“What are you doing?” I asked nervously. “Why are you taking me to a market tonight?”
Keiren laughed, not stopping as he walked off to undress from his hunter’s leathers and shift himself. “Oh, there’s no market. Not for you, Violet. Someoneveryspecial has put out a request for you. I don’t know why you’re all the way out here. Ran away, maybe? Don’t matter, though. You’re just a bonus for me.”
He yelled at his men to move out, and the dragon carrying me lifted into the air.
I rose into the air while my stomach plummeted. Someone not only knew who I was but had put out a bounty for me?
This wasn’t part of the plan. Caz was waiting for me in Kylma, to track me through our bond. But we were headed north. Away from the city.
Away from Caz.
Thirty-Nine
Anna
The netwas unfurled, and with a flick, I went spinning across the room, crashing into the far wall hard enough to leave a mark. Keiren was on me in a second, pulling a hood over my head and swiftly tying my wrists together with brellwood rope.
“Whoever operates this ride should have their license revoked,” I groaned, my elbow flaring with pain from the impact. “Safety standards are piss-poor.”
“Keep your tongue still, or I will remove it.” The calm promise and utter lack of anger in Keiren’s response was enough to get me to clamp my mouth shut. He didn’t sound like a man making an idle threat.
Whoever wanted me clearly did not care if I could talk or not.
The light through the hood vanished as the hunter left, closing the door behind him without a further word or threat. Whatever was going to happen from here on out did not matter to him.
A moment later, a heavy lock slid across the door, shutting it with cold finality.
“So much for plan A,” I said to the darkness, trying to keep my spirits up.
It was hard. The void inside me where Caz should have been was growing larger by the second.
Maybe the stories are right. Maybe we really are only born with half our souls.
How had I never felt that way before, though? Did it have something to do with the slow stirring of my dragon once it found Caz?
Or maybe it was simpler than that. It was impossible to realize what was missing, if we never had it. Until fated mates were united and had claimed one another, the soul didn’tknowthat it needed more.
I certainly hadn’t spent a lifetime needing Caz. But now that I’d had him, I never wanted to let go. Never wanted to experience a moment without him. Ever. He made everything so much brighter, so muchbetter. When I was with him, I felt alive.
My dragon growled.
Sorry. When we’re with him, we feel alive.
Mollified, she settled back down again. I did the same, sitting against one wall of my cell, my knees to my chest, thinking. At least Keiren had tied my hands in front of me, so I could sit up somewhat comfortably, thinking and trying not to cry.
I was trapped, and there was no way for Caz to find me. His presence in my head had faded into nothingness the farther north we went. I knew we were somewhere near the mountains on the northeastern border, but I hadn’t been able to see much more than that. The net had been wrapped too tightly, and I could only twist so far.
But Caz was expecting me to show up in Kylma. When I didn’t, what would he do? How would he find me?
“Fuck,” I moaned slapping my hand against the far wall. “Think, Anna. Think!”
Off to my left, something moved in the darkness.
I shrieked and slid along the wall as far as I could go until I was backed into the corner of the room. “Don’t come any closer! I’ve got a—a, um, I’ll hurt you!”
There was a soft groan. “You never were the fighter among us.”
“Milly?”I yelped, recognizing the voice. “Is that you?”
