Gemma just stared, struggling against his hold.
“You’re also a friend to the girl Grimm’s been chasing. She’s been quite a distraction. Tell me where she is, and I’ll do us both a favor and get rid of her.”
Gemma kicked at his shins, then tucked her chin and bit into the hand holding her. The Seeker laughed and squeezed tighter, cutting off her air. He watched her suffocate with a distracted air for a moment, then dropped her.
She tumbled to the floor, hitting the stone hard. The air rushed back in and Gemma coughed, glad to be able to breathe once more.
“Tell me where Grimm is,” he said, his voice a little more forceful. “You’re the only resident that isn’t overcome by the monsters Sanri provides. You know something.”
“Shadow!”
The blond man looked down the hallway, then sighed. “Speak of the Devil,” he said, tugging Gemma to her feet. “We’re being summoned.”
He wrapped his arms around her and Gemma struggled again, but suddenly, the world went white around them. Just as suddenly, it flooded back, but they were somewhere else. A dark-haired woman was standing in front of them.
Sanri, she realized.
We teleported, Gemma thought, her mind making sense of what had just happened.This one’s power is to teleport. Which was how he’d scattered the Guardian spirits, according to what Dunkel had mentioned before.
“You beckoned?” the blond man drawled.
Sanri nodded. “The older brother has a thing for this one. I figured I’d use this Betty No-Brains as leverage.”
“Well, Betty has more brains than you think. She’s the Guardian.”
Sanri cocked an eyebrow at her. “Which explains why my powers don’t work on her. I just thought her wits were scrambled.” The female Seeker’s smile was wide. “Well, that makes this even more fun. She’ll get the pleasure of watching him, and he’ll get the pleasure of her—well, he’ll think it’s her.”
“Is this really the time for games? Grimm’s missing. Let’s find him and take this lot back to Dazimin. You can torture him all you want there.”
Sanri rolled her eyes. “You know the Crown Prince has all the fun there.” She ran her hands down the lapels of the white lab coat he was wearing. “Please, honey. Let me torture the lesser beings.”
“Fine,” he said, gritting his teeth. “But make it fast. This place bores me.”
Sanri hopped up to kiss his cheek. “Keep an eye on this one. I want her to see everything.” Then she laughed and skipped out the door.
In a moment, a light flicked on, illuminating the large window in front of them. On the other side was Cal, sitting on the floor and struggling against illusionary chains. Gemma rushed to the window and called out to him, but he didn’t look up.
“He can’t see or hear you, dumb-dumb.” The Seeker leaned against the wall, his posture aiming for relaxed but his face filled with an agitation he wasn’t adequately hiding. Something was bothering him.
Gemma turned her attention back to the window. Sanri stepped through the door and Gemma gasped. Like a semi-opaque filter over her entire body, the female Seeker had taken on another form.
It’s me.
