Dizag had scrawled only two words on the bottom of the picture. “Your move.”
Nick picked up the picture and stared at it. “Who are they?” he asked.
“My parents,” Lana managed to get out.
Nick nodded, and Lana could see that his thoughts were spinning.
He pulled her inside the house. He wrapped up some food and poured the coffee into a thermos. Then, he practically shoved Lana into the passenger side of the car, and drove like a NASCAR driver to the police station.
Nick took Lana to the break room and said, “You need to eat this. You’re going to need your strength. I need to talk to the chief.”
Almost like a zombie, Lana nodded. Then, as Nick left the room, she mindlessly got up and followed him. When Nick saw that she was on his tail, he grabbed her hand.
“Okay, we’ll talk to the chief together,” he said.
Nick showed his boss the picture that Lana had found that morning. He told the chief that Dizag was holding her parents hostage in the shifter world.
“We have to go there. That is the only way to find him and defeat him. Otherwise, he’ll just come back here and create more of a problem than he already has. No one will be safe until he’s safe. The answer is there.”
The chief, who was a moose shifter, understood. “Okay. I’ll tell anyone who wants to know that you are on assignment. Be safe,” he said.
He looked at Lana. “Take care of yourself, young lady. I hope that you and your parents come back safely.”
Lana muttered, “Thanks,” and headed for the door. There was no time to waste.
On the way over to the club, Nick called Brady and said that they had to use the portal.
Brady said, “I’ll meet you there.”
Lana mentally shook herself and told herself that she had to get her mind back in the game. This was no time to become numb or even stupid.
“You know, you don’t have to come with me. I don’t want you to get hurt trying to save my parents,” Lana told Nick.
“If I didn’t know that you were still in shock, I would be insulted by your comment. What would make you think that I would not be by your side in this. Dizag is not just a ‘you’ problem. He is a huge problem for the entire shifter community. Plus, we are partners. A team,” Nick growled at her.
Lana nodded. She had expected that response from Nick, but she still had to say it.
They reached the club in record time. Brady was standing on the sidewalk waiting for them.
Nick showed Brady the picture. Brady studied it for a couple of very long seconds, and then looked up at Lana.
“I know you’ll get them and Lucy back safely. I have faith. Let me know if you need anything. I’ll reach out to my father and sister, and give them an update. I know that they’ll be willing to help,” Brady said.
“Thank you,” Lana said softly.
Knowing that she was itching to be on her way, Brady led them down to the portal without another word.
“If I don’t see you again, I want to thank you for all your help. You are a good man,” Lana said, and stepped into the portal.
Nick quickly shook Brady’s hand.
“Good luck,” Brady said, as Nick stepped into the portal as well.
When he got to the other side, he found Lana waiting for him impatiently.
They headed straight for Lana’s home, running most of the way. Lana knew that she should be more cautious, surveying her surroundings carefully, but she had to get home.
She stopped just outside of the courtyard. Her mother’s precious rose garden had been ripped to shreds, with bushes thrown everywhere. Statues and fountains had been broken and tossed aside. There were a couple bodies of lion shifters who had been killed. Their bodies were laid to one side, waiting for someone to perform the funeral ceremonies.
Lana and Nick carefully walked inside the castle. It was in an even worse state. Tapestries that had been passed down for generations hung in shreds on the walls. A couple of shifters there had been torn apart or burned beyond recognition. There was not a room in the house that had not been destroyed.
As Lana walked through her home, she had to practice her breathing so that she didn’t panic and hyperventilate.
Finally, she made her way back downstairs to the large ballroom.
She called out. “Is there anyone around? It is me, Lana.”
She knew that the castle had many secret hiding spots in case there was an attack such as this.
Slowly, one by one, lion shifters came out of hidden holes. Everyone started talking at once.
“Please, I can only hear one person at a time,” Lana said. She asked the head housekeeper, “Mrs. Jackson. What happened?”
“They came in the middle of the night. They ambushed the guards outside and then flew in through the upstairs windows. Two of them took your mother and father, while the rest of them destroyed the castle and the courtyard. Anyone who got in their way was killed.”
Nick spoke up. “Dragon shifters?”
Mrs. Jackson looked at Nick curiously before answering. “Yes.”
Then, she pointed to words that looked as though they had been painted on the wall in blood. “I’ll see you soon.”
“I heard that dragon laughing like a maniac while he was writing on the walls. He used the blood from one of the children that he killed to write his message.”
The rage built up in Lana. He killed her people. He killed one of her children. This was going to end.
Lana talked to a few members of her security team. She showed them the picture. None of them were quite sure where that particular cave was.
“I was afraid of that,” Lana said. “Go to the
