“I will never let them touch you, Laura,” I growled out. “They will never hurt you ever again. I promise.”
“But...they are my family.”
“I don’t think they are actually.” Ace spoke quietly and all eyes turned towards him. “The last person to go missing on this mountain was a little girl. Barely four years old. She would be around your age now, Laura.” He shook his head, snarling out the next words. “I think they gave up kidnapping women who would fight them for their freedom and decided to take one younger.”
“Take one young enough that they could train.” I closed my eyes against the pain his words caused, but I knew it was the truth. “Until Lainey.”
“Lainey?” Laura’s head snapped up. “What’s happened to my friend?”
“They took her, Laura. That’s why we are here. We are trying to find your friend.”
In the distance, a flash of red fire lit up the gloom for a second. Laura hid her face in my chest. “What is that?”
“Dragon.”
She stiffened even more.
“Ash,” I added as an afterthought. She was so clueless about our world. They had told her about shifters, but only about themselves. She was clueless as to what else was out there.
“We need to go. He wouldn’t be signalling if something wasn’t happening.” Ace turned to Laura, and I had never heard him sound so calm. “Laura, I know you think they are your family, but they have your friend. They are going to hurt her if they haven’t already.”
Even as I watched, the fight left her. “I can show you the way.”
