“Your feelings aren’t hurt?”
“Not at all.”
He blew out a long breath. “Good. In that case, it was terrible.”
I laughed, and as soon as I parked the car, I leaned over to plant a big kiss on his lips, then I got out of the car. Alaric sat frozen for a few seconds before joining me on the sidewalk and walking to the front of the comic shop. Our two guards, Regan and Zoey, met us at the door. They’d followed behind us in their own car.
As I unlocked the doors, I said to them, “I need to make a food run after work today. I’m out of almost everything, and we’re going to have spaghetti for dinner.”
Regan asked, “With your homemade sauce?”
I grinned. “Yep.”
“That stuff is delicious,” Regan said.
“Thanks.”
Zoey said, “Once we check the building and you two are inside, I can make a run to the store if you give me a list. You only need to have one guard on you at all times.”
“That would be great, Zoey. Is that alright with you, Regan?” I asked.
“Sure.” He held up his hand. “Stay here while we check everything out.”
I nodded and leaned my shoulder against Alaric’s while we waited for them to do their thing. After they came back and gave us a nod, I asked Alaric, “Do you want to help me sort through that shipment that came in yesterday? We can probably get a lot done this morning before the store gets too busy.”
“Sounds good, dove.”
I grinned at his response and bent down to kiss his cheek before I walked to the back of the store.
“I’m gonna take the recycling out real quick,” I said, hopping up and kissing the top of Alaric’s head. “Be right back.”
Alaric glanced up from the middle of his organized chaos to send me a smile, then eyed Regan the guard walking with me. With a sigh, I grabbed the giant box filled with cardboard and pointed at the other one and said to Regan, “If you’re coming with me, you think you can grab that box, too?”
“Sure thing,” he said as he scooped it up.
“Thanks.”
He followed me outside to the recycling dumpster I had installed back here since most of our trash was cardboard, and once I threw my box away, I grabbed the other from him and tossed it inside. Regan asked, “You mind if I have a smoke while we’re out here?”
I glanced at the door with a frown, but said, “Yeah, sure.”
He pulled out his cigarettes and held the box out to me, but I shook my head, then I leaned against the wall while he lit up. After a minute, he asked, “You been with Alaric long?”
“No, only a few months.”
“You’re his soul-pledged, though, right?”
“Um… yeah.” Wasn’t that common knowledge?
He whistled with a grin. “That’s crazy, man. I thought it usually took years for souls to bond together.” He tilted his head and looked me up and down, making me a little uncomfortable. “Unless… is he your destined, too?”
“What do you mean?”
“I’ve heard of destineds forming the soul-pledge faster than others.”
I shook my head because I had no idea what he was talking about. “I’m sorry… what?”
He grinned and shrugged as he moved closer to me and set his hand on my shoulder. His grip was tight enough it hurt, and he said, “No, man, I’m the one that’s sorry. Nothing personal, human. I kinda like ya, especially when you cook.”
My eyes widened as my stomach filled with dread, and as soon as I opened my mouth to scream for help, Regan tsked at me and quickly wrapped his gray, smoky magic around my mouth. I struggled against it and ran for the door, but his magic snaked around my chest, arms, wrists, and legs as if a chain had been wrapped around my body. I fell onto my shoulder, unable to catch myself with my hands stuck at my sides. Rolling onto my back, I tried to kick at him when he walked toward me.
He caught my legs way easier than he should’ve been able to and said, “None of that, now. I don’t wanna hurt ya if I can help it.”
My hands were stuck at my sides which meant there was no hope of me getting my hands on the enforcer blade in an ankle holster that Izzy had given me. With his magic tying me up there was no way to fight back, and that just pissed me off. At least give me a damn chance, asshole.
Tires squealed at the end of the alley and panic gripped my heart, making it pound ferociously and making my head dizzy. Doors opened close by, but I couldn’t see past Regan since he was kneeling in front of me. He kept an eye on me as he spoke over his shoulder, “What took ya so long? I thought you were meeting me back here as soon as the door closed.”
