“Who are you?” he asked. He kept his voice quiet and gentle hoping it would help.
She whimpered.
His lips formed a straight line as he thought.
“Look. I’m not here to hurt you. I will however do my best to save you, if you tell me who you are?”
Her teeth chattered.
Running his hand down his face he fought to control his frustration. He’d lost his mate today. He’d lost his freedom. What else would he have to lose that mattered?
He stepped closer, and the girl cowered. Damn it. This wasn’t going well, like everything else.
Deo felt the tug from his brothers’ mental connections. He closed them off. Right now, he couldn’t deal with them. Didn’t want them to find him. Not until he had any idea where here was or what they wanted from him. He would protect them.
There was no tug however from his mate. Nothing. He sucked in the air against the tightness in his throat, trying to ignore the stabbing in his chest. He braced himself against the nearest cold metal wall as he tried to push it all away.
Push away the fact that his whole world had made sense for a few hours until it no longer did.
Deo did not do weak. He couldn’t afford to on the battlefield, he couldn’t do it now. Not when he knew that this wasn’t good. Whatever it was. It wasn’t good.
“Female, I will not hurt you. Give me a moment to free you.”
He bent down, focusing on the issue in front of him. He wouldn’t allow this female to suffer at the hands of whatever evil lurked around this place.
Following the chain with his eyes, he traced the metal encircling a large pipe. She couldn’t move away any further, so that part was less complicated.
He held a hand out as if calming a small animal. She didn’t move, her saucer-like eyes following his every move.
Picking up the chain he pulled, two metal links breaking apart.
She gasped in surprise.
“I promise you, I am not the one to fear here.”
She nodded and appeared to have finally stopped quivering like a slight wisp of a tree caught in a windstorm.
“Thank you,” she whispered.
He nodded and flopped down.
“What do you know of this place?” he asked.
She nodded up to the ceiling, his own eyes following as he traced the room. A camera. Seemed fitting.
“You’re a dragon?” she asked.
Deo turned his attention back to her. She needed to be calmer if he was going to get her out alive, so perhaps a simple chat may give him some time to assess the situation further.
“Yes. And you?” Deo sniffed the air. “Are human?”
She nodded.
“Are you with them?” he asked.
She shook her head.
Keeping his voice low, he whispered. “Have you seen them?”
She gave a nod as she pulled her knees tighter into her chest. “There are only two that I have seen. Also, screaming hasn’t gotten any attention, so I assume we are somewhere in an empty warehouse.”
“Why are you here?” he asked.
She shrugged. “I don’t know. One minute I was walking home from school, I’m a teacher, and the next thing I know I’m here.”
“But you are human? Why would this group want you?” Deo wondered what they were up to. This wasn’t the same pattern as before. He knew it was tied together, though. They made it clear that they didn’t know him, but they knew of the brothers. They’d mentioned how they did not or would not underestimate their powers. He was still certain they were in the same group as before.
Deo had to hand it to them. They didn’t give up easily.
The female continued. “I didn’t even see them coming. One minute I was grabbing my keys and the next minute I woke up here,” she said, wiping her eyes. She wasn’t crying. But she obviously had.
“Well, give me a few minutes to figure out what we are up against. I promise you, I will get you out alive.”
She scratched at the crook of her arm.
“What’s that? Are you okay?” He pointed to the space she itched.
Looking down, her fingers ran over a red spot where small odd colored lines had spread from.
“I don’t know. I woke up with it. Maybe it’s a spider bite?”
He nodded, but it didn’t look like a spider bite. Not even a little. It looked like more black magic. Darkness. He sniffed the air again, finding foreign scents that he’d never encountered.
Listening, though there was little to hear. No whispers. No air vents flowing. Creaks of an old building. Wind blowing through a crack or hole. He couldn’t make out any traffic. Not near anything it would appear. This was complicated if he couldn’t figure out how she would get to safety even if he could get her out of the room to begin with.
“We will wait for a bit, see what they want. I will not hurt you, but until I know what we are up against, I will not set you free without any chance of rescue. Is anyone looking for you?”
Another shake of her head. “No. I mean, there’s a chance that my school will start looking if I don’t report back by Monday. But, no. No one else will look for me.”
He closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. Walking to the camera, he looked up and growled.
“What do you want from us?”
Nothing, but then he didn’t exactly expect much. Hell, this wasn’t like before, so he expected nothing like it.
A few minutes passed. He tested the walls again. They weren’t thin, but they weren’t that thick either. What if he punched right through it? Got her to safety and then returned to keep them from chasing his family.
“I wouldn’t do that, dragon,” came a familiar voice. The same voice from Aisha’s house as he was thrust into an oblivion. He whipped around and didn’t see anyone, but then he saw the large hold on the door. How had he missed that?
Five strides and he stood front
