toward me. He held out his hand and a dark black orb appeared from his hand while he stared at me, his eyes turning a darker black.

I pressed my lips into a thinner line and shifted ever so slightly. I didn't say a word while I stared at the orb, my wolf growling and growing restless.

'Are you sure that you want this to continue, Lex?' Anthony asked, and I could hear the worry in his voice that he tried to keep hidden. 'Or do you want us to stop it?'

'Keep still, and don't move toward us,' I said, making sure that I didn't look at the Viper because I knew that "she" was listening into the conversation as well with an earpiece we had given "her." 'All of you. I am safe for now.'

'No, you aren't,' the Viper said, sounding like themself and not as the Viper that they are playing to be. 'You are not ok, Alex. You need to stop this, now.'

'What is happening to her?' Anthony asked, and I had a feeling that he moved closer to us. Panic and worry filled his voice with a small trace of fear in it. 'Salem, what is going on? What is happening?'

'Do not engage, Anthony,' I warned, interrupting Salem from whatever they were about to say. 'Neither one of you is to engage with what is going on. Is that understood?' I pressed my lips into a thin line while I narrowed my eyes further, slowly but surely starting to pick at the knot from the rope that had my hands tied together.

Shara took another step toward me and started to mutter something under his breath that I couldn't understand.

The hair on the back of my neck stood at attention while I stared at him, stopping myself from picking at the knot. My whole body was tense and was very aware of the magic that came off of him in waves, and all I wanted to do was stop him from doing whatever he was doing and try to figure out whatever was going on.

'Keep an eye on what is going on with me,' I said, 'and record all of this. I want to see what is going on while I am not trying to fight for my life and stay in control of myself.'

'Are you sure that you want this to keep happening?' Salem asked, still talking like themself while I continued to watch Shara. 'You don't know what is going on, and I do know. You do not want this to keep going, Alex.'

'Then what is happening to her, Salem?' Anthony asked. 'Why do you not want this to continue?'

'Because it is dangerous,' Salem replied while they mentally grew tense. 'Please, let m-'

'No,' I said, interrupting them. 'I will be fine. I promise.'

'And how do you know, Alexandra? You have never had to face anyone like this before, so please, tell me how you know that you will be fine?' Salem asked sarcastically. "She" shifted closer to me, and I had to keep my gaze on Shara, even though all I wanted to do was look at them and glare. 'You know nothing.'

I bit back an annoyed growl and made sure that I didn't narrow my eyes, even though my left eye twitched. 'No shit,' I said sarcastically. 'That is because you keep me in the dark as well as my grandmother and who the fuck else, but I know this. I can feel it. I will be fine.'

Shara took another step toward me, and it seemed like he didn't care that the Viper had shifted toward us. He still kept talking in a different language, and black tendrils appeared from the ball and slowly started to inch their way in different directions, even though it mainly focused on me.

'Get higher into the trees,' I ordered Anthony and Corey, who had been silent through this whole ordeal. 'Make sure that you have magical blockage shit on so that it does not control you. Is that understood?'

'Bu-'

'Now, you two,' I said, interrupting Anthony because I knew that it was him trying to wait longer. 'If something happens to you, then I will never forgive myself.'

There was a pause, and Anthony and Corey did what I told them to do. 'But what about Salem?' Anthony asked. 'Don't they need to do this, too?'

'I'll be fine,' Salem said, and pain filled their voice as if they had been through this before and knew that it wouldn't affect them. 'It won't affect me. Someone has already tried it before.'

Like how Horus tried it on me...

I didn't say a word and pressed my lips into a thin line. I wanted to glance at Salem to see how they were doing, but I didn't while I waited for everything to finish so that I could try and escape or start to escape.

My whole body was tense while the tendrils started to make their way closer and closer to me, growing larger with each passing second.

Everyone that was in the general vicinity took a step back while they watched what was going on, and I could hear some of them murmuring about it to one another, but that didn't stop Shara's concentration.

No, it only seemed to make his concentration and will grow stronger while he took another threatening step toward me. He muttered something under his breath, and the dark tendrils that were going everywhere stopped and turned towards me before they slowly started to make their way toward me.

Shit...

I started to struggle against my confines, muttering every curse word under my breath while I "tried" to escape, even though I wasn't really trying.

My heart pounded hard in my chest, and I tried to shove the chair back only for it to stay put as if it had been bolted to the floor.

What the fuck was going on? Why couldn't I move the chair?

"You can't escape us, now," Mindy said gleefully, and I couldn't help but look at her with wide eyes, filled with fear and sadness, even though all I wanted to do was roll my eyes and scowl. She pouted and blinked rapidly. "Awww, are you going to cry now that you aren't in control?"

I didn't say a word and looked towards the tendrils that were closer than before, with some at my feet.

The temperature around me started to drop, and the hair on the back of my arms stood up at attention while goosebumps appeared.

My heart skipped a beat before it started to pound fast and hard in my chest while my adrenaline spiked.

'Are you sure that you want to do this?' I heard Anthony ask while one of them slowly started to wrap around my leg as well as the wooden leg of the chair. 'You're almost fully out of time.'

I held back a small smirk and didn't look toward where they were hiding.

For some reason, I wasn't afraid, even though I had to act like I was afraid. I knew that I was going to be safe, knew that this shadow or whatever wasn't going to be able to hurt me or let me get under someone else's control. I knew that whatever secrets that were hidden from me about my family was the reason why I knew that this wouldn't work, no matter how much the Puppetmaster wanted me under his control.

I looked toward them when the tendrils started to pick up its pace once it wrapped around one leg and the inter, and I couldn't help but smirk and flash them a small wink that no one seemed to catch except for the Viper, who breathed a small sigh of relief.

'I'll be fine,' I promised. 'Promise.'

And with that, everything went...

Black.