Page 44 of Into the Dawn
“Our brothers are in jeopardy of being discovered. It seems as if only a few minutes have passed since we originally left. We are closer to Axis, Bastion, and Keo than our father and his group of warriors are.”
“Go,”she ordered.“Go save your brothers. We will meet you there.”
“Nay, love. Find someplace safe to wait for us,”Dominic replied.“We will contact you once we find our brothers.”
Kylie began to pace as soon as their connection ended. “They had to go. Their brothers are being attacked.”
“Oh, shit. I forgot all about those rogues. Are we safe here?” Layla glanced around then froze. “Kylie…”
“What? We have to find somewhere to hide until—”
“Too late.”
The fear in her friend’s voice made Kylie spin around to see what she was looking at. She gasped when she saw a group of five males heading toward them carrying large swords. They were still a distance away, but her enhanced eyesight allowed her to see them clearly. From their appearance, they weren’t warriors from the palace out on patrol. They were dirty, dressed in rags, and had a feral look to them. From what she’d learned from Ronan and Dominic, she knew that meant they were rogues.
The problem was they wereinsidethe protective barrier.
As if reading her thoughts, Layla muttered, “What’s the point of the fucking barrier if they can get in?”
“That’s a damn good question. What should we do?”
“I have no idea. We can’t fight them, and we probably can’t outrun them either. Maybe we can—wait a damn minute! You have magic! Can’t you just poof them out of existence?” Layla asked.
Kylie wasn’t sure, but she was willing to give it a try. Focusing on the group of rogues, she wished she could move them to the other side of the protective barrier. At first, nothing happened. When she tried concentrating harder, the five males were flung sideways toward the magical barrier. As soon as they hit the shimmering forcefield, their bodies disintegrated like balls of cotton candy thrown into a pool of water.
Horrified, Kylie whispered, “Oh, my god. Did I just—”
“Yeah, yeah you did. That was fucking awesome!” Layla slapped Kylie’s shoulder. “Way to go, magic girl!”
“Will you stop it?” Kylie hissed. “I just killed people. That isn’t something to celebrate.”
Sobering, Layla turned to face her. “Look, I get that this is all new and crazy, but you had to do it. It was them or us, Kylie. If they caught us, they would have raped and killed us, right? Or sold us to other horrible people. That’s what the rogues do here on Arcadia. It’s why your mates and the other warriors are at war with them.”
She blew out a shaky breath as she nodded. “It’s just…I just meant to move them to the other side of the barrier. Not kill them.”
Layla shrugged. “I guess I’m more bloodthirsty than you since I think they got exactly what they deserved. If you had simply moved them, they’d just end up attacking someone else. Or they would try to hunt us down again.”
With that reminder, Kylie’s shook off the last of her reserve. She wasn’t on Earth anymore. She had to remember that. Arcadians lived by a very different set of rules, and she had to adapt to that quickly, or she could end up putting herself and her friend in danger. She had the means to protect herself and those she cared about, so she would damn well do it.
“You’re right. I need to stop thinking like a human.”
“Exactly.” Layla punctuated that with a firm nod. “Now, your mates’ brothers are in danger, and that means so are your mates. And we don’t know how many rogues are running around in the forest. You are the biggest, baddest, magical bitch in this forest. So, what are you going to do about it?”
Kylie’s lips curved into a wide grin. “Have you ever wanted to ride a dragon?”
“Fuck, yeah!” Layla’s eyes widened. “Are you going to shift? Can you really do that? Oh, boy! I can’t wait.”
That made Kylie laugh. “I can try.”
Unfortunately, she had no idea how to make it happen. Closing her eyes, she thought about becoming a dragon, but the very idea of it seemed ludicrous. After a few more minutes passed, she opened her eyes again and met her friend’s gaze.
“It’s not working.”
“That is because you are not doing it right.”
The male voice had Kylie and Layla freezing in shock. They spun around in circles but didn’t see anyone. A few seconds later, a male appeared several feet away. Kylie instantly recognized the God of the Sun from her mates’ memories, but he was far more spectacular in person.
Well, he was there and he wasn’t. The Sun God appeared before them in an almost transparent form, like a holographic image or a ghostly apparition.
