"Gray. Marius and I need to sleep at some point. I was thinking we could sleep now, since she won't be back until about dinner time. That way we're not leaving you when you might need us." Talia said. "We can work on a plan to get out of here. We need a plan for what to do once we are out though. We can't let Echo keep that title. There's no telling what she'll do next time." I replied.

"I can take the title." Talia offered.

"You're powerful, but that could still be dangerous. Only the council could stop you if you went insane. We can't risk that, Talia." Marius answered. "We need someone who will not be a danger to everyone here, especially not to Echo." "How are you not mad at her? I'm one of her best friends and I'm a little mad." Sean asked.

"Because I've been around longer than everyone in your cell combined. Even Talia isn't angered at Echo." Marius scoffed.

"She truly thinks this is the best way to keep everyone safe for the duration of the curse, Sean. Echo values every person she put in these cells. She's worried that any one of us could end up attacked." Talia said. "She's only known us for a few days." Emmalyn replied, disbelieving.

"You're family. She values that as much as friendships. If she didn't think she could get you out of here safely, she would have put you in here with us to keep you safe. That's just how Echo is, and she likes you both." I explained.

We ate our lunch in relative silence once the vampires went to sleep. I promised them an update when they woke. There were a lot of random suggestions, but nothing seemed to work.

No matter how insane Echo was right now, she was also smart enough to see through things like others were suggesting. We slid the trays back through the slot. We needed Echo to think we were being compliant until we could find a way to get free.

I told the girls to sit on the cot. They all looked uncomfortable. I knew it had to be nerve wracking to be locked up with all of us guys. I wondered if we could use that to our advantage.

"I think I have an idea that would work." Jean-Claude said.

Dillon looked proud of his mate, but, until I knew what it was, I wasn't going to trust that it could work. I nodded to him.

"Well, Echo is the only one taking care of us. Cooking enough food for five werewolves takes a lot of time and resources. Why don't we ask Echo to take Dillon and me back home? The cat barely saw either of us. We could ask her to take us to Bellamy's office and offer to come get our things once the curse is resolved." He suggested.

That could work. She wouldn't see it as a way for them to get out and release us. They were asking to be taken hundreds of miles away. It would make sense in her mind that they were just trying to make things easier on her.

No one could seem to object to that. Going home would be safer for them and safer for us. I didn't know how long Echo was planning to keep us here.

"Sounds like we have a plan to get someone out. Then what?" I asked.

"We can contract Trent and have him come with his warriors. It needs to be more than a few people if they're going to make it past Echo. I can give them the code for the gate, so they don't have to let her know. The more surprise we can have, the better this will work." Dillon said.

The rest of the afternoon was spent preparing what Dillon and Jean-Claude would have to do, once they were free, to free us. I was glad this wouldn't take too long. I didn't like the idea of being locked up for longer than a day or two.

With the revelation of hunters in our town, I didn't like the idea of leaving Echo unprotected. Echo was the one who was the least safe of all of us. She didn't even realize it.

We went over the options we knew of for Master of the territory. If we could select a vampire, give them the title, then lock them up, it would be best. Victor's supports wouldn't work, because each had a business to look after.

Harmony and Val both offered, but they were actually less vampire than Echo was. I didn't know how it worked, but I was concerned that the curse was aimed more toward a vampire and they may not have the strength in the face of it. Echo wasn't full vampire and it took her faster than it took Victor.

I chuckled. "We could always give it to Daniel Darknight. He's already locked up in Marius' cells back in his territory and we know there's no way he can get out."

Preston grinned. "That bastard would be tortured even more by having a fixation he could do nothing about. Do you think they'll agree?"

"Maybe. It takes care of the problem, unless there's something about being Master of a territory that we don't know about. Does anyone know anything about them?" I asked.

Everyone looked around, shaking their heads. That sucked, but we only had an hour or two left of Marius and Talia's sleep cycle. They could tell us if it was a bad plan.

"Do you think you two could do that pushing thing you did for Victor?" I asked Val and Harmony.

"It took all three of us focusing on him at the same time. I don't know if we can." Val answered.

"If you and Victor held Echo and focused on her, you could make up for her." Emmalyn said. "There are two powerful triads in this house. You, Victor, and Echo make up one, Val, Harmony, and Echo make up the other. She's marked you and shares her strength with you." "It's worth a shot." Harmony shrugged. "I don't like my sister like this and I'd do anything to get her back."

"Same." Val nodded.

We were all set. We just needed to run our ideas past the vampires. With luck, we'd be out of the basement before midnight.

There was some scattered chitchatting. I never realized how tedious being locked up could be. Having other people there made it easier, though.

