Amylia stood tall in her elven form, glowing with a faint silvery aura. Her Were form was less extreme than that of anyone else here and the differences more subtle. Still, she was clearly no longer quite human. Everyone stared at her in shock, everyone but me.

Amylia made no real effort to get out of her shackle since she knew that her changes hadn’t been great enough to allow her to slip free the way the rest of us had. However, that hadn’t been the reason she’d changed and finally revealed her secret. She’d done that merely because she was tired of hiding the truth of who she was from her own descendants.

“You’re…you’re,” Darek stammered, staring at Amylia with a look of disbelief.

“Your great grandmother,” she responded with a faint smile. “Many times removed.”

“You knew,” Traci exclaimed, looking at me.

“I asked her not to tell anyone,” Amylia said. Then she explained, “I had no idea that any of you existed until Erin showed me the invitation to the meeting. As far as I knew, my son was murdered when he was a teenager…before he’d ever had any children. I wanted to meet you all before I said anything.”

“But…Robert Dupree lived two hundred years ago,” Dr. Merchant exclaimed.

“As a sorceress,” Amylia reminded him with a sad smile. “I can live a very long time.” Of course, Dr. Merchant already knew that which was why he’d been so eager to talk to Gregor about Robert.

Trey gulped. “Then that means this Gregor guy…”

“Was Robert’s father,” Amylia confirmed sadly.

“Fuck,” Jake exclaimed with a look of horror.

Amylia briefly told them of how she’d kept her hybrid status from Gregor and of how Robert had supposedly died. While she was repeating the story, I slowly looked around, trying to think of something else we could use to escape. The one opening that I could see was that my ward circle had been built to contain me physically but not to contain my magic. Unfortunately, I only had a single token with me and it wouldn’t do much good at the moment.

“Gregor’s contempt of the Were seems to have only grown with time,” Amylia said. “I never would have expected him to go this far.” She shook her head sadly, looking guilty and pained. “To intentionally use his own descendants like this…”

“If he hates the Were,” Traci asked. “Then why is he trying to learn how to become one?”

“I don’t think he intends to become a Were,” Amylia responded thoughtfully. “At least, he would not consider it as such. More likely, he intends to create spell that would mimic our power. You see, among the Touched, a spell to transform into a different species is among the most difficult to cast, yet even the least powerful Were can do this instinctively. And as mythics, we have access to other inherent powers. I am more sensitive to magic in this form…and I can draw more of it. I believe Erin is correct about Gregor’s plans. He intends to discover how we do this and create a spell which would allow them to temporarily take new forms with vast power.”

“No fucking way,” Trey blurted out.

“Gregor may believe that your blood ties to him would make it easier for him to draw this knowledge from you,” Amylia continued, appearing to be thinking aloud as much as she was explaining. “A blood resonance effect might make it much more likely for him to succeed.”

“But wouldn’t they have to be class ten to cast that kind of spell?” I asked.

“Normally,” Amylia agreed. “But they could use rituals to make things easier.” At my blank look, she explained, “A ritual is a way of drawing extra magic and storing it so that you can cast spells that are normally beyond your class level.”

I stared at Amylia in surprise. “Great. NOW someone tells me about that.” I shook my head, wishing that someone would have told me about rituals before. Now, my succubus abilities let me cast higher level spells anyway.

“Rituals are an old technique that has fallen out of favor,” Amylia explained. “We don’t even teach them at the Academy anymore. They’re complicated and inefficient. You can spend three hours casting a ritual in order to gather enough energy for a spell that only takes fifteen minutes to cast. They do have their uses though which is why some sponsors still teach them to their students.

“So aunt June probably never even heard of them,” I muttered to myself.

I just stared at the ward circle that bound me in this spot, poking at the invisible wall. I’d gotten free from my shackle and had been testing this wall without a lot of success. However, I had something that none of the others had at their disposal. Magic spells. With that, I stretched my succubus wings as much as I could and then went to work trying something.

After a minute, Kaylie asked, “Erin, what are you doing?”

“She’s casting a spell,” Amylia answered, watching intently as I drew magic and formed it into the pattern.

“What kind of spell?” Darek asked.

“I’m not sure yet,” Amylia responded, not taking her eyes off me. “She’s not using a spell circle and is doing this entirely from memory. That’s extremely difficult for someone so young and inexperienced.”

The spell collapsed before I was even halfway finished making it. “Frak,” I muttered in annoyance. Then I asked, “Can everyone please be quiet so I can concentrate.”

I took a deep breath and tried to focus on the spell pattern I’d learned in class and had practiced a few times. I had to relax and let the pattern form again in my mind. Once I had it, I once again went to work trying to cast the spell. It was extremely difficult without the spell circle, diagrams, and notes, similar to assembling a large and complicated puzzle when I’d only seem the picture on the front of the box once before and didn’t have it in front of me.

