Page 40 of When Storms Ruin

I bristled. His reminder that he had played both the doting boyfriend to Donika while gaining the trust of the council and feeding that information back all the while made my skin crawl.

“I am aware of that, but you aren’t the only member. We need to discuss this with the others, and nothing will be done to him before we do so. Do I make myself clear?”

My voice was confident, and it surprised me a little.

I sounded like a queen.

Nik met my gaze and nodded softly.

“Thank you,” I replied. “We can’t exactly bring him straight to one of our safe houses, so what do we do with him?”

“I volunteer to stay here and watch the little lad,” Puck smiled, tightening his grip on Tyr.

“I will as well,”Warrick offered.

“I can spell him, he won’t be able to leave,” Saanvi offered, speaking for the first time.

I had almost forgotten she and Kenna were still here.

“Good, let’s get it done.” I turned, joining Tess and walking back to the hidden safe house we had first stayed in when we escaped Donika.

Nik was close on our heels, Kenna having stayed back to walk with Saanvi after the spell was complete. I was confident that even if Tyr managed to get out of the spelled circle…he was no match for Puck and Warrick.

I had to ask Nik for directions back to the safe house many times, but we eventually found it. The spelled door opened beneath my touch and Isaac and Liss were already downstairs, as if they had been waiting for us.

“What the hell happened?” Liss asked, rushing towards us when she took in our appearances, covered in blood and dirt.

“It’s a long story, can we talk somewhere private?” I asked, casting my gaze around and noticing several other Shades strewn about the safe house.

“My office,” Isaac offered, nodding towards the back staircase.

Once safely behind the closed door of Isaac’s office Tess collapsed into the chair across from Isaac’s desk with a huff.

“Long day?” Isaac asked, raising an eyebrow.

“You’ve got no idea,” she replied, shaking her head.

“Fill me in, what is going on?” he asked, sitting in the chair at his desk. “Why did you come to the safe house without contacting us first?”

“It was an emergency,” I explained. “We were training with Warrick, and we were attacked.”

“Attacked?” he asked, shooting to his feet, gripping the desk with both hands. “By whom?”

“Not a who, but a what. Creatures. Donika has used her blood magic to create monsters to come after us. I guess her Nightshade army wasn’t getting the job done.”

“Are you all ok?” he asked, checking each of us over. His gaze roaming over each of our faces.

“Yes, but there’s one tiny little problem.”

“And what might that be?” Liss asked, her arms crossed over her chest.

“Tyr was the one to kill the last of the three creatures. He says he came to warn us, that he never meant to have me captured. He didn’t go to Donika, he was captured and tortured for information,” I replied.

“But how would Donika have known he had any informationto give?” Liss asked, her brow furrowing.

“Exactly,” Nik nodded.

I shot him a warning glance, and he had the decency to appear sheepish.

---