The wyvern holding her suddenly rose into the air, and her breath was squeezed from her body as panic set it. She watched helplessly as the creatures who remained behind kicked and stomped on an unconscious Drake.
With a sudden thrust, they rose higher into the sky. As the woods become smaller and smaller, terror set in and Joey gratefully sank into a pit of darkness so she couldn't see what just how high she was.
Chapter Twenty Four: Debating a Trap
Drake Hale
Fury burned through Drake as he fought the wyverns that tried to pin him to the floor. He was vaguely aware of Joey being carried out through the roof, and he knew that his time was short to save her.
One of the wyverns had his hooked foot planted squarely between Drake's shoulder blades, and it gave him limited movement. Another got close enough that Drake grabbed its ankle and yanked as hard as he muster from his position. The move worked, and it lashed out at him and threw the one on his back off kilter just enough that he was able to roll away.
He instantly shifted, and the shack exploded with his size. He easily knocked one of the black creatures with one of his wings and sent it spinning hard into the boulders that surrounded the now-destroyed building. There was a quick flash of light and it exploded into nothingness.
Drake roared and breathed his fire at two of the others, instantly incinerating them. Wyverns were nasty creatures, but they were no match for a dragon. The last one leapt on his back, and Drake twisted to try and dislodge it. It held firm with his raptors, so Drake moved closer to the rocks to rub it off.
Instead, a sudden ball of fire caught the wyvern square in its chest, and it disappeared in a cloud of sparks. Drake twisted his head around to see Colton land nearby. With all the creatures accounted for, they both shifted back into human form. Colton ran over to him.
"Are you okay?"
Drake stretched and winced. His cuts and scrapes were already healing, but his emotions were still in high rage. "They took Joey."
"Percy?"
"It wasn't him personally, but one of his... things." He ran a hand through his hair. "How'd you know where we were?"
"I didn't," Colton answered. "Scarlet came and found me after Joey didn't come back, and she said that you had gone looking for her and hadn't come back either. Then she noticed most of the goons were missing from camp."
Drake moved away. "Come on. We have a little business to attend to with one Percy Western."
They both shifted and took to the sky. Minutes later, they stood outside Percy's trailer. When no one answered, Drake kicked the locked door open. Papers were scattered around the desk.
"Looks like someone left in a hurry."
Colton grabbed some of the documents. "Just ticket sales. Payroll information."
Drake yanked a filing cabinet open. "There has to be something here to tell us where they went. Joey said that she had no idea why they randomly stopped by here to have a small rodeo. They've never done it before."
"I checked with Ma. She said that when she was contacted, Percy was very insistent that she agree." He pulled out another drawer and rifled through it. "She's kicking herself now for not being a little more aware, but she was so stressed about money."
"I don't blame her." Drake told his brother about all the stuff that Percy said. "I knew it was bullshit, but I still pretty much accused Joey. I should have known better, but she doesn't have any more of an idea than we do."
Colton flipped all of the desk drawers over. "There has to be something here to give us an idea of where they went."
"Joey's afraid of heights."
"She's what?"
"Afraid of heights. That's why we hadn't left. I was trying to convince her that she'd be fine. Then one of those damned things got in between me and her, and she screamed at me to shift, but I couldn't until I could figure out how to get her on my back. And then it was too late." Drake was close to tears, but they were tears of pure rage.
"She's your mate, right?"
Drake nodded in answer to Colton's question. "She is. Which is why the suspicions have been even worse." He swiped his arm along a shelf and sent a bunch of stuff flying to the floor. "Where the fuck is she?"
Colton grabbed the edge of the desk and flipped it over. "There's something here that answers that question. We just need to find it."
"What's that?"
Drake pointed to a small book sealed in a plastic pouch and taped on the bottom side of the desk. "Looks like someone forgot something."
