“Good. My healer will see to him. Come with me.” He picked Matteo up like he weighed nothing and led me to a safe room near the backside of the castle, behind a well-protected, invisible door. He pressed something I couldn’t see on the wall. When part of the wall slid down, he entered a code, and another section slid open, revealing descending stairs.
Before going down the stairs, he turned, commanding his guards, “Half of you with me. The other half go help search for the jackals who dared to breach my gates.” His voice was pure snarl.
They bowed, and frankly, I was surprised they could move even that much given how intense the Prime’s aura was right now. Then they charged off down the hall to follow his directive, and I followed like a puppet with wooden hinges and sciatica, still trying to throw off his aura but unable to completely do it.
It was only when the Prime saw that his wife was already in the safe room that his aura lightened enough for me to move more freely.
He carefully laid Matteo down on a bed against the wall, and I took a look around. The bunker was huge, and unlike the rest of Dragonspire Keep, it was very modern-looking, with a lot of stainless steel and clear signs of high tech goodies.
A healer in pale robes rushed over and started working on Matteo. Green, glowing magic flowed from his hands as he used it to scan the bear shifter.
I slumped into a chair next to the bed, waiting to hear what he said about Matteo’s condition. After pouring a lot of healingmagic into him, the healer came quickly over to me and started picking glass out of my feet, then healed them. When he was finished, I offered a grateful nod, then pulled on my socks and shoes while he went right back to Matteo. With only one healer to go around, I imagined he was going to be very busy today.
My feet felt fine now, but I should have had my shoes on. I shouldn’t have let that plush carpet seduce me. My feet had definitely paid the price for it.
I didn’t want to interrupt the Prime and his wife, but I needed to know.
“Was this attack from one of Barrett’s men?”
The Prime broke away from murmuring something to Everly and turned to me.
“Yes, that’s the assumption. My guards reported seeing someone earlier who wasn’t familiar to them, but before they could take him into custody, he was gone.”
Matteo came awake with a groan, then immediately started panicking. He fought the healer, who was still trying to pour more magic into him.
“Where’s Piper?” he demanded. “Is she okay?”
“I’m right here. Stop fussing and worrying.”
He shoved the healer aside so he could see me, then collapsed back in relief.
“I don’t know how to tell you this, Piper, but you’re kind of high maintenance.”
I snorted at the gallows humor. “Be sure to tell Riggs that.”
He winced and put a hand to his side. “I like living, so no thanks. Besides, I don’t think he cares that you’re high maintenance, just as long as you’re his.”
Even though he was obviously in pain, his voice was teasing.
“How did you get injured?”
“No idea,” he said, gritting his teeth. “Last thing I remember is falling asleep.”
My eyebrow lifted. “So someone attacked you while you were sleeping? But then, why would they leave you alive?”
The healer cleared his throat. “If I may speak? He wouldn’t have survived much longer if you hadn’t brought him directly to me. In addition to the damage he sustained to his cranium, he was also injected with something pretty nasty. My magic has been having difficulty isolating exactly what it is, but it was strong enough to take down a water buffalo.”
“Or a bear shifter,” I muttered, thinking. “They didn’t attack me, though. Not directly.”
The Prime sat in a chair across from me, pulling his wife onto his lap. I was fairly certain he wasn’t letting her out of his sight for a while, if I knew shifters at all.
“I’m getting reports. There was more than one bomb that went off. They were all set to a timer. Half the first floor is in pieces.” His eyes were glowing so brightly from his dragon that I could only respond by staring to the side of him, and not directly at his face. “My guess is that, more than anything, this guy wanted to send a message. Anyone who helps you becomes a target.”
My hands fisted. That soundedexactlylike something Barrett would do. “I’m so sorry that I brought this danger to your door. I naively believed he wouldn’t dare follow me here.”
The Prime snorted. “It seems there isn’t much that this Barrett wouldn’t dare. And if I find him, it will be the last thing he does.”
I shivered at the promise of violence in his voice.
