“We should work on that,” he whispers in my ear. I cringe away from him.
“We’re not doing anything,” I retort as I step away from him. Zahtri laughs. Feisty. Hmmm, not sure how I feel about that. He grabs my wrists and slaps a pair of handcuffs on me. I look down at the metal cuffs and back up at him questioningly. I know he can read my mind, so I don’t ask him aloud.
“Do you remember that dagger that you stepped in front of?” he asks me. Of course I remember that stupid dagger. It almost killed me…for real that time. Wait…how does he know about the dagger? “I gave Enrique that dagger personally. He promised to work for me. His power was impressive. Not as much as mine or yours, but still impressive. I didn’t think he’d get himself killed so easily,” Zahtri says as he tightens the cuffs. I wince as the metal digs into my wrist.
“The big mage of yours has some anger issues,” he tells me. I’m not sure if he’s referring to Bragden or Colton. “You see I dabble a little in dark magic. I’ve found a way to infuse said magic with certain objects. It works best with strong metals. Go ahead. Try to get free.” I don’t give him the pleasure of seeing me struggle. I know it’ll hurt if I move my wrists, so I just stare up at him, trying to keep a blank face. “Also, I can read your mind. You’re kind of like an open book. You should try a little harder to censor your thoughts.”
Zahtri starts walking toward the door. When I don’t follow, he sighs loudly and walks back to me. “I like you Ryanne. It’s going to be a shame to waste so much magic,” he moves my hair off my shoulder. I cringe away from him, but can’t do much since I’m already pressed against the wall with my hands cuffed. He leans forward. I turn to the side and feel his lips brush against my ear, “And I don’t like to be wasteful, darling.”
I use my cuffed hands to try and push him away from me. He leans back a little bit but doesn’t step away. “Zahtri, let me make this clear.” I arch my head back and point up to him. “I’m not going to work with you. Not now. Not Ever. I’d rather die first than work for a bunch of murderous Gadramicks. I’ve heard and felt what you all really feel. I haven’t found anything here to make me sway my choice. So you can get that preconceived notion out of that big head of yours because it is never going to happen.”
“We’ll see about that,” he says as he pushes me toward the door. The movement makes my head start throbbing again. I stumble backward into his chest. “You should have avoided the wall.”
“You shouldn’t have pushed me into the wall,” I retort. He ushers me forward. My ears start buzzing—a low humming reverberates through the hall. I shake my head trying to clear the noise. I stop moving forward as the hall starts spinning—the candlelights swirling into the darkness. I close my eyes right as I feel my legs give out again.
Colton
Crouching down in the bushes, I look at the scene in front of me. Gadramicks are streaming out of the compound and gathering in the area behind it. A large wooden platform is being constructed as we speak, both with magic and physical labor. Through all the noise, it will be no problem getting all the mages here.
“Where do you think they are in there?” Natalie asks me as she crouches down beside me.
I look toward the compound door again. It’s propped open because so many people are coming in and out. “Probably in a cell somewhere. I don’t know. What I do know is that we’ll find out soon enough.”
I hear rustling behind me. I turn around and see about fifty mages crouching down behind the bushes. We need to remain as hidden as possible. Being spotted early would ruin everything. We need the element of surprise to be on our side if we have any chance of this working.
The air around me feels electric. I don’t know if it is due to the magic being used by the Gadramicks or the anticipation of what is to come, but it’s a little eerie. Natalie gasps as Dravin walks out of the compound; behind him are Liam and Adam—both handcuffed. There are four Gadramicks around them. Even if they attempted to fight, with their hands cuffed and Ryanne not around, they wouldn’t stand a chance.
“I didn’t think Dravin would go against Adam,” David says. “Even if he was helping Ryanne, I thought he was listening to orders.”
I glare at Adam. He can’t see me, but it makes me feel better. Adam’s been with Ryanne these past few days keeping her safe while I couldn’t, but I still can’t get over everything he has done to her in the past—even before either of them were mages. There are some things you just can’t forgive and forget.