In front of him, Beatrix lay on a wooden cross we had found in this abandoned house. We took her cloak off and bound her legs and arms to each extremity of the cross. We'd bound her eyes and mouth as well. Whoever lived in this house before us had some grim secrets to hide.

We had found torture tools in the bas.e.m.e.nt too. There were jars containing animal and monster parts. Some of them even had brains that closely resembled those of humans. As I ran around Merinsk, Nag had done some digging about the house. The only thing he could find though, were strange artifacts and notes in a foreign language neither of us could read.

"What the h.e.l.l are we doing?" Nag asked no one in particular. "Since when did we become kidnappers and killers?"

"Your hands are clean," I rea.s.sured him. "If you're tired of this lifestyle, why don't you take the Lady's offer?"

"I don't trust her," Nag turned to me. His eyes were bulged. He did that whenever he was surprised or angry.

"Then you should've stayed with your people," I said. "People here are all the same. We all want something. We all scheme and betray to get it. We're never satisfied with what we have and we never will be. What the Lady offered you is a way out of all this. You'll be happy, away from our corrupted way of life."

"Don't try to sell me the same nonsense she tried on me," he said, annoyed. "Just because you like her, it doesn't mean I should too."

"Just think about it," I said after a heavy sigh. "She's not all that bad."

"What about her?" he asked, pointing at the unconscious Beatrix. "She's not bad either."

"I'm not saying she is," I said. "Look, I needed to speak to her. I need her as much as she needs me now. I just don't like working on her terms."

"You'd better have a convincing speech," Nag said. "Something tells me her father's people will come looking for her pretty soon."

We heard Beatrix groan and our conversation came to a halt. She moved her head left and right. She fought vehemently against the ropes that bound her in place. She didn't seem pleased with the way things turned out.  She seemed to slowly realize what had happened. Her muscles tensed then, and she yanked furiously at the ropes, screaming all the while.

Then darkness engulfed us once more.

I sighed and waited for the spell to subside. It took one solid minute for the lights in the room to reappear. Beatrix was still struggling against the ropes I tightly bound her with. I approached the dazed lady of the dark and removed the cloth I wrapped around her mouth.

"You b.a.s.t.a.r.d!" she said as soon as I did. "Where am I?"

"I only wanted to talk," I said, "yet you stabbed me and tried to kill me."

"You were trying to kill one of my own," she retorted.

"I was only following him," I said. "I only wanted to get your attention, and I did."

"Whatever you want, I won't do it," she challenged me.

"Listen, we both want the same thing, but your crew can't get anything done without attracting too much attention," I said.

"So you kidnap me?" she scoffed. "That's not the best way to convince someone to work with you."

"I agree," I said. "You didn't leave me any choice though. I tried to set up another meeting. I even bribed Osgar to speak to you, but you flatly refused. What's a man gotta do to get a lovely lady to speak to him?"

"You rejected my offer," she said. "You humiliated me in front of my men. What makes you think I'd want to speak to you again?"

"I know who's hiding the helm," I said. "I have a plan. If we work together, we'll both have what we want, and we'll get rid of your lord father in the process."

"You could have asked Osgar to relay the message," she retorted. "Why resort to extreme measures? Do you know what you've done? My father will come looking if I go missing."

"That's exactly what I need," I said. "Do you want to keep playing this double game with him? Or do you want to get your hands on the helm and leave these accursed lands?"

Beatrix fell silent. Her hands clasped and unclasped as she mulled over the question I just asked. Her breathing grew calmer, steadier. She heaved a heavy sigh then spoke.

"Unbind me then," she said. "Why keep me prisoner if you only want to talk?"

"Nice try," I said. "I can only trust you to work when the sun comes up. Or when your lord father shows up."

"Are you out of your mind?" she yelled. "My sister knows my energy signature. If you don't let me go now, she'll come looking."

"Does she know about your powers?" I asked.

