Page 23 of Live Like Legends

Natalia tried to step in front of him, but he used his elbow to shove her to the right. Reese ran over to catch her before she hit the ground, looking over at me in question.

“He has my key!”

Elise groaned. “Oh, for fucks sake.” She darted out of the room with Beetee behind her. Natalia shooed us away from her as she followed after them with us on her heels. I heard a grunt as we turned the corner and saw Garrett on the floor with both his ankles tied up with Elise’s tail.

We heard rushed footsteps from upstairs, telling me that Zane would be here in mere moments.

“Just give us back the key, Garrett. Please,” Beetee begged. Her lilac-colored eyes looked more sad than angry.

“I’m sorry, I can’t,” Garrett refused, placing his hand on Elise’s tail and pulling. Her grip on him was taunt and unmoving. “Let me go!”

“Give us the key and we will,” Elise offered.

Garrett shook his head. I saw the chain of the portal key dangling out of his closed fist.

Natalia walked around us and towards his head. “Garrett, we will work together on this. This isn’t the way to do this.” The High Priestess knelt down and placed her hand over his fist.

“I can’t do that, your Highness. I am sorry.” He threw his palm out towards her, and a stream of colorful magic spewed out. It hit Natalia in the stomach, sending her flying backwards into one of the walls.

He directed his magic at Elise, causing her to lift her hands to block his magic. He grabbed hold of her tail and tiny sparks moved up her deadly appendage. A popping sound followed by her own yelp, had her releasing his legs.

“Garrett! Stop!” I ran over to him as he sprung up from the ground. His body ran right into Zane’s.

The High Priestess’s bodyguard looked flustered and pissed, if both emotions could be displayed at the same time. “What is the meaning of this?” He held onto both of Garrett’s shoulders.

Garrett didn’t speak, but he did pull his arm back and connect his fist to Zane’s jaw. The bodyguard was thrown off, staggering back. Garrett kicked his foot out, colliding with Zane’s stomach before trying to make his way to the front door. I caught up with him, pulling him back by one of his arms. He used that to his advantage and threw his arm forward, slamming me into the closed doors.

I groaned, this level of pain, not doing my fresh burn any favors.

Reese ran up to grab his other arm, but Garrett reared his arm back ready to throw a punch in his direction. A large burst of purple-teal magic struck Garrett’s back. He clamped his teeth together and fell to the ground, on his hands and knees.

His head was lifted up by some invisible force and his eyes began to bug out and look around rapidly. His throat appeared as if something was cinched around it. Garrett let out harsh breaths, trying to consume as much air as he could. My mindtraveled back to when I’d landed in Oculus, hoping to learn about Dani’s past from Natalia. That’s when I noticed the tiny blue sparks coming from his neck and looked past him, focusing on Zane.

The large Enchanter looked as if he was doing nothing at all, but I knew this magic was his. “Restrain him.” Zane commanded. Other large Enchanters hustled over to Garrett, yanking him up and pulling him away from the door and over to The High Priestess.

Natalia held her stomach, leaning on Beetee for assistance. She didn’t look upset, but more disappointed. Reese slapped his hand against my bicep, nodding at me as if confirming that I was okay. I gave him a nonchalant shrug and walked over to where they all surrounded Garrett. Zane had removed his magic as Garrett sucked in breath after breath.

Elise shoved in front of us and brought her fist to his face, shaking off her hand when his head was knocked back. “I applaud your effort to want to get your family back, but don’t fuck with my tail or I will make it so the next time you see your loved ones they won’t recognize your fucking face.” She rolled her shoulders and stepped out of our way.

Garrett pulled against the other Enchanter hold on him. I looked to Natalia, just to confirm they had him. She gave me a small smile, pushing away from Beetee so she could stand on her own. “He can’t move at the moment, and I’ve nullified his magic for now.”

I flicked my eyes towards his closed fist, the portal key chain still hanging out. Through all of that, he never let it go. “Garrett…”

“Your majesty, we can throw him in the…” Zane offered, but Natalia shushed him.

“I am fine, Zane. Let him speak.” The High Priestess inclined her head towards me. Her hair was done in multiple braids thatstarted from the top of her head and ended in curled pieces; and they fell over her shoulders as she moved. “Go ahead, Nicholas.”

They still had him on his knees, so I got down on mine. Garrett’s head was slightly down, and his eyes were staring at the ground. His jaw ticked as if he was holding in so much that it was hard to just stay still. “Hey, Garrett, look at me.”

He didn’t acknowledge me, his eyes still fixated on the ground.

“Garrett, I need you to look at me.”

Silence.

I closed my eyes and let out a few breaths. I could be gentle and give a little tough love when it was needed. I grabbed his face in my hands and lightly shook him. I forced his head up and forward. “Look. At. Me.”

A few seconds went by before he did what I asked. I sucked in a breath when I saw that his golden eyes didn’t have the same glow as before. They had dimmed and it looked as if tears could fall at any moment. Garrett wasn’t a threat. He was a father that missed his kids. He missed his wife.

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