Page 134 of Anchor

I wouldn’t let it no matter what.

“And he still gave it to you. Altered its magic so that it now…belongs to you, pretty much.” It was easy to see how disappointedthat made Radock. “Of all things, that strikes me as the most…impossiblething.”

“Where is he, Radock?” I said. “Please, just tell me who took him.”

“You can’t help him now, little birdie,” Radock said, and he stood up, put his raven feather in his pocket, and threw Taland’s charm at Seth’s waiting hands. “Thanks for the talk, Miss La Rouge.”

And I was going tobeghim to tell me again, just give me a name, a location, a way in which I could find out—anything at all, but then…

Radock put his hands in his pockets and looked at Kaid who was standing right behind the chair still, and he said, “Kill her.”

Just like that—kill her.

I could hardly believe my ears.

I heard the words clearly and read them on his lips and saw the look in his eyes, knew that he wasn’t joking, yet a part of me still insisted that this wasn’t real. That he was just kidding. That they wouldnever—these were Taland’s brothers, for fuck’s sake!

Except he had, and now Seth was on his feet, and he was no longer smiling as he looked at Radock, and even Kaid looked surprised.

“You sure, brother?” he asked, while Radock stopped by his desk to pick something up, and I could have sworn that something inside me twisted.

“Just kill her,” he said, pissed off now that Kaid had even asked, andIwas just as pissed off—but at myself, for ending up in this situation. For thinking that I could just come here and Taland’s brothers would treat me with any amount of decency, would hate me less than they did while they were torturing me, because I was fucking delusional. Because I thought since Taland had seen into my mind, and Taland believed that I had never betrayed him, that everybody else was going to think the same—his brothers included. Such a fucking fool to think I could come and demand they answer my questions, then walk out of here alive.

Silly, silly Rora…

Then Kaid pushed the chair where Radock had been sitting to the side, and it fell against the concrete floor with a loud thud. My magic was there, right under my skin, already locked in with the bracelet, and I didn’t even consider using my anchor this time. The pain would set me back, make me slower, not to mention Taland thought our magic would be more powerful with the bracelet.

Even though I wished I could do this differently—they were still Taland’s brothers, and to me that meant something—I was already prepared to fight.

Because I wasnotgoing to die here tonight. Fuck that, I was not going to dieanywhereuntil I found Taland.

So, when Kaid reached his hands for me—and in his eyes I could see the regret flashing by clearly—I was calm. The spell I was planning to use was at the tip of my tongue, and it was going toexplodeout of me, hopefully with enough strength to knock both Kaid and Seth on their asses. I needed a fast one as well because I needed Radock to still be there. I needed Radock to still tell me where the hell Taland was, so I didn’t hesitate.

As soon as Kaid grabbed me by the arm and pulled me to my feet, I brought my knee up and hit him right in the groin, whispering my spell all the while. When he doubled over, I moved back and grabbed the chair I’d been sitting on, and slammed it against Seth’s side when he made to grab me, too.

It felt so good to be underestimated right now. So, so good…

Especially when my spell was already finished, and Radock was still two steps away from the door.

A fucking rainbow burst out of my hand while Seth, quickly recovered, launched at me again, and Kaid was still cursing under his breath and holding his dick with both hands.

Yes—a rainbow with all the shades of all the colors that existed in the world illuminated every inch of this underground room. It was so powerful, it pushed my hand back when itseparated itself from me, and I screamed; so powerful that not only did it knock Kaid and Seth to the floor, but it pushed Radock against the wall near the door, too. It pushed the chairs away, and even moved the couches a little before it disappeared, and the lights in the room seemed so dim now in comparison.

I was standing, breathing heavily, and Radock was pushing himself to stand straight, holding onto the wall. Kaid and Seth were both bleeding from the mouth and nose, barely keeping their heads up to look at me.

Seth was closest to me so I went to him, and I couldn’t believe I was doing this at all, but I did it anyway. I fell on one knee next to him, and I grabbed him by the hair, and brought my other hand under his chin. Kaid tried to reach us, but he couldn’t even sit up yet, so I had more than enough time to look Radock in the eye, stick two fingers inside of Seth’s mouth while he moaned in complaint, and say,

“Tell me where he is, or Iwillkill him.”

Radock blinked his eyes slowly, able to stand without holding onto the wall now, and he shook his head.

“You spelled me to speak only the truth,” I said through gritted teeth. “I will kill Seth if you don’t tell me where Taland is, Radock. I will do it.”

Lies—his spell had long faded away from my body and I could choose to say whatever I wanted, but I was hoping that he’d believe me because I needed him to so desperately.

He did.

“How did you do that?” Radock asked me.

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