A while later, the scent of vampire increased and I breathed a sigh of relief. That meant Echo would be down in a few hours with dinner and our plan could begin.

Quickly, I relayed the idea for escape to Talia and Marius. They agreed that it should work. If nothing else, Echo would see them being hundreds of miles away as being safe.

"We just need to figure out who should get the title of Master." Talia said.

"Gray had a good idea." Preston said from beside me.

"It was really a joke, but the more I think of it, the better it sounds." I replied.

We shared my idea for giving Daniel the title of Master. This elicited a dark chuckle from Marius. Talia snickered.

"The curse would drive him mad. His obsession with my children would be magnified. That is an amazing idea, Grayson. I didn't realize you had it in you to be so cruel." Marius said. "Maybe there is some hope that you will be a strong mate for my daughter." "Thanks... I guess."

They couldn't name a new master while they were locked up in the cell. One thing I could say for Marius; he was proud of Echo even when she was crazy. Something occurred to me.

"Marius, what about your phone. She didn't have time to get it from you before she locked you up." I told him urgently.

I could hear him patting his pockets, then he groaned. My hopes were dashed. I knew that sound.

"It must have fallen out when I was with Lila this morning. I hadn't even noticed." He sighed.

"It's okay. It was a long shot, anyway." I answered.

We turned the conversation away from the escape and after plans. Instead, we worked on making it seem like we'd accepted Echo's decision. The blankets we'd been sleeping with were folded and used as cushions to keep us off the floor. It made everything a little more comfortable.

I looked over at Val. He 'd been pretty quiet. He didn't even yell at Cam when he started cuddling Harmony.

"What's going on, Val?" I asked.

"Echo used to spend every Sunday locked in the basement with some food for the day. Our fake parents called it her 'day off'. I'm just wondering how bad it was for her if being locked up with everyone is so hard on me." Val replied softly.

"She was probably grateful to not have to work or hear the hateful things they would say to her. I can't imagine it was easy for her the first time it happened. I remember her shaking on Saturdays. I always thought it was because she didn't want to be locked in the basement. Maybe it was that and feeding the vampires." Harmony whispered.

Every time I heard something like that, it made me angry. I couldn't believe someone would hurt Echo so badly. She was so good and sweet.

After a while longer, I heard Victor join the conversation in the other cell. Finn called out for Amelia. I moved away from the door so she could sit next to it and talk to him.

I heard him calling her 'Amor'. Victor had called Echo that when he was crazy. Most of us had already guessed that they were mates, but it seemed that they were keeping it a secret, because neither one announced it.

They would when they were ready. I was sure of it. They were well matched.

-

Echo came down some time later with trays of food. Amelia moved away from the door and I had Dillon and Jean-Claude take her place. They needed to catch Echo's attention before she left for the night. They waited for the first tray to slide in. She'd put blood in for the vampires first and talked to Victor for a moment. I prayed to the Goddess for this to work.

"Echo! We needed to talk to you about something." Dillon called out.

"What is it?" She asked warily.

"Jean-Claude and I were thinking that we had only come to train you and you're already advanced enough to train with vampires. We would have been taking our leave soon. Instead of having to care for and feed five werewolves, you could take me and my mate to Bellamy's office. We can come get our things once the curse is broken. That way you know we're not just going to turn around and let everyone out and you know we're safe. There's no way that Fenton's curse could reach us all the way in Lune Rouge." Dillon explained.

Echo slid a second tray in, but was quiet. I knew she was thinking of what could happen. I was hopeful that she wouldn't come to the same decision.

"What's to stop you from borrowing someone else's car and coming back?" Echo questioned.

"We can make the promise to you that we won't. There's a lot of work for us to do. We did this as a favor to our Luna. She'll be thrilled to have us home, because she doesn't want to keep doing our work and she'll know that you're able to protect everyone." He replied. "This will make things so much easier on you."

"Alright, just promise you won't come back until after the curse is lifted." Echo insisted.

"We promise not to return until the curse is lifted." They said in unison.

"Reach your hands through the door." She ordered.

They did and they were gone in an instant. We all grinned at each other. Harmony and Amelia did a little giddy dance. It worked. Now it was all up to the guys to get the reinforcements.

Echo returned a few minutes later and sent in the tray with waters. She sat on the ground next to the opening she'd just slid the tray through. I put my hand out and she took it gently. "Angel. I miss hugging you."

"I'm not letting you out, Gray. It's not safe."

"I understand. I'm not asking you to. I'm just letting you know that I miss you." I said softly.

"I miss you, too. Everything will be fine. You're safe for now." She whispered and squeezed my hand.

She let me go and stood. Soon, I'd have her back in my arms. We just needed to wait a little longer.

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