Page 46 of Monsters In Her Head

Chapter 25

Icouldn’t tell whatwoke me. One minute I was dreaming about a delicious set of drakes and then the next my eyes were blinking open.

Wincing at the sudden light, I quickly shut my eyes again. Why was it so bright? The torches in Ryu’s room never burned my eyes like this. I shifted, and rolled onto my back, reaching across the bed for Ryu. My hand didn’t meet scale or the fur blanket that was usually beneath me. My fingers slid across the surface of the... ground? How did I get on the ground?

I forced my eyes to open. Squinting through the brightness until my eyes adjusted, I turned my head to one side and then the other. The walls were made of fabric, a dark blue lined with gold. There was a flap that fluttered in the wind giving me glimpses of the outside.

A tent?

Frowning at the reason I would be inside a tent made me sit up and rub the back of my head where it ached. My hand paused and my eyes widened.

That’s right, I was knocked out by some of Callahan’s guards after trying to help Tat. My heart raced at the thought of my drake friend still lying there in the woods bleeding out. How could this have happened?

I should have just stayed inside. I knew there were guards searching for me and still I had to insist that I get some air. Guilt ravaged me and I grabbed at my chest.

Would someone find him before it was too late? Did they know I was missing? What would Ryu do once he found out I was gone? What about Aryn?

I had too many questions and no way to answer them. I just needed to calm down. Think this through.

Someone would come searching for me before too long and then they would find the trail of blood just like I did. Hopefully they found Tat before it was too late and then they will realize I’m missing.

Ryu and his brothers are smart, they will figure out that I didn’t run away but had been taken. They wouldn’t blame Aryn for this. They might even ask for her help in finding me. Or would they?

Ryu had agreed to help me fight Callahan but now that I was back in his hands I didn’t know if he would actually come for me. Would they consider it too much of a risk? Or would they continue on without me? I wasn’t vital in their planning to fight against Callahan. In the long run, it didn’t matter if I lived or died. Really, I was just an unnecessary distraction. A liability.

No. I couldn’t rely on them to come save me. There was no telling what the drakes would do. I had to figure a way out of this on my own.

Pushing myself to my knees, I tried to stand and fell back on my butt. The world spun around me and my stomach rolled. Taking slow shallow breaths, I inched my way back up to my knees, grabbing onto the desk nearby.

My eyes fell on the top of the dark wood of the desk. Papers were strewn across the top. A few of them caught my eye. A map of the five kingdoms. One of Kinokos and of... Plumus? Why would they need a map of their own kingdom?

Movement out of the corner of my eye han me curling my fingers around the small dagger on the corner of the desk. I drew my arm down to my side and glared up at my least favorite person.

Callahan.

“Ah, she awakens.” Callahan smiled at me as if he were seeing me on a social call rather than having his soldiers grab me and almost kill my friend.

Eyes narrowed, I used the desk to lift myself up off the ground.

“Don’t get up.” Callahan continued, walking toward me, this time using his hands as he spoke. “I think I like seeing you on your knees.”

Ugh. Kill me now.

“So you can sign,” I croaked out, not using my hands so as to hide the dagger. “Guess that means you’re just an asshole then but then again... we already knew that.”

Callahan’s smile just widened. “I always liked that fire in you. I’m so glad your time with those monsters hasn’t dampened it. I would hate to have a boring old wife.”

I snarled, baring my teeth at him. “I’ll never be your wife. I’d rather die. Then you can run back to your father like the failure you are.”

His hand shot out and my face whipped to the side. My cheek stinging, I tasted the blood on the edge of my lip and smirked.

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