There’s no way I’m saying the words to him here, not in this terrifying cage with our fate unknown. Nope. I’ll tell him once we’re back in the garden, all of us safe and happy together.
“It’s a little weird you turning up at the garden, no? That you were the one Madame picked to help Soren with finding Wren,” Cam says. “A little coincidental, no?”
Wren coughs a few times before she replies, “Sounds like a twist of fate. That, er, might be my fault.”
I grin at her. “Yeah, I can’t say I’m unhappy about it. Well, this last hour could have gone a little better.”
“You think?” This time the voice that replies is male and thick with condescension.
Cam and Wren both stiffen and I wrap my body around Soren like I can protect him from whatever’s coming next.
“You know, I thought it was handy when a fate waver fell into my lap, all that power.” Andrew lets out a satisfied hum. “My life hasn’t been the same ever since this little gem came into it.” He beams down at Wren, who glares at him, somehow looking fierce despite her weakened state.
“And then a second little weaver came into my life and increased my power once again. Now, I’m the luckiest of all the lads to have a third of your kind step into my home. Do you know what a man who takes control of fate becomes?” He pauses for effect. “A god.”
“He keeps coming out with this shit,” Wren rasps.
“I remember you coming here before and it had me worrying that you might be onto what we were doing here, but with a marvelous twist of fate, you didn’t suspect me at all and instead, here you are, falling into my lap.” He really emphasizes the ‘p’ in the final word and it makes my stomach lurch.
“Now, I was planning to be kind and merciful, to drain your power slowly, a little day by day and whenever I need it. But that was before monsters came and decided to try tobreak into my home.” His voice lowers to a growl. “I would have taken care of you all, of my little gem especially, since we have so much history. I would have treated you right—”
“We’re in a fucking cage,” Wren growls back. She’s a fearless one, although she’s been here for weeks and is fighting shivers that are wracking her body into near convulsions.
“I would have let you out though, precious, once you’d learned a little compliance.”
“Fuck you,” she spits.
“Now though—” His tone grows harsh again, and he glares back at Wren and then at me, like we’ve really messed up his little plan. “Now I’m just going to drain all your power at once.”
He lets the words hang there and fear and a sludgy feeling of dread grows in my stomach until it’s all I can feel.
But the true terror doesn’t sink in until he speaks again. “And by then I’ll be unstoppable and when I kill each of you, I’ll be a true god among these puny men.”
25
Brogan
You know that shit is about to go down when a pissed off dragon shows up to the party.
I can tell that things are not good when the asshole Andrew returns to his apartment barely a few minutes after Echo and Soren disappeared inside. He’s followed by his fiancée only a few minutes later and it’s clear that they must have sensors or something inside the apartment and can tell that they have visitors.
Our distraction techniques work for a few minutes, with Jet unleashing a weird and wonderful mixture of creatures into the world and briefly turning the pavement to lava. But somehow Andrew and his woman get past us and the worm scurries off, leaving her to deal with us on the other side of the glass.
The coward.
My hound is scratching at my skin, desperate to be let loose so we can tear the shithead’s face off. Sink our teeth into his neck and rip it out.
The asshole has been holding Wren for weeks, doing who knows what to her. And now he’s inside with my mate.
We have to get in there.
I say this to Jet, yelling the words over the sounds of her trolls beating on the glass while Andrew’s fiancée, the witch, stares them down from the other side. Something tells me getting inside won’t be easy.
And then the witch throws a fireball our way.
Fuck. Things have ratcheted up a few notches.
Luckily, Finn shows up, appearing out of thin air like he’s a djinn. There’s no one better to have on your side when someone’s throwing fire at you than a dragon.
