Jacob sneered. “I’m not afraid of him. I can’t see what she ever saw in him.”
Jullian raised a hand, faced scrunched in exasperation. “Say less, please.”
I wrapped my hand around the bars, and a bone deep ache pushed through me, causing me to jump back. I shuddered from the pain, my fingers curved as I pushed through the agony.
Jullian smiled, but it was filled with arrogance. “What you just felt was our ward on the cell. You are a dragon; I am no fool.”
Ivan, are you safe?A female voice rang out in my head. Had that ward gone to my mind and made me hear voices?
“What?” I called out loud.
Jullian sighed. “I said you cannot possibly think you will get out of this cell so easily.”
I opened my mouth to reply, but the head voice called out again.
Ivan, it’s Jalisa. I know you don’t know who I am, and that’s okay. I’m not mad at you for not knowing who I am or that you left in the middle of the night without so much as a goodbye. Or that you went and muted our mate bond. I’m not mad at all, you jerk.
I struggled to keep a straight face so that Jullian and Jacob wouldn’t know I was hearing voices or whatever this was.Are you sure you aren’t mad because it kind of sounds like you’re mad. And did you say your name was Jalisa?
Yes! Do you know me?
My heart panged again, and I clutched my chest, turning away from the others.I don’t remember you. I’m sorry. But I think we’re married?
It’s okay, and yes, we are. Look, I know where you are. Some old mansion in the countryside of a Nodoorian town. I’m guessing you aren’t there on vacation.
I snorted.Good guess. I was taken by Jullian and some asshole named Jacob. Apparently, some members of my family are behind the attacks on me. Us, I’m guessing. But I don’t know who. I’m guessing it’s a group of them. There’s some type of rebellion, and they have witch help. There’s a ward I’m behind.
I heard Jalisa curse in my head, and there was a familiarity to it that brought a smile to my face for reasons I didn’t understand.Okay, we are coming to get you. Aaron and some others are joining me. You and I can work together to get the ward down with our mate magic. Just don’t let them know we’re connected. Hopefully they don’t know we’re mated.
I walked back to the bars, careful to avoid touching them but close enough to work at the magic. Magic rushed through me, greater than my own. It felt almost intoxicating, the rush of power. The woman was fast. Was her name Jamie? No, Joanne? Damn it, I couldn’t remember. I clenched my jaw as I continued to push the enhanced magic against the ward. How could I forget so fast?
Jullian was still talking. Lucky me, he liked to hear himself talk, but I had learned enough. “So, your plan is to keep me here until my family comes to get me. Who will it be, exactly?”
Jacob rolled his eyes, picking at his teeth with an index finger. “Like we’d tell you.”
Jullian kept his arrogant eyes on me. “What your family chooses to do with you is not of my concern. We only require you to remain out of the way of our plans, for good. Killing you would be best, but we made an agreement.”
Who in my family would put me in this situation? Would my father do this? My sisters? No, I didn’t have the energy to waste on those thoughts. I had to keep it focused on the ward. I could already feel the magic pushing through. This ward was tough, but not as strong as I thought. A witch wasn’t behind it. Good for us.
Jullian took another step closer to the bar. If the damn thing wasn’t warded, I could have reached past it and strangled him. “You have always been beneath us, latching on to those in the elite class. First Aaron, now Jalisa. If you’d just stayed away, you would have been fine. Now, look at you. Whatever your family does with you, it’ll involve you being far away from here. You’ll never see your friends again.”
I gritted my teeth, chuckling as I continued with my magic. “It was already going to be that way, you fucking idiots. I was in the human realm, starting a new life. On my own.”
Jullian stilled. He hadn’t known that I’d parted from Jalisa. He side-eyed Jacob, who had a confused look on his very stupid face. “Why did you separate from her?”
“Because I couldn’t remember her. Your rank magic was working. I was staying in the human realm. I even had a new place and a job. On my own. So, this was a waste. I hope it cost you a lot of money to pay someone to grab me for no reason.”
Jacob made a pfft sound. “We don’t believe you.”
“Fuck if I care. It doesn’t make it any less true.”
The ward magic shifted, penetrating through my hands. It was more like a painful iciness that radiated upwards before dissipating. However, it was a good pain because it meant the ward was down.
Jullian looked down his long thin nose at me, his irritation almost matching mine. “It’s unimportant now. Better you under our control than roaming free, risking ruining our plans again. Hopefully they keep you caged like the animals you dragons are.”
I grinned wider, my teeth elongating, and it pleased me to see Jullian grow paler. He moved to step back, but he wasn’t fast enough as my hand shot out between the bars, my fingers wrapping around his throat. I then reared my arm back, bringing him with me and bashing his head against the bars. “I will eat you alive, you dried up fucker,” I said in a steady voice.
Jacob pulled at him, as Jullian gripped at the bars, struggling to get away from me. I watched in crazed delight as blood poured down Jullian’s forehead. His cries were like music to my ears until Jacob got the upper hand, punching me in the face. It felt like I was hit by a sledgehammer, and I dabbed at my nose, infuriated by the blood now on my hand. I hated to admit it, but he was strong. The smell of an earthy smokiness hit me, and I could have punched myself for not catching it before. He was an alpha.
