Page 178 of Gift from the Stone

I just didn’t know it’d be so soon.

The distance between me and the colossal monster of a man grows shorter and shorter as I calmly make my way to him. My mind is moving far faster than my feet, running through every scenario, trying to find a way out of this.

But there isn’t one.

Once I’m just a few feet in front of him, another man steps beside him and sends out his earth element to encase my hands and feet in stone. The weight of them pulls me down slightly before I force my back to straighten once again.

Mentally, I smile with smug satisfaction knowing none of them saw me use my earth element earlier. I hate that poor Ry was the distraction for that, but at least I know I can break out of this if a plan comes to mind.

I shriek as Gish snatches me by my hair and drags me so close to him, the air from his nostrils fans my bangs from my face. The pressure on my scalp intensifies as I thrash and try to push off him.

I want so badly to burn his ass away from me, get his fucking hands off me. But I know I have to go. Why? I don’t know that.

“You’re going to pay for that stunt and for putting me in this position, you little bitch. I can fucking promise you that,” he growls in my ear, and I gag as his saliva splatters on my cheek and earlobe.

Other than it just being vile, it sends discomfort and repulsion down my bond.

I keep my own emotions coiled tight, but the need for me to feel my men once more, one last time, has me reaching my bond out. I don’t know where they’re taking me, how long I’ll be gone, if I’ll be able to feel them from wherever I’ll be. So I just need one more dose of them, bad or good. I need to feel them.

I almost sob when I feel that they’re all here, and not just here, but closing the distance between us quickly. They’re all a raging mixture of pissed the fuck off, panicked, confused. And they’re coming for me.

They won’t make it, though.

I know that.

Tillman pounds on the barrier of my mind just as pounding on the door starts. I grit my teeth and bear it, shutting him out, locking him away as hard as I can. The action causes the sob I’ve had buried in my throat to bubble out.

Master Asshole is shouting orders to his men, but I don’t hear his words. My eyes are locked on the door. The way it’s rattling powerfully, shaking so hard, any minute now the hinges are going to pop off.

The hand he has in my hair tightens as the locking enchantment explodes and the door bursts to nothing. A bright silhouette explodes through the shadows veiling the door, followed by a roar so booming, the entire foundation jolts. Vines and shadows shoot out in every direction, but it’s no use. The Mastery members transport out at the speed of light.

Just as the four of them fully enter my sight, I get one small look. One small glimpse of my men. Their faces. The rage, the panic, the fear, the love.

Just one.

Then all there is, is darkness.

Twenty-Nine

Caspian

I fucking hate leaving her. It’s a bane to my soul.

Corentin’s new rule of none of us going anywhere alone is the whole reason I’m having to leave her and accompany Draken. I’d much rather stalk her from the shadows while she enjoys her alone time with her Perfecta Anima.

I understand his reasoning, although I highly doubt there will be any trouble Draken could get into checking on the comatose kid and his parents or transporting some of the shifters to the Central prison.

Walking through the halls of Rebel Castle is a nightmare. The whimpering and crying from the shifters grate on every nerve I have. Plus, the attention seeking and sucking up the shifter E.F. members do to Draken is unbearably annoying. His cheeriness, talkativeness are the only kind I can deal with.

Sometimes.

I swear to fuck, he could tell them, not command, just tell them, to get on their knees, suck him off right here and now, and they would. No questions asked.

My little Primary would bite their heads off.

The thought makes my lip twitch. Thinking about how possessive she is over us has my dick growing painfully in my pants.

Fuck, that warm little body just pressed up against mine. How perfect she’d look strung up by my shadows…

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