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“We don’t know them or know if they might harm you,” he whispered.
“What is it that you’re all so afraid of?” I asked bluntly. “It’s not just animals on the island.”
“There’s a trio of men; we thought they were mages, but they have dark, terrible powers,” Paul answered. “If we get caught by them, they curse us and turn us against each other. We haven’t found a way to break the curse or return the people to normal.”
Mercy ducked her head and sniffled.
Paul set a hand on her shoulder, squeezed, and said, “We’ve had to kill a few of our own.”
“Did they drip black ooze?” I asked, feeling an awful, sinking feeling.
Every set of eyes from the village turned to me.
Paul stood and growled. “How did you know that? How could you possibly have known that?”
Caleb waved his hand, but didn’t stand or react aggressively. “Sit down, we aren’t the enemy here.”
Paul slowly sat.
“I used to live in a forest and mages started cursing animals and shifters to come after me,” I explained.
Paul and Mercy looked at each other before turning back to me. “One of them disappeared about a year ago. We thought he had died.”
“That was likely him then,” I said with a nod. “But why? And how did they know about me?” I turned to Caleb.
This mystery made no sense. We’d thought it was just that mage council, but was it more than that?
“We need to capture one of them,” Riddick said. “We need to know who their leader is. Who is ordering them to do this to the hybrids and how they found out about Ember before we did.”
Caleb tapped his chin in thought as he stared at the fire before us.
“They are too powerful to be caught,” Mercy said and shuddered. “We have a few mages here, but we have never been able to stand against them. The walls are warded, and that’s the only way we can keep them out.”
“I can trap them,” Caleb said. “It would be easier if Dad was here, but I can do it.”
“You’re talking about using a containment circle, aren’t you?” Riddick asked.
Caleb didn’t respond.
“Last time you did that, you almost killed yourself.”
“I was ten last time I tried in front of you,” Caleb countered. “I’m a bit more powerful and have practiced a lot more since then.”
“You’ve been practicing in secret?” Riddick asked, eyes wide.
Caleb looked at me and smiled. “When I realized our wonderful mate was up to such devious things, I started doing them as well.”
Rolling my eyes, I turned to Mercy and Paul again and asked, “Do you have a place we could sleep while we wait for them to come?”
They both nodded.
“We should get our luggage first,” Branson said.
“Ember, Lily, Branson, and Ezio, stay here,” Caleb ordered as he stood. “We’ll go get the luggage and return.”
“You’re splitting the party,” I snapped as I stood quickly.
Caleb hugged me. “It will make me feel better to know you and Lily are safe in the wards here. Now that I’ve been here, I can teleport us if anything happens.”
