“Silver lining,” Stella said with a smile, “you probably learned quite a bit fromthatshow.”
Kara nodded. “Tons of useless trivia. If I had Jewel’s memory, I’d totally kick butt on quiznight.”
At the mention of Jewel’s name, everyone grew silent. They had no idea what was going on outside of the pixie realm. They had no idea if their friends were safe, or if Volcan had somehow taken over the world. Stella imagined him taking over the broadcasting stations in New York, because that’s where bad guys always take over them in the movies, and having his face plastered across the huge screen in Times Square. It was ridiculous, but it was either laugh at ridiculous scenarios or worry herself sick over all the other horrific scenarios her mind could comeupwith.
Heather rubbed her hands together like an eager child and finally broke the heavysilence.
“So, who wants to playISpy?”
Stella rolled her eyes and shook her head. “Said no blindgirlever.”
* * *
“Ididn’t thinkwe were that unbearable to be around.” Z said as he stood in Jewel and Anna’s empty motel room. The warlocks had been dozing next door when they were both awakened by a sudden surge of dark magic. They hurried to the girls’ room, but no amount of banging on the door or calling their names received an answer. So Z had used his own brand of magic; his shoulder shoved into the door hard enough that the lockgaveway.
“They didn’t leave on their own,” Sly said. “They were taken. You felt that magic, and you know as well as I do who itbelongedto.”
Z nodded. “I was just hoping it was something else. I wish they were here to yell at us for wakingthemup.”
“The question is, why did he take them and ignore us?” Slyasked.
“He has us between a rock and hard place, Sly. He doesn’t need to take us back to his lair. He can trace us anywhere, and he knows we aren’t going to run or do anything to tickhimoff.”
“We could go to the King and Queen,” Slysuggested.
Z’s face hardened. “Don’t even think it. He would torture her if he even suspected that we sought out the help of King Cypher and Queen Lilly. Besides, this is our mess. They’re dealing with their ownissues.”
He saw the tortured look in Sly’s eyes. They were getting desperate. No one but the two warlocks knew that Volcan was holding Z’s sister captive, and the fae had promised her a slow painful death if the two warlocks didn’t aid the healers in their quest to produce the witches. Sly would have helped his friend Z for that reason alone, but something necessitated his cooperation—the girl wasSly’smate.
“So, what do we do now?” Zasked.
Sly rubbed the back of his neck and sat down on the edge of one of the beds with a heavy sigh. He dropped his backpack next to him. He didn’t want to let the thing out of his sight for an instant, considering it held the stolen book inside. “Honestly, Z, I don’t have adamnclue.”
“You thought Iforgotyou?”
Volcan’s sudden arrival caused Sly to move so fast he fell off the bed before he could make it to his feet. Z clenched his teeth together as he stared at the fae. Even if the man hadn’t kidnapped his sister in order to compel their aid, he would still want to kill him. Problem was, he wasn’t powerful enough to do so on his own, and he wasn’t even surewhowas.
Volcan’s eyes danced with maniacal delight as he looked from Sly to Z and back again. “It was your job to make sure they did what they were supposed to, and what do I find? You sleeping, doingnothing.”
“We have to rest sometime. We aren’t machines,” Zsnarled.
“You want rest? I’ll give you plenty of rest.” He grabbed their arms, and they were flashed from themotel.
The reappeared in a room surrounded by stone walls. They were back inside his castle in the draheimrealm.
“You shall have plenty of rest in here, at least until I decide you need a different kind of incentive to do what you’re told,” Volcan said just before he disappeared, leaving them in a room with no door and only a couple tiny windows at the top of the twelve-footwalls.
“This is not good,”Slysaid.
“Glad we got that cleared up.” Z growled as he took a seat on the cold floor and leaned back against the wall. He might as well attempt to get comfortable. There was no telling how long Volcan would leave themtorot.
* * *
Jewel blinked several times,convinced she was hallucinating. There was simply no way her mother was trapped in an iron cage in Volcan’s office. He couldn’t have found her and captured her,right?
“Mom?” the healer said as she looked at the face trapped behind the bars, a face she knew as well asherown.
“Jewel,” the woman responded. The look of sorrow and brokenness in Gem’s eyes caused Jewel to rush forward, throwing herself against the bars. They embraced as best they could, Jewel forcing her face against the cold steel in an effort to reach her mother’s warmth. Then the older woman pushed her daughter back and gazed at her. “Whatever happens, just do whathesays.”