“There was a bit of a delay, but we’re all good now,” a soft voice said. I didn’t recognize it, but I was pretty sure it was a woman. That was confirmed when she peeked over Regan’s shoulder at me with a slight pout on her lips. “He looks feral.”
I narrowed my eyes at her, and she sneered.
Regan scooped me up, and I tried to struggle, but his magic was making my muscles freeze up. Regan rolled his eyes at the woman and said, “I just captured him and tied him up like a wild animal, and he knows we’re kidnapping him, of course he looks feral. I’d be pissed too.” She didn’t respond, but Regan opened the back door of the SUV and climbed inside, keeping me on his lap. In a quiet voice, only meant for me, he whispered, “The more you fight, the tighter the binds will become. If you try to relax, their hold won’t be painful.”
I struggled on his lap for another minute before realizing he was right; the more I struggled and fought them, the more they constricted me. That pissed me off beyond belief.
Once I settled down some, Regan said, “There ya go. Don’t worry, as long as you listen, they won’t hurt you. You’re not the one they want.”
His words were meant to help me relax, I thought—although why he cared after kidnapping me, I’d never know—but all they did was make fear and panic rush through my veins at a quicker rate. The only reason they’d kidnap me and keep me alive was to get to Alaric. And if there was one thing I knew about my warlock, it was that he would do whatever it took to protect me, even if it meant trading his life for mine.
I couldn’t let him do that. I had to figure out a way to get out of this so I could save Alaric from these psychos.
Chapter 25
Alaric
When Grady took over two minutes to come back inside, I decided to go investigate. I figured Regan had wanted to smoke a cigarette—why, I didn’t know because those things were horrific smelling—but I wanted to be sure everything was alright.
A strange tug pulled on my chest and a fear that wasn’t my own filled my veins. “No,” I whispered as I ran. Before I even reached the door to the alleyway, Tiberius came squawking into the back in a panic. When I felt his sudden alarm, it made my heart stop in fear. I tugged on the door, but it wouldn’t open. “No, no, no.”
Calling on my magic, I pushed out the white mist and felt it collide with a gray magic I didn’t recognize. With all of my willpower, I surged it forward until it wrapped around the grayness and pushed it out of the way, releasing its hold on the door, then I threw the back door open and raced outside.
No one was standing near the dumpster, and after a quick look up and down the alley, I found it empty. I yelled at Tib, “See if you can find him! He couldn’t have gotten far!” I’d only just felt his panic and fear; I wasn’t that far behind him.
Tib yelled out and flew up into the sky, so I pulled out the cell phone Grady had bought me. My hands were shaking as I tried to remember Grady’s instructions on how to use it, and I had to close my eyes and breathe in order to get myself together enough to even unlock the stupid phone. I called Grady first as I ran down the alley, but of course, there was no answer, so I called Raphie second.
He answered on the second ring. “Hello?”
“They took Grady!” I yelled at him.
There was barely a pause before he asked, “Where are you?”
“I just rounded t
he corner from the alley, opposite end of Laz’s place. I don’t see any cars anywhere, Raphie! What do I do? Where did they take him?”
“I need you to calm down—”
“I can’t fucking calm down! The last time I saw that witch, I was imprisoned for two hundred years! What if she takes Grady away from me that long? Or worse? What if she, what if she hurts him? Or, or…” I trailed off, not wanting to voice the million other terrible scenarios going through my head.
“I’ll be to you in less than two minutes, Alaric. But I need you to stay calm—”
“I am fucking calm!” I yelled, breathless as I ran to the other side of the alley.
“You’ve now used the f-word, as you like to call it, twice, when before you were afraid to even say it out loud. You’re the opposite of calm—”
“How would you feel if it was Izzy that was taken?”
“I would be panicking, but the calmer you are, the easier it will be to find him.”
I ignored him. “There are no cars on this side of the alley either.”
