Ryanne takes a step forward until she’s literally standing against Dravin. Looking up at him, she says through clenched teeth. “I wouldn’t tempt me, Dravin. I like to prove people wrong.”
Dravin stares down at her for a couple of seconds before pointing toward one of his men. The man standing in the back nods and walks toward Liam, who willingly turns around and lets the man cuff him. Another man on the left side of the room slowly starts moving toward Ryanne. I open my mouth to warn her when she spins around. “I wouldn’t try that if I were you.”
The man holding the vile of dormirako stops moving toward her. She must have read his mind. Dravin grabs Ryanne’s hands while she has his back to him and cuffs her again. Ryanne hisses as he tightens the cuffs too tight, but she doesn’t complain. Dravin pushes her toward the stairs as the man moves Liam.
Dravin turns around and looks at Incendia. Winking at her, he disappears down the stairs. Incendia glares at him and attempts to move toward the stairs, but Bragden grabs her around the waist and pulls her against his chest. She fights against him, but Bragden is a lot stronger than her.
“You can’t go after him. Not yet,” he tells her.
“He knew who I was,” she says as she turns around and looks up at Bragden. He still has a hold of her. “He killed the only family I ever knew. I need to go after him. I can’t let him get away again,” she pleads with him.
“If you go after them, either Ryanne or Liam will get killed. Is that what you want?” he tells her. She sighs and leans her head against his chest, dejected. Incendia is a little under a foot shorter than Bragden. I imagine that’s what Ryanne and I look like together.
A loud boom echoes from downstairs, shaking the entire house. I reach out and steady myself on the wall. “Stay here,” Tom tells us as he and Colin walk down the stairs. We all turn and look at each other, confused as to what just happened.
Last night was amazing. I sat with Ryanne outside and under the stars, and we talked about our future for the whole night until we both eventually fell asleep. This morning, she’s gone.
Tom returns, shaking his head. “They’re gone.”
“Just like that?” David asks. Larkin and Kyril both cuss. We all turn and look at them. “What?”
“While we worked for Dravin, there were these rumors swirling around that Dravin had found a mage named Zahtri. A mage stronger than all other mages. If they have him, it’s not Dravin we have to worry about,” Larkin says. “He’d be able to transport large groups like that quickly.”
“Why haven’t you mentioned this before?” I ask.
“It was just a rumor,” Kyril answers.
Colin walks back into the hallway. “Well I’d say that we’ve got some planning to do.”
Bragden reaches up and pulls his necklace off. Natalie and Emma gasp. Incendia tears her eyes from Colin and turns toward Emma and Natalie. She follows their eyes up to Bragden’s hands. She instantly starts backing up from Bragden, who’s still holding her. Bragden tightens his arm around her waist and hands her the necklace.
“I can’t take that Bragden,” she tells him.
“I already took the necklace off, Incendia. If you don’t accept it…” Bragden trails off.
“You big stupid man. I’m not worth protecting!” she hits him on the chest. Bragden pulls her against him. She gasps as she collides into him and looks up at him. Without hesitating, Bragden crushes his lips to hers. Incendia tries to fight him, but when Bragden’s hands moves into her hair, she stops and kisses him back.
I draw my eyes away. Natalie walks over to me and wraps her arms around my waist. I place my arm around her shoulder and take comfort in her embrace. “We’ll get them back.” She looks up at me. “We have to.”
Bragden pulls back and hands Incendia the pendant necklace again. “Now take the stupid necklace.” She glances down at the pendant and back up at Bragden—a dazed look still in her eyes. She doesn’t say anything, which causes Bragden to act himself. He moves her hair aside and clasps the necklace around her neck.
Incendia pokes Bragden in the chest when he steps backward. “If I get killed and you die because of it, you have no one to blame but yourself!”
“Duly noted,” he says with slight amusement.
“So, what are we going to do now?” I ask. Natalie removes her head from my shoulder and turns to look at Tom and Colin. Both Natalie and I just had to watch someone we love be carried away by Dravin.
Tom looks toward me and shakes his head. “If we stand any chance of getting Ryanne or Liam back, we need more help. It’s time to start calling everyone. We’ll still need more people though.”