Page 68 of Wild Bond

To my surprise, Rake let go of me and stepped around Safan’s desk. He flung the man back into his chair, then leaned down until he was right in the man’s face. “Youwilltell us everything. I’ll make sure of it.” Rake’s tone and the icy rage in his eyes proved that he meant it. Every word.

And I knew Safan could see that, too.

Safan swallowed, and I could tell that he was trying not to give away his fear as he stuttered, “I have powerful f-friends. Friends more powerful than you could ever hope to be. And they need me. You can’t hurt me. They won’t let you.”

Rake just smiled, and a chill went down my spine at the sight. For the first time, I truly saw the mask, the face that Rake had cultivated after all these years of fighting and killing, spying and hunting for Baldor. There was nothing warm or even human in that smile. It was the smile of the queen’s shadow, her spymaster. It was the smile of death.

Rake leaned down then and whispered in Safan’s ear, just loud enough so that I could make it out. “Your friends aren’t here.”

I had just enough time to register the terror on Safan’s face before the world exploded.

Awarningshotdownthe bond, and the next instant Skye was there knocking me to the ground and covering me with her hard scaled body, having crashed through the large window as she transformed to her natural size.

I was only vaguely aware of this however, as chunks of stone and glass rained down on us and the entire roof over Safan’s office was pulled back to reveal the night sky. The massive black dragon roaring to the heavens as he clawed his way through the ceiling beneath him.

The sound was deafening, and Safan screamed. I peeked around Skye’s wing and watched Rake move aside so Naasir could reach down and clasp Safan, chair and all, in his enormous claws.

Telling Skye the danger had passed, I scrambled to my feet. We watched from the rubble as Naasir launched into the night with the flailing, screaming Safan clutched in his talons.

As we watched them disappear, I was amazed at how suddenly and swiftly Rake and Naasir had handled the situation. The action was clean and precise. No blustering or idle threats. They struck hard, and they struck fast, and they got the job done.

I found myself in awe of the man beside me. I could tell Skye was impressed as well. She hated Safan on principle, because I did, and for what he had done to me. As far as she was concerned, he was a threat to me, and Naasir and Rake had handled that threat, so she approved.

“Where will Naasir take him?” I asked Rake, who still stood by the desk a few feet away. I didn’t really care what happened to the man; I was just curious. All my anger from earlier had bled out of me, and now I was just tired.

“To The Tower compound. He’ll be kept in one of The Tower cells for interrogation.” Rake’s voice was still flat and cold like when he’d threatened Safan.

Our eyes met for a moment, and he looked away.

“We should go.”

I was surprised no one had come to investigate, but then realized that most of the workers and patrons had probably fled. No one in this part of the lower city wanted to have anything to do with dragon rider business. And there was nothing like the roar of a dragon to make everyone scatter.

Skye shrank down to perch on my shoulder as I wiped off and sheathed my daggers. As I picked my way around debris and followed Rake out of the destruction and back onto the street, my mind kept traveling back to Lessa. I was worried about her and wondered where she was and what was being done to her.

Rake seemed to have retreated into himself, gone somewhere I couldn’t reach. He was striding quietly beside me, both of us getting buffeted by the strong wind that warned of an incoming storm. After several minutes of the silence, I felt like it would be up to me to break through the strange tension between us. A tension brought on by the icy shield Rake had slammed in place.

“He said he has powerful friends . . .,” I began, thinking out loud. “Who did he mean?”

Rake still didn’t look at me. “We’ll question him and find out who they are. He’ll tell us where Lessa is too . . . and the others he’s taken.”

I shook my head. “No, what I mean is . . . the friends he mentioned . . . Who is powerful enough to make it so that he wouldn’t think he needed to be scared ofyou?” Safan had been so cocky and self-assured when we first entered his office. So sure he was untouchable.

“It’s a short list,” Rake stated.

It wasn’t an arrogant statement; it was just the truth.

“Either a council member, or someone from the royal family,” he continued. “The queen or the . . .”

He trailed off. His copper skin turned pale for a moment as if Safan’s words had made him come to some conclusion. Then sheer rage took over his expression.

“Or someone who’s both,” he finally said.

It took me a second to realize what he was implying. “Wait—you’re not seriously suggesting that Prince Pierce is behind this, are you?” I asked incredulously.

Rake didn’t respond.

“He’s the crown prince of Baldor. He’s a rider!” I protested. “You really think he’s who Safan meant? That he has something to do with these children disappearing? What possible motive could he have?”

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