I wake to a pounding headache. Panic flares in my chest when I try to bring my hands to my head.

“She’s awake.”

I jerk my hands, afraid when they won't respond to my brain. Am I paralyzed? But no... I hiss as unforgiving rope bites into my tender wrists.

Ran.

She growls, the single sound filled with both pain and promise. I’m here. Sir Hans is with me. We'll be there soon.

Listen. Make sure I miss nothing.

A wheezing chuckle grates on my mind and draws me from Ran. She stays in the back of my mind, a quiet and comforting presence.

Two hooded creatures and four men dominate my home. Orbs linger in the corners, reminding me of the orb from the library, but these glow a morose blue instead of his typical happy amber. “Took you long enough. My men here are barely keeping themselves in line.”

He jerks, wiping his chin of my spittle. There is no emotion behind those black eyes.

I jump when he barks a laugh. “Quite a spitfire. Too bad we must leave you unscathed. You’d be fun. Your family, though, is another matter entirely.” He gestures to the wall behind him. One of the little bobbing orbs sits there glowing a dim, burnt blue.

My heart gives a pang of empathy. Something whispers she's just as chained as I am. Without conscious thought, I reach out to her as if she were Ran, trying to feel for her as I did the Eldertree child.

It takes a moment, and my eyes about pop when I realize I’m feeling everyone around me in something of a greater manner; as if I am pushing through the sludge of other people’s brains and thoughts.

It makes my mind recoil in disgust as I feel things that make me wonder if these men were ever men at all. I push through it, determined to feel something better, determined to connect with this little ball that reminds me of my little friend in the library and another who saved Ran when she was almost killed.

It makes me wonder at this little one’s blue sadness. I wonder if they have her family, too.

They don’t. A whisper on the wind, soft and sighing, causes me to jump. I take a deep breath and realize the man is still doing whatever dark magic he needs.

I keep my eyes straight ahead. I feel her sadness, her yearning, her deep bone pain.

Why are you with them? I respond just as quietly in my mind, aware of the creature doing a complicated mix of gestures.

I was forced into Indenture. They can’t force one into a true bond, but they can do the next best thing. She sends me an image of a ritual involving blood, pain, and the lingering sensation of having an owner that one must always obey. Most mages, or magicians, are only those who steal our life force and twist it to their own needs. The twisted nature of their magic causes physical changes. Most grow callous and as ugly as their very soul.

How does one break the Indenture?

The owner must be killed, or the Indentured can break the chains by an act of selflessness. Forced servitude is the opposite of selflessness, so in the act of selfless love, the Indenture cannot survive.

How can I help? I almost feel her smile, and a flash of pink alights on her little light ball. I feel her maintaining the blue through a force of will.

You already are. That sounds bad.

No! Don’t. I will kill your master. I will help you. Don’t kill yourself just to be free.

Who said anything about dying?

She retreats from my mind as she grows into a deep, dark portal.

From within comes a scream that shakes my very soul. “Jill?” I whisper. “JILL!”

“Sis. It hurts,” she whimpers.

“What are you doing to her, you King forsaken snake!”

“I will tell them to stop, if you only give us what we ask.”

Another shrill scream comes from within, and I am powerless. Tears stream down my face. “Take me! TAKE ME INSTEAD!” I yell as I fight against the bonds.

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Leaning over, I'm able to reach a tiny hidden blade. It's small and needlelike, but it's exactly what I need.

The creature waves a hand and her screams cut off. “I need information. You are a skilled challenger. Get me inside the palace and close to the Prince. You are close to Sir Hans. Find out who this Guardian is and bring her to me. You will be rewarded.” His smile sends chills up my neck.

“I get them back?” I ask quietly, working on the bonds.

“Yes.”

“They will be safe until then?”

“Safe? What is safe? Life is not safe. The sooner you get us what we want, the sooner they will be safe.” He chuckles, dark and soulless, the sound without a hint of humor. It curdles my stomach.

“Oh, and tell no one about us.”

He goes to slip something around my neck, but I snap the frayed rope and stab his throat with the tiny blade. He gurgles, his eyes growing wide.

I pull the blade out and use it to saw through the rope on my other hand. The man still has blood gushing from his neck artery, and a man catches him as he falls back.

Two others charge. I try to pull my feet from the ropes, but it holds, leaving my hands free and my legs bound.

My eyes go wide as one man leaps for me. He tackles my chair to the ground, and I strike the ground hard, seeing stars for a moment as the air is knocked from my lungs. The man growls, his fetid breath washing over my face.

