Henry nodded and began to use some of Draco’s energy to strengthen his wards. It wasn’t much, but it was all Draco could give. Luckily, the rest of the guards had all been taken care of. Andvari gave Draco one last intense look before swinging onto Eduard’s back.
“Get it done,” Draco demanded.
Andvari nodded.
Draco could hear the shrieking from outside, and it took every ounce of control he had to remain in place. He had to guard Sawyer’s back, and Henry’s. He was where he needed to be. The wraiths were pulling at Henry, their dark magic surrounding him with the depths of their despair. Tears rolled down Henry’s cheeks, but it began to ease within minutes of Andvari being gone.
Henry began to recover quickly, but then the worst happened. One of the wraiths made it to the door and into the house. Draco stood and pulled both daggers into his hands as it began to fly toward Henry.
Draco stepped into its path and it hit him hard. Immediately, the energy pull began as the wraith began draining his life force. Henry screamed, but Draco didn’t fight it. Instead, he moved his arms, one behind the wraith and one in front. And just when he could feel himself faltering, he struck, dragging both blades through the wraith’s body.
It disappeared with another scream and a flurry of black smoke. Andvari bolted through the doorway a second later, covering in sweat and gasping for breath. Henry flung himself against Draco’s back and began sending a magical flow back into him. Andvari grabbed him by the neck and kissed him, deep and hard. “You fool,” Andvari said once he pulled away.
“It worked.”
Andvari scowled. “We’re talking about this later. Where the fuck is Sawyer?”
“I’ll go get him.” There was more movement from outside as Saeward and Eduard came back in. “Watch my back.”
“Always,” Andvari said.
Draco glanced at his mates one more time before going to track down Sawyer. He was more than ready to be out of this place and back to safety.
Pip
Boredom did not suit Pip at all, and neither did the so-called color of the year. Coral, his butt. It was orange, and orange wasnotthe new black. Pip flung the latest fashion magazine aside in a huff. It landed on a growing heap of already-read books and magazines on the floor beside him. It was the only entertainment he was allowed in his jail cell. He huffed again, this time squirming around on the mattress he’d dragged onto the floor himself. His cell mate preferred it on the floor. Of course, when you were about eight feet long and probably weighed a good five hundred pounds, you wouldn’t want to try to squish onto a tiny bed meant for a human either.
And speaking of cell mates, his opened one icy gray eye and stared at him. He’d clearly disturbed him by moving around. “Don’t look at me like that, Tony! I can’t help it. I’mbored.”
Pip wiggled around again, trying to find a more comfortable spot. He should have known better. One giant white paw reached out and pinned him down by the chest. He squirmed like a bug for a second before giving up. “You’re mean.”
Tony closed his eyes and ignored him.
“Let me up.”
No response. Not even a twitch.
Pip pushed at Tony’s paw, but he couldn’t begin to move him.
“If you don’t let me up, I’m releasing the beasts.”
One ear perked up.
Pip closed his eyes and pulled his magic to him. “Momma always said to me, Phillip Isaac, you better practice because one day you’ll need to be able to use your magic. Ha! I was supposed to save the world or something. If she knew I was meant to be a giant cat toy, she’d probably have changed her story. Maybe told me to study harder or something.”
Tony’s claws budged a bit. Never hurting him, but making him aware.
“Impatient much?” Pip growled, but he released his magic anyway.
Three otters sprang forth from him, the illusion so real it was impossible to tell that they weren’t actual otters. Tony opened his eyes. He pulled his paw away from Pip and prepared to pounce, allowing Pip to roll away and scowl. Not that he held it for long. Tony was his only friend at the moment, and he couldn’t stay mad at him.
He let the otters do their thing. Tony loved playing with them. It wasn’t like he could hurt them. Unlike Pip, whom he could actually do real damage to. But he’d only been scared of Tony that first day, when he’d been dumped unceremoniously into the middle of the floor, his kidnappers not giving a rat’s ass if he was hurt or not.
He’d heard the growl first, then a snarl. He almost peed his pants when the giant white tiger appeared out of the shadows and pounced on him. But Tony hadn’t hurt him. It was weird. He’d hovered over Pip protectively, and the kidnappers had run scared. Since then, anytime Pip needed something or was hungry, Tony seemed to know. And then the bad dudes appeared with food or more books or magazines. Never any electronics. They weren’t stupid, even if they looked it. It was weird, but Pip was convinced Tony was like, sending psychic signals to them or something. Not that he minded.
Pip had a sneaking suspicion that without Tony, he’d have been a lot more miserable in his cage. Tony kept him safe and somehow, even if Pip hadn’t figured it out, Tony managed to make sure he was taken care of. And boy, when the Big Bad had appeared in the doorway, Tony had lost his mind. The guy had even tried giving a speech to Pip, but Tony wasn’t having it. He’d snarled and growled for so long the guy eventually gave up and left, locking them in with some magic spell that Pip had absolutely no hope of breaking. He really should have listened to his Mamma and practiced his magic more.
He really didn’t know how long he’d been locked in the room with Tony at this point, but he knew enough to know that Tony wouldn’t hurt him, and that was pretty much all he had to worry about at the moment. He’d never really known anything about tigers. They were abstract creatures. Sure, he knew they were dangerous, but he never really understood just how far down he was on the food chain until he’d spent some time with Tony.
