A green magical flame ignited at my feet and then my hand was ripped from theirs. I was pulled backward into a portal and then my feet landed on the white marble tile. I was staring up at the Fae Lords once more. The fact that they could toss me around with portals against my will was horrifying. I wondered if Axel falling over and screaming as they did it meant that was his power?
“She has no Greywolf power, which makes her Lena. Send her back,” the male Fae Lord declared from the dais.
Lora was standing before me again, head cocked to the side. “Why, Dryden? Why not just imprison her here and replenish her power? She could replace the power drain we sustained from Wren’s loss.” My heart jackknifed in my chest and Lora grinned. “We could even have Silas bring Brayden back. Have them all under one roof and within our reach.”
Chills broke out on my arms at the mere thought of being imprisoned here with Brayden for eternity.
“We cannot let them all get together, you know this,” Dryden said in an exasperated tone. “Besides, keeping Brayden tortured by his lost love brings memuchjoy.”
Lora smirked but it never reached her eyes. If a psychotic murderer smiled, it would look like her. “And it keeps him from trying to find ways of freeing his brothers,” she declared.
Rage built up inside of me and I wanted to spit in her face. My jaw clamped shut and my hands balled into fists.
Lora tipped her head back then and cackled. “You have barely a year left to live, girl! Might as well make the most of it!” She pulled a stone from her pocket. With a flick of her wrist she threw it at my feet and then I was yanked intoanotherportal.
Please take me home. Please take me—
“Averly!” Leah shrieked and rushed forward as my feet slammed onto the floor. I was back in Brayden’s cabin, in the living room. Brayden got there first, pulling me into his arms and examining me from head to toe. I’d never seen such a wild look in his eyes.
“Did they hurt you?” he breathed, and my eyes fluttered closed for a moment.
I shook my head. “But I saw your brothers.” I looked at Leah. “And… our sisters.”
That feltsoweird to say. Thinking of Leah as my sister felt normal. I mean, she was my best friend in the whole world, but those two blondes I’d just met? They were strangers. And yet… I cared for them. I wanted to save them.
Maddy appeared and shepherded me over to the couch. “Sit down and tell us everything.”
I looked around to make sure that Silas was gone and saw that Brayden had already patched up the door. How long was I gone? Then I remembered Leah shifting.
“Leah, your wolf!” I looked to my bestie.
She smiled and shared an intimate and knowing look with Brayden.
“She handled her first shift like a champ,” he said.
“She tried to record it,” Maddy added and I chuckled.
That was Leah.
“Tell us about our family,” Brayden said eagerly.
I nodded, sat down and wiped my hands on my legs nervously, taking in a shaky breath. When I exhaled, I launched into a ten-minute verbal diarrhea about everything I’d seen or heard. Leah, Brayden, and Maddy watched me keenly, their faces changing to fit the story. Shocked, scared, surprised.
When I was done, I looked up at Brayden expectantly.
“Did Castiel try to kiss you thinking you were Wren?” he asked.
I frowned and Maddy snickered but then turned it into a cough when Brayden shot her a look.
“I tell you all of that and that’s what you took from it?” I asked him. My gaze flicked to Leah and it killed me to see a slight look of jealousy cross her features.
Brayden shook himself, as if dislodging thoughts and then cleared his throat. “My brothers wondered why I hadn’t broken them out yet? Don’t they know it’s nearly impossible?”
I nodded. “I told them. And I told them you’d tried before. But they seemed to think you would find a way, especially now that there are two of us with full Greywolf power. I told them when Wren gets her memories back and restores your powers, we can try to free them.”
Brayden nodded. “Especially if we were able to get Novus to take out the Fae Lords. Then we would definitely take back the kingdom.”
Maddy squealed in excitement. “Can we really even dream about going home one day soon?”