Tiberius got my attention through our link, so I closed my eyes and concentrated on my familiar. Tib let me take over his body, easily giving me control so I could see what he was seeing. Tib was following a black big car, a—what are they called?—a SUV, but I couldn’t see inside the dark windows from this angle. It was a weird feeling being able to control a bird’s body, but Tib and I had spent many, many, many hours practicing over the years in a very small space without much room for error, so it wasn’t too difficult. I aimed his body down to look through the back window. Luckily for me, it was light out, so I had a pretty good view of Regan holding Grady on top of him. At first, I didn’t understand what I was seeing, but I soon realized Grady was wrapped in magic. I assumed it was Regan’s magic. But other than that, he looked unharmed. Not that I could really see his body very well, but at least he looked alert.
Glancing around the road they were traveling on, I realized I recognized where they were. They were on the same street as a restaurant Grady took me to. In fact, they were fairly close to that place. What’s that place called? Oh, right, The Royal Bay.
On a breath, I released Tiberius from my grasp, allowing him to take control back, then nudged his mind with mine to ask him to keep following that SUV. He sent me an annoyed huff in response because he already knew not to leave Grady. He was just as protective of him as I was.
“Alaric?” my brother yelled as he opened the driver’s door of his car at the end of the alley. Apparently, he’d arrived in those moments I’d used my familiar bond.
“Tib found him. He’s in a car, a-a SUV. Near The Royal Bay. Come on, we’re not that far behind them.”
Raphie hopped back in the car as I clambered into the passenger seat, and his cat familiar climbed onto his shoulders, wrapping around his neck. Once he was racing down the street, he said, “Izzy is calling backup. Will you call him to tell him the location you gave me?”
“Yeah.” I pulled out my phone and it only took me a few seconds to figure out how to call Isiah. After telling him everything, I hung up. “Can you go faster than this?”
“I’m going as fast as I can.”
I glanced over and saw that he was going nearly one hundred miles per hour and I frowned. That still wasn’t fast enough, not when Grady’s life was in danger.
“We’re going to save him, Alaric. I won’t let anything happen to him.”
I nodded at him, then closed my eyes to concentrate on Tiberius again. Not only did I not want to get car sick, I also wanted to be sure the SUV was still on that road. After a mental nudge, Tib gave the reins over to me again.
I flew Tib’s body behind the SUV again to look through the back window, but I couldn’t get a good look at Grady, so I steered him to the side of the car—the side Grady was facing. Turning Tib’s head, I could see Grady taking deep, ragged breaths. He had some scratches on his face, but I didn’t see any big injuries. However, Regan kept whispering into Grady’s ear, and every time, my soul-pledged flinched as fear filled his eyes.
I’m going to kill that bloody bastard.
Grady was holding back tears, I could tell, but when he turned his gaze toward the window and saw me—saw Tiberius—his eyes widened and a shudder ran through his body. The fear I’d seen in his eyes was filled with something worse—complete and utter terror, guilt, resignation, and a bone-deep sorrow that I could feel through our link.
It’s going to be alright, I wanted to tell him, I’m coming for you, dove.
Regan turned his head in my direction, but Grady noticed the move and distracted the guy by leaning heavily into him all of a sudden. The distraction gave me a chance to fly upwards and release my hold on Tib.
On a gasp, I whispered, “They’re still on the move.”
“We’re not that far behind, Alaric. We’ll be there soon.”
I nodded as I kept my own tears at bay. I could feel Grady’s sorrow and terror, and there wasn’t a damn thing I could do to comfort him right now. I’d hoped seeing Tiberius would’ve brought him hope, but it almost seemed to do the opposite. Doesn’t he want me to find him?
Of course he did. I knew he didn’t choose to be kidnapped; I knew he wanted to be with me. He’d chosen me, after all. Maybe he was simply scared that I wouldn’t get there in time.
I’m scared they’re going to hurt you, you idiotic, sweet warlock!
I jumped at the sound of his voice in my head, then shook myself out. I was so desperate to find him, I was hearing things.
“Stop freaking out over there. Your anxiety is rubbing off on me, and that’s how mistakes are made. You need to remain calm and collected so we can take that bitch down and save your man,” Raphie said.