"No," she said. "I'd like to keep it that way. If my father doesn't find me in my room, he'll send her to look for me. You don't want to mess with her."

"On the contrary," I said. "That's exactly what I'm hoping for. Your father's plotting something sinister. If I don't hit him where it hurts the most, he and his friendly allies won't come out of their holes."

"What are you saying?" Beatrix asked. "What's my father planning?"

"Do you want him to pay for what he's done to you?" I asked.

"You don't know what you're talking about," Beatrix hissed at me.

"Oh but I do," I said. "Wanda isn't really your sister, is she? You were a disappointement to your lord father. He locked you up in a room after he realized you couldn't help him realize his dreams."

"Stop it," she whispered.

"What's that?" I asked.

"I said stop it," she mumbled.

"Why?" I asked. "You don't like hearing the harsh truth?"

"You don't understand," she whispered.

"I think I do," I said. "Wanda, as I hear, is a distant cousin of yours. The demons your father imprisoned told him she was the best candidate. He went into hiding and took her with him. He trained her, gave her more attention than you ever had in your lifetime. He locked you up and tried to sell you to the highest bidder. What kind of father does that?"

"Stop it," she hissed.

"Wanda's got all his attention now. He considers you dead weight. He can't wait to s.h.i.+p you off to some distant land, where he wouldn't have to see your face ever again."

"I SAID STOP!" Beatrix screamed.

Her body suddenly got engulfed in dark energy. It looked like dark smoke that protruded from every pore of her skin. The binding in her eyes dissipated. The ropes that tightly pinned her to the cross came loose. She stood, cracked her neck, and approached me.

Nag gasped and retreated. I stood my ground, meeting Beatrix's eyes, daring her to make her next move.

"You don't know anything about me," she said. Her voice had grown guttural. She was ready to haul herself at me and beat me to death. "You don't know how I suffered, how much I had to endure."

She jumped at me and pinned me against a wall. Her first punch landed on my stomach. It knocked the air out of me. I gasped, tried to breathe, but couldn't even manage to take a whiff of air. Her second punch made the room spin around. She had grown stronger than ever. She punched me again. Then her fury was unleashed.

With the last remaining dregs of willpower I had, I stopped time. I dragged myself out of the spot she cornered me in then released the spell. A flurry of punches followed. Her blind rage destroyed the wall. I shuddered to think of what would have happened if I stayed there. I would probably be dead.

My side ached. The sutures on the stab wound had reopened. My face stung from the two punches I received. I was only beginning to understand Beatrix's powers. I should tread carefully from now on.

After she destroyed the wall, the dark smoke around Beatrix's body dissipated. She turned to look at me, out of breath, but still angry.

"Why take your rage out on me?" I asked. "I only told you what you needed to hear. Work with me. Forget the silly games you used to play on your lord father. It's time we struck. It's time to show this city Lord Bodrick's real face."

"I will not work with you even if it kills me," she defiantly said.

"I wouldn't do that," I said. "What do you take me for? I only wanted to talk. You're a good fighter, why let your abilities go to waste?"

"Zedd," Nag interevened. "You're not making this any easier."

Beatrix noticed Nag for the first time.

"You!" she screamed. "Are you working with him? Did you help him do this to me?"

"Leave him out of this!" I said.

"Can we bicker later?" Nag said. "We've got company."

"Who is it?" I asked.

"Her sister," Nag said in a grumpy growl. "And she brought company."

"s.h.i.+t!" Beatrix swore. "You did this! She'll kill us all!"

"You hide," I told Nag. "We can't let her take us by surprise. We don't even know how her powers work."

Nag nodded and left the room. 'I'll try to keep an eye on her. You try to stay in touch, do you hear?' he said as he disappeared inside the abandoned house.

'Don't forget to count,' I said then turned toward Beatrix.

"Wanda's time is over," I said. "You either help me kill her, or you go back to your derelict warehouse. Go play childish games and pretend nothing's wrong with this city."