Page 135 of Gift from the Wing

Caspian shoots his shadows out and ties Oakly’s mom together to the other man, then covers everyone’s mouths with a strip of shadow to silence their pathetic screaming.

It’s always the same reaction. The loud, petrified wailing where their lives flash before their eyes for a moment, then they settle down when they realize they didn’t actually die.

I wish someone did something original.

“Hello, fuckers. I mean Folders.” I cheer when we step out of the cover of darkness and I perch my ass on their kitchen countertop. “You two just scoot on over, join the others.”

The assholes look past me and Caspian as if we’re nobodies, but when their gazes land on Ry, I swear they all piss themselves. Their faces instantly pale, Oakly’s mom starts trembling, and her dads fall statue-still.

Idiots.

If they only knew, out of the three of us, he’s by far the most levelheaded.

“You heard him,” Caspian says, but he’s already flinging them across the room to their new seats.

Once everyone is situated, the guys take a side each of mine and stand stoically, staring our little kidnappees down. Crazy how their roles have reversed so quickly.

“Why?” Ry asks sternly.

No other explanation is needed. It’s a loaded question.

Caspian removes the shadows blocking their mouths, but no one jumps at the opportunity to answer Ry, so I send out a fireball for each of them. Holding it about two inches from their faces. It takes no time at all for them to start begging for it to stop.

Weak.

“What have you done? Where is my daughter?” Oakly’s mom screeches.

“What haveIdone? You’re the one who sold her off and almost had her killed,” Ry growls, taking a step closer to her.

“She wouldn’t have died. She just no longer would’ve possessed her magic.” One of her dads tsks as if we’re all fools.

“Is that what they told you? And you believed them? You’re a healer, are you not?” Caspian asks, glaring at the mom. His cold, dead tone finallydraws a reaction out of them, and they turn their heads to him slowly. “Well?”

“We have nothing to say,” Oakly’s dad, I think the biological one, says sternly.

“We’ll do this one of two ways, and this is me being gracious enough to give you options. One, you can tell me what you know. Or two, we drag you to the dungeons, and my best friend rips it from your minds before me and my brothers tear you apart piece by piece.”

Oh, I like a murderous Ry.

The Folders don’t share the same sentiments. Their eyes nearly bulge out of their heads and Oakly’s mom whimpers like that’s the worst thing she’s ever heard. Very rich for a bitch who’s done what she has.

“We were introduced to the Mastery at the last Everglow family party,” she supplies helpfully.

“Marika, shut up,” another of her Nexus barks.

“No. I’m not willing to die for this.”

That’s pitiful. Ol’ Marika believes that’s not the only outcome for her.

“Kellie Everglow told me all about them and the vision they have for the future of Elementra. It was a no-brainer to join the society. The plans they have in place for those of us with great power are exactly what this realm needs. Those of us with power should be treated with the utmost respect, not as if we are on the same level as…as commoners.”

Commoners? What the fuck is this? The dawn of Elementra.

“All we had to do was pledge ourselves to the Everglows, claim Pyrathia as our territory, make Oakly give herself over to the Mastery, and we’d be brought into the fold. With Oakly being as deviant as she has been in her coming years, reaching the age of Primaries, we felt that she no longer deserved her gifts. It’s not like she’s putting it to good use anyway. Archivist. My daughter. She could’ve at least joined the E.F. and brought honor to our name since she wasn’t willing to have an arranged Nexus.” She sneers, glaring at Ry as if what she just said doesn’t fucking contradict itself. Ry is almost at the top of the E.F., which automatically elevates Oakly on the respect totem pole.

No, this bitch just wanted to be able to control her daughter completely and was pissed the hell off that Oakly wouldn’t give in.

“Gima or Silvia or any of the other promising girls would’ve done extraordinary gaining a gift as good as Oakly’s.” One of her dads sighs, but that comment has the three of us tensing.

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