Knowing he was right, I blew out a calming breath and muttered, “I’m trying to.”
“I know you are, but you need to chill. Every soldier needs to know how to keep calm under pressure.”
I glared at the side of his face. “Father trained me to fight, the same as you, Raphie. But I’ve been stuck inside a globe for hundreds of years, and it’s different when it’s someone you love in danger compared to only worrying about yourself. But I’m telling you right now, I will do whatever it takes to save him. Maybe I haven’t trained in a long time, but I know how to take someone down, I know how to focus my magic. That never goes away, even if I’m a bit rusty.”
“Sorry. I know you know what you’re doing. I was simply saying what needs to be done.”
I waved him off, not wanting to fight with him. My anger wasn’t truly directed at him, anyway.
Closing my eyes, I checked on Tib again, taking in the scene as he followed the SUV. This time, I didn’t fly down because I didn’t want to be caught and put Grady in more danger. He’d seen us, he knew we were coming for him. When the SUV turned down a side street, I muttered the name out loud to Raphie so he’d know where to go, but I kept my eyes on the SUV through my familiar link. The car made several more turns before pulling into a long driveway surrounded by lots of land, trees, pools, and a golf course. It took me a second to find a sign that said Suabury Country Club.
When I rattled off the name, I heard Raphie say, “What the hell are they doing in a country club?”
Tib followed the SUV down the long road inside the club until the vehicle came to a stop in front of what looked to be a large house. There was a sign that said Suabury Mansion Museum on it. Tib perched in a tree to stay hidden, and I watched as Regan carried Grady from the SUV into the museum-house.
A growl ripped from my throat of its own accord, and once Grady was out of sight, I pulled my senses back to my body only and snapped, “Are we almost there?”
“Yes.” Raphie cleared his throat. “You know this is a trap, right?”
“I don’t care what it is, I’m getting Grady back.”
“Izzy is right behind us, but the rest of our backup will be at least five to ten minutes behind him.”
“I’m not waiting ten minutes to go in
there. Do you know how much they could do to him in that time? What if they…” I trailed off, still unwilling to voice my fears. Ten minutes wasn’t a lot of time in the grand scheme of things, but it sure as hell was enough time to do some monstrous and appalling things to my soul-pledged, and I wasn’t about to let that happen.
“Alright, we’ll go in with Izzy, then.”
“Raphael, I’m going in as soon as we get there. You can wait for him if you want.”
He sighed and reached over to grasp the back of my neck. “We’re waiting for Isiah because it will give us a better chance of saving Grady.” Another growl came out of me, but Raphie simply squeezed my neck a little tighter. “He’s only a minute behind us, Alaric. We’ll go in as a team, otherwise, they’re going to take you down ten seconds after you walk in that door, and then Izzy and I will have to save both your asses. I know you feel like you could conquer the world right now, but that’s the adrenaline talking. Listen to me on this.”
Taking several deep breaths, I thought about what he was saying before I sighed, realizing he was right. “Fine.”
“Good.” With another squeeze, he released my neck as we turned into the country club’s driveway road.
His car sped through the place, so I focused on Tib again. He’d switched trees to peek through a window, and when I focused on the inside of the house, I saw Grady strapped to a chair, only his face was contorted in pain and he was covered in blood and bruises… his face was a swollen mess. My poor dove. I need to get to him. The warlocks in front of him were grappling and yelling at each other.
“I’m going to kill them,” I muttered.
“I’ll help you,” Raph agreed, and he pulled to a stop at the bottom of a small hill where the occupants of the house couldn’t see us. We got out, and luckily, another car came barreling down on us right away.
Isiah stumbled out of the new car once it was parked with his crow familiar on his shoulder. “What’s the plan?”
I said, “Grady’s being held in the front room of that house, tied to a chair. It looks like they hurt him.” I choked on those words. “From what I could see, there’s at least three warlocks and two witches. I didn’t see Claudette, but Tib only looked through one window. The other shades are pulled down.”
Wishing on a Dream Page 20
