Page 8 of The Magic of Eternity
I shrugged. “You said Asrael wouldn’t be happy if he didn’t make it. I’m going to gamble here that he feels the same about me. About all of us. Needs us for some reason,” I panted, trying to suck in a few deep breaths. I leaned over, pressing my hands on my knees. I had to stay awake just a little longer. My fingers wrapped around the hilt of the dagger, and I rose back up with determination coursing through my veins.
“Cameron,” Laurie cautioned, letting her hand fall away from the injured man’s hair. Fucking finally. “You wouldn’t.”
I stretched my left arm out in front of me and stared her in the eyes as I brought the dagger to the center of my wrist. “I would. There isn’t anything I wouldn’t do for my family. For my woman and my brothers. I would kill every fucking being in this castle with a smile on my face if it meant getting them out of here and away from the likes of you.”
The kiss of the blade against my wrist stung but I was committed. I wasn’t going back there. She’d yield.
Her green eyes widened as blood started dripping to the floor. “Stop. What do you want?”
I hid my smirk behind my hair. “Lead the way to the infirmary. The two of us”—I gestured to the man on the bed—“we stay together from here on out. And if you so much as think about harming him in this way again, I can’t begin to explain to you the horrific way I’ll fucking kill you. Start walking, cunt.”
Laurie swallowed and reached for the bed.
“DO NOT FUCKING TOUCH HIM!” I bellowed, and she jumped. Without touching the stretcher again, she turned and her heels clacked down the hallway. I put the bloody dagger at the end of the bed and began pushing it down the hall, following her. At least I had something to hold me up. I still couldn’t look at him. Not yet. Not yet.
“I’m here now and I’m never leaving your side again. We’re going to get out of here, I swear it. Stay with me, K. Please, please, stay with me, Alpha.”
Two hours earlier
“Ican’t turn into a fucking dragon!”
Asrael’s gaze narrowed on my face, his anger a visible wave of emotion within his dark eyes. “Well then, I guess I’ll have to try different measures. The guards will be by to collect you soon. I recommend trying to rest. You’re going to need it.” He slammed the door shut behind him, and I groaned.
I’d been in this interrogation room for hours. I was starving, thirsty as fuck, and sick of being a captive. I hadn’t seen daylight in weeks. Fuck, I hadn’t seen anyone aside from Asrael and two of his guards since he’d started paying me visits here. They weren’t social visits, either.
I pressed my forehead against the cool steel of the table we always sat at. My body was secured to the chair via chains, solid steel an inch thick and magically reinforced. My hands were bound, each one cuffed and locked to the table. Fuckers.
‘Why does he think you can become a dragon?’Bagheera rumbled in my mind.
‘I have no idea. I don’t know how he’d even know I was able to shift into a mouse. That’s not information we’ve ever given him,’I replied, sorting through the puzzle pieces in my brain and trying to make sense of everything.
After a pause, I asked. I had to know. Despite knowing what the answer would be, I couldn’t not ask.
‘Have you heard her at all?’I whispered through the mental link in our shared consciousness. I wasn’t doing well being separated from Sprout, but my bond knew she was close enough not to cause me to go into a total depressive state. I was pretty sure that when we’d been separated before, it was the distance that caused my stress to become so overwhelming. While I wasn’t completely lost to the darkness yet, not knowing the whereabouts or condition of my family was weighing heavier and heavier.
My panther whined at the inquiry, and I thumped my head against the table. ‘We have to get information. Somehow. Bagheera, I’m telling you, I can’t live like this. I’m not good with isolation. My mind, it’s been...’
Bagheera grumbled. ‘I know. I know the things you think in the dark.’
‘She’s mine. She’s my mate and I failed her. And the cubs, Bagheera. Gods above, mark my words, I will—’
The sound of the door being thrown open cut off our discussion, and the two guards were on me, hauling me up and unhooking my chains. “Where are we going?” I asked, frustrated with all of these unknowns and knowing I wasn’t going to get an answer.
They began dragging me to the door and I caught a whiff of what was mine.She’s here. Somewhere.My eyes flashed, and I felt hair explode from my back as claws broke through my hands. My movements weren’t made with any rational thought. A spray of blood hit my face and chest as one of the guards fell to the ground, holding his throat. My forehead found purchase on the other’s nose, busting it on contact.
“Why do you smell like my mate? Where is she?” My voice was a mix between my own and Bagheera’s. I was in some kind of strange partial shift that I’d never experienced before. The man stared up at me with wide eyes as blood spurted from his nose. Leaning down, I meant to yell and demand information, but the wild cat scream that left my lips shocked even me. It was so fucking loud. The hair on the dude’s head blew back from the force, and the stench of urine hit the air. He sobbed as my claws sank into his shoulders.
“Tell me where she is and I’ll kill you quickly.” My ears pricked as the sound of boots on stone echoed through the hallway.More guards. Running out of time.I grabbed the guard by the collar and slammed him back down, fighting the urge to sink my teeth into his neck and rip until he stopped twitching. “Fucking TELL me!”
Coconut. Vanilla. Sunshine. Her scent was infiltrating my senses like a plague. Another one of those feral cat screams exploded from me, and blood trickled from the guard’s ears, his eardrums likely having burst.
“E–east.” That was all he got out before the other guards were on us. Something pierced my bicep, and I snarled at the dart there, ripping it out and throwing it down.
The guard in front stepped forward. “Come with us willingly. Don’t make this harder on yourself.”
My breaths were harsh and ragged, my shoulders heaving with the simple task of breathing. I ran my tongue over my teeth. Teeth that were much sharper and longer than normal.
“Where. Is. My. Mate?” Each word was a snarl. A threat. A promise of death. The guards looked confused by my question, and I blinked rapidly, trying to clear my vision. Things were becoming blurry. If I didn’t have long, I’d better make it count.
