I'm never going to be able to hold the door.
The thought hadn’t even left her mind before she found herself flying backwards. Both men tumbled out and rolled on the floor after throwing their entire weight against the door. Sarah scrambled to her feet in an attempt to reach the outer door, but one of them grabbed her ankle and tripped her. She landed hard, twisting at the last moment to avoid landing on her stomach.
All the air whooshed out of her as she hit hard on her side. She kicked and struggled, but she was no match for two grown men. The new guy twisted her arm behind her, and growled in her ear as she cried out.
"You ever try that again, and you won't live long enough to see your baby. Do you understand me?"
"You kill me, you lose the baby."
He yanked her up off the ground. "Millions of women every day have premature babies. And being a dragon, it'll be tougher than most, so don't tell me I need you around. I'll cut you open myself to take it out."
He shoved her back into the room. When the door closed, this time the lock clicked into place. As the guard stepped back, she saw the key in his hand. A tear leaked down her cheek, and she angrily wiped it away. She had been so close.
"Tell Kayleigh that I want to see her in my chambers. Now."
The guard did a fake, sardonic courtesy and walked away. The man took one last look toward Sarah before he turned and followed.
She sat on the couch and rubbed her sore shoulder. The hatred she had seen in his eyes was going to haunt her for a long time.
Chapter Twenty-Two: The Search Begins
Luke Ardec
Vinia stared at him wide-eyed as they stood on the porch. "What do you mean she's not with you?"
Luke wanted to scream in frustration. "I have no idea where she is. I searched every room of the castle and all the grounds. I was hoping she had come home."
Drake came around the side of the house. "Hey, Luke. What's up?"
"Your sister is missing."
Colton came right behind Drake in time to hear Vinia. "Missing?"
Drake stopped at the steps. "Missing for how long?"
"I don't know for sure." Luke repeated the story about court and how Sarah was fine when he left her. "It's like she took a bath and just disappeared. No one has seen her."
"Don't you have guards?" Colton asked.
"Of course I do," Luke snapped back. "None of them saw her anywhere."
"Let's go."
Luke looked at Drake. "Where?"
"Back to your place. She didn't just poof into thin air, and she's not here. She's there somewhere."
Colton agreed. "I don't like the sounds of this. We've been in this situation one too many times to ignore the obvious."
"What's obvious?" Luke was trying not to be frustrated, but he was failing.
"That obviously she needs help, and we're just standing around here bullshitting about it instead of finding her."
Drake headed off. "I'll get Logan and Tyson. We need all hands to be on deck so we can search faster."
Luke rubbed his face. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to snap at you. I'm just slowly losing my mind."
"Don't worry about it." Colton let out a soft chuckle. "It's amazing to be talking to you about worrying over Sarah, considering how many sleepless nights I had wondering where the hell she was when she was sneaking off to see you."