When I was about halfway through with the spell, Amylia mused, “Oh yes, I see which spell this is. Very good choice.”

As soon as I completed the spell, I released it and an instant later, the concrete floor around me suddenly shattered. The ward circle that held me prisoner was destroyed, as were the circles of Trey and Kaylie who were close enough to get caught in the effect.

“I’m free,” Trey exclaimed as he stepped out of the wreckage of his circle.

“Oh my God,” Kaylie said, staring at me with a look of amazement. “That was awesome…”

“Very good,” Amylia told me with a look of pride. “Very good.”

“Now get the rest of us out,” Jake said.

“We’ll get you out in a minute honey,” Kaylie told him then looked back at me for confirmation.

“It’ll take a bit,” I said with a grimace, glancing to the door and hoping that no one came to check on us. “I’ll probably have to cast the spell a couple more times to get everyone…”

Jake was already moving to stand by the door. “I’ll keep watch while you do.”

“Does it always take so long to cast a spell?” Traci asked curiously.

“It often takes longer,” Amylia answered. “The rock cracking spell is a fairly simple one.”

“Fortunately,” I muttered. “Otherwise I wouldn’t have been able to remember the pattern.”

I moved to a new position and then began casting the spell again. This time, I’d placed myself so that when I shattered the concrete floor around me, I’d be disrupting the circles of Amylia, Dr. Merchant, and Jake. Once Amylia was free, she’d be able to cast some spells of her own and we’d really be ready to get out of here.

I was about halfway through casting the spell again when the door opened and Trey yelled out a warning. I snapped around to look, losing my concentration and the spell pattern collapsed, ruining all the work I’d just done. An instant later, I saw that Trey had grabbed hold of the single person who’d come through. Monica.

“Let me go,” Monica cried out in terror. Then she saw me on the other side of the room, still in my succubus form and her eyes widened.

“I thought we were just saying that,” Kaylie said.

Monica looked to Amylia and then froze as she saw her, still in elven form. She gasped in shock and squeaked out, “Amylia?”

“Don’t hurt the girl,” Amylia told Trey.

Trey released his hold on Monica but stayed between her and the door so that she couldn’t get away from us. “Is...that you?” Monica asked nervously. “What did they do to you?”

“They did nothing to me,” Amylia told her gently. “This is the form I’ve worn every full moon for a very long time.”

“You’re…you’re one of them,” Monica gasped. “You’re a Were.”

Amylia hesitated a moment before responding, “Yes. Like Erin, I am a hybrid. Now Monica, why did you come in here by yourself. I don’t think it was to tease Erin or gloat.”

At the mention of my name, Monica looked to me nervously. I was tired of scaring people and seeing how it kept coming back to me so I remained where I was, trying to look as nonthreatening as I could.

“I…I…,” Monica started. Then she stared at the ground with an expression of guilt. “This isn’t right…” She held up her hands, revealing a metal key in the palm of one and a yellow stone that looked something like amber in the other.

“A key for the shackles,” Amylia said in surprise. “And a keystone for the ward circle.” Monica just nodded at that. “You came down here to let me go.” Monica nodded again.

Trey let Monica go and stared at her in surprise, as did just about everyone else. “What do we do with those?” Trey asked, gesturing to the key and keystone that Monica still held.

“Holding the keystone will allow you to pass through the ward circle as though it was not there,” Amylia explained. “Anyone you are in physical contact with will also be able to pass through.”

Monica held out the key and keystone and Trey accepted them. She made no move to turn and run, though I could see that she was tempted to do so. Kaylie went next to Monica while Trey walked over to Darek’s circle. He held his hand through it as though the ward wasn’t there at all, and then Darek grabbed his hand and walked out of it without difficulty. After this, Trey went to Amylia’s circle, unlocking her shackles and letting her out. A minute later, all of us were free from our cages.

After Amylia was out of her circle, she began changing back to her normal form. She’d already made her point to those of us here and apparently no longer saw a reason to remain in that form. However, I stayed as a succubus for now. Being stronger, able to see in the dark, and able to fly could be pretty useful in an escape. I wasn’t the only one to think along those lines as Dr. Merchant transformed as well. I just grinned at the sight of having a sabertooth tiger on our side.

“Thank you,” Amylia told Monica. “But it might not be safe for you if they learn you helped us escape. Come with us. You can return with Erin and I to the Academy.”

“No,” Monica said, giving me a nervous look. “Kidnapping people isn’t right, but I can’t leave Marcus.” Then she smiled faintly and said, “I’ll just tell them Erin used mind control to make me help.”

Amylia nodded and we began leaving through the door, though Monica remained behind. I glanced back as we left her, surprised that I actually felt worried for her.