11
Ryder
I sniffed the air,searching for a scent. My dragon moved restlessly within me. It made my skin too tight. It made my muscles tremble with unspent energy. The taste of blood reached my tongue like a memory, or a craving.
Jackson and Marcus had made a coordinated kidnapping. They’d snuck up on us and grabbed Ness so quickly that I knew they’d come prepared. I couldn’t catch their scent in the air, and Ness’s scent had vanished altogether. That made me think they’d grabbed some of the sigils that had been hanging in the woods around Alvin’s estate.
The sigils that Alvin had used to escape me were now in the hands of his two goons. Great. That was the last thing I needed.
I stalked down the alley they’d dragged Ness into, but I still couldn’t find a trace of them. I’d been depending on my sense of smell for so long that I didn’t know how to identify visual clues. Was that a footprint? Or a stain on the ground?
I cursed under my breath and pinched the bridge of my nose. Restless and irritated with the feeling of being useless, my dragon lashed its tail and threatened to take control. It warned that if I could not find our mate, that it would take to the skies to do so.
Even though I was still in Lakesedge, I couldn’t just fly over the city. If I lost control of my beast, if the goons took Ness outside Lakesedge, then I could put everyone in the community at risk. I couldn’t let that happen.
Bartering with the beast didn’t help. Rage kept building within me. The beast set its foot down and thunder rolled overhead. I could feel the dragon pushing, trying to take over my body. I leashed the creature, but it didn’t seem to care. My feeble grasp on it was not enough to stop it.
All the while, I kept moving. I went from building to building in search of my mate.
The beast won, but it stopped me in my tracks. I paused and took in my surroundings, wondering why the dragon chose to stop me here, of all places. Then I caught her scent.
Woodsy with a hint of wildflowers. Ness had been here. I stalked forward and surveyed my surroundings. Ness’s scent was on a railing leading upstairs, but it didn’t go any further. I looked up the stairs and tried to think of how her scent might have gotten here.
I didn’t have to think long because the central air pushed her scent from another room. Backing up, I peered around the corner into a lobby that faced the front of the building. At the other end of the room was an old elevator. The scent was strong here, but I had no idea if she’d gone up or down, though.
Just then, the sensation of a wire going taught yanked at my core. I jerked forward. Electrical energy raced through my body, waking every muscle and turning every sense on high. My beast lifted its head. It set its sights up high. That’s where I would find Ness.
The elevator would be too slow. I ran back to the staircase where I’d first found Ness’s scent and climbed three stairs at a time. Higher and higher, I climbed. The connection pulled me forward. I couldn’t stop until I’d found the other end, my other half.
On the top floor, I hesitated. I turned to search the floor, but the connection gave three sharp tugs in another direction. When I twisted, I caught sight of a door with a redExitsign over it.
What are they doing on the roof?
Knowing time was counting down, I shoved through the door. The connection led me out into the open, where Marcus and Jackson faced Ness. The two male shifters had their backs to me. I paused to figure out how I would take them both down at once.
Ness’s attention passed between Jackson and Marcus. When she locked eyes with me, the others realized that I was there. An ominous rumble rippled over the sky. The clouds hadn’t yet darkened enough to become a storm, but they might soon.
Marcus faced me while Jackson moved behind him. I couldn’t afford to spend too much time with Marcus or else Jackson would reach Ness. I didn’t like the sheer drop behind Ness. She kept backing up; soon she would reach the edge of the building with nowhere to go but down.
The brothers wouldn’t let her fall, though. Alvin wanted her, or else he wouldn’t have gone through all the trouble to set up the ritual.
I underestimated the brothers, though. The two of them shared a look. Jackson nodded, as if understanding Marcus’s unspoken command. The vicious glee on Jackson’s face sent a chill down my spine. The sensation rose again, but white hot with fury.
The connection between Ness and myself suddenly vanished. Ness cried out and clutched the sides of her head. My heart stuttered. I lurched forward, without thinking. Marcus was there to intercept me.
“I don’t want to!” Ness cried out in response to a voice I could not hear. “Don’t make me come to you! Not like this.”
Jackson laughed at her. Fury turned my fingertips into claws. Already, I could feel the skin along my back itching as my wings tried to force their way out. The dragon inside me pushed. I held it back, but Ness’s sounds of pain and frustration broke my concentration.
I grabbed Marcus by his shirt and threw him behind me. He wasted no time in rebounding because he slammed into my back and sent me crashing to the ground. A growl on my lips, I bucked to throw him off. Marcus dug in his claws.
I stopped fighting my beast. Wings burst free from my back and sent Marcus flying.
Ness’s alarmed shout grabbed my attention. Jackson had her by the wrists. He drove her back, towards the edge of the building. I could see the grin on his face as he leaned in and whispered something in Ness’s ear.
My body moved before I could even think. My wings snapped out and caught air as I leapt. Ness tumbled backwards. The world seemed to slow, the seconds dragging by. I watched her fall in slow motion and wondered if I would be able to catch her in time.
Her mouth formed an O of shock. She reached forward, fingers grabbing at the empty air—empty air where I should have been.