Page 78 of Ignited

“A childish trick. And you fell for it.” Bro smirked. Riker went red. Karisma worried he might try to kill Bro after all.

Maximilian, his eyes avid, opened the box and gave a hiss of pleasure. He made a complicated gesture over the box, muttering words Karisma couldn’t quite catch.

The various pieces of the Orb rose in the air—the crystal rods snapping together in their tripods, the crystal spheres settling into them. There were no flames in these—no captured pieces of magical creatures. Still, Maximilian caressed each one of them like a beloved pet, and then he waved his hand.

They floated away to the three empty discs, and stopped on top of them. A ring of light ran around the circle, connecting all six discs, and Karisma felt a jolt deep in her belly, where that damn thread connected her to the Orb.

The arcs leading to the original flames lost some of their red color, and Maximilian sighed, the way someone does when they get their first sip of cold water on a roasting hot day.

They’d just given the bastard more power.

“Okay, you’ve got the girl, and the thingamajigs,” Boomer’s brother said. “Where’s my money?”

He looked perfectly calm, but Karisma knew he couldn’t be. They’d expected to meet Maximilian in a normal room, hand over the pieces of the Orb, and get DB, Thanatos and their team inside before he had a chance to use them.

They hadn’t expected him to be hooked directly into them, like some kind of magical dialysis machine.

She had to open that doorway now. Before things got worse.

You might have to touch him, DB had told her. If we’re not in there within a minute or two after you arrive, you have to touch him.

What if he doesn’t want to touch me?

He will, DB had said. He’s been looking for you for years. Remember how you said he liked to rub that Orb over his skin? You’re even tastier than the Orb. He’s not going to be able to resist.

Just the thought of that made her want to throw up in her mouth a little bit. But if that was what she had to do to bring Maximilian down, she’d do it.

Except it seemed he only wanted to fondle the pieces of the Orb, not her. And the strike teams should already have deployed. If they got here and DB hadn’t gotten himself and Thanatos through yet…

And then things did get worse. Maximilian looked at Boomer’s brother and laughed. “You’re not here for the money. You’re here to try to help her, and her mate. With your childish traps. But you’ve already lost.”

He snapped his fingers, and the door opened to reveal a squad of soldiers. As they entered, the leader said, “My Lord, we have captured the insurgents, as you ordered.”

Karisma’s heart caught in her throat. Which team? Or both of them? Please, gods, not Boomer.

The soldiers behind him marched in and started dumping combat gear on the floor—vests, helmets, weapons, all with the Outlaw Ridge wolf patch.

The last thing their leader threw down on top of the pile were Boomer’s custom dog tags.

Chapter 33

In the spirit world, DB and his team stood in front of an opaque curtain of light, the same dull red as the sludge he’d pulled out of Karisma. Maximilian’s wards.

“Come on,” he muttered. This was taking too long.

Even as the thought ran through his mind, Thanatos said, “What’s going on? Can you sense the anchor spell you put on Karisma?”

DB shook his head. “I thought I could, for a second, but it’s gone now. Something’s wrong.” He paused, running his hands over the magical curtain. “Really wrong.”

“What do you mean?” Gunn asked sharply.

“The wards. They’re getting stronger.”

Thanatos muttered a curse in a language DB didn’t know. “He’s already added Karisma’s pieces to his own.”

“Fuck. How did he have time?”

“He obviously hooked himself into the Orb somehow. He must be using it constantly.”