I headbutt him, and he pulls back, cursing.

My knife stabs deep into his eye, and he releases a blood-curdling scream.

Another man spits at his screaming colleague's feet, coming at me with a grin curling his lips. Not. Good.

I rock the chair to the side, but that was so not smart. It only puts my back to him so I can't see what he's doing. Something lifts the chair, and I fall on my face, crying out when the ropes hold my ankles at odd angles and dig into my skin.

He drops the chair, then grabs me in a bear hug, lifting both me and the chair dangling from my ankles. I scream again as I feel something pop.

A war cry comes from outside, and the man holding me drops me to the ground. He books it to the roiling portal at a barked command.

The creature crouches before me, black blood all along the front of his shirt, but the hole in his neck healed.

I whimper, trying to scoot back, but he grabs my neck. A sound from outside makes him release a growl, and he leans down, smiling as fear contorts my face. "I will be in touch."

He says a word, then steps into the portal created by the little orb.

When the last creature is through, I hear the first creature’s grating voice. “Natasha come—”

The blue of the orb around the edges of the dark portal abruptly spins, and a light shoots from her. The light lands on my forehead, and it glows with a warmth that reminds me of sheep's wool. Soft, comfortable, and warm. The pain in my ankle eases, the pain diminishing until I feel as if I’m on a cloud.

It spreads from my feet to the top of my head and back as my eyes watch the portal.

Much like a reflection on water, the portal dissipates with a series of ripples. The blue around the edges comes back together. A bright flash of white light makes me blink, then it’s gone.

When I open my eyes, I see nothing, and fear shoots through my heart. Then I realize it’s dark, and I'm not blind as I feared. My eyes slowly adjust.

I just make out a form laying in a bundle on the floor where the portal was. A groan comes from it.

“Hello?” I call softly, bending over to slip the tiny blade under my ankle and sawing through the rope.

She groans again, and I see her struggling to get up. “Hang on, let me get free and I’ll help," I say, getting the second rope sawed through and wincing at the odd bend in my ankle. But it still does not hurt.

“You have no idea what I just gave you, do you?” The same voice as from the orb, but more weary and almost... broken.

“Gave me? No, I don’t have any idea what just happened. Would you be so kind as to tell me where my family is and what you just did?” I struggle to keep my voice pleasant... but steel threads through my words as they grow higher pitched in the panic growing in my breast.

“Imagine a soft light at your core, a warm glow of hope. Imagine it becoming what you need. Shape it into the form you wish it to take, and believe in it.” Her voice is breathless, and her form shakes on the ground.

I reach out to her. There is vast sorrow and a hole where something precious used to lie within her.

I gasp. “How do I give it back?”

She wheezes out a half sob, half chuckle. “Don’t you see? You cannot. If you did, my sacrifice would be for nothing and my Indenture would be reinforced.”

I hang my head. Then do as she said. I imagine the warmth that landed on my head earlier. It forms in my mind as a glowing ball, so I imagine the ball lengthening and gaining sharp edges. I feel something in my hand and look down to see a glowing knife.

I gawk much longer than I should. Her deep painful sobs are my only companion as I realize the depth of the gift and the sacrifice it took. I release the knife, and it disappears in a flurry of snow-like golden stars before they, too, are gone.

I stand and blood rushes to my head. The wall supports my weight while I let my head settle and stop spinning. My legs are clumsy and one ankle remains at an odd angle that makes me limp. I make it over to the little being, falling to my knees beside her.

“Oh, little one, I wish I could give this back.”

She sniffles. “I know. That’s the reason I gave it to you.”

I gently slide my hands beneath her and cradle her to my chest. She’s not much bigger than a toddler. I walk out into the moonlight, getting my first good look at her.

My eyes widen at the glistening gossamer wings on her back. Thick pink hair tumbles down her back into my hand. A little rumpled pink dress covers her thin, shaking frame.

“Why the orb?” I ask without thinking. If I focus on her, then I won’t hear the parting screams of my sister.

“It protects us. If no one knows what we are and cannot reach our Gifts, then how can they use our power for bad?”

“But those... things, found a way around that with the Indenture.”

She nods.

“I’m so sorry, sweet one. I’m going to get you to someone I trust, alright?”

She nods again and sighs as I cradle her gently to my chest. It hurts my heart that I can’t give her back what is causing her such grief.

It cuts into my soul that my family is in the clutches of such a madman.

Determination clenches my chest so tightly it's almost a physical pain. I will get them back... or I will die trying.