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“Good.” I looked at my friends. Several yards back, Dom talked to one of the Ironfang wolves, a female with long, brown curls. I frowned. What was that about?
Killian picked up a bag from one of the cars. “Get dressed.” He threw me jeans and a shirt. “Then let’s take care of the bodies and go.” He threw clothes at Lucille, then he walked to Dom, who still was talking to the brunette.
I shoved my pants, then patted my pockets. My phone wasn’t here. I rushed to the car, picked up my phone, and called Raika. It was ten in the morning here, so it should be noon in Connecticut. She was probably on a break from training and eating lunch with the witches. The phone went to voice message.
What the hell?
I tried calling again. Nothing.
I called Drake. He answered on the third ring, “I knew you would call sooner or later.”
“Because you know I probably called Raika and she didn’t answer. What happened?”
Two beats passed. “Raika is missing.”
17
RAIKA
They took me through a series of wide tunnels that wound up and down the mountain. Torches lined the rough walls every few feet, though instead of flames, there were small white gems on top, and they shone as bright as an LED light.
It was beautiful, but eerie.
I tried keeping tabs of where we were going, where to turn, but all my mind wanted to focus on was the fact that Paimon orchestrated all of this—taking Shane away so I would fall for his trap without any hesitation.
And now Shane was in even more danger because of me.
We entered a wider hallway lined with thick doors. I couldn’t identify the material, but it shone like metal but had the texture of wood.
The Huddyriuns stopped at one of the doors in the middle of the hallway. One of them took a heavy key from the hook on his belt, unlocked it, and pushed it open. He shoved me inside, then locked the door behind me.
“Raika!” I barely saw anything before Ivy lunged at me. She hugged me tight. “You stupid woman. Why did you come? Didn’t you know it was a trap?”
I pulled back, looking at her. Her hair was a mess, there were dark circles under her eyes, and she looked way too thin and frail. “Aren’t they feeding you?”
She snorted and walked back. “Only enough so I don’t die.”
I frowned and looked around. We were in a tiny room with the same rough walls I had seen all over this place. The same gem from the hallways hung from the ceiling, illuminating the room, especially the uneven ceiling. There was a cot on the left side, a chair and a small table to the right, and an archway on the back, which led somewhere. A bathroom? And that was it. No windows, nothing.
“How long have you been here?”
She plopped down the chair and rubbed at her wrist. She had been tied up moments ago, hadn’t she? Anger bubbled inside of me.
“A couple of days after you and Father got the dragon magic,” she said, her voice somber. “I tried to run and he caught me, of course. He said my plan was great, but I was using it wrong.” She gestured to us. “And here we are. He used it to bring you here.”
“That’s why he didn’t kill you?” She winced at my words. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to be so callous. It’s just … he mentioned before, to have killed and absorbed the magic from our siblings who didn’t want to join him.”
“I know. I’ve seen him do it, you know, and each time it made me sick. But what could I do? I was never powerful enough to stop him.”
“That’s why you joined him? Because you didn’t want to die?”
“What’s up with all the questions?”
“I’m trying to understand, that’s all.”
She was quiet for a second, and I thought she wouldn’t answer me. “That, and because he was the worst bully. I’m one of the only pure-blooded demons he sired, which means I’m more powerful than others. He really wanted me working by his side. He threatened my mother.” She paused. “She was killed by a group of angels a couple of years later.”
I knew how it felt to lose a mother. “I’m sorry.”
