Page 75 of Dragon’s Rebel

The three of them gathered by the ruined trailer. Thorne had nearly tripped over several pieces of it buried in the grass, yards away from the main structure.

He kept trying not to picture how that happened.

“Anything?” Thorne asked, already knowing the answer. They shook their heads.

Zane glanced over at Rebel. “Do you think we can get her to walk the property? Just to see if anything jumps out at her?”

“I’ll talk to her,” Thorne said.

He went over to Rebel, who was still gazing into the distance. “Do you feel anything?” he asked her. She shook her head.

Of course she didn’t. She’d spent years not feeling anything about this place and what happened here. She couldn’t afford to open herself up.

He closed his eyes, then took in a deep breath and blew it out, feeling like a total shit. “There’s a possibility the Seal will only react to you,” he said. “The locator spell might help. If you don’t want Blaze to walk you through it, I can.”

Rebel turned on him. “I keep telling you,” she growled. “I’m not a goddamn witch. I don’t do spells, and I don’t have power.”

She waved her hand at the wreckage of the trailer. “Witches did this,” she said. “They came after my parents and destroyed them, because they wouldn’t do what they wanted. We were happy!” she said. “We were a family, and witches took that away from us. Why can’t you all just leave me alone?”

She shoved away from the SUV, and walked off into the forest.

The other three looked at each other helplessly. “That went well,” Zane muttered.

Blaze shook her head. “We knew she was resistant to her magic. She’s never wanted to admit it was there. I just hoped that when she was really here…”

Thorne snarled, “That when she was really here, reliving the night her parents were murdered, that she’d be happy to embrace magic they never told her she had? Magic that led to their deaths? We’re all fucking idiots.”

Zane said, “I know it’s rough for her. But Vyrkos is still going to rise. If she can sense the Seal…”

“Who are we kidding?” Thorne snapped. “Blaze couldn’t sense the Dragonfly Seal when it was tattooed on her fucking ass. How the hell is Rebel supposed to sense the Dolphin Seal? It could be buried right where were standing, and there’s no guarantee she’d know it.”

“But there is the Prophecy,” Zane pointed out. “And we did find the Dragonfly Seal. We have to assume that if we get Rebel near the Seal, it will make itself known somehow.”

“Yeah?” Thorne said savagely. “How’s that working out so far?”

He slammed his fist into the side of the SUV, leaving a dent. Then he went into the woods after his mate—who hated magic and everything to do with it. Including him, apparently.