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beaten. Just an empty room with a cage at the other end. She swallowed hard as she looked at the thick, steeled cell. It looked stronger than a normal one.
    Hannah closed her eyes for a second, not wanting to think about what that could mean because that wasn’t a normal cage, one built by a normal human who knew nothing about the paranormal. No, that was one built for something stronger than her, stronger even than Josh. It was designed to hold a werewolf. Like her Reed. Whoever had taken her knew that such things as werewolves existed. It wouldn't make any sense otherwise. Since they'd known exactly how to take her, then it would stand to reason they knew what they were taking.
    Why was the cage in the room with her? Did they have Reed as well? Her body shook and her hands fisted, terror trying to suffocate her. When she'd woken up in the basement a year ago, she’d been across from Reed. She didn't want to go through it again. Nor with Josh.
    “I see you're awake,” a voice said from the now-open doorway.
    Hannah started and curled herself into a ball. She couldn’t feel the earth around her, so her magic was useless. Again. She hated being weak.
    “Who are you?” she asked, surprised at how steady her voice was. She had to remain strong and keep some semblance of control. Josh would Find her if his powers were working, and Reed would be with him. She had to have faith in them, faith in herself.
    “Does it really matter who I am?” The man gave a small, creepy smile, and Hannah finally looked at her captor in the waning light.
    He was tall, strongly muscled, and had a military-haircut, though she could still see the slight gray to the color. His brown eyes looked hard, unforgiving, and he had scars down his arms, and some on his chest, but she couldn't see a lot because of the shirt he was wearing. Everything about him screamed military.
    Had he known Josh? Or was this just a man who wanted something paranormal for experimentation? She’d heard the horror stories of the tests that were done on the supernaturals taken from their homes. Josh himself had been part of an elite crew that had known about supernaturals, though his team hadn’t harmed them; they’d merely known of their existence.
    “Of course it matters who you are,” she finally answered. “Why did you take me? Where am I?”
    “Oh, good, all the normal questions the captive asks. You must be getting good at this.” He walked over to her, and she bolted upright and lashed out, her fist connecting with his jaw. He grunted in pain, but the glint in his eyes scared her. Before she could breathe, he had his hand around her throat and her body against the wall.
    Hannah struggled against his hold, but he slammed her head against the wall again. Her vision blurred, and her head suddenly ached as his fist tightened, restricting her air. He slapped her hard with his other hand, and she felt the ring he wore cut her lip. She clawed at his hands, trying to free herself, but he was stronger than her. Too strong…
    “Don’t struggle. It only makes me want to hurt you more,” he growled. “Why don’t you use your strength, or whatever the hell it is you have? You’re an abomination. I thought you'd be stronger than this.”
    He squeezed harder as the darkness threatened to take hold. Before she could fight back, he threw her by the neck against another wall. She slid down to the ground, her muscles not ready to move. Her breaths coming in ragged pants, she tried to take in as much oxygen as possible.
    Oh, goddess, he was going to kill her, even though he didn't know what she was. It didn’t matter at the moment because she could tell he didn’t care what she was as long as she wasn’t human. He would kill her for it.
    “What are you?” he spat out then kicked her in the ribs. Pain ricocheted through her body as she curled herself into a ball again. Instinctively, she knew to protect her stomach and all her vital organs.
    “Who are you